by Buford » Aug 7, 2011 3:31 pm
I have been looking for this word too, to apply to subterranean stream passage in sandy sediments that were once bedrock-bottomed. In the NC mountains, sedimentation from timbering and land development partially filled in the small streams on my property at some time in the past. Subsequently, erosion has removed some of the fill and exposed the bedrock (gneiss), but in the meantime forest trees and shrubs sent roots throughout the top few inches of the remaining fill. Soil piping and follow-on 'vadose' erosion then created small tunnels along the original stream beds, with floors of bedrock, ceilings of root-mat-and-sediment, and walls of unconsolidated sediments. Not at all karstic, but maybe pseudokarstic.
Alas, these tunnels are too small for cavers, being suitable mainly for aquatic invertebrates, salamanders, and ringneck snakes. But actually, that's not such a bad thing.