Lake Jackson Photo Gallery
On September 16, 1999, much of the
central portion of Lake Jackson, a large lake on
Tallahassee’s northern side, drained down an
eight-foot-diameter sinkhole known as Porter Hole.
Sinkholes in Lake Jackson open and drain portions of
the lake approximately every 25 years. Following the
September 1999 event, the FGS, in cooperation with
the Northwest Florida Water Management District,
Leon County, and the
Florida State University Department of Geological
Sciences began investigating this phenomenon. This
investigation will improve our understanding of the
connection between Lake Jackson and the Floridan
aquifer system, which provides most of the area’s
drinking water.
Shallow push cores in
the vicinity of Porter Hole have been collected and
are undergoing analysis, a general map of greater
Lake Jackson has been compiled showing conditions
resulting from the
natural draw down event, and the Porter Hole area has
been surveyed and mapped. Tom Scott (FGS) has
explored Porter Hole Sink with a variety of
scientists, state and local officials, and media
representatives, affording the opportunity for down
hole measurements and photography. The sink, which
occurs in a 15 feet deep depression in the lake bed,
is approximately eight feet in diameter at its top
and is about 50 feet deep, below the average lake
bed. The sink consists of a series of convoluted
passages through the limestone, with various
conduits intersecting the main sink. The FGS has
drilled four vertical core holes to depths from 105
feet to 119 feet below the lakebed. Interpretation
and analysis of the cores continues and will be
published by the FGS upon completion.
Lake Jackson photo gallery includes a collection of
interior and exterior images of the sinkhole taken
by Tom Scott (FGS) during the investigation of the
drawdown.
2012 State of Florida