The Boils

The Boils is a large karst spring in Jackson County, Tennessee. It is unusual for two reasons. The first is that it is quite large, and the second is that it comes out of the ground under pressure.

The Boils are no secret to the folks of Jackson County, though. It's unusual waters have been a curiosity for generations inviting speculation on its source. Oddly, this feature went unnoticed by scientists until the summer of 2015, when my friend Ryan Gardner undertook describing the system that feeds The Boils as his senior thesis for his Earth Science Degree from Tennessee Tech University.

Ryan assembled a team of karst specialists from the region that included Steve Anderson, Dr. Evan Hart, and myself. Ben Herrmann, while not a karst specialist, assisted with data collection and logistics (like getting me down a river of class three rapids).

My goal within the project was to provide video and photo documentation up front, and on the back end provide data analysis and maps. I wanted to compile some all that data in a single location which you find here. Click to enlarge or open the links below.

Videos


Maps and Posters
Fullscreen map.

Delineation of a Major Karst Basin with Multiple Input Points, Roaring River, Tennessee - Poster Delineation of a Major Karst Basin with Multiple Input Points, Roaring River, Tennessee - Map

Photos
Sunset, Roaring River, The Boils WMA, Jackson County, Tennessee 2 C1 swallet, Ryan Gardner, Spring Creek, Overton County, Tennessee R1 swallet, Ryan Gardner, Overton County, Tennessee The Boils, The Boils WMA, Jackson Co, TN Roaring River, The Boils WMA, Jackson Co, TN Unnamed tributary to Roaring River, Jackson Co, TN Sunset, Roaring River, The Boils WMA, Jackson County, Tennessee 3 Sunset, Roaring River, The Boils WMA, Jackson County, Tennessee 1 B1 swallet, Evan Hart, Ryan Gardner, Spring Creek, Overton County, Tennessee C1 swallet detail, Spring Creek, Overton County, Tennessee 2 C1 swallet detail, Spring Creek, Overton County, Tennessee 1< R2 swallet, Ryan Gardner, Evan Hart, Spring Creek, Overton County, Tennessee R2 swallet detail, Spring Creek, Overton County, Tennessee Leipers Spring, Ryan Gardner, Spring Creek, Overton County, Tennessee
Sources
2015/07/16 - The Boils - Part 1
2015/07/30 - The Boils - Part 2
2012/01/15 - Jackson County
2015/04/09 - Epic Photography Weekend

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