Evaporite-karst processes, landforms, and environmental problems

Gutiérrez, F; Johnson, Kenneth; Cooper, Anthony. 2008 Evaporite-karst processes, landforms, and environmental problems. Environmental Geology, 53 (5). 935-936. 10.1007/s00254-007-0715-9

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Abstract/Summary

Evaporite karst is widespread, but relatively unknown when compared with carbonate karst; this special issue addresses that lack of familiarity. Evaporite rocks have much higher solubilities and faster dissolution rates than carbonate rocks and they also commonly have lower mechanical strengths and more ductile reheologies. Many of these factors are dependent on the local hydrogeology, and when combined they can result in areas where karst features evolve on a human time scale, rather than a geological timescale. Karst collapse and subsidence are common in such areas, making them problematical for the local population. The evaporite-karst environment is very sensitive to changes in the local hydrology and hydrogeology, so that human factors such as groundwater extraction, drainage, and irrigation can act as triggering events for karst collapses. Some evaporite-karst features such as caves and saline springs have been beneficially exploited, but most of them, including sinkholes, subsidence, and groundwater degradation, pose a threat to the local environment and a hazard to development. The papers in this special issue of Environmental Geology arose from a successful session on Evaporite Karst convened by us at the Sixth International Conference on Geomorphology. This was held in Zaragoza, Spain, in September 2005 and was organised by Zaragoza University and the International Association of Geomorphologists (IAG; http://www.geomorph.org/). Authors of the twenty-eight presented abstracts were invited to submit full papers to this special issue. Nineteen papers were proposed and sixteen papers have been accepted and are published here.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1007/s00254-007-0715-9
Programmes:	BGS Programmes 2008 > Land use and development
ISSN:	0943-0105
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com. Editorial for special volume on evaporite karst published by Environmental Geology including 16 papers from the Sixth International Conference on Geomorphlogy, Zaragoza, Spain, September 2005 (IAG; http://www.geomorph.org/)
Additional Keywords:	Evaporite karst, karst, gypsum, salt, hazards, geomorphology, geology, hydrogeology, subsidence, doline, sinkhole
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Earth Sciences Hydrology
Related URLs:	Funder/Sponsor
Date made live:	19 Mar 2009 12:05 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/6746

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