Karst topography

Fig. 9-11 Photograph of Ayun Tepui, taken from Canaima, Venezuela. The cliffs, which are about 2000 m high, consist of orthoquartzite. The irregular top is a karst topography formed by the slow dissolution of the quartz. It is estimated that the top of this tepui, and similar ones elsewhere on the Guayana Shield, have been exposed since the Jurassic.

Grigg, R.W., Grossman, E.E., Gittings, S.R., Lott, D. and McDonough, J. (2002) Drowned reefs and antecedent karst topography, Au au channel, SE Hawaiian Islands. Coral Reefs, 21, 73-82. 

Another example of instability in limestone bedrock is the presence of cavities. The relatively faster dissolution of limestone which gives rise to karst topography creating subsurface cavities that caves in to form sinkholes, as shown in Figure 2.23. 

Liquefaction susceptibility of loose, granular soils Expansive or collapsible soils Mica-rich and carbonate soils Karst topography Corrosive soils Permafrost or frozen soils Perched or artesian groundwater... 

Plate 10 Karst Landscape in Minerve, Herault, France 2005 Karst minerve by Hugo Soria. Karst topography is a geologic formation caused by the dissolution of carbonate rocks (limestone or dolomite). Weathering resistant rocks such as quartzite also forms Karst topography (see Chap. 1)... 

Karst topography is named after the Dinaric Kras Region of western Slovenia and eastern Italy [Ref. www.geography.about.com/od/physicalgeography/a/karst.htm] where the first scientific studies of these phenomena were undertaken. Karst is... 

Isomorphous substitution Replacement of one atom with another of similar size in the structure of a crystal Isostatic When the surface of the crust or its movement is defined by the densities of different elements of the crust Karst Referring to topography due to the action of water on soluble rock... 

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