LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) surveys of karst terrains provide high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) that are particularly useful for mapping sinkholes. In this study, we used automated processing tools within ArcGIS (v. 10.0) operating on a 1.0 m resolution LiDAR DEM in order to delineate sinkholes and closed depressions in the Boyce 7.5 minute quadrangle located in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The results derived from the use of the automated tools were then compared with depressions manually delineated by a geologist. Manual delineation of closed depressions was conducted using a combination of 1.0 m DEM hillshade, slopeshade, aerial imagery, and Topographic Position Index (TPI) rasters. The most effective means of visualizing depressions in the GIS was using an overlay of the partially transparent TPI raster atop the slopeshade raster at 1.0 m resolution. Manually identified depressions were subsequently checked using aerial imagery to screen for false positives, and targeted ground-truthing was undertaken in the field. The automated tools that were utilized include the routines in ArcHydro Tools (v. 2.0) for prescreening, evaluating, and selecting sinks and depressions as well as thresholding, grouping, and assessing depressions from the TPI raster. Results showed that the automated delineation of sinks and depressions within the ArcHydro tools was highly dependent upon pre-conditioning of the DEM to produce “hydrologically correct” surface flow routes. Using stream vectors obtained from the National Hydrologic Dataset alone to condition the flow routing was not sufficient to produce a suitable drainage network, and numerous artificial depressions were generated where roads, railways, or other manmade structures acted as flow barriers in the elevation model. Additional conditioning of the DEM with drainage paths across these barriers was required prior to automated 2delineation of sinks and depressions. In regions where the DEM had been properly conditioned, the tools for automated delineation performed reasonably well as compared to the manually delineated depressions, but generally overestimated the number of depressions thus necessitating manual filtering of the final results. Results from the TPI thresholding analysis were not dependent on DEM pre-conditioning, but the ability to extract meaningful depressions depended on careful assessment of analysis scale and TPI thresholding.

In this study, the concentration and isotopic composition of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) are measured in the karst groundwater of the Otter Creek watershed of the Cumberland Plateau of Kentucky, USA. Comparisons among these data and with the geochemistry of carbonate and gypsum equilibrium reactions reveal that DOC concentration is inversely related to discharge, multiple reaction pathways provide DIC with isotopic enrichment that may be directly related to mineral saturation, and oxidation of reduced sulfur is possible for dissolution. DOC is derived from C3 vegetation with an average δ¹³C _DOC of ‒27‰. DIC in groundwater is derived from both pedogenic CO₂  and HCO₃ - from dissolved carbonate. At input sites to the karst aquifers DIC concentrations are expectedly low, less than 1 mmol/L, in waters that are undersaturated with respect to calcite. At the output of these karst aquifers DIC concentrations reach 3 mmol/L in waters that are at or above calcite saturation. Values of δ¹³C _DIC range between ‒6.3 and ‒12.4‰ with CO₂ degassing and calcite precipitation at some sites obfuscating a simple relationship between δ¹³C _DIC, discharge, and mineral saturation. In addition, concentrations of DIC in sulfur seeps within the watershed range between 2–7 mmol/L with δ¹³C _DIC values in some samples skewed more toward the anticipated value of carbonate bedrock than would be expected from reactions with carbonic acid alone. This suggests that the oxidation of reduced sulfur from shallow oilfield brines liberates bedrock DIC through reactions with sulfuric acid.

The conservation of the Speleological Heritage involves bioecological, geomorphological and anthropogenic studies, both from inside the caves and from the external environments that surround them. This study presents a method to rank caves according to their priority for conservation and restoration. Nine caves were evaluated: indicators related to the environmental impacts and the vulnerability status presented by those caves (intrinsic features) and the values scored in a ‘Cave Conservation Index’ (CCI) were established. We also used a rapid assessment protocol to measure cave vulnerability for prioritization of conservation/restoration actions (RAP-cr) comparing natural cavities with the same lithology, due to “strictu sensu” peculiarities. Based on the protocols applied in caves of the municipality of Laranjeiras, Sergipe, Northeastern Brazil, we concluded that the present method attended to the needs for the classification of the caves into categories of conservation/restoration status, using little time and financial effort, through rapid diagnostics that facilitate the comparisons. In this perspective, the CCI can be used to indicate areas that should be protected and caves that should be prioritized to have initiated activities of conservation and restoration.

The structure and composition of carbonate rocks is modified greatly when they are subjected to phenomena that lead to their weathering. These processes result in the production of residual alterite whose petrophysical, mechanical, and hydrological properties differ completely to those of the unweathered rock. From a geotechnical perspective, it is important that such changes are fully understood as they affect reservoir behavior and rock mass stability. This paper presents a quantitative method of calculating a weathering index for carbonate rock samples based on a range of petrophysical models. In total, four models are proposed, each of which incorporates one or more of the processes involved in carbonate rock weathering (calcite dissolution, gravitational compaction, and the incorporation of inputs). The selected weathering processes are defined for each model along with theoretical laws that describe the development of the rock properties. Based on these laws, common properties such as rock density, porosity, and calcite carbonate content are estimated from the specific carbonate rock weathering index of the model. The propagation of measurement uncertainties through the calculations has been computed for each model in order to estimate their effects on the calculated weathering index. A new methodology is then proposed to determine the weathering index for carbonate rock samples taken from across a weathered feature and to constrain the most probable weathering scenario. This protocol is applied to a field dataset to illustrate how these petrophysical models can be used to quantify the weathering and to better understand the underlying weathering processes.

The processes of initiation and development of characteris­tic surface karst landforms and underground caves are nearly all chemical processes. This paper reviews the advances in understanding of karst chemistry over the past 60 years. The equilibrium chemistry of carbonate and sulfate dissolution and deposition is well established with accurate values for the necessary constants. The equations for bulk kinetics are known well enough for accurate modeling of speleogenetic processes but much is being learned about atomic scale mechanisms. The chemistry of karst waters, expressed as parameters such as total dissolved carbonates, saturation index, and equilibrium carbon dioxide pressure are useful tools for probing the internal char­acteristics of karst aquifers. Continuous records of chemical parameters (chemographs) taken from springs and other karst waters mapped onto discharge hydrographs reveal details of the internal flow system. The chemistry of speleothem deposi­tion is well understood at the level of bulk processes but much has been learned of the surface chemistry on an atomic scale by use of the atomic force microscope. Least well understood is the chemistry of hypogenetic karst. The main chemical reac­tions are known but equilibrium modeling could be improved and reaction kinetics are largely unknown.