The present publication on karst hydrology and physical speleology combines two subjects which have up to now been treated separately. The two fields of knowledge have gone their separate ways, less as a result of differences in subject matter than of varying approaches. The focal point in karst hydrology lies in the description of subter ranean water with its physical and chemical properties, whereas physical speleology de scribes subterranean cavities with their contents (air, water, and sediments), which gen erally have been created by water. Such cavities can be correctly interpreted only by means of a knowledge of karst hydrology, yet they in turn yield indications of the pro perties of karst water. Karst hydrology and physical speleology are thus two aspects of the subterranean karst phenomenon and should be viewed congruently. This book addresses geologists, hydrologists, geomorphologists, geographers, and karstologists, above all speleologists, as well as all friends of caves, especially the cavers among them. Its contents must therefore appeal to two groups: on one hand to the academically trained, whether university faculty, graduates, or students, who as a rule have the necessary basic knowledge to be able to understand the theoretical com ments; on the other hand to the laymen, who have fust-hand experience from their own observations in caves, but who often do not dispose over the scientific foundation necessary for an understanding of the phenomena. Therefore occasionally more attention will be given to problems of a simpler nature and to questions of technical terminology.

Inhalt

1. Karstifiable Rocks.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 Evaporites.- 1.3 Carbonate Rocks: Limestone and Dolomite.- 2. Processes of Dissolution of Karstifiable Rocks, Corrosion.- 2.1 Dissolution of Gypsum and Rock Salt.- 2.2 Dissolution of Carbonate Rocks.- 2.3 Karst Denudation.- 3. A General View of Exokarst.- 3.1 Karren, the Small Solution Feature.- 3.2 Small, Closed Hollows in Karst.- 3.3 Corrosion Plains.- 3.4 Fluvial Karst Forms: Karst Valleys, Dry Valleys.- 3.5 Glacial Karst.- 3.6 Poljes.- 4. Endokarst and Karst Hydrology.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 The Origin of the Water in Endokarst.- 5. Physical Behavior of Karst Water.- 5.1 Hydrological Perviousness Karst Hydro logical Activity Velocity of Flow.- 5.2 Catchment Area Local Base Level.- 5.3 Shallow and Deep Karst.- 5.4 Pressure Flow Gravitational Flow; the Cave River.- 5.5 Piezometric Surface.- 5.6 Poljes as Karst-Hydrological Regulating Factors.- 6. The Karst Hydrological Zones.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 Vadose Zone.- 6.3 Phreatic Zone.- 7. Karst Water Groundwater.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 Underground Water.- 7.3 Karst Barré.- 7.4 Blocked Karst.- 8. Underground Karst Levels.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 The Cave Level of the Piezometric-Surface Type Evolution Level.- 8.3 Cave Levels According to the Type of River-Bed.- 9. Karst Springs.- 9.1 Introduction.- 9.2 Classification of Karst Springs.- 9.3 Vauclusian Springs and Other Large Karst Springs.- 9.4 Periodic Springs Ebb and Flow Springs (Intermittent Springs).- 9.5 Subaqueous Springs.- 9.6 Physicochemical Properties of the Water of a Karst Spring.- 10. Tracers.- 10.1 Tracers.- 10.2 The Tracer-Diagram.- 11. Incasion, Breakdown.- 12. Speleomorphology, the World of Forms Created by the Subterranean Removal of Matter.- 12.1 Introduction.- 12.2 LargeForms.- 12.3 Small Forms.- 13. Cave Sediments.- 13.1 Clastic Sediments.- 13.2 Organic Sediments.- 13.3 Chemical Sediments.- 14. Speleogenetics.- 14.1 The Role of Joints and Bedding Interstices in Speleogenetics.- 14.2 The Development from Interstice to Cave Passage Under Phreatic Conditions.- 14.3 The Development to a Cave Level.- 14.4 Primary and Secondary Vadose Cave Formation.- 14.5 Widening of Interstices.- 14.6 Phases in the Development of Cavities.- 15. Speleometerology Speleoclimatology.- 15.1 Movement of Air in Caves.- 15.2 Cave Temperatures.- 15.3 Humidity of the Air.- 16. Ice Caves.- 17. Classification of Underground Cavities.- 17.1 Definition of Cave.- 17.2 Genetic Classification.- 17.3 Geological-Petrographical Classification.- 17.4. Classification According to Size.- 17.5. Classification According to Prominent Characteristics.- Appendix (A) Conventional Cave Signs.- References.- Plates.