Sensitivity of karst process to environmental change along the PEP II transect

Abstract

It has been known since as early as the last century that karst formation is a geologic process related to chemical reaction, but not until the last couple of decades were karst processes viewed as being sensitive to environmental change. The direction and intensity of karst processes are controlled by environmental factors such as temperature, climate, hydrology, vegetation, geology, and the openness of the system to the atmosphere. Accordingly, karst features, as a product of the carbon cycle, differ in space and time. This is clearly evident from the world karst correlation project, IGCP 299. There is a sharp contrast between karst types on both sides of the Qingling Mountain range of central China. Semi-arid karst is located to the north, and humid subtropical karst to the south. Karst features are capable of recording high resolution paleoclimatic change. AMS 14C, isotope and geochemical studies of thin laminae from a giant stalagmite located near Guilin, in southern China, have clearly identified rapid climate changes during the past 40 ka. In karst areas with active neotectonism, huge deposits of calcareous travertine record the amount of deeply sourced CO2 emitted into the atmosphere and can aid studies on modern tectonism because of the association of calcareous travertine with active faults.