Mesure de la propagation d’une perturbation de pression au Trou qui Souffle (Méaudre, Isère), 1993, Lismonde, B.

The Trou qui Souffle (Breathing Pot) is a cave in Vercors. There are three entrances, two of which are known and are situated 2 km apart. With one entrance rapidly obstructed, the effect upon the velocity of wind was measured at the other. The findings were a speed of about 100 m/s

Habitat use and gas bubble disease in southern cavefish (Typhlichthys subterraneus), 1993, Nielsen Carl D. , Noltie Douglas B. , Schubert Alex L. S.

In situ observations of habitat use by southern cavefish (Typhlichthys subterraneus) in a Missouri, U.S.A. spring suggest that groundwater discharge and that zones of substrate which have large interstitial spaces that fish can enter may be important components of the species habitat. Such substrates may also facilitate smallscale dispersal. In addition, we document the first recorded case of gas bubble disease in a laboratory-held specimen of this species. Cavefish may be particularly susceptible to this malady, and the conditions under which it occurred are important to avoid should captive maintenance or propagation of this or related species be attempted.

HIGH-RESOLUTION SEISMIC EXPRESSION OF KARST EVOLUTION WITHIN THE UPPER FLORIDIAN AQUIFER SYSTEM - CROOKED LAKE, POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA, 1994, Evans Mw, Snyder Sw, Hine Ac,

We collected 43 km of high resolution seismic reflection profiles from a 14.5-hectare lake in the central Florida sinkhole district and data from three adjacent boreholes to determine the relationship between falling lake levels and the underlying karst stratigraphy. The lake is separated from karstified Paleogene to early Neogene carbonates by 65-80 m of siliciclastic sands and clays. The carbonate and clastic strata include three aquifer systems separated by clay-confining units: a surficial aquifer system (fine to medium quartz sand in the upper 20-30 m), the 25-35 m thick intermediate aquifer system (in Neogene siliciclastics), and the highly permeable upper Floridan aquifer system in Paleogene to early Neogene limestones. Hydraulic connection between these aquifer systems is indicated by superjacent karst structures throughout the section. Collapse zones of up to 1000 m in diameter and > 50 m depth extend downward from a prominent Middle Miocene unconformity into Oligocene and Upper Eocene limestones. Smaller sinkholes (30-100 m diameter, 10-25 m depth) are present in Middle to Late Neogene clays, sands, and carbonates and extend downward to or below the Middle Miocene unconformity. Filled and open shafts (30-40 m diameter; 10-25 m depth) ring the lake margin and overlie subsurface karst features. The large collapse zones are localized along a northeast-southwest line in the northern ponds and disrupt or deform Neogene to Quaternary strata and at least 50 m of the underlying Paleogene carbonate rocks. The timing and vertical distribution of karst structures are used to formulate a four-stage model that emphasizes stratigraphic and hydrogeologic co-evolution. (1) Fracture-selective shallow karst features formed on Paleogene/early Neogene carbonates. (2) Widespread karstification was limited by deposition of Middle Miocene clays, but vertical karst propagation continued and was focused because of the topographic effects of antecedent karst. (3) Groundwater heads, increase with the deposition of thick sequences of clastics over the semipermeable clays during Middle and Late Neogene time. The higher water table and groundwater heads allowed the accumulation of acidic, organic-rich soils and chemically aggressive waters that percolated down to Paleogene carbonates via localized karst features. (4) After sufficient subsurface dissolution, the Paleogene carbonates collapsed, causing disruption and deformation of overlying strata. The seismic profiles document an episodic, vertically progressive karst that allows localized vertical leakage through the clay-confining units. The spatial and temporal karst distribution is a result of deposition of sediments with different permeabilities during high sea levels and enhanced karst dissolution during low sea levels. Recent decreases in the potentiometric elevation of the Floridan Aquifer System simulates a sea-level lowstand, suggesting that karst dissolution will increase in frequency and magnitude

Breakdown development in cover beds, and landscape features induced by intrastratal gypsum karst., 1996, Andrejchuk Vjacheslav, Klimchouk Alexander

Intrastratal karst is by far the predominant gypsum karst type. Its development may begin in deep-seated settings within rocks already buried by younger strata, and it proceeds increasingly rapidly as uplift brings gypsum sequences into progressively shallower positions. Such development commonly occurs under confined (artesian) hydrogeological conditions, that subsequently change to open conditions (phreatic-water table-vadose). The general evolutionary line of intrastratal karst is typified by progressive emergence of a sequence into a shallower position, activation of groundwater circulation and development of cave systems within karst units, commencement of gravitational breakdown and its upward propagation through overlying beds, and development of a karst landscape. These processes and phenomena progress through the directed evolution of karst types as follows: deep-seated intrastratal karst (1K) to subjacent 1K to entrenched 1K to denuded karst. One of the main characteristics of intrastratal karst is that it induces gravitational breakdown in cover beds. With the aid of processes other then simple breakdown, such effects may propagate upwards and may, or may not, reach the surface, depending upon the thickness and structure of the overburden. A karst landscape evolves when such features reach the surface. This paper considers the conditions and mechanisms of such development.

Conduit hydrogeology of a tropical coastal carbonate aquifer. MSc thesis, 1999, Beddows, P. A

The aim of this study is to investigate the hydrogeology of the submerged conduit systems of a coastal carbonate aquifer (Caribbean coast, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico), and thereby better understand their significance as large permeability heterogeneities. A complex spatial trend in conduit flow rates (determined by quantitative fluorescent dye tracing initiated 6 km inland) was found, including significant velocity variation between consecutive conduit segments. Elevated coastal velocities under low tide conditions are shown by salinity profiling, to be induced by the volumetric increase of discharging water from mixing with marine water. Semi-diurnal micro-tidal loading is sufficient to induce flooding from the sea into the conduits at one coastal discharge point, and significantly reduce flow rates at another. Furthermore, a network of four observation sites extending 5 km inland indicates efficient propagation of the ~0.30 m tidal signal through the Nohoch Nah Chich conduit system, a distance several time greater than previously appreciated in this environment. The field results clearly indicate that the hydrogeological flux is dominated by cavernous porosity, and that the aquifer is dynamically responsive to the high-frequency low-magnitude tidal loading to a significant distance inland. Conventional coastal groundwater models such as the Ghyben-Herzberg lens model, assume isotropic homogeneous equivalent-porous-medium conditions. Because the corollaries of the conventional models are inconsistent with the field evidence, they are inapplicable in this environment. It is hoped that these results will aid future modelling efforts, and improve our capacity to manage the valuable groundwater resources which represents the unique source of potable water to the local population.

Hardware and software modeling of initial conduit development in karst rocks, 2000, Ford D. , Lauritzen S. E. , Ewers R. O.

Most dissolutional conduits develop along fissures (bedding planes, joints or faults) in which the initial opening varies considerably from place to place, i.e. they are anisotropic. The propagation of conduits between input and output points in an anisotropic fissure was studied systematically with three types of hardware models: (1) electrical current analogs and (2) sandbox analogs, to investigate flowfield geometry; (3) artificial fissures cast in Plaster of Paris, with random anisotropic elements on their surfaces. A first series of experiments studied the case of a single input to the fissure. The earliest proto-conduits were observed to extend in radial (Darcian) array but one principal and several secondary tubes quickly extended down the hydraulic gradient, robbing competitors of their flow. This mode of propagation was tested with a resistor network computer model using 100 by 100 nodes, Weyl's (1958) equation for dissolution and transport with parameters appropriate for plaster, and three choices of opening - isotropic, anisotropic but homogeneous, heterogeneous. The computer model results closely matched those of the hardware models. In second and third series of plaster hardware experiments, the cases of (1) multiple inputs to the fissure in one rank, and (2) multiple inputs in multiple ranks, were explored. In the competition between inputs, some principal tubes in near ranks first breakthrough to the output boundary. This re-orients the flowfields of failed nearby competitors, which then extend to join the principal via their closest secondaries. The process extends outwards and to the rear, linking up all inputs in a cascading system.

Speleogenesis: Evolution of Karst Aquifers., 2000,

The aim of this book is to present advances made in recent decades in our understanding of the formation of dissolutional caves, and to illustrate the role of cave genetic ( speleogenetic ) processes in the development of karst aquifers. From the perspective of hydrogeology, karst ground water flow is a distinct kind of fluid circulation system, one that is capable of self-organization and self-development due to its capacity to dissolve significant amounts of the host rock and transport them out of the system. Fluid circulation in soluble rocks becomes more efficiently organized by creating, enlarging and modifying patterns of cave conduits, the process of speleogenesis. We can assert that karst ground water flow is a function of speleogenesis and vice versa . The advances in cave science are poorly appreciated in what may be termed ?mainstream hydrogeology?, which retains a child-like faith in flow models developed in the sand box. Many karst students also will not be aware of all emerging concepts of cave origin because discussions of them are scattered through journals and books in different disciplines and languages, including publications with small circulation. An understanding of principles of speleogenesis and its most important controls is indispensable for proper comprehension of the evolution of the karst system in general and of karst aquifers in particular. We hope this book will be useful for both karst and cave scientists, and for general hydrogeologists dealing with karst terranes. This book is a pioneer attempt by an international group of cave scientists to summarize modern knowledge about cave origin in various settings, and to examine the variety of approaches that have been adopted. Selected contributions from 44 authors in 15 nations are combined in an integrated volume, prepared between 1994 and 1998 as an initiative of the Commission of Karst Hydrogeology and Speleogenesis, International Speleological Union. Despite a desire to produce an integrated book, rather than a mere collection of papers, the editors' policy has not been directed toward unifying all views. Along with some well-established theories and approaches, the book contains new concepts and ideas emerging in recent years. We hope that this approach will stimulate further development and exchange of ideas in cave studies and karst hydrogeology. Following this Introduction, (Part 1), the book is organized in seven different parts, each with sub-chapters. Part 2 gives a history of speleogenetic studies, tracing the development of the most important ideas from previous centuries (Shaw, Chapter 2.1) through the early modern period in the first half of this century (Lowe, Chapter 2.2) to the threshold of modern times (W.White, Chapter 2.3). The present state of the art is best illustrated by the entire content of this book. Part 3 overviews the principal geologic and hydrogeologic variables that either control or significantly influence the differing styles of cave development that are found. In Chapter 3.1 Klimchouk and Ford introduce an evolutionary approach to the typology of karst settings, which is a taken as a base line for the book. Extrinsic factors and intrinsic mechanisms of cave development change regularly and substantially during the general cycle of geological evolution of a soluble rock and , more specifically, within the hydrogeologic cycle. The evolutionary typology of karst presented in this chapter considers the entire life cycle of a soluble formation, from deposition (syngenetic karst) through deep burial, to exposure and denudation. It helps to differentiate between karst types which may concurrently represent different stages of karst development, and is also a means of adequately classifying speleogenetic settings. The different types of karst are marked by characteristic associations of the structural prerequisites for groundwater flow and speleogenesis, flow regime, recharge mode and recharge/discharge configurations, groundwater chemistry and degree of inheritance from earlier conditions. Consequently, these associations make a convenient basis to view both the factors that control cave genesis and the particular types of caves. Lithological and structural controls of speleogenesis are reviewed in general terms in Chapters 3.2 (Klimchouk and Ford). Lowe in Chapter 3.3 discusses the role of stratigraphic elements and the speleo-inception concept. Palmer in Chapter 3.4 overviews the hydrogeologic controls of cave patterns and demonstrates that hydrogeologic factors, the recharge mode and type of flow in particular, impose the most powerful controls on the formation of the gross geometry of cave systems. Hence, analysis of cave patterns is especially useful in the reconstruction of environments from paleokarst and in the prediction and interpretation of groundwater flow patterns and contaminant migration. Any opportunity to relate cave patterns to the nature of their host aquifers will assist in these applied studies as well. Osborne (Chapter 3.7) examines the significance of paleokarst in speleogenesis. More specific issues are treated by Klimchouk (The nature of epikarst and its role in vadose speleogenesis, Chapter 3.5) and by V.Dublyansky and Y.Dublyansky (The role of condensation processes, Chapter 3.6). Part 4 outlines the fundamental physics and chemistry of the speleogenetic processes (Chapter 4.1) and presents a variety of different approaches to modeling cave conduit development (Chapter 4.2). In Chapter 4.1, the chemical reactions during the dissolution of the common soluble minerals, calcite, gypsum, salt and quartz, are discussed with the basic physical and chemical mechanisms that determine their dissolution rates. As limestone is the most common karst rock and its dissolution is the most complex in many respects, it receives the greatest attention. Dreybrodt (Section 4.1.1) and Dreybrodt and Eisenlohr (Section 4.1.2) provide advanced discussion and report the most recent experimental data, which are used to obtain realistic dissolution rates for a variety of hydrogeologic conditions and as input for modeling the evolution of conduits. Although direct comparisons between theoretical or analytical dissolution rates and those derived from field measurements is difficult, a very useful comparison is provided by W.White (Section 4.1.3). The bulk removal of carbonate rock from karst drainage basins can be evaluated either by direct measurement of rock surface retreat or by mass balance within known drainage basins. All of these approaches make sense and give roughly accurate results that are consistent with theoretical expectations. It is well recognized today that the earliest, incipient, phases of speleogenesis are crucial in building up the pattern of conduits that evolve into explorable cave systems. It is difficult to establish the major controls on these initial stages by purely analytical or intuitive methods, so that modeling becomes particularly important. Various approaches are presented in Chapter 4.2. Ford, Ewers and Lauritzen present the results of systematic study of the propagation of conduits between input and output points in an anisotropic fissure, using a variety of hardware and software models, in series representing the "single input", "multiple inputs in one rank", and "multiple inputs in multiple ranks" cases (Section 4.2.1). The results indicate important details of the competitive development of proto-conduits and help to explain branching cave patterns. In the competition between inputs, some principal tubes in near ranks first link ("breakthrough") to an output boundary. This re-orients the flowfields of failed nearby competitors, which then extend to join the principal via their closest secondaries. The process extends outwards and to the rear, linking up all inputs in a "cascading system". The exploding growth of computer capability during the last two decades has greatly enhanced possibilities for digital modeling of early conduit development. Investigating the growth of a single conduit is a logical first step in understanding the evolution of caves, realized here by Dreybrodt and Gabrov?ek in the form of a simple mathematical model (Section 4.2.2) and by Palmer by numerical finite-difference modeling (Section 4.2.3). The models show that positive feedback loops operate; widening a fracture causes increasing flow through it, therefore dissolution rates increase along it and so on, until finally a dramatic increase of flow rates permits a dramatic enhancement of the widening. This breakthrough event terminates the initial stage of conduit evolution. From then on the water is able to pass through the entire conduit while maintaining sufficient undersaturation to preserve low-order kinetics, so the growth rate is very rapid, at least from a geological standpoint -- usually about 0.001-0.1 cm/yr. The initiation ("breakthrough") time depends critically on the length and the initial width of the fracture and, for the majority of realistic cases, it covers a time range from a few thousand years to ten million years in limestones. The modeling results give a clear explanation of the operation of selectivity in cave genesis. In a typical unconfined karst aquifer there is a great range of enlargement rates along the competing flow routes, and only a few conduits will grow to enterable size. The modeling also provides one starting point (others are discussed in Chapter 5.2) to explain uniform maze patterns, which will be favored by enlargement of all openings at comparable rates where the discharge/length ratio is great enough. Single-conduit modeling has the virtue of revealing how the cave-forming variables relate to each other in the simplest possible way. Although it is more difficult to extend this approach to two dimensions, many have done so (e.g. Groves & Howard, 1994; Howard & Groves, 1995; in this volume ? Ford, Ewers and Lauritzen, Section 4.2.1; Dreybrodt and Siemers, Section 4.2.4, and Sauter and Liedl, Section 4.2.5). The modeling performed by Dreybrodt and Siemers shows that the main principles of breakthrough derived from one-dimensional models remain valid. The evolution of karst aquifers has been modeled for a variety of different geological settings, including also variation in lithology with respect to the dissolution kinetics. Sauter and Liedl simulate the development of conduits at a catchment scale for fissured carbonate rocks with rather large initial openings (about 1 mm). The approach is based upon hydraulic coupling of a pipe network to matrix continuum in order to represent the well-known duality of karst aquifer flow systems. It is also shown how understanding of the genesis of karst aquifers and modeling of their development can assist in characterization of the conduit system, which dominates flow and transport in karst aquifers. An important point that has emerged from cave studies of the last three decades is that no single speleogenetic model applies to all geologic and hydrologic settings. Given that settings may also change systematically during the evolutionary geological cycles outlined above (Chapter 3.1), an evolutionary approach is called for. This is attempted in Part 5, which is organized to give extended accounts of speleogenesis in the three most important settings that we recognize: coastal and oceanic (Chapter 5.1), deep-seated and confined (Chapter 5.2) and unconfined (Chapter 5.3). Each Chapter begins with a review of modern ideas on cave development in the setting, followed by representative case studies. The latter include new accounts of some "classic" caves as well as descriptions of other, little-known cave systems and areas. Readers may determine for themselves how well the real field examples fit the general models presented in the introductory sections. Mylroie and Carew in Chapter 5.1 summarize specific features of cave and karst development in young rocks in coastal and island settings that result from the chemical interactions between fresh and salt waters, and the effects of fluctuating sea level during the Quaternary. The case studies include a review of syngenetic karst in coastal dune limestones, Australia (S.White, 5.1.1) and an example of speleogenesis on tectonically active carbonate islands (Gunn and Lowe, 5.1.2). Klimchouk in Chapter 5.2 reviews conditions and mechanisms of speleogenesis in deep-seated and confined settings, one of the most controversial but exciting topics in modern cave research. Conventional karst/speleogenetic theories are concerned chiefly with shallow, unconfined geologic settings, supposing that the karstification found there is intimately related to surface conditions of input and output, with the dissolution being driven by downward meteoric water recharge. The possibility of hypogenic karstification in deeper environments has been neglected for a long time, and the quite numerous instances of karst features found at significant depths have usually been interpreted as buried paleokarst. However, the last decade has seen a growing recognition of the variety and importance of hypogene dissolution processes and of speleogenesis under confined settings which often precedes unconfined development (Hill, 1987, 1995; Klimchouk, 1994, 1996, 1997; Lowe, 1992; Lowe & Gunn, 1995; Mazzullo & Harris, 1991, 1992; Palmer, 1991, 1995; Smart & Whitaker, 1991; Worthington, 1991, 1994; Worthington & Ford, 1995). Confined (artesian) settings were commonly ignored as sites for cave origin because the classic concept of artesian flow implies long lateral travel distances for groundwater within a soluble unit, resulting in a low capacity to generate caves in the confined area. However, the recognition of non-classical features in artesian flow, namely the occurrence of cross-formation hydraulic communication within artesian basins, the concepts of transverse speleogenesis and of the inversion of hydrogeologic function of beds in a sequence, allows for a revision of the theory of artesian speleogenesis and of views on the origin of many caves. It is proposed that artesian speleogenesis is immensely important to speleo-inception and also accounts for the development of some of the largest known caves in the world. Typical conditions of recharge, the flow pattern through the soluble rocks, and groundwater aggressiveness favor uniform, rather than competing, development of conduits, resulting in maze caves where the structural prerequisites exist. Cross-formational flow favors a variety of dissolution mechanisms that commonly involve mixing. Hydrogeochemical mechanisms of speleogenesis are particularly diverse and potent where carbonate and sulfate beds alternate and within or adjacent to hydrocarbon-bearing sedimentary basins. Hypogene speleogenesis occurs in rocks of varied lithology and can involve a variety of dissolution mechanisms that operate under different physical constraints but create similar cave features. Case studies include the great gypsum mazes of the Western Ukraine (Klimchouk, Section 5.2.1), great maze caves in limestones in Black Hills, South Dakota (Palmer, Section 5.2.2) and Siberia (Filippov, Section 5.2.3), karstification in the Redwall aquifer, Arizona (Huntoon, Section 5.2.4), hydrothermal caves in Hungary (Y.Dublyansky, Section 5.2.6), and sulfuric acid speleogenesis (Lowe, Bottrell and Gunn, Section 5.2.7, and Hill, Section 5.2.8). Y.Dublyansky summarizes the peculiar features of hydrothermal speleogenesis (Section 5.2.5), and V.Dublyansky describes an outstanding example of a hydrothermal cavity, in fact the largest ever recorded by volume, in the Rhodope Mountains (Section 5.2.9). Recognition of the scale and importance of deep-seated speleogenesis and of the hydraulic continuity and cross-formational communications between aquifers in artesian basins is indispensable for the correct interpretation of evolution of karst aquifers, speleogenetic processes and associated phenomena, regional karst water-resource evaluations, and the genesis of certain karst-related mineral deposits. These and other theoretical and practical implications still have to be developed and evaluated, which offers a wide field for further research efforts. Ford in Chapter 5.3 reviews theory of speleogenesis that occurs where normal meteoric waters sink underground through the epikarst or dolines and stream sinks, etc. and circulate in the limestone or other soluble rocks without any major artesian confinement. These are termed common caves (Ford & Williams, 1989) because they probably account for 90% or more of the explored and mapped dissolutional caves that are longer than a few hundred meters. This estimate reflects the bias in exploration; caves formed in unconfined settings and genetically related to surface recharge are the most readily accessible and hence form the bulk of documented caves. Common caves display chiefly the branchwork forms where the dissolutional conduits occupy only a tiny proportion of the total length or area of penetrable fissures that is available to the groundwaters. The rules that govern the selection of the successful linkages that will be enlarged into the branchwork pattern are supported in the models presented in Chapter 4.2. In the long section caves may be divided into deep phreatic, multi-loop, mixed loop and water table, and ideal water table types, with drawdown vadose caves or invasion vadose caves above them. Many large systems display a mixture of the types. The concepts of plan pattern construction, phreatic, water table or vadose state, and multi-phase development of common caves are illustrated in the case studies that follow the introduction. They are organized broadly to begin with examples of comparatively simple deep phreatic and multi-loop systems (El Abra, Mexico, Ford, Section 5.3.1 and Castleguard Cave, Canada, Ford, Lauritzen and Worthington, Section 5.3.2), proceeding to large and complex multi-phase systems such as the North of Thun System, Switzerland (Jeannin, Bitterly and Hauselmann, Section 5.3.3) and Mammoth Cave, Kentucky (Palmer, Section 5.3.8), to representatives of mixed vadose and phreatic development in mountainous regions (the Alps, Audra, Section 5.3.4; the Pyrenees, Fernandez, Calaforra and Rossi, Section 5.3.5; Mexico, Hose, Section 5.3.6) and where there is strong lithologic or structural control (Folded Appalachians, W.White, Section 5.3.7; gypsum caves in the South of Spain, Calaforra and Pulido-Bosch, Section 5.3.10). Two special topics are considered by W.White in Section 5.3.9 (Speleogenesis of vertical shafts in the eastern US) and Palmer (Maze origin by diffuse recharge through overlying formation). The set concludes with two instances of nearly ideal water table cave development (in Belize and Hungary, Ford, Section 5.3.12), and a review of the latest models of speleogenesis from the region where modern karst studies in the West began, the Classical Karst of Slovenia and Trieste (?u?ter?ic, Section 5.3.13). In Parts 2-5 attention is directed primarily on how the gross geometry of a cave system is established. Part 6 switches focus to the forms at meso- and micro- scales, which can be created during enlargement of the cave. Lauritzen and Lundberg in Chapter 6.1 summarize the great variety of erosional forms ( speleogenetic facies ) that can be created by a wide range of speleogenetic agents operating in the phreatic or vadose zones. Some forms of cave passages have been subject to intensive research and may be interpreted by means of simple physical and chemical principles, but many others are polygenetic and hence difficult to decipher with certainty. However, in addition to the analysis of cave patterns (see Chapter 3.4), each morphological element is a potential tool that can aid our inferences on the origin of caves and on major characteristics of respective past hydrogeological settings. In Chapter 6.2 E.White and W.White review breakdown morphology in caves, generalizing that the processes are most active during the enlargement and decay phases of cave development. Early in the process breakdown occurs when the flow regime shifts from pipe-full conditions to open channel conditions (i.e. when the roof first loses buoyant support) and later in the process breakdown becomes part of the overall degradation of the karst system. The chapter addresses the mechanism of breakdown formation, the geological triggers that initiate breakdown, and the role that breakdown plays in the development of caves. As the great majority of both theoretical considerations and case studies in this book deal with speleogenesis in carbonate rocks, it is useful to provide a special forum to examine dissolution cave genesis in other rocks. This is the goal of Part 7. Klimchouk (7.1) provides a review of speleogenesis in gypsum. This appears to be a useful playground for testing the validity and limitations of certain general speleogenetic concepts. Differences in solution kinetics between gypsum and calcite impose some limitations and peculiar features on the early evolution of conduits in gypsum. These peculiarities appear to be an extreme and more obvious illustration of some rules of speleogenetic development devised from conceptual and digital modeling of early conduit growth in limestones. For instance, it is shown (e.g. Palmer, 1984, 1991; Dreybrodt, 1996; see also Chapter 3.4 and Section 4.2.2) that initiation of early, narrow and long pathways does not seem feasible under linear dissolution rate laws (n=1) due to exponential decrease of the dissolution rates. Although the dissolution kinetics of gypsum are not well known close to equilibrium it is generally assumed that they are controlled entirely by diffusion and therefore linear. If dissolution of gypsum is solely diffusion-controlled, with no change in the kinetic order, conduit initiation could not occur in phreatic settings or by lateral flow through gypsum from distant recharge areas in artesian settings. Hence, the fact that maze caves are common in gypsum in artesian conditions (see Section 5.2.1) gives strong support to a general model of "transverse" artesian speleogenesis where gypsum beds are underlain by, or sandwiched between, insoluble or low-solubility aquifers (Chapter 5.2), and suggests that it may be applicable to cave development in carbonates. In unconfined settings, speleogenesis in gypsum occurs along fissures wide enough to support undersaturated flow throughout their length. Linear or crudely branching caves overwhelmingly predominate, which rapidly adjust to the contemporary geomorphic setting and to the maximum available recharge. Also, if considerable conduit porosity has been created in deep-seated settings, it provides ready paths for more intense groundwater circulation and further cave development when uplift brings the gypsum into the shallow subsurface. Speleogenesis in salt, reviewed in general and exemplified by the Monte Sedom case in Israel (Frumkin, Chapter 7.2), has been documented only in open, unconfined settings, where it provides a model for simple vadose cave development. Chapter 7.3 deals with speleogenesis in quartzites, illustrated by case studies from southeastern Minas Gerais, Brasil (Correa Neto, 7.3.1) and South Africa (Martini, 7.3.2). The process involves initial chemical weathering of the quartzite to create zones of friable rocks (sanding, or arenisation) which then are removed by piping, with further conduit enlargement due to mechanical erosion by flowing water. Part 8 combines the theoretical with some applied aspects of speleogenetic studies. Worthington, Ford and Beddows (8.1) show the important implications of what might be termed "speleogenetic wisdom" when studying ground water behaviour in karst. They examine some standard hydrogeological concepts in the light of knowledge of caves and their patterns, considering a range of case studies to identify the characteristic enhancement of porosity and permeability due to speleogenesis that occurs in carbonate rocks. The chapter focuses on unconfined carbonate aquifers as these are the most studied from the speleological perspective and most important for water supplies. Four aquifers, differing in rock type, recharge type (allogenic and autogenic), and age (Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic), are described in detail to demonstrate the extent of dissolutional enhancement of porosity and permeability. It is shown that all four cases are similar in hydraulic function, despite the fact that some of them were previously characterized as different end members of a "karst ? non-karst" spectrum. Enhancement of porosity by dissolution is relatively minor: enhancement of permeability is considerable because dissolution has created dendritic networks of channels able to convey 94% or more of all flow in the aquifer, with fractures providing a small proportion and the matrix a negligible amount. These conclusions may be viewed as a warning to hydrogeologists working in carbonate terranes: probably the majority of unconfined aquifers function in a similar manner. Sampling is a major problem in their analysis because boreholes (the conventional exploration tool in hydrogeology) are unlikely to intersect the major channels that are conveying most of the flow and any contaminants in it. It is estimated, using examples of comprehensively mapped caves, that the probability of a borehole intersecting a conduit ranges from 1 in 50 to 1 in 1000 or more. Boreholes simply cannot be relied upon to detect the presence of caves or to ?characterise? the hydrologic functioning of cavernous aquifers. Wherever comprehensive evidence has been collected in unconfined carbonate aquifers (cave mapping plus boreholes plus lab analysis of core samples) it suggests that dissolution inexorably results in a similar structure, with channel networks providing most of the permeability of the aquifer, yet occupying a very minor fraction of its volume (Worthington, Ford and Beddows). Lowe (Chapter 8.2) focuses on developments in understanding the vital role played by karstic porosity, (broadly viewed as being the product of speleogenesis), in the migration of mineralizing fluids (or hydrocarbons) and in their deposition (or storage), and comments on the potential role of new speleogenetic concepts in developing greater understanding in the future. Although some early workers were clearly aware of actual evidence for some kind of relationship, and others noted its theoretical likelihood, it has been ignored by many until relatively recent times. This shortfall has gradually been redressed; new understanding of the extent and variety of karst processes is ensuring that new relationships are being recognized and new interpretations and models are being derived. The chapter does not pretend to give a comprehensive account of the topic but clearly demonstrates the wide applicability of speleogenetic knowledge to issues in economic geology. In Chapter 8.3 Aley provides an overview of the water and land-use problems that occur in areas with conduit aquifers. He stresses that sound land management must be premised on an understanding that karst is a three-dimensional landscape where the surface and subsurface are intimately and integrally connected. Failure to recognize that activity at the surface affects the subsurface, and the converse, has long been the root cause of many of the problems of water and land use in karst regions. Karst areas have unique natural resource problems, whose management can have major economic consequences. Although there is an extensive literature on the nature of particular problems, resource protection and hazard minimization strategies in karst, it rarely displays an advanced understanding of the processes of the conduit formation and their characteristics yet these will always be involved. This book does not pretend to be a definitive text on speleogenesis. However, it is hoped that readers will find it to be a valuable reference source, that it will stimulate new ideas and approaches to develop and resolve some of the remaining problems, and that it will promote an appreciation of the importance of speleogenetic studies in karst hydrogeology and applied environmental sciences. Acknowledgements: We sincerely thank all contributors for their willing cooperation in the long and difficult process of preparing this book, for their participation in developing its logic and methodology and their cheerful response to numerous requests. We thank all colleagues who discussed the work with us and encouraged it in many ways, even though not contributing to its content as authors. We are particularly grateful to Margaret Palmer for invaluable help in editing the English in many contributions, to Nataly Yablokova for her help in performing many technical tasks and to Elizabeth White who prepared comprehensive index. Our thanks are due to Dr. David Drew, Dr. Philip LaMoreaux, Dr. George Moore and Prof. Marian Pulina for reviewing the manuscript and producing constructive notes and comments on improvement of the final product. The organizational costs and correspondence related to the preparation of the book were partially sponsored by the National Speleological Society, the publisher. We thank David McClurg, the Chair of the NSS Special Publication Committee, for his extensive technical and organizational support in the preparation and publishing processes.

Propagation of a floodwave in karst during artificially generated recession - case study of Banjica spring (Bela Palanka, Eastern Serbia), 2003, Zlokolicamandić, Milena, Jalić, Ljubojević, Jelena

During hydrogeological research in the area of the north-eastern foothills of Mt. Suva Planina in Eastern Serbia, a borehole of 100 m of depth was drilled in the vicinity of a lukewarm spring, Banjica. The borehole had an artesian discharge, which caused artificially generated recession in the adjoining spring Banjica. During this hydrodynamical test, great quantities of precipitation occured in the hinterland of the spring, having the effect of a floodwave. The presence of two types of karst is obvious in the field - confined karst and covered karst. The hydrogeological response to the floodwave during artificially generated recession proved the presence of deep-seated karst also. This can be detected by comparative analysis of the hydrograph of the Banjica spring and the graph of pressures in the borehole. In this way, not only the presence, but also the characteristics of the karst can be proved (e.g. dimensions and types of karst conduits, relative age of karst, size and extension of the aquifer, etc.).

Geology and models of salt extrusion at Qum Kuh, central Iran, 2004, Talbot C. J. , Aftabi P. ,

Profiles through the summit of a small nearly axisymmetric extrusion of Oligocene and Miocene salt, and simple analogue models of it, simulate the profiles of piles of ductile nappes extruded from convergent orogens. The salt extrudes from a reactive diapir along a major strike-slip fault at about 82 mm a(-1) and rises 315 m above the central plateau of Iran. The salt has the distinctive smooth profile of a viscous fountain in which an asymmetric apron of allochthonous salt gravity-spreads over its surroundings from a summit dome. Curtain folds developed in the source layer extrude from the diapir and are refolded by major recumbent folds with circumferential axes that simulate nappes. Minor flow folds with circumferential axes refold major folds in the top 10-50 m of surficial salt. Master joints > 100 m long indicate brittle failure of dilated salt by regional stress fields. Tuned to the dimensions of Qum Kuh, analytical and analogue models of viscous extrusions constrain the dynamic salt budget and a time of extrusion of at least 42000 years. New analogue models suggest that the number, amplitude and spacing of major recumbent folds within the extruded salt (and ductile nappe piles) record the number, amount and relative timing of fluctuations in the driving forces

Development and Evolution of Epikarst in Mid-Continent US Carbonates, 2005, Cooley Tony L. , P. E.

2D and 3D GPR imaging of sinkholes and dissolution features in Jandaíra karst of Fazenda Belém oil field, Potiguar Basin-CE, northeast of Brazil, PhD Thesis, 2005, Xavier Neto, Pedro

In Fazenda Belém oil field (Potiguar Basin, Ceará State, northeast Brazil) occur frequently sinkholes and sudden terrain collapses associated to an unconsolidated sedimentary cap covering the Jandaíra karst. This research was carried out in order to understand the mechanisms of generation of these collapses. The main tool used was Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). This work is developed twofold: one aspect concerns methodology improvements in GPR data processing whilst another aspect concerns the geological study of the Jandaíra karst. This second aspect was strongly supported both by the analysis of outcropping karst structures (in another regions of Potiguar Basin) and by the interpretation of radargrams from the subsurface karst in Fazenda Belém.


It was designed and tested an adequate flux to process GPR data which was adapted from an usual flux to process seismic data. The changes were introduced to take into account important differences between GPR and Reflection Seismic methods, in particular: poor coupling between source and ground, mixed phase of the wavelet, low signal-to-noise ratio, monochannel acquisition, and high influence of wave propagation effects, notably dispersion. High frequency components of the GPR pulse suffer more pronounced effects of attenuation than low frequency components resulting in resolution losses in radargrams. In Fazenda Belém, there is a stronger need of an suitable flux to process GPR data because both the presence of a very high level of aerial events and the complexity of the imaged subsurface karst structures. The key point of the processing flux was an improvement in the correction of the attenuation effects on the GPR pulse based on their influence on the amplitude and phase spectra of GPR signals. In low and moderate losses dielectric media the propagated signal suffers significant changes only in its amplitude spectrum; that is, the phase spectrum of the propagated signal remains practically unaltered for the usual travel time ranges. Based on this fact, it is shown using real data that the judicious application of the well known tools of time gain and spectral balancing can efficiently correct the attenuation effects. The proposed approach can be applied in heterogeneous media and it does not require the precise knowledge of the attenuation parameters of the media. As an additional benefit, the judicious application of spectral balancing promotes a partial deconvolution of the data without changing its phase. In other words, the spectral balancing acts in a similar way to a zero phase deconvolution. In GPR data the resolution increase obtained with spectral balancing is greater than those obtained with spike and predictive deconvolutions.


The evolution of the Jandaíra karst in Potiguar Basin is associated to at least three events of subaerial exposition of the carbonatic plataform during the Turonian, Santonian, and Campanian. In Fazenda Belém region, during the mid Miocene, the Jandaíra karst was covered by continental siliciclastic sediments. These sediments partially filled the void space associated to the dissolution structures and fractures. Therefore, the development of the karst in this region was attenuated in comparison to other places in Potiguar Basin where this karst is exposed. In Fazenda Belém, the generation of sinkholes and terrain collapses are controlled mainly by: (i) the presence of an unconsolidated sedimentary cap which is thick enough to cover completely the karst but with sediment volume lower than the available space associated to the dissolution structures in the karst; (ii) the existence of important structural of SW-NE and NW-SE alignments which promote a localized increase in the hydraulic connectivity allowing the channeling of underground water, thus facilitating the carbonatic dissolution; and (iii) the existence of a hydraulic barrier to the groundwater flow, associated to the Açu-4 Unity.


The terrain collapse mechanisms in Fazenda Belém occur according to the following temporal evolution. The meteoric water infiltrates through the unconsolidated sedimentary cap and promotes its remobilization to the void space associated with the dissolution structures in Jandaíra Formation. This remobilization is initiated at the base of the sedimentary cap where the flow increases its abrasion due to a change from laminar to turbulent flow regime when the underground water flow reaches the open karst structures. The remobilized sediments progressively fill from bottom to top the void karst space. So, the void space is continuously migrated upwards ultimately reaching the surface and causing the sudden observed terrain collapses. This phenomenon is particularly active during the raining season, when the water table – that normally is located in the karst – may be temporarily located in the unconsolidated sedimentary cap.

Étude des transferts de masse et de chaleur dans la grotte de Lascaux : le suivi climatique et le simulateur., 2007, Lacanette D. , Malaurent Ph. , Caltagirone J. P. , Brunet J.

Study of heat and mass flows in Lascaux cave: the climatic monitoring and the simulation tool. The cave of Lascaux, discovered in 1940 and located in the Dordogne area in France, is inscribed on the Unesco World Heritage List. It is considered as one of the major prehistoric caves in the world. Since its discovery, several problems have occurred, due to the huge amount of visitors, and their release of vapour and carbon dioxide by their breath, causing the formation of calcite and the apparition of green algae and mosses. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs had the cave closed in 1963. Since then, prehistorians, archaeologists, geologists, hydrogeologists, have tried hard to maintain the cavity in the most stable state as possible, using remote metering to record the variations in temperature, hygrometry, and carbon dioxide gas pressure. The biological equilibrium remained fragile and, in 2001, colonies of micro-organisms, mushrooms and bacteria developed on the rock edges and on the floor. This attack made the authorities and the Minister of Culture and Communication create the scientific international comity of the Lascaux cave, a multidisciplinary comity (composed of archaeologists, physicists, geologists, hydrogeologists, conservators working altogether) to understand the mechanisms of apparition of the micro-organisms in order to stop their propagation. Among the measures taken by the comity, a better understanding of the flows in the cave has appeared very important, and has induced the creation of a simulation tool, the "Lascaux Simulator". The non intrusive character of simulation is one of the major assets of this method. Thus, the numerical simulation in fluid mechanics is here dedicated to the conservation of the cave of Lascaux. The simulator is based on a computational fluid dynamics code named Aquilon. A three dimensional survey has been leaded in the cave using laser scanning and an accurate topology of the environment is incorporated in the simulator. Starting from this point, governing equations of the fluid mechanics are solved and parameters such as temperature, velocity or moisture content are known in every point of the cavity. Thermal conditions are chosen, basing on the analysis of the calculated and measured temperature data for more than 50 years. In this article, two configurations are chosen, the first one in September 1981, period during which the cave remained in a stable state regarding condensation, and the other one in December 1999; at this time, temperature were reversed, the ground of the cavity was colder than the vaults. This phenomenon implied an inversion of the air flow in the cave. Finally, the removal of the dividing wall of the “Bauer airlock” has been simulated, and it has been showed that the impact on the cavity would be negligible.

Interactions hydrodynamiques surface/souterrain en milieu karstique [Surface water/Groundwater hydrodynamic interactions in karst watersheds], PhD Thesis, 2008, Baillycomte, Vincent

Ce travail de these s’inscrit dans la problematique generale de la caracterisation de l’alea inondation. Plus precisement, cette etude cherche a caracteriser l’influence des eaux souterraines sur la genese et la propagation des crues en surface dans les cas d’un bassin versant a forte composante karstique. Le site experimental du bassin versant du Coulazou, riviere temporaire qui traverse le massif karstique du Causse d’Aumelas a l’Ouest de Montpellier a ete retenu pour etudier de maniere approfondie les interactions entre les ecoulements de surface et les ecoulements souterrains en situation de crue.

L’etude hydrodynamique de ce systeme karst/riviere s’appuie sur un dispositif experimental adapte a l’observation des phenomenes hydrologiques (pluie, ruissellement) et hydrogeologiques (piezometrie en forage et dans les drains karstiques, suivi hydrodynamique des exutoires du systeme) tres rapides et tres intenses. La dynamique de ces ecoulements est liee au contexte climatique Mediterraneen mais aussi aux structures de drainage en surface et en souterrain qui permettent un transfert et un transit tres rapide des eaux au sein du systeme karst/riviere.

Une description hydrodynamique classique est completee par une approche fonctionnelle des echanges karst/riviere dans le but de mieux comprendre le fonctionnement hydrodynamique d’un tel systeme et de mettre en avant des indicateurs utilisables dans une demarche de modelisation des echanges surface/souterrain. Un premier modele est presente dans la derniere partie de ce document.

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This work aims at assessing the flooding hazard. More precisely, the study focuses on the influence of groundwater on the genesis and propagation of surface flows in the case of a highly karstified watershed. The experimental site of the Coulazou River, a temporary River which crosses the karstified formation of the Causse d’Aumelas (western Montpellier) has been selected to study hydrodynamic interactions between surface flows and groundwater flows during flood.

The hydrodynamic study of this karst/River system is based on a suitable experimental monitoring of both fast and intense hydrological (rain, runoff) and hydrogeological (water level in wells and karst drains, discharge measurements at the main outlets of the system) phenomenon. The specific hydrological response of this watershed is due to the Mediterranean climate but also to surface and underground drainage structures which allow very fast water flows within the karst/river system.

A common hydrodynamic description is followed by a functional approach of karst/river exchanges in order (i) to better understand the hydrodynamic behaviour of such a system and (ii) to highlight some indicators that can be used in a modelling approach. A first conceptual model of surface water/groundwater exchanges in karst terranes is presented in the latter part of the manuscript.
 

Time constraints for the evolution of a large slope collapse in karstified mountainous terrain of the southwestern Crimean Mountains, Ukraine, 2009, Pá, Nek Tomá, š, : Hradecký, Jan, Š, Ilhá, N Karel, Smolková, Veronika, Altová, Viola

Deep-seated gravitational deformations are significant denudational agents of rock slopes at the margins of karstified plateaus of the Crimean Mountains (Ukraine). The aim of this article is to study long-term evolution of a giant rock slope failure close to the Black Sea coast in the southwestern tip of the mountains near Foros Town. The failure evolved in highly anisotropic limestones overlying plastic flysch layers where the main headscarp follows a strike-slip fault. We tested a new chronological strategy based on 14C and U-/Th-series dating of speleothems from unroofed caves exposed in the headscarp area of the slope failure. This approach made it possible to state maximum age of the slope collapse in individual parts of the deformed slope. Obtained results indicate that extension of discontinuities together with their karstification can be traced to > 300 ka BP, whereas evolution of the main headscarp started ~ 110 ka BP and since then it has propagated in the eastward direction. The youngest slope failure in the easternmost part of the studied collapse is of Late Holocene age. Our study indicates that conditions for large rock slope failures in carbonate areas can be prepared by speleogenesis or combined effects of propagation of cracks and their solution-based expansion. Furthermore, large rock slope failures can be important factors for the genesis of unroofed caves.

HYPOGENE CAVES IN DEFORMED (FOLD BELT) STRATA: OBSERVATIONS FROM EASTERN AUSTRALIA AND CENTRAL EUROPE, 2009, Osborne R.

While there is a well-established general theory for the mechanism of excavation of hypogene caves in artesian basins, the same cannot be said for hypogene caves in deformed strata. A few active thermal caves, several dormant hypogene caves and many extinct hypogene caves and extinct hypogene sections of complex multiprocess caves are developed in impounded karsts along the whole length of the Tasman Fold Belt System in eastern Australia. The active caves are related to warm springs with temperatures (20°-28°C) only a few degrees above the annual average (17°C) and are often cooler than the external summer temperature. The origins of these waters have not been investigated, but most active, dormant, extinct and suspect ancient hypogene caves occur in close proximity to faults, frequently to large regional faults. If and how water from these faults is transmitted to the propagation planes in the caves is not known. While hypogene speleothems occur in the active and dormant caves, these are absent from the older suspect hypogene caves, some of which have probably been thermally dormant for hundreds of millions of years. The older caves are characterized by cave pattern, the presence of hypogene speleogens and poor relationship with surrounding hydrology. Two processes that are signi?cant in the development of the older complex caves are integration, which leads to formerly separate cavities joining to form larger caves and renovation, which smoothes cave walls, obliterating boxwork, etching and lithologically selective solution.