Abstract
Karst aquifers and, especially, their caves and springs, are singular sites of the geoheritage due to their scientific, touristic and use (water resources) values. Besides, they are recognized as habitats of special protection by the Habitat Directive (92/43/CEE) and would be used for sustainable development in UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGp). However, their management continues to be a challenge at the present day since karst aquifers and their associated springs and caves are vulnerable environments used by many actors and affected by land uses and changes in surface hydrology and groundwater. Our work aims to implement of a suitable management of aquifers and springs in the Courel Mountains UGGp based on hydrogeological studies. The studies include mainly the characterization of aquifers’ functioning, the elaboration of the spring inventory, physicochemical analyses and geoconservation actions.
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Acknowledgements
This work is funded by the Courel Mountains UGGp and the project IGCP-730 Hydrogeological significance of Mediterranean geoparks, and supported by the International Geosciences Program of UNESCO. We thank local people and volunteers for their collaboration in the hydrological research and geoconservation actions. We acknowledge Prof. G. Veni for his constructive review.
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Ballesteros, D. et al. (2023). Preliminary Hydrogeological Investigations for Sustainable Development in the Courel Mountains UNESCO Global Geopark (NW Spain). In: Andreo, B., Barberá, J.A., Durán-Valsero, J.J., Gil-Márquez, J.M., Mudarra, M. (eds) EuroKarst 2022, Málaga. Advances in Karst Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16879-6_36
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16879-6_36
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