Abstract
Karst is a type of landscape found on carbonate rocks (limestone, dolomite, marble) or evaporites (gypsum, anhydrite, rock salt) and is typified by a wide range of closed surface depressions, a well-developed underground drainage system, and a paucity of surface streams. Karst is, therefore, a particular kind of landscape where landforms due to solution processes prevail over other kinds of landforms. It is estimated that karst landscapes occupy up to 10% of the Earth’s land surface, and that as much as a quarter of the world’s population is supplied by karst water. The karst system is sensitive to many environmental factors. Karst aquifers contain the most important water resources of mountainous countries: these resources have often a good quality because karst areas have currently a low technogenic pressure.
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© 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
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Taminskas, J., Paskauskas, R., Zvikas, A., Satkunas, J. (2006). Karst and Ecosystems. In: Zektser, I.S., Marker, B., Ridgway, J., Rogachevskaya, L., Vartanyan, G. (eds) Geology and Ecosystems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-29293-4_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-29293-4_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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Online ISBN: 978-0-387-29293-9
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