Within the framework of the IAEG (International Association of Engineering Geologists) XII Congress, session 5.7 will be entirely dedicated to karst, with the title “Engineering Problems in Karst”. The Congress will take place from 15 to 19 of September 2014 in Torino (Italy). More information on the overall Congress can be found at the event webpage.

Session 5.7: Engineering problems in karst

Session description: Karst covers 20% of the Earth's surface and provide 45% of the world's drinking water. Karst systems are extremely complex, and, due to the geological and hydrological intrinsic features, are among the most vulnerable settings in the world. Karst requires a specific approach to limit the negative effects of human activities on its valuable natural and often protected resources, and to allow sustainable development. Karst hydrology is highly vulnerable to pollution events, water withdrawals, and changes in land use. In addition, karst creates voids in carbonates and salt rocks, leading to underground collapses which propagation toward the surface may directly affect the built-up area, inducing severe damage and problems. Management of karst environments is a very delicate matter: understanding of how to deal with pollution, karst hazards, geotechnical constraints, unstable flows, sinkholes and human impacts on karst landscapes provides a context for discussion within the session.

Convener:             Mario Parise m.parise@ba.irpi.cnr.it

Co-conveners:    Damien Closson damien.closson@yahoo.fr

Francisco Gutiérrez fgutier@unizar.es

Zoran Stevanovic zstev_2000@yahoo.co.uk

New deadline for abstract submission: May 15, 2013.

The abstracts must be uploaded on the website at the address: http://www.iaeg2014.com/call-for-abstract.

The text of the abstract may contain a maximum of 8000 characters, including blanks. The title of the abstract will be uploaded separately as well as the authors and their affiliations. Each abstract may contain only one figure, graph or a table (to be uploaded separately).