Africa
Madagascar
- Anjajavy Forest, western Madagascar
- Ankarana Reserve, Madagascar
- Madagascar dry deciduous forests, western Madagascar
- Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve, Madagascar
Karst topography is a geological formation shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite, but also in gypsum. [1] It has also been documented for weathering-resistant rocks, such as quartzite, given the right conditions. [2] This is an incomplete list of the major karst landscape areas of the world.
Yana Caves -Karnatka (Uttar Kanada District)
Karst poljes (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian : kraška polja)
Alaska
Arizona
Florida
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Michigan
Missouri, Arkansas
Nevada
New Mexico
Oklahoma
Oregon
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. There is some evidence that karst may occur in more weathering-resistant rocks such as quartzite given the right conditions.
A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water enters into underground passages known as ponor, swallow hole or swallet. A cenote is a type of sinkhole that exposes groundwater underneath. Sink and stream sink are more general terms for sites that drain surface water, possibly by infiltration into sediment or crumbled rock.
A subterranean river is a river or watercourse that runs wholly or partly beneath the ground, one where the riverbed does not represent the surface of the Earth. It is distinct from an aquifer, which may flow like a river but is contained within a permeable layer of rock or other unconsolidated materials. A river flowing below ground level in an open gorge is not classed as subterranean.
The Dinaric Alps, also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo to Albania in the southeast.
Paparoa National Park is on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The park was established in 1987 and encompasses 430 km2 (170 sq mi). The park ranges from or near the coastline to the peaks of the Paparoa Range. A separate section of the park lies to the north and is centred at Ananui Creek. The park protects a limestone karst area. The park contains several caves, of which Metro Cave / Te Ananui Cave is a commercial tourist attraction. The majority of the park is forested with a wide variety of vegetation. The park was the site of the 1995 Cave Creek disaster where fourteen people died as a result of the collapse of a scenic viewing platform.
Montenegro is a small, mountainous country in Southeast Europe. It borders Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania and the Adriatic Sea. While being a small country at 13,812 km2 (5,333 sq mi), it is very diverse regarding the terrain configuration. Montenegro has 50 peaks of over 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in altitude.
Orjen is a transboundary Dinaric Mediterranean limestone mountain range, located between southernmost Bosnia and Herzegovina and southwestern Montenegro.
Glaciokarst is a geological term that refers to a specific type of karst landscape that has been influenced significantly by past glacial activity.
Slovak Paradise is a mountain range in eastern Slovakia. It is a part of the Spiš-Gemer Karst, which in turn is a part of the Slovak Ore Mountains, a major subdivision of the Western Carpathians. It is located between the towns of Spišská Nová Ves in the north and Dobšiná in the south. It is particularly known for its gorges and waterfalls. It is very popular with hikers as it has a number of unusual routes through gorges and waterfalls. There are numerous sections where fixed ladders are used to climb. The area is protected by Slovak Paradise National Park.
Livanjsko polje, located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the largest polje in the world and a RAMSAR wetland site. A typical example of karst polje encircled by tall peaks and mountain ranges, the field is characterized by many unique natural phenomenons and karstic features.
The Trebišnjica is a river in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the right tributary of the Neretva. Before it was utilized for hydro exploitation via various hydrotechnical interventions and systems with different purposes, Trebišnjica used to be a sinking river, rising and sinking through its course before resurfacing at various places from the Neretva river below the Čapljina to the Adriatic coast, and along the coast from the Neretva Delta to Sutorina.
Blidinje plateau is a karst plateau in Bosnia and Herzegovina, situated at the heart of Dinaric Alps, between major mountains of the range, Čvrsnica, Čabulja and Vran, with characteristic karstic features such as Dugo Polje field, Blidinje Lake, Grabovica and Drežnica valleys, and others. It represents important natural, hydrogeological reservation in karst of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with significant cultural and historical heritage, and Dinarides in general.
A ponor is a natural opening where surface water enters into underground passages; they may be found in karst landscapes where the geology and the geomorphology is typically dominated by porous limestone rock. Ponors can drain stream or lake water continuously or can at times work as springs, similar to estavelles. Morphologically, ponors come in forms of large pits and caves, large fissures and caverns, networks of smaller cracks, and sedimentary, alluvial drains.
Fengshan County is a county of Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of Hechi City.
Uvala is originally a local toponym used by people in some regions in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. In geosciences it denotes a closed karst depression, a terrain form usually of elongated or compound structure and of larger size than that of sinkholes. It is a morphological form frequently found in the outer Dinaric Alps anywhere between Slovenia and Greece, but large closed karst depressions are found on all continents in different landscapes and therefore uvala has become a globally established term. It is also used to distinguish such depressions from poljes, which are many square kilometres in size. Definitions of uvalas are often poorly empirically supported. "The coalescence of dolines" (sinkholes) is the dominant and most frequently found definition. However, because of the ongoing dissatisfaction with this definition, the term 'uvala' has often been belittled – occasionally it was even proposed that the term be given up altogether.
Karst lakes are formed as the result of a collapse of caves, especially in water-soluble rocks such as limestone, gypsum and dolomite. This process is known as karstification. They can cover areas of several hundred square kilometres. Their shallow lakebed is usually an insoluble layer of sediment so that water is impounded, leading to the formation of lakes. Many karst lakes only exist periodically, but return regularly after heavy rainfall.
The Zalomka is a karstic river in the southern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as part of the Neretva river system it is one of the largest sinking rivers in the country and Dinarides. It rises under the Morine plateau, near Brajićevići village in Gacko municipality, but also collects its upper course waters from Gatačko Polje.
Vilina Pećina is a cave and a karst resurgence wellspring in Dinaric Alps karst of Bosnia and Herzegovina, also previously known from research descriptions of older date as "Vilić Pećina", such as one from 1896, conducted by Austria-Hungary geologists.
The geology of Croatia has some Precambrian rocks mostly covered by younger sedimentary rocks and deformed or superimposed by tectonic activity.
