CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO KARST. 1.1 Definitions. 1.2 The Relationship Between Karst And General Geomorphology And Hydrogeology. 1.3 The Global Distribution Of Karst. 1.4 The Growth Of Ideas. 1.5 Aims Of The Book. 1.6 Karst Terminology. CHAPTER 2. THE KARST ROCKS. 2.1 Carbonate Rocks And Minerals. 2.2 Limestone Compositions And Depositional Facies. 2.3 Limestone Diagenesis And The Formation Of Dolomite. 2.4 The Evaporite Rocks. 2.5. Quartzites And Siliceous Sandstones. 2.6 Effects Of Lithologic Properties Upon Karst Development. 2.7 Interbedded Clastic Rocks. 2.8 Bedding Planes, Joints, Faults And Fracture Traces. 2.9 Fold Topography. 2.10 Paleokarst Unconformities. CHAPTER 3. DISSOLUTION: CHEMICAL AND KINETIC BEHAVIOUR OF THE KARST ROCKS. 3.1 Introduction. 3.2 Aqueous Solutions And Chemical Equilibria. 3.3 The Dissolution Of Anhydrite, Gypsum And Salt. 3.4 The Dissolution Of Silica. 3.5 Bicarbonate Equilibria And The Dissolution Of Carbonate Rocks In Normal Meteoric Waters. 3.6 The S-O-H System And The Dissolution Of Carbonate Rocks. 3.7 Chemical Complications In Carbonate Dissolution. 3.8 Biokarst Processes. 3.9 Measurements In The Field And Lab Computer Programs. 3.10 Dissolution And Precipitation Kinetics Of Karst Rocks. CHAPTER 4. DISTRIBUTION AND RATE OF KARST DENUDATION. 4.1 Global Variations In The Solutional Denudation Of Carbonate Terrains. 4.2 Measurement And Calculation Of Solutional Denudation Rates. 4.3 Solution Rates In Gypsum, Salt And Other Non-Carbonate Rocks. 4.4 Interpretation Of Measurements. CHAPTER 5. KARST HYDROLOGY. 5.1 Basic Hydrological Concepts, Terms And Definitions. 5.2 Controls On The Development Of Karst Hydrologic Systems. 5.3 Energy Supply And Flow Network Development. 5.4 Development Of The Water Table And Phreatic Zones. 5.5 Development Of The Vadose Zone. 5.6 Classification And Characteristics Of Karst Aquifers. 5.7 Applicability Of Darcy's Law To Karst. 5.8 The Fresh Water/Salt Water Interface. CHAPTER 6. ANALYSIS OF KARST DRAINAGE SYSTEMS. 6.1 The 'Grey Box' Nature Of Karst. 6.2 Surface Exploration And Survey Techniques. 6.3 Investigating Recharge And Percolation In The Vadose Zone. 6.4 Borehole Analysis. 6.5 Spring Hydrograph Analysis. 6.6 Polje Hydrograph Analysis. 6.7 Spring Chemograph Interpretation. 6.8 Storage Volumes And Flow Routing Under Different States Of The Hydrograph. 6.9 Interpreting The Organisation Of A Karst Aquifer. 6.10 Water Tracing Techniques. 6.11 Computer Modelling Of Karst Aquifers. CHAPTER 7. SPELEOGENESIS: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAVE SYSTEMS. 7.1 Classifying Cave Systems. 7.2 Building The Plan Patterns Of Unconfined Caves. 7.3 Unconfined Cave Development In Length And Depth. 7.4 System Modifications Occurring Within A Single Phase. 7.5 Multi-Phase Cave Systems. 7.6 Meteoric Water Caves Developed Where There Is Confined Circulation Or Basal Injection Of Water. 7.7 Hypogene Caves: (A) Hydrothermal Caves Associated Chiefly With Co2. 7.8 Hypogene Caves: (B) Caves Formed By Waters Containing H2s. 7.9 Sea Coast Eogenetic Caves. 7.10 Passage Cross-Sections And Smaller Features Of Erosional Morphology. 7.11 Condensation, Condensation Corrosion, And Weathering In Caves. 7.12 Breakdown In Caves. CHAPTER 8. CAVE INTERIOR DEPOSITS. 8.1 Introduction. 8.2 Clastic Sediments. 8.3 Calcite, Aragonite And Other Carbonate Precipitates. 8.4 Other Cave Minerals. 8.5 Ice In Caves. 8.6 Dating Of Calcite Speleothems And Other Cave Deposits. 8.7 Paleo-Environmental Analysis Of Calcite Speleothems. 8.8 Mass Flux Through A Cave System: The Example Of Friar's Hole, W.Va. CHAPTER 9. KARST LANDFORM DEVELOPMENT IN HUMID REGIONS. 9.1 Coupled Hydrological And Geochemical Systems. 9.2 Small Scale Solution Sculpture - Microkarren And Karren. 9.3 Dolines - The 'Diagnostic' Karst Landform? 9.4 The Origin And Development Of Solution Dolines. 9.5 The Origin Of Collapse And Subsidence Depressions. 9.6 Polygonal Karst. 9.7 Morphometric Analysis Of Solution Dolines. 9.8 Landforms Associated With Allogenic Inputs. 9.9 Karst Poljes. 9.10 Corrosional Plains And Shifts In Baselevel. 9.11 Residual Hills On Karst Plains. 9.12 Depositional And Constructional Karst Features. 9.13 Special Features Of Evaporite Terrains. 9.14 Karstic Features Of Quartzose And Other Rocks. 9.15 Sequences Of Carbonate Karst Evolution In Humid Terrains. CHAPTER 10.THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE, CLIMATIC CHANGE AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON KARST DEVELOPMENT. 10.1 The Precepts Of Climatic Geomorphology. 10.2 The Hot Arid Extreme. 10.3 The Cold Extreme: 1 Karst Development In Glaciated Terrains. 10.4 The Cold Extreme: 2 Karst Development In Permafrozen Terrains. 10.5 Sea Level Changes, Tectonic Movement And Implications For Coastal Karst Development. 10.6 Polycyclic, Polygenetic And Exhumed Karsts. CHAPTER 11. KARST WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT. 11.1 Water Resources And Sustainable Yields. 11.2 Determination Of Available Water Resources. 11.3 Karst Hydrogeological Mapping. 11.4 Human Impacts On Karst Water. 11.5 Groundwater Vulnerability, Protection, And Risk Mapping. 11.6 Dam Building, Leakages, Failures And Impacts. CHAPTER 12. HUMAN IMPACTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL REHABILITATION. 12.1 The Inherent Vulnerability Of Karst Systems. 12.2 Deforestation, Agricultural Impacts And Rocky Desertification. 12.3 Sinkholes Induced By De-Watering, Surcharging, Solution Mining And Other Practices On Karst. 12.4 Problems Of Construction On And In The Karst Rocks - Expect The Unexpected! 12.5 Industrial Exploitation Of Karst Rocks And Minerals. 12.6 Restoration Of Karstlands And Rehabilitation Of Limestone Quarries. 12.7 Sustainable Management Of Karst. 12.8 Scientific, Cultural And Recreational Values Of Karstlands.

Karst Hydrogeology and Geomorphology

A review on natural and human-induced geohazards and impacts in karst

The 'human revolution' in lowland tropical Southeast Asia: the antiquity and behavior of anatomically modern humans at Niah Cave (Sarawak, Borneo).

An increasing number of scientists recognize the value of speleothems1 as often extremely well-preserved archives of information about past climate, vegetation, hydrology, sea level, nuclide migration, water-rock interaction, landscape evolution, tectonics and human action. Well-constrained data are required to document past changes, reconstruct past patterns and predict future responses of the Earth system at a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Speleothems are particularly useful in this regard because they can be found in many locations of the globe, sampled at high-resolution and reliably dated using high-precision uranium-series techniques.



Speleothems are bodies of mineral material formed in caves as the result of chemical precipitation from groundwater flowing or dripping in a cave. Most speleothems are composed of calcite formed by slow degassing of CO2 from supersaturated groundwater, but aragonite and gypsum forms are also common, particularly near cave entrances where evaporative effects are important. A host of different speleothem types decorate the walls, ceilings and floors of caves, and their mineralogy and morphology is a function of fluid flow and chemistry of waters feeding a particular location as well as the ambient conditions (temperature, chemistry, light) in the air or water-filled void. Subaerial forms include the familiar stalagmites, stalactites, draperies, flowstones. Subaqueous forms include rimstone pools, “rafts,” mammillary calcite wall-coatings and “dog-tooth” spar. For an extensive review of the types of speleothem that have been observed, see Hill and Forti (1997).

Speleothems are used in a multitude of ways to explore past environmental conditions, perhaps the most fundamental of which is their very presence or absence. Deposition of speleothems relies on sufficient water supply and soil CO2 to enable dissolution and transport of reactants in the vadose zone to underlying caves. In arid or glacial times, conditions may not have been favorable for speleothem formation. …

Uranium-series Chronology and Environmental Applications of Speleothems

Seismic reflection profile, gravity anomaly, and exploratory well data have been used to determine the structure and evolution of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) foreland basin. The basin is of tectonic significance because it formed by ophiolite obduction in the northern Oman Mountains and flexural loading of an underlying Tethyan rifted margin. Existing stratigraphic data shows that this margin is characterised by an early syn-rift sequence of mainly Triassic age that is overlain by a post-rift sequence of Lower Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous age. Backstripping of the well data provides new constraints on the age of rifting, the amount of crustal and mantle extension, and the flexural effects of ophiolite load emplacement. The tectonic subsidence and uplift history at the wells can be generally explained by either a uniform extension model with an initial age of rifting of 210 Ma and a stretching factor, β, of 2.5 or a depth-dependant extension model with crustal extension factor of, γ, 1.3 and a mantle extension factor, β, of 2.5. While both models account for the general exponential decrease that is observed in the tectonic subsidence and uplift between 210 Ma and 95 Ma, we prefer the depth-dependant model because the depth-to-Moho that is implied better accounts for the increase that is observed in the regional Bouguer gravity anomaly between the UAE foreland and the Oman coastline. However, there are discrepancies, which we attribute to uncertainties in palaeobathymetry, sea level, and stratigraphic ages. Irrespective, the backstrip curves suggest that there was a significant thinning of the continental crust prior to ophiolite emplacement. The timing of emplacement cannot be constrained precisely, but the backstrip curves suggest that ophiolite loading and foreland basin flexure was initiated during the Late Cretaceous. The basin shape can be explained by a simple model in which both surface (i.e. topographic) and subsurface (i.e. ophiolitic) loads were emplaced on a lithosphere with an effective elastic thickness, T e , of c. 20−25 km. This T e is similar to what we would expect for loading of extended continental lithosphere 80 My after a rifting event. It predicts a c. 4 km flexural depression and a few hundred metres flanking bulge that is presently located beneath the Abu Dhabi region. The bulge is obscured, however, by at least 2 km of sediment, possibly because of an increase in accommodation space due to dynamic effects associated with the subduction of the Arabian Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate.

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Subsidence history, gravity anomalies and flexure of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) foreland basin

Karst and Caves of Great Britain

This volume forms part of the product of a multidisciplinary study by the British Geological Survey (BGS), commissioned by the UAE Federal Government, Ministry of Energy, to produce 1:50 000 scale geological maps of the bedrock and superficial geology of the northern part of the UAE. This volume contains information about the findings of the geological mapping and associated specialist research. 
The only large areas of exposed rocks in the UAE occur in the Hajar mountains in the northern Emirates. Previous geological maps were made more than 20 years ago and were based largely on air photo interpretation with limited ground-truthing. The rapid economic development in the intervening period has seen a tremendous expansion of the national infrastructure; this has greatly increased the demand for high quality, field-based geological maps. The mountain area was mapped at a scale of 1:25 000 and a series of maps at a scale of 1:50 000 have been produced, along with maps of areas of special interest at 1:25 000. The desert area to the west of the mountains, covered largely by Quaternary deposits, was mapped at a scale of 1:50 000 and maps produced at 1:100,000. All these maps are accompanied by a Sheet Explanation that describes the rock sequences in the area covered by that particular map. This report describes the broader features of the main rock groups on a regional basis and includes the results of the specialist laboratory studies that were used to define and interpret the geology of the project area.
The field mapping was undertaken in the winter months between October 2002 and January 2006. The mapping was carried out by S L B Arkley, J N Carney, R A Ellison, A R Farrant, K M Goodenough, E R Phillips, E A Pickett, D I Schofield, D Stephenson, M T Styles, R J Thomas, D G Tragheim and M Warrak. The laboratory studies were mostly carried out at the BGS. The petrographic study of the ophiolite, metamorphic and Dibba and Hatta zone rocks was carried out by members of the mapping team, and the limestones of the Platform Carbonates were studied by G K Lott. J A McKervey made electron probe microanalysis of minerals, M A Woods made macropalaeontological studies and assisted with the field mapping, and I P Wilkinson made micropalaeontologial determinations. Q W Crowley carried out the geochronological studies. The Earth Science Department at Cardiff University carried out the whole rock geochemical analysis and was also involved in a collaborative geochemical research project. P Lappage drew the majority of the illustrations. This volume was complied and edited K M Goodenough.

The geology and geophysics of the United Arab Emirates : Volume 2, Geology

Role of sediment in speleogenesis; sedimentation and paragenesis

Karstic behaviour of groundwater in the English Chalk

An essential prerequisite for any engineering or hydrogeological investigation of soluble rocks is the identification and description of their characteristic, observable and detectable dissolution features, such as stream sinks, springs, sinkholes and caves. The British Geological Survey (BGS) is creating a National Karst Database (NKD) that records such features across the country. The database currently covers much of the region underlain by Carboniferous Limestone, the Chalk, and particularly the Permo-Triassic gypsum and halite where rapid, active dissolution has caused significant subsidence and building damage. In addition to, and separate from, the identification of specific karst features, the BGS has created a National Karst Geohazard geographical information system (GIS). This has been created to identify areas that may potentially contain karst geohazards. Initially, all the soluble rock units identified from the BGS 1:50 000 scale digital geological map are extracted. Each soluble unit has been given an objective score, interpreted, as based on factors including lithology, topography, geomorphological position and characteristic superficial cover deposits. This national zonation of these soluble rocks can then be used to identify areas where the occurrence potential for karstic features is significant, and where dissolution features might affect the stability of buildings and infrastructure, or where karstic groundwater flow might occur. Both datasets are seen as invaluable scientific tools that have already been widely used to support site investigation, groundwater investigations, planning, construction and the insurance underwriting businesses.

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Andrew R. Farrant

Papers

Karst and Caves of Great Britain

The geology and geophysics of the United Arab Emirates : Volume 2, Geology

Role of sediment in speleogenesis; sedimentation and paragenesis

Karstic behaviour of groundwater in the English Chalk

Karst geohazards in the UK: the use of digital data for hazard management