Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 2, 1995 TAG: 9503020068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Professor Ernst Kastning was in the middle of making tacos Monday night when he heard on TV that a sinkhole had formed in the northbound lane of Interstate 81 near Dixie Caverns.
"My wife and I looked at each other and our eyes got real big and I said, `Should we go down there?''' Kastning recalled Wednesday afternoon from his geology lab at Radford University. "It was 9:30 and I couldn't wait until the 11 o'clock news to hear the rest."
The scene was familiar for Kastning and his wife, Karen, who have worked as a team for more than 20 years, chasing sinkholes, researching geology and exploring caves in the eastern United States.
"Whenever a sinkhole pops up somewhere, someone asks me about it," Kastning said. "Last year, right after the ice storms, I had something like four or five calls in one week about holes forming in people's yards."
The sinkhole that formed on I-81 catapulted Kastning into the "limestone-light" again this week as he examined and analyzed the hole for those of us who are less-schooled in the world of karst terrain - the cavernous landscape formed by dissolving limestone.
Kastning says the sinkhole was not surprising.
The conditions were right - a long wet spell - and the terrain ideal. The valleys of Southwest Virginia are filled with karst terrain, which commonly develops sinkholes and landslides.
"It's lucky no one was hurt - if anything had punched through there, it would have been a real mess," Kastning said. "Maybe we've all learned something from this."
Kastning said the sinkhole on I-81 is not in any way related to Dixie Caverns, located less than a mile away.
"There's a valley between Dixie Caverns and the hole," Kastning said. "Geologically it would be impossible for them to be connected."
Ernst and Karen Kastning have been drawn to the underground since college, and it's no wonder: Some of their most memorable moments have occurred there.
While a junior in college in 1965, Ernst Kastning - who had thought he wanted to be an electrical engineer - went caving with some fraternity brothers. While inside, he decided on a new career.
"I was really getting into it then," he said. "I knew [geology was] what I wanted to do, so I started a master's program."
Kastning even fell in love underground.
"She [Karen Kastning] was in a San Antonio caving club and I was in a Houston club," Kastning said. "We went to a place called Midnight Cave - sort of a romantic spot - and that's where we first saw each other."
They've passed on their passion for geology to their 19-year-old son, Kass, a sophomore at James Madison University.
In 1993, Kass, then a senior at Radford High School, was one of 40 students nationwide to compete in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search - for a project he did on the formation of caves.
by CNB