Dolines

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of geological depression formed by the dissolution of soluble rock, often resulting in a circular or oval shape
2. A sinkhole that occurs when the ground surface collapses, commonly found in karst landscapes where limestone is prevalent
3. A natural formation characterized by a sunken area in the terrain, typically caused by erosion and subsidence of the underlying rock

Etymology: "Dolines" is the plural of "doline," a sinkhole-like hollow in limestone or other soluble rock, and the word's roots lie in the Slavic word for "valley." The Slavic term "dolina" (close relatives appear in Russian and Slovene) was taken into German as "Doline," and English later borrowed the word from that German form. The valley sense is a clue to its origin: the hollows it names are depressions in the landscape, the kind of low ground that a Slavic speaker would have called a dolina. The word is useful because it names a specific landform that forms when water slowly dissolves rock beneath the surface. As the rock dissolves, the ground above sinks, leaving a round or oval basin. Geologists adopted the term because the Slavic-speaking lands of the Balkans, where such features are especially common, gave the scientific study of karst its vocabulary.

Synonyms: sinkholes, depressions, pits, basins, cavities