ponor
{{Short description|Natural opening where surface water enters caves}}
{{other uses|Ponor (disambiguation)}}
File:Djulin ponor jama.jpg enters a 17 km long cave system at {{ill|Đulin ponor|hr}} in Ogulin, Croatia.]]
A ponor is a natural opening where surface water enters into underground passages; they may be found in karst landscapes where the geology and the geomorphology is typically dominated by porous limestone rock. Ponors can drain stream or lake water continuously or can at times work as springs, similar to estavelles.{{Cite book|last=Bonacci|first=Ognjen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bhiJ10Xx9VwC|title=Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science|date=2004|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-57958-399-6|editor-last=Gunn|editor-first=John|pages=1282–1284|language=en|chapter=Ponor}} Morphologically, ponors come in forms of large pits and caves, large fissures and caverns, networks of smaller cracks, and sedimentary, alluvial drains.
Etymology
{{wiktionary|ponor}}
The name for the karst formation ponor comes from Croatian and Slovene.{{cite journal|last1=Dicken|first1=Samuel N.|date=November 1935|title=Kentucky Karst Landscapes|journal=The Journal of Geology|volume=43|issue=7|pages=708–728|doi=10.1086/624363|jstor=30057941|s2cid=140553389|quote=Since local terms such as "sink," "sink hole", "kettle", "bottom", etc., are vague and confusing the Slovene terminology ("ponor", "doline", etc.) is used for the karst forms.}} It derives from the proto-Slavic word *nora, meaning pit, hole.{{Cite web|title=Ponor/ponirati|url=https://hjp.znanje.hr/index.php?show=search_by_id&id=eVpnXRE=&keyword=ponirati|access-date=2021-11-03|website=Hrvatski jezični portal}}
Several places in southeast Europe (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Montenegro, Slovenia) bear the name Ponor due to associated karst openings.
Description
Whereas a sinkhole (doline) is a depression of surface topography with a pit or cavity directly underneath, a ponor is kind of a portal where a surface stream or lake flows either partially or completely underground into a karst groundwater system. Steady water erosion may have formed or enlarged the portal in (mainly limestone) rock, in a conglomerate, or in looser materials. Karst terrains are known for surface water losses through small ponors and its resurgence after having traveled through vast underground systems.
Prevalence
Ponors are found worldwide, but only in karst regions. The entire Adriatic watershed within Bosnia and Herzegovina sits on Dinaric karst, with numerous explored and probably many more unexplored ponors and underground flows.{{cite web|title=The Karstography of the Dinaric Karst in Bosnia and Hercegovina|url=http://www.devonkarst.org.uk/Karstography%20of%20DINARIC%20KARST%20in%20BiH.html|access-date=4 September 2016|publisher=The Devon Karst Research Society|language=en}}{{cite web|title=The Devon Karst Research Society|url=http://www.devonkarst.org.uk/INDEX.html|website=www.devonkarst.org.uk|publisher=Devon Karst|access-date=4 September 2016|language=en|format=.html}} There are significant geological ponors in the Carpathian Mountains, the Dinaric Alps, Greece, Turkey, and parts of the southern United States.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}
File:Katavothra-Feneos ponor karst-depression Peloponnese Feneos mit katavothre.jpg|Polje of Feneos, Greece, lake until late 19. Century. Rain showers flood large parts even today
File:Avenul campeneasca.jpg|Closeup of ponor in Câmpeneasca cave near Izbuc village, Romania
File:Skocjanske-Ponor3.jpg|A ponor where the Reka River disappears into Škocjan Caves, Slovenia
File:Risle ponor.jpg|The Risle River disappears into a ponor between Ajou and La Houssaye (Eure, France)
File:Jakovica, Logatec - požiralnik Pod stenami na Planinskem polju.jpg|A man-made ponor in Logatec, Slovenia
File:Katavothra ponor Nestani-Polje Peloponnes Greece.jpg|In Polje "Argon Pedion" (untilled plain). Plain and ponor documented since 2nd century AD by Pausanias
Dams and reservoirs in karst
Reservoirs in karst are prone to losses due to leakage through ponors. The construction of dams to capture water in karst terrains may pose a great financial risk despite initial investigations and thorough sealing treatments.{{Cite book|last=Milanović|first=Petar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bhiJ10Xx9VwC|title=Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science|date=2004|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-57958-399-6|editor-last=Gunn|editor-first=John|pages=571–575|language=en|chapter=Dams and reservoirs on karst}} It wasn't until the twentieth century that the first dams in karst were built, some of which famously failed.
See also
References
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{Caves}}
{{Rivers, streams and springs}}