Karstic Systems Paths of Preferred Flow

Marcel Dekker, Inc. 270 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 

Karstic systems are often formed in generations. For example, during the Pleistocene, when the oceans had a lower water level, low-level karstic systems were formed in coastal areas. With the rise of sea level, higher karstic systems evolved. 

The karstic nature of recharge intake zones is often recognizable from specific geomorphic features, but this is not always the case. Karstic systems are occasionally concealed, and karstic outlets may occur tens of kilometers from the intake areas. Furthermore, paleokarstic conduits may be in operation in regions that at present have a semiarid climate. Thus indicators for karstic flow are needed. In small-scale studies, direct tracing of karstic underground interconnections has been successfully carried out with dyes, spores, and radioactive tracers. The limitations are 

The logistics of tracing experiments that limits them to distances from hundreds of meters to at most a few kilometers 

Flydrological and hydrochemical indicators for karstic flow include 

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