The term “karst” applies to a distinctive type of landscape that develops from the dissolving action of water on soluble bedrock (Figure 11.1)—primarily limestone and marble but also dolostone, gypsum and halite. Karst landscapes are characterized by fluted and pitted rock surfaces, shafts, sinkholes, sinking streams, springs, subsurface drainage systems, and caves. The unique features and thre...

The karst hydrological processes are the response of karst groundwater system to precipitation. This study provided a concept model of karst hydrological processes. The hydraulic response time of spring discharge to precipitation includes the time that precipitation penetrates through the vadose zone, and the subsequent groundwater pressure wave propagates to a spring outlet. Due to heterogenei...

Exposed limestone karst landscapes, especially in the tropics, are often home to distinctive and specialized biotas. Among vertebrates, a particularly large number of karst-associated lizard taxa have been described, but for the vast majority, evidence of specific adaptions to karst is lacking. A number of studies, however, have provided evidence of consistent morphological trends in lizards th...

In built environment assured access to sun is important because of the quality of life and because of the energy benefits. We can find a great number of historical precedents of respecting this issue. In Slovenia traditional settlements of the Karst are a model example. In this paper we investigated the Karst settlement of Kobjeglava. We studied the disposition of buildings with respect to cool...

Karst regions, occupy approximately 25% of the land surface of the earth. Karst aquifers are often major sources of water supply in these areas. However, karst aquifers are generally considered to be particularly vulnerable to pollution and anthropogenic impacts. Large withdrawals of water in karst areas for municipal, agricultural, and industrial use may competitively affect water supply in su...

Since the start of mass production plastic materials more than a century ago, problem accumulating waste in environment has reached epic proportions. Recently, smaller particles (microplastic, MP) become widely studied topic, but amount and types MP karst environments are still poorly known. Thus, objective this study was to collect analyse samples from various habitats try determine scope poll...

In Europe, spirochetes within the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex are transmitted by Ixodes ricinus ticks. Specific associations are described between reservoir hosts and individual genospecies. We focused on green lizard (Lacerta viridis) as a host for ticks and potential host for borreliae. In 2004 and 2005, a total of 146 green lizards infested by ticks were captured, and 469 I. rici...

Groundwater resources from karst aquifers play a major role in the water supply in karst areas in the world, such as in Switzerland. Defining groundwater protection zones in karst environment is frequently not founded on a solid hydrogeological basis. Protection zones are often inadequate and as a result they may be ineffective. In order to improve this situation, the Federal Office for Environ...

Southeastern Minnesota is part of the Upper Mississippi Valley Karst (Hedges & Alexander 1985) that includes southwestern Wisconsin and northeastern Iowa. Karst lands in Minnesota developed in Paleozoic carbonate and sandstone bedrock. A significant sandstone karst has developed in Pine County (Shade et al. 2000). Most surficial karst features, such as sinkholes, are only in those areas with le...