Karst Caves

Karst refers to the processes of chemical dissolution and mechanical erosion acting on soluble rocks (mainly carbonates and evaporites), and to the surface and subsurface landforms thus produced. In their book Karst Hydrogeology and Geomorphology, Derek Ford and Paul Williams state that about 20 percent of the emerged Earth’s surface is karst, with caves representing a typical and well-known expression (see Ford and Williams 2007, cited under Karst Hydrogeology: The Importance of Karst Aquifers). Together with caves, karst lands are characterized by underground drainages and by scarce presence of water running at the surface. Water, rather than flowing on the ground as watercourses and rivers, rapidly infiltrates underground through networks of fissures and conduits, which combine to the diffuse flow in recent carbonates, giving origin to the complex systems of karst caves. Karst environments and caves have been of interest to humans since the earliest civilizations—for water supply, as settlements or areas of protection, or to bury the dead.