Elsevier

Earth-Science Reviews

Volume 138, November 2014, Pages 61-88
Earth-Science Reviews

A review on natural and human-induced geohazards and impacts in karst

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.08.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Karst environments are characterized by distinctive landforms related to dissolution and a dominant subsurface drainage. The direct connection between the surface and the underlying high permeability aquifers makes karst aquifers extremely vulnerable to pollution. A high percentage of the world population depends on these water resources. Moreover, karst terrains, frequently underlain by cavernous carbonate and/or evaporite rocks, may be affected by severe ground instability problems. Impacts and hazards associated with karst are rapidly increasing as development expands upon these areas without proper planning taking into account the peculiarities of these environments. This has led to an escalation of karst-related environmental and engineering problems such as sinkholes, floods involving highly transmissive aquifers, and landslides developed on rocks weakened by karstification. The environmental fragility of karst settings, together with their endemic hazardous processes, have received an increasing attention from the scientific community in the last decades. Concurrently, the interest of planners and decision-makers on a safe and sustainable management of karst lands is also growing. This work reviews the main natural and human-induced hazards characteristic of karst environments, with specific focus on sinkholes, floods and slope movements, and summarizes the main outcomes reached by karst scientists regarding the assessment of environmental impacts and their mitigation.

Introduction

In the past two centuries the world's population has increased exponentially, reaching over 7 billion people in 2011. The larger number of people has resulted in rapid urban expansion and increasing occupation of land, together with a rising demand of primary resources (water, building materials, food, electricity, etc.), with the consequent increasing anthropogenic impact on the environment (industries, wastes, pollution, traffic, etc.) (Goudie, 2013).

Humans are slowly learning how to deal with environmental issues, trying to find a sustainable balance between the use of resources and the need of preserving and recovering the natural assets (Middleton, 2013). Humans are also learning how to live in a changing environment, understanding the response of natural systems to both human and natural modifications (e.g. floods, landslides, and climate change), and building a societal resilience to natural disasters (Djalante, 2012).

Some areas in the world are intrinsically more vulnerable than others, depending on a series of factors like geology, geomorphology, hydrogeology, biodiversity, climate and so forth. If we only consider surface and subsurface geological factors, the most vulnerable areas are those with a direct relationship between surface morphology and subsurface hydrology, widely known as “karst”. The increase in population and resource demand is resulting in a progressive occupation of karst terrains. In order to minimize the impacts and hazards on these vulnerable and complex areas, man is head for learning how to “live with karst”.

This paper presents a review on hazards and impacts typical of karst, including sinkholes, floods, and slope failures, as well as anthropogenic impacts like pollution of karst aquifers. It deals with their genesis and controlling factors, their inventorying, investigation and assessment, as well as alternatives for their possible mitigation and remediation.

Section snippets

The karst environment

The shape of the Earth's surface is the result of a wide set of physical and chemical processes that have acted over thousands or millions of years. The karst landscape takes its name from a region comprised between NE Italy and Slovenia dominated by outcrops of carbonate rocks. Karst refers to an ensemble of morphological and hydrological features and the dominant process responsible for them: dissolution of soluble rocks (mostly carbonates and evaporites). In karst landscapes (Fig. 1),

Genetic processes and resulting surface and subsurface features

Sinkholes or dolines are closed depressions with internal drainage, widely regarded as one of the main diagnostic landforms of karst (Ford and Williams, 2007). The term doline, derived from the Slavic word dolina, is used mainly by European geomorphologists (Gams, 2000, Sauro, 2003), whereas sinkhole is the most common term in North America and in the international literature dealing with engineering and environmental issues (Beck, 1984, Beck, 1988). Sinkholes display a wide range of

Assessing human impacts on the karst environment

Earth's landscapes are the result of a series of processes that may act continuously or during discrete events occurring with different temporal frequencies. Landscapes have been shaped, destroyed, and rebuilt again over geological times, in a natural cycle. In recent times, besides the complex suite of natural processes, the human factor has started playing an important role interfering directly (e.g. urban development) and indirectly (e.g. global warming) with the environment. The assessment

Final considerations and future prospects

Karst environments are affected by specific hazards and impacts, largely related to their endemic geomorphological and hydrological peculiarities determined by the soluble nature of the bedrock: (1) Poorly developed surface drainage network and presence of enclosed depressions; (2) prompt water infiltration and prevalence of underground drainage; (3) fast circulation of groundwater through conduit networks towards springs and discharge areas, with consequent high susceptibility to pollution;

Acknowledgments

The work carried out by FG has been supported by the research projects CGL2010-16775 (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and FEDER), 2012/GA-LC-021 (DGA-La Caixa) and CGL2013-40867-P (Minsterio de Economía y Competitividad).

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