Florida Geological Survey - Data and Maps
Subsidence Incident Reports
Sinkholes are closed depressions in areas underlain by soluble rock such
as limestone, dolostone, gypsum, or salt. Sinkholes form when
surface sediments subside into underground voids created by the
dissolving action of groundwater in the underlying bedrock.
Other subterranean events can cause holes, depressions or subsidence of the land surface that may mimic sinkhole activity. These include subsurface expansive clay or organic layers which compress as water is removed, collapsed or broken sewer and drain pipes or broken septic tanks, improperly compacted soil after excavation work, and even buried trash, logs and other debris.
Commonly, a reported depression is not verified by a licensed
professional geologist to be a true sinkhole, and the cause of subsidence is not known. Such
an event is called
a subsidence incident. The Florida Geological Survey maintains and
provides a downloadable database of reported subsidence incidents
statewide. While this
data may include some true sinkholes, the majority of the incidents have
not been field-checked and the cause of subsidence is not verified. |
Below you will find two different types of files.
One is an Excel Spreadsheet and the other is an
ESRI ArcGIS compatible shapefile. Both types of files
have been provided as self extracting .exe and zipped files.
The uncompressed
Excel spreadsheet may be downloaded directly (see yellow
star below). Each file provides subsidence incidents as
reported to the Florida Geological Survey and
updated through September 4, 2009.
After clicking on any of the Subsidence Incident
Reports
links you will be taken to a page where you must
submit your e-mail address: your e-mail address is used only
to keep track of who is using the Subsidence Incident
Reports and will
not be used in any other way. After submitting your e-mail
address and before you can download the Subsidence Incident
Reports you will be
asked to read and agree to a disclaimer.
During the self-extraction process, you may be prompted for
a file download destination. Be sure
to point the download to a locatable folder on your computer
by browsing in the "Unzip to" window on the extractor menu
window.
A Word Document
titled
"The FGS the FSRI, and Karst Data in Florida"
has been provided here for anyone interest in the
history of the Database and other subsidence
incident
publications.
Contact
Clint Kromhout
with questions
|
Subsidence Incident Reports in a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet
In some cases an executable (EXE)
file cannot be downloaded. In this case, try to open
the file that is indicated with the yellow star.
The excel file has been made into a
self extracting file
and will self extract on download if you
select the OPEN option when the download begins.
If it does not extract on download:
- Find the file on your computer; (the name
will be
sinkhole_"date".exe - for example:
sinkhole_090409.exe)
- Double click on the file. You will be asked
where you would like to extract the files.
Choose an existing folder or create a new
one in which to place the file.
- Once the files have been extracted open the file named
README.TXT
for information contained in the compressed
archive. Newer versions of Windows may not recognize the extracted
data file as an Excel spreadsheet;
in this case simply add an "xls" extension to the file name in windows.
- Use this
word document
to help with identifying the fields in the
Subsidence Incident Reports file.
The excel file is also available as a
zipped file (sinkhole_database.zip)
. You will need to have software on your
machine that will unzip the file. If you do not have
the software you can download a free evaluation copy
of winzip at
http://www.winzip.com/downwzeval.htm
 If
you cannot download the self extracting .exe file we
have provided the
excel file without compression. It is a
4 MB file and can take over 15 minutes to open when
using a dial up connection and a 28.8k modem.
Subsidence Incident Reports in a Arcview shapefile
This file is to be used with any geographic
information system software that can use ESRI ArcGIS
shapefiles. A FREE reader for shapefiles is available at
http://www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer/index.html
This file would be most beneficial to anyone familiar
with ESRI Arcview Software since only the shape file and
database for the Subsidence Incident Report locations have been provided.
Follow instructions given above for downloading the self
extracting file with the filename being
sinkholeshapefiles.exe or sinkholeshapefiles.zip.
The Florida Geological Survey shapefile formats are
projected using a DEP modified ALBERS projection.
The ArcView and ArcMap projection data is available
at:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/gis/projdata.htm. For
further assistance on GIS information available
through the FGS please contact, Jim Cichon at
james.cichon@dep.state.fl.us (850) 617-0335
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Last updated:
November 21, 2011
2012 State of Florida