Originally published in 1989, Karst Geomorphology and Hydrology became the leading textbook on karst studies. This new textbook has been substantially revised and updated. The first half of the book is a systematic presentation of the dissolution kinetics, chemical equilibria and physical flow laws relating to karst environments. It includes details of the many environmental factors that complicate their chemical evolution, with a critique of measurement of karst erosion rates. The second half of the book looks at the classification system for cave systems and the influence of climate and climatic change on karst development. The book ends with chapters on karst water resource management and a look at the important issues of environmental management, including environmental impact assessment, environmental rehabilitation, tourism impacts and conservation values. Practical application of karst studies are explained throughout the text. "This new edition strengthens the book's position as the essential reference in the field. Karst geoscientists will not dare to stray beyond arm's reach of this volume. It is certain to remain the professional standard for many decades." Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, August 2007
Climate change is expected to modify the hydrological cycle and affect freshwater resources. Groundwater is a critical source of fresh drinking water for almost half of the world’s population and it also supplies irrigated agriculture. Groundwater is also important in sustaining streams, lakes, wetlands, and associated ecosystems. But despite this, knowledge about the impact of climate change on groundwater quantity and quality is limited. Direct impacts of climate change on natural processes (groundwater recharge, discharge, storage, saltwater intrusion, biogeochemical reactions, chemical fate and transport) may be exacerbated by human activities (indirect impacts). Increased groundwater abstraction, for example, may be needed in areas with unsustainable or contaminated surface water resources caused by droughts and floods. Climate change effects on groundwater resources are, therefore, closely linked to other global change drivers, including population growth, urbanization and land-use change, coupled with other socio-economic and political trends. Groundwater response to global changes is a complex function that depends on climate change and variability, topography, aquifer characteristics, vegetation dynamics, and human activities. This volume contains case studies from diverse aquifer systems, scientific methods, and climatic settings that have been conducted globally under the framework of the UNESCO-IHP project Groundwater Resources Assessment under the Pressures of Humanity and Climate Change (GRAPHIC). This book presents a current and global synthesis of scientific findings and policy recommendations for scientists, water managers and policy makers towards adaptive management of groundwater sustainability under future climate change and variability.
Carbonate rock coasts are found world-wide, from continental shorelines of the Adriatic Sea of Europe to the Yucatan Peninsula of North America, and on tropical islands from Rodrigues Island in the Indian Ocean, to the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean, to the Bahama Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Such coasts are well known for their unusual and distinctive karst landforms. Karst processes, particularly those associated with coastal landforms, are proving to be surprisingly unique and complex. This volume presents a comprehensive overview of the processes associated with coastal karst development comparing examples from a broad geographical and geomorphological range of island and continental shoreline/paleoshoreline settings, including a review of pseudokarst processes that can compete with and overprint dynamic coastal karst landscapes. As effective management of hydrologic resources grows more complex, coastal caves and karst represent fundamental components in associated coastal aquifers, which in the rock record can also form significant petroleum reservoirs. Audience By providing a clearer understanding of the geological, biological, archaeological and cultural value of coastal caves and karst resources, this volume offers a critical tool to coastal researchers and geoscientists in related fields and to coastal land managers as it illustrates the diversity of coastal karst landforms, the unique processes which formed them, the diversity of resources they harbor and their relationship to coastal zone preservation strategies and the development of sustainable management approaches.
The Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science examines cave and karst geoscience, cave archaeology and human use of caves, art in caves, hydrology and groundwater, cave and karst history, and conservation and management.
An important overview of Quaternary climates including detailed Pleistocene and Holocene sea-level changes, for researchers and graduate and advanced undergraduate students.