Drainage Mechanisms of Submerged Sinkholes
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This is an important paper which should be published, dealing with an enigmatic process of rapid discharge of water to the subsurface of Dead Sea sinkholes. Yet it needs some work to prepare it for final form.
I could read only the first part yet
Here are some points:
Line 51-52 resembles the regional tectonic extension faults pattern
This claim is doubtful in general, except for specific points. See the undulating sinkhole line e.g. in google maps
L61 connected to surface water that fill the sinkholes, as occurs in Shalem-2.
Is there any stream that fills this pond?
L78:A pond: is this Shalem 2 pond of Fig 1?, the text isn’t clear about it
filled by seeping from nearby springs: This should be elaborated. Where are the springs located in relation to the sinkholes? Is there a surface flow? Do you have hydrochemical data of the springs?
L86 the sinkhole: It is hard to understand what do you mean here and below (L110, 135,6) by “the sinkhole”. Above I read about a cluster of tens of sinkholes, and then “A pond of water” comprising several sinkholes according to Fig. 1
L160_2 adding arrows and numbers on Fig. 3 at the right dated would make this visually clear.
Small remarks
I prefer the term subsided, rather than recessed
Line 49 when reach should be when they reach
L73 under saturated should be undersaturated
L98 40ºno line under the O
L121 Shelm-2 should be Shalelm-2
L130 change to: due to malfunctions. One similar dynamic event was
L204 in with a should be in a
L 224 subsidence are should be subsidence is
L229 that the scans should be when the scans
see minor points above
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
We appreciate the insightful comments suggested by the you. We have addressed all the comments and incorporated them in the manuscript. We hope that you will accept this version. Please see our answers to the comments below.
Sincerely,
Assaf Tsabar, Eyal Shalev, Amir Sagy, Yizhaq Makovsky
Reviewer 1:
This is an important paper which should be published, dealing with an enigmatic process of rapid discharge of water to the subsurface of Dead Sea sinkholes. Yet it needs some work to prepare it for final form.
Answer: We appreciate these comments
Line 51-52 resembles the regional tectonic extension faults pattern. This claim is doubtful in general, except for specific points. See the undulating sinkhole line e.g. in google maps
Answer: The western margin of the Dead Sea basin is governed by an orthorhombic pattern of normal faults with a bimodal distribution of fault strikes. The two east dipping sets forms a zigzagging rift fault boundary that separates the basin fill from pre-basinal rocks (Sagy et al., 2003). We now state this in line 52.
L61 connected to surface water that fill the sinkholes, as occurs in Shalem-2. Is there any stream that fills this pond?
Answer: No. The pond is filled by a spring discharging at the bottom of the sinkholes. We corrected the wording.
L78:A pond: is this Shalem 2 pond of Fig 1?, the text isn’t clear about it filled by seeping from nearby springs: This should be elaborated. Where are the springs located in relation to the sinkholes? Is there a surface flow? Do you have hydrochemical data of the springs?
Answer: Yes, the pond is within the Shalem 2 sinkhole cluster shown in figure 1. We corrected the text to emphasize that water is seeping into the submersed springs that fill the sinkholes. There is no surface flow in this location into the sinkholes. We do not have detailed hydrochemical data of the springs. Some general information is given in section 2.
L86 the sinkhole: It is hard to understand what do you mean here and below (L110, 135,6) by “the sinkhole”. Above I read about a cluster of tens of sinkholes, and then “A pond of water” comprising several sinkholes according to Fig. 1
Answer: We corrected this to sinkholes cluster.
L160_2 adding arrows and numbers on Fig. 3 at the right dated would make this visually clear.
Answer: We do not understand this comment. Marking all the events will overload the figure. The dates in figure 4 that were taken in 2009, are not during events but when we visited the site for scanning.
I prefer the term subsided, rather than recessed
Answer: We changed it to subsided.
Line 49 when reach should be when they reach
Answer: We corrected this.
L73 under saturated should be undersaturated
Answer: We corrected this.
L98 40ºno line under the O
Answer: We corrected this.
L121 Shelm-2 should be Shalelm-2
Answer: We corrected this.
L130 change to: due to malfunctions. One similar dynamic event was
Answer: We corrected this.
L204 in with a should be in a
Answer: We corrected this.
L 224 subsidence are should be subsidence is
Answer: We corrected this.
L229 that the scans should be when the scans
Answer: We corrected this.
Reviewer 2 Report
The manuscript needs some minor editing before publication. Look at the attached file.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Look at the attached file.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
We appreciate the insightful comments suggested by the you. We have addressed all the comments and incorporated them in the manuscript. We hope that you will accept this version. Please see our answers to the comments below.
Sincerely,
Assaf Tsabar, Eyal Shalev, Amir Sagy, Yizhaq Makovsky
Reviewer 2:
L20-22: Apparently repetitive sentences. Please improve the language form.
Answer: We deleted the first sentence.
L42: Explain what "almost instantly" means. This especially in relation with the sinkhole occurrences. What is the timing between cavern development and sinkhole formation?
Answer: We corrected this statement. [17]. To the best of our knowledge, no direct measurements of the rate of dissolution were measured.
L68: since?
Answer: Deleted
L79: References are necessary, also of unpublished materials.
Answer: We now explain in the text how this phenomenon got to our attention.
L95: Reference not appropriate. Figure 3 shows water level fluctuations. It would be advisable to add a topographic map of the pond with geographical coordinates.
Answer: The reference is corrected to figure 1A. Field mapping were only locally referenced and not projected to global or national grids. Therefore, there is no topographic map of the pond.
L198: It was evidenced in FIgure 3? Explain better what you mean.
Answer: We now explain this better.
L198: Where this bracket is closed?
Answer: We corrected this typo.
LK109-211: How and to what extent could this mechanism have distorted the data?
Answer: Based on our field observations, we estimate this biased not to exceed 30cm. We corrected this in the text.
L212-213: Comments must be made in the text. No comment in caption.
Answer: We moved the comment to the text.
L224: ?
Answer: We corrected this to figure 4B-5.
L250: Is this reference right? If so, the figure becomes number 7.
Answer: We changed it to figure 6.
Figure 8: Please, add a legend with the used symbols.
Answer: We added a legend.
Reviewer 3 Report
1. The aim of this study is to identify the unique deformation mechanism that controls the system and leads to its unique hydrologic behavior. In this study It is analyzed the hydrological mechanical interplay that takes place in this site by combining direct measurements of water levels in the sinkhole with surveys of surface displacement and deformation
2. I consider the topic is original and relevant in the field of this journal
3. Accordingh to study ; obtained data enable the calculation of water fluxes through the sinkholes, and the evaluation of the local hydrodynamics.It is important for when compared other published material
4. Please explain in a section sinkhole, What is a sinkhole? What are the varieties? How is it formed? You can read about this “Yakar, M. (2011). Using close range photogrammetry to measure the position of inaccessible geological features. Experimental Techniques, 35, 54-59.”
5. Where is the Shalem sinkhole site in the World . Please add a map to Show the location of sinkhole that you study.
6. What is lidar? Please briefly describe LIDAR technology.
7. I would like to recvommend some paper about LIDAR
Canaz Sevgen, S. (2019). Airborne lidar data classification in complex urban area using random forest: a case study of Bergama, Turkey . International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences , 4 (1) , 45-51 . DOI: 10.26833/ijeg.440828
Sanchez Diaz, B. , Mata-zayas, E. E. , Gama-campillo, L. M. , Rincon-ramirez, J. A. , Vidal-garcia, F. , Rullan-silva, C. D. & Sanchez-gutierrez, F. (2022). LiDAR modeling to determine the height of shade canopy tree in cocoa agrosystems as available habitat for wildlife . International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences , 7 (3) , 283-293 . DOI: 10.26833/ijeg.978990
Çetin, Z. & Yastıklı, N. (2023). Automatic detection of single street trees from airborne LiDAR data based on point segmentation methods . International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences , 8 (2) , 129-137 . DOI: 10.26833/ijeg.1079210
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
We appreciate the insightful comments suggested by the you. We have addressed all the comments and incorporated them in the manuscript. We hope that you will accept this version. Please see our answers to the comments below.
Sincerely,
Assaf Tsabar, Eyal Shalev, Amir Sagy, Yizhaq Makovsky
Reviewer 3:
The aim of this study is to identify the unique deformation mechanism that controls the system and leads to its unique hydrologic behavior. In this study It is analyzed the hydrological mechanical interplay that takes place in this site by combining direct measurements of water levels in the sinkhole with surveys of surface displacement and deformation. I consider the topic is original and relevant in the field of this journal. According to study ; obtained data enable the calculation of water fluxes through the sinkholes, and the evaluation of the local hydrodynamics. It is important for when compared other published material
Answer: We appreciate these comments
Please explain in a section sinkhole, What is a sinkhole? What are the varieties? How is it formed? You can read about this “Yakar, M. (2011). Using close range photogrammetry to measure the position of inaccessible geological features. Experimental Techniques, 35, 54-59.”
Answer: We added the requested explenations to section 2.
Where is the Shalem sinkhole site in the World. Please add a map to Show the location of sinkhole that you study.
Answer: We improved figure 1.
What is lidar? Please briefly describe LIDAR technology.
Answer: We now describe Lidar using the suggested references below.
I would like to recommend some paper about LIDAR
Canaz Sevgen, S. (2019). Airborne lidar data classification in complex urban area using random forest: a case study of Bergama, Turkey . International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences , 4 (1) , 45-51 . DOI: 10.26833/ijeg.440828
Sanchez Diaz, B. , Mata-zayas, E. E. , Gama-campillo, L. M. , Rincon-ramirez, J. A. , Vidal-garcia, F. , Rullan-silva, C. D. & Sanchez-gutierrez, F. (2022). LiDAR modeling to determine the height of shade canopy tree in cocoa agrosystems as available habitat for wildlife . International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences , 7 (3) , 283-293 . DOI: 10.26833/ijeg.978990
Çetin, Z. & Yastıklı, N. (2023). Automatic detection of single street trees from airborne LiDAR data based on point segmentation methods . International Journal of Engineering and Geosciences , 8 (2) , 129-137 . DOI: 10.26833/ijeg.1079210
