Karst regions, occupy approximately 25% of the land surface of the earth. Karst aquifers are often major sources of water supply in these areas. However, karst aquifers are generally considered to be particularly vulnerable to pollution and anthropogenic impacts. Large withdrawals of water in karst areas for municipal, agricultural, and industrial use may competitively affect water supply in su...

Karst flash flooding, identified as one of the hazards in karst terrains, is directly linked to the structure and hydraulic properties of karst aquifers. Due to the characteristics of flow within karst aquifers, characterized by a dual flow – diffuse flow within fissured limestone and conduit flow within karst conduits networks – flash flooding may be important in volume and dynamics. Such phen...

In China, 9Ð5% of the landmass is karst terrain and of that 47,000 km2 is located in semiarid regions. In these regions the karst aquifers feed many large karst springs within basins of thousands of square kilometres. Spring discharges reflect the fluctuation of ground water level and variability of ground water storage in the basins. However, karst aquifers are highly heterogeneous and monitor...

Karst collapse columns, as a potential water passageway for mine water inrush, are always considered a critical problem for the development of deep mining techniques. This study aims to identify the mixing process of groundwater deriving two different limestone karst-fissure aquifer systems. Based on analysis of mining groundwater hydrogeochemical properties, hydraulic connection between the ka...

Slovenian karst areas extend over 43% of the country; limestones and dolomites of the Mesozoic era prevail. In Slovenia karst groundwater contributes up to 50% of the total drinking water supply. The quality of water is very high, despite the fact that it is extremely vulnerable to pollution. The present article is a study and a review of the potential and actual sources of pollution to the gro...

Groundwater resources from karst aquifers play a major role in the water supply in karst areas in the world, such as in Switzerland. Defining groundwater protection zones in karst environment is frequently not founded on a solid hydrogeological basis. Protection zones are often inadequate and as a result they may be ineffective. In order to improve this situation, the Federal Office for Environ...

There are approximately 470,000 km(2) of karst aquifers that feed many large springs in North China. Turbulent flow often exists in these karst aquifers, which means that the classical ground water model based on Darcy's law cannot be applied here. Ground water data are rare for these aquifers. As a consequence, it is difficult to quantitatively investigate ground water flow in these karst syst...

The term “karst” applies to a distinctive type of landscape that develops from the dissolving action of water on soluble bedrock (Figure 11.1)—primarily limestone and marble but also dolostone, gypsum and halite. Karst landscapes are characterized by fluted and pitted rock surfaces, shafts, sinkholes, sinking streams, springs, subsurface drainage systems, and caves. The unique features and thre...

to evaluate the hydrogeochemical characteristics of karst water resources of oshtorankooh, chemistry details of springs has been considered as the most important evacuator of karst resources. this research has been performed to study hydrogeochemical nature of karst springs and their origin with an emphasis on the type of formation.  accordingly, five samples of the water of permanent springs o...

Karst topography covers more than 1/3 of the People's Republic of China in area. The porous, fissured, and soluble nature of the underlying karst bedrock (primarily dolomite and limestone) leads to the formation of underground drainage systems. Karst conduit networks dominate this system, and rainfall takes a crucial role on water cycle at China karst area. Nitrogen loss from the karst system i...