The session "Natural and anthropogenic hazards in karst areas" (no. NH8.03) forms part of the Natural Hazards Program of the 1st General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union, to be held in Nice (France) from April 25 to 30, 2004. The session is co-sponsored by the IGU Karst Commission and UIS Commission on Karst Hydrogeology and Speleogenesis. The Convener is Mario Parise of the CNR-IRPI, Sezione di Bari, Italy, with John Gunn, Philippe Audra, and Alexander Klimchouk as Co-Convenors.

Session Rationale: Due to a number of peculiar geological and hydrogeological features (fractured rocks, presence of karst cavities and conduits, rapid concentrated flow), karst areas are among the most vulnerable settings of the world to man-induced and/or natural hazards. Occurrence of subsidence phenomena, floods, and slope movements may be for example very frequent, causing serious damage in several karst areas. Agriculture and land use changes may lead to degradation of the karst landscape through the practice of stone clearing and crushing, which may favour the development of erosion and eventually result in rocky desertification. At the same time, other anthropogenic activities such as intensive quarrying cause partial or total destruction of the karst landscape and of near-surface caves, with loss of the important geological and archaeological evidence they contained. The fragility of karst environments is further evidenced by karst groundwater systems, which are extremely important water supplies (about 25% of the global population is supplied largely or entirely by karst waters), but which quality is very susceptible to degradation. Over-exploitation of karst water resources, sea-water intrusion, and events of pollution, with the consequent deterioration of water quality are worldwide frequently object of study. Many of the hazards affecting karst environments can be fully appreciated only through a multi-disciplinary approach, combining expertise from different fields, including but not limited to, geomorphology, engineering geology, hydrology, hydrogeology, geophysics, and geochemistry.

The symposium dedicated to natural and anthropogenic hazards in karst areas is a good opportunity to share experiences from different areas of the world, and to discuss methodologies and techniques for a better understanding of karst, of the different hazards which may occur in these very fragile environment, and of the more correct ways for its management. At the latter aim, the interaction between human activity and karst areas also needs to be stressed. Papers dealing with analysis of case studies in karst areas are solicited. Contributions presenting a multi-disciplinary approach to the problem are particularly encouraged. This symposium is addressed to stimulate further research in the field of karst research, and to facilitate the co-operation between different expertise.

The Abstract Deadline is January 11, 2004, and abstracts should be submitted through the EGU website at . However, it would be helpful if colleagues who are intending to attend the meeting could also send an abstract to Mario Parise . The website also contains information about the meeting and it is our intention to publish a selection of the session papers in a special issue of an international, peer reviewed journal.

To your convenience, below are listed some direct web address for the Assembly: to look at the programme by following this link.

To submit abstract follow this link.

to look at the Karst Hazard session follow this link.

Dr. Mario Parise,
Convener Prof. John Gunn
and
Dr. Alexander Klimchouk ,
Co-conveners