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Experimental study on karst development characteristics of calcrete and analysis of its dissolution mechanism

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Abstract

Karst is widely distributed throughout the world and has a significant impact on the ecological environment and engineering construction. In this study, a 3D geological model of calcrete karst near the Liuyang River was established through field investigation. The texture and mineral composition of calcrete were investigated by thin section identification, X–ray diffraction (XRD) test, and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). Moreover, dissolution tests and uniaxial compressive strength tests were performed to analyze the karst development characteristics and dissolution mechanism of calcrete. Experimental results demonstrated that the calcrete karst is primarily distributed near the river with a small development scale, and 85.96% of the caves are filled with gravels and clay. The cementation component of calcrete is mainly composed of calcite, accounting for approximately 20%. Meanwhile, calcrete contains a large number of insoluble clastic particles, which were deposited in the karst caves after dissolution. The dissolution test results revealed that the dissolution of calcite cement destroyed the rock texture. The dissolution rate of calcrete increased linearly with increasing H+ concentration. In addition, the strength of rock decreased with karstification, and grouting was effective in treating calcrete karst by reinforcing the fillings. These findings are theoretically important for calcrete karst geology research and highly practical for engineering construction.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Projects No. 41972282 & 42072318) and the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities of Central South University (Project No. 2021zzts0254 & 2018zzts071) for the financial support. The authors also wish to acknowledge the support of the Hunan Provincial Innovation Foundation for Postgraduate (Project No. CX20210272 & No. CX2018B142) and the Open Sharing Fund for the Large-scale Instruments and Equipments of Central South University (No. CSUZC202213).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Metallogenic Prediction of Nonferrous Metals and Geological Environment Monitoring (Central South University), Ministry of Education, Changsha, People’s Republic of China

    Ke-neng Zhang, Kao-fei Zhu, Yong He & Yun-yi Zhang

  2. School of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, No. 932 South Lushan Road, Changsha, 410083, Hunan, People’s Republic of China

    Ke-neng Zhang, Kao-fei Zhu, Yong He & Yun-yi Zhang

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  1. Ke-neng Zhang
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  2. Kao-fei Zhu
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Correspondence to Yong He.

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Zhang, Kn., Zhu, Kf., He, Y. et al. Experimental study on karst development characteristics of calcrete and analysis of its dissolution mechanism. Carbonates Evaporites 37, 41 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-022-00787-0

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