Yuan Daoxian

The major scientific activity of the project in 1991 is the field correlation in mainland China. 71 persons from 9 countries (Germany , Hungary , Iran , Italy , Japan , Thailand , UK , USA , China) took part in the event. Meanwhile , remarkable results have been achieved at some national working Groups of the project; the cooperation with karst-related international organizations has been enhanced; and future works has been decided during the meeting of the project's International Working Group in China. Informations are given as follows:

1.Major Scientific Activities in 1991.

The major scientific achievements in the second year of the project are characterized by field correlation in mainland China for the karst in inner plate region with monsoon climate. The correlation trip from South China to North China totaling 6700 km passed through the most outstanding types of karst in China , i.e. , humid subtropical karst , high mountain karst and semi-arid karst. Six typical karst sites were included in the correlation , namely , the Guilin humid subtropical karst with deforestation; the Maolan virgin forest subtropical karst; the Huanglong Ravine high mountain karst; the Zhengan karst at Southern slope of Qinglin Mt. and Northern border of China's subtropical karst; the Tumen and Jinan semiarid karst in Shandong; and Beijing semiarid karst. Detailed data of each point are available in the guidebook of the excursion , which is prepared under the guideline of IGCP 299. in addition , broader and deeper discussions on the characteristics of karst in China are made in the newly published 224 pages hard cover book <<KARST OF HINA>> , which has 48 colour photos and is a contribution from the Institute of karst Geology , CAGS to IGCP 299. Each participant was given a copy. The major results of correlation are summarized as follows:

1.1 International Correlation
From a global view, the background for karst development in mainland China are characterized by: hard , compact carbonate rock before Triassic; inner plate region in majority; strong Cenozoic uplift induced by Himalayan Orogeny; Monsoon Climate; devoid from scouring of great continental ice sheet of the last glaciation; and the effect of allogenic water in many karst regions. Participants were impressed by the unique karst features in China that are quite different from those of other karst regions abroad. For instance , because of the hard , compact carbonate rock , karst aquifers in China are usually extremely heterogeneons and difficult for well siting , especially in Southern China where karst groundwater quite often appears in the form of underground stream , whereas for the Cretaceous chalk in London Basin , or Tertiary porous carbonate rock in central America , Southeast USA , or Paris Basin , the karst aquifers are more homogeneous. Moreover , tower karst developed on hard carbonate rock usually shows steep , tall , spectacular stone peaks , whereas those on the porous carbonate rock in Caribbean are low , rounded with gentle slope. As opposed to the Mediterranean region where the first international correlation of this Project took place , and where the karst features from mechanical weathering and chemical dissolution enjoy the same importance , the karst feature complex in mainland China under the influence of monsoon climate has sharp contrast between humid subtropical region and semiarid or high mountain region. As a result of strong Cenozoic uplift, and devoid of continental ice sheet in the last glaciation , China has a very old karst archive , composed of plateaus thousands meters in altitude , spectacular high peaks , deep dolinen , and relevant sediments. However , in some of the karst areas abroad , such as the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico where the Cenozoic uplift has been very weak, or the karst pavement in Ireland where all the previous karst features were scoured away by the last glaciation, the information about the history of karst development are very limited. because the major karst in mainland China are in the inner plate regions , there are less geothermal effect on karst development as those occured near plate collision belt as SW Turkey. Moreover , many karst hydrological systems in China have a broad expanse because of gentle dipping and thick continuous carbonate rock sequence.

1.2 Correlation Between Different Types of Karst in China
Karst in China enjoys a great environmental coverage. Therefore , karst correlation in China is no less than an international one which may be carried out in some countries each has only one karst type. The achievements from the round China karst excursion are as follows:
(1) The karst feature complex for three major karst types in China are identified.Participants saw that for the humid subtropical karst in South China it is a combination of tower karst , deep dolinen , red soil , deep sharp karren , surface tufa , big cave system , underground stream , with many corrosional feature , and gigantic speleothem. For the semi-arid karst in North China , it is composed of normal-shaped mountain , dry valley , limestone scree with loess cover , tiny karren , small cave system with little speleothem , and big karst springs. For the high mountain karst in western China , the karst feature complex is characterized by frost denudation lime- stone pinnacles , limestone scree , tiny cave with very few speleothem , and small karst springs.

Photo 2. Tufa dams on Xiaoqikong stream , Maolan Karst Nature
     Preserve , Libo , Guizhou (painted by Wang Keda)

Photo 3. Limestone scree at Huanglong Ravine , Songpan County ,
Sichuan Province (painted by Wang Keda)

Photo 4. A dry valley at Tumen area , Zibo City , Shandong Province ,
          showing leakage of surface water. (painted by Wang Keda)

Photo 5. Small lake on Minjiang River , Western Sichuan Province ,
formed by a major landslide induced by 1934 earthquake.
(painted by Wang Keda)

(2) Sharp boundaries between karst types. The boundaries between the three types are very clear. Participants found sharp contrast between humid subtropical karst of south China and semiarid karst of North China in Qingling Mt. Ridge , and that between high mountain karst and other types at the Eastern border of Tibetan plateau.

Photo 6. Tower karst at Zashui County , Shaanxi Province , the northmost of this kind in China
(33°40'N, at the southern slope of Qingling Mt.) (painted by Wang Keda)

This is the result of monsoon climate , which is opposed to Mediterranean area and makes the high mountain ridges play important role in the distribution of regional moisture and temperature. This assertion is supported by the data of long term lime-stone denudation rate observation over China.

1.3 Correlation on Karst Hydrology and Environment
(1) The allogenic water is important in karst development because of its higher chemical aggressivity as well as stronger mechanical erosional effect. In the first day of excursion from Guilin to Jinchengjiang , participants saw its important role in the evolution of tower karst , i.e. , the transformation from peak cluster subtype to peak forest subtype. Moreover , the Xiaya underground stream in Tumen area , Shandong province , very rare in semi-arid North China , is another example for the role of allogenic water in karst formation by doubling the effect of rainfall.

Photo 7. The boundary between metamorphic rock (left) and Cambrian-Ordovician limestone (right) at Tumen area , Zibo , Shandong Province , The allogenic water from metamorphic mountain are important for karstification of Tumen area. (painted by Wang Keda)

(2) A comparison on karst hydrology between North China and South China. Participants learned that karst hydrological features of the two areas are quite diffe-rent.In the subtropical humid karst region of South China , karst groundwater usually occurs in the form of underground streams with medium to small size recharge area , close relation with surface water , quick response to rainfall and higher amplitude of discharge and water table fluctuation , whereas in the semiarid region of North China , it appears mainly in the form of big karst spring recharged by fissure-karst aquifer with remarkable catchment area and stabler regime. Accordingly , the ways for water resources investigation , estimation , exploitation and protection are also quite differ-ent for the two types of karst water.
(3) The environmental impact of karst hydrology in South China , as originated from numerous underground conduits , are the alternate and interaction of flood , drought , and deforestation. South China karst are frequented by drought , although most of its territory have an annual precipitation of more than 1000 mm. This is the result of leakage of surface water into underground conduits. However , during the rainstorm , dolinen and poljes are very often inundated where the underground conduits are not wide enough to drain away the excess water. Participants saw that the situation is getting worse because of widespread deforestation process in South China karst. However , in Maolan Karst Nature Preserve , both drought and flood are mitigated remarkably. Moreover , participants are impressed by many skilful small size projects to regulate and exploit water resources in karst conduits , which are summarized in IGCP 299 Newsletter 1991 (p.62--p.72).
(4) Big karst springs in North China semiarid region are the important sources for local agricultural , industrial or domestic water supply. However , most of them have been declined continuously in both spring discharge and water table of the relevant Ordovician--Cambrian carbonate aquifer in the past decades. A lot of them are exhausted. This comes evidently from the over-exploitation following the boost of economy. But there are also clear evidences to consider it a result of 20 years dry meteorological cycle after 1960s. This idea was supported by some participants in the field seminar with some Iranian, Italian and African examples.

Photo 8. Longtou Hydropower Plant and its 120m high penstock pipe line , Xigou , Zhengan County , Shaanxi Province.  The Power Plant takes Heilongdong Karst Spring as it water source.(painted by Wang Keda)

(5) suggestions to improve karst land management. during the field seminar , many helpful suggestions to improve hydrological and environmental study and land management in karst area were given by the participants on the basis of experiences from their own countries, such as to recover vegetation on limestone quarry in Chichibu region , Japan; lessons from improper and reclamation in Nansei Island , Okinawa , Japan; careful use of imported plant species for recovering vegetation on limestone; suggestion to transform farmland on natural slope in southeast Guizhou province into terraced one , so as to mitigate soil erosion in karst area; measures from geochemical considerations to protect tufa as a scenic attraction.

1.4 Reconstruct Paleoenvironment with Karst Records
A lot of karst records in China are very informative to paleoenvironment. In South China , a sort of widely scattered Cretaceous limestone breccia which contains Atopochara flora in its laminated cementation indicates a dry period product but later inundated under water. Moreover , it tells the generally situation of the area before Cenozoic karstification. In Guangxi province , and Southern part of Hunan province , a boulder clay with prevailing allogenic pebbles (sandstone , vein quartz and etc.) often occurs as low mound 10--50m high on karst plain. It suggests a major meteorological event in Middle Pleistocene. This assertion is also supported by many horizontal erosional notches at similar altitudes on limestone peaks. In Tumen area , Shandong , pebbles of metamorphic igneous rock are found in Shanhu Cave 140m higher than local base level. The pebble layer is overlain by flowstone dated back to 208 thousand years by U--series approach. The data indicate the paleohydrological setting in Middle Pleistocene , and the importance of allogenic water in the karstification of the region since long ago. Also in Tumen , typical Tertiary red clay in limestone are found underlying loess. This evidence for a warm humid Tertiary in the region is also supported by other relic karst features , such as dolinen , cone karst , which are occasionally found in North China.
In both Tumen of Shandong and Xishan mountain karst area of Beijing , a lot of pereglacial feature were recognized during the field seminar. They include snow gullies in limestone mountain , frost denudation limestone pinnacles similar to those seen at the modern high mountain karst area on Tibet plateau , and a lot of thick limestone scree , intercalated with loess deposit. all of these findings throw new light into the study on the history of Quarternary climatic change and karst development in North China.

Photo 9. Snow line (4000m a.s.l.) , tree line (3200m a.s.l.) , snow gully, and tufa dam at Huanglong Ravine , Songpan County, Sichuan Province. (painted by Wang Keda)

(1) IGCP 299 NEWSLETTER 1991 , 138 pages , Ed. Lin Xinhong , supervised by Yuan Daoxian , The Institute of Karst Geology , Guilin , China.
(2) IGCP project 299: Geology , Climate , Hydrology and Karst Formation , Yuan Daoxian , william Back , Episodes---International Geoscience Newsmagazine , Vol.14, No.1 , March 1991 , p80--81.
(3)KARST OF CHINA , 1991 , Yuan Daoxian et al , 224 pages , with 48 colour Photos , 9 chapters , 200 references , hard over , published by Geological Publishing House , Beijing , China.
(4) ABSTRACT of papers , International symposium and field seminar on karst of inner plate region with monsoon climate , July , 1991 , Guilin , China. 54 pages , Eds. Lin Xinhong , Yuan Daoxian. The Institute of Karst Geology , Guilin , China.
(5) GUIDEBOOK for field excursions , international symposium and field seminar in karst of inner plate region with monsoon climate , July 1991 , Guilin---Beijing , 72 pages , Ed. Liu Zaihua , supervised by Yuan Daoxian , the Institute of Karst Geology, Guilin , China.

(1) Argentina(Gabriel Redonte). Karst area totals only 436 km² in Argentina , which includes 53 km² of karst on carbonate rocks , and 383 km² of Gypsum karst. There are about 150 caves of different type with a total length of 10km. The relevant informations were published in the Hungarin karst and Cave as a contribution to IGCP 299.
(2) Bulgaria(Yavor Y.Shopov). Bosnek karst region of Bulgaria is a typical temperate karst in limestone area. There are no traces of hydrothermal activity in the region. Calcite , aragonite , huntite, hydromagnetite , magnesite , dolomite , saponite and gypsum are defined from cave minerals of the regions. An article entitled "A New Method for Dating of natural materials with periodical microstructure by Authocalibration and its application for Study of the Solar Activity in the Past" was sent to the IGCP 299 Secretariat. It claims that the LLMZA method can be used for obtaining information of solar activity cycles recorded in speleothem with resolution up to 3 days , and in the range of several million years. It is believed that this approach will benefit the reconstruction of paleoenvironment in IGCP 299 and the Past Global Changes Project in IGBP Program of ICSU. Prof.Y Y Shopov also reported a very interesting Round Table on Space and Solar Influences on the Environment , took place at Rozhen , Bulgaria , September 25-30, 1990.
(3) The Commonwealth of Independent States (Former USSR): K..A. Gorbynova and N.G. Maksimoviqi sent us a new book entitled "The World of Karst and Cave" , written in Russian. A karst map of Perm region is included in the book. Moreover , we also received from V.N. Dubljansky two issues of the Newsletter of the Kiev karst-Speleological Center , No.1 , July--September 1991 , and No.2 Octomber—December , 1991. The newsletter is written in Russian , but with table of content in English. They included many informations about new finding an cave research in the area of former USSR.
(4) Cuba(Javier E.Rodriguez Rubio): First contact of the Cuban National Working Group has already been done , and the study areas defined. in International Workshop on karst experimental Basin , organized jointly by Cuban and Spanish Institutions will be held early 1992. Issues such as hydrodynamics and hydrochemistry of karst , water balance and effective infiltration , chemical denudation , methodology of karst study will be in the scientific program. Two articles were sent to the IGCP 299 Secretariat:
1) Hydrology and Dynamics of the Tropical Karstic Processes in Cuba (J.E.Rodriguez et al):
2) Hydrochemical Patterns and Mathematical Correlations in Karst at the Examples of Cuba (J.R.Fagundo Castillo et al).
(5) Hungarian Group I. Hydrothermal karst correlation program (Leader: Takacs-Bolner). Field work was carried out in caves of Buda Mountains , Gerecse Mountains , and Tapolca Basin , Hungary , and Zbrasov Cave in Czechoslovakia , which containing a special type of thermal water precipitation. Similar caves were studies at Lake Baikal at the invitation of East Siberian Institute of Geology , the Federal Republic of Russia.
The elaboration of literature on hydrothermal cave minerals has been started , the types of carbonate precipitations in Buda Mountains were described , classified and documented on photos. Articles were published in thermal water caves of Massif Tuya-Muyun , Kirghizia , Russia; on recent thermal water precipitation of Recsk Copper Mine and on Carbonate cave precipitation of Buda Mountains in Periodical of Hungarian Speleological Society. One representative of the Group took part in IGCP 299 international symposium , Guilin , China discussing the characteristics and problems of hydrothermal karst in Hungary.
(6) World Karst Map , Hungarian Group II. Karst Documentation Programme (leader: D.Balazs). A questionaire of the most important data of karst areas and caves was prepared and sent to more than 80 countries and karst researchers. Many valuable informations are arrived. More than thousands of data on karst areas and caves were collected also from the international literature too.
A project of karst Atlas of the world was prepared and sent to many outstanding experts in different countries for discussion.
A wall map of world karst , 120cm ×80cm in size , and 1 to 25,000,000 in scale is being prepared.
The up-to-date data about karst areas , number and length of surveyed caves from 21 countries is summarized and published on Hungarian Periodical "Karst and Caves".
(7) Iran(E.Raeissi): A wall map of limestone and dolomite distribution in Iran (scale 1:2,500,000) was sent to the Project's Secretariat. A National Working Group Based in the Shiraz University is being organized. The Sepidan karst and Yasooj karst of Zagros Mt. region are considered as the main study areas.
(8) Mexico(J.G.Palacios-Vargas). A map showing the distribution of karst in Mexico , and the two major types, i.e. , high mountain-high plateau karst , and the platform karst was compiled. Karst area in Mexico totals 392000km² , and makes 20% of its whole territory. More than 1200 caves have been recorded. The informations is a contribution to IGCP 299 are published in the Hungarian Karst and Cave.
(9) Romania( Ponta George). Three registration forms of different types of karst in Romania, along with slides of typical karst features were sent to the Project's Secretariat. They are: The Retezat-Cerna Valley , alpine karst in Jurassic limestone covering 120km²; the Padis-Cetatile Ponorului , plateau karst on Anisian-Calmian limestone covering 37.2km²; and the Meledic Plateau , salt karst on Miocence evaporite rock covering 4km².

(1) IGCP 287 "Tethyan Bauxites" Newsletter No.3 (1990 Autumn) is received. It includes detailed informations about its meeting in Delphi , Greece , 25--28 October , 1990 , with 27 abstracts. Meanwhile, we have also sent them Newsletter of IGCP 299.
(2)Members of Karst Commission of International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) , and International Geographic Union (IGU) Study Group on Environmental Change in Karst Areas were involved in the round China field karst correlation , July 1991.
(3) A new book "Hydrogeology of Selected Karst Region" , organized by the Karst Commission of IAH and edited by William Back , H.Paloc, and Janet German had been sent to Ian Simmers , the liaison to Heise Publisher( Oct.28 , 1991). It includes 27 chapters in English , and 5 chapters in French , and gives the up-to-date results of study on karst and karst hydrogeology in more than countries. The IGCP 299 logo will appear on the book to show its contribution to the Project.
(4) Karst Commission of IGU(International Geographical Union). Prof. Ugo Sauro, the chairman of IGU Study Group: Environmental Changes in Karst Area informed us , that the study group will be changed into a status of IGU Commission, which was decided by the IGU Executive Committee during a recent meeting in Prague. Participants of the Study Group's meeting in Padova , Italy , Sept. 15-28^th,1991 proposed , that the leaders of the four International Groups on Karst Research , i.e., IAH , IGCP , IGU , UIS should meet together and work towards closer cooperation. This proposal got fullest support from William Back , Chairman of the Karst Commission of IAH in a letter of Jan.6 , 1992. Meanwhile , the IGCP 299 project has decided to coincide its major activity in 1992 with that of IGU Karst Group. Jack Hess , the co-leader of IGCP 299, are preparing jointly with George Huppert(IGU) the Field Excursion "Karst of Virginia , West Virginia and Kentucky" in USA , August 15—22 , 1992. This will be a good chance for members of the two groups to exchange ideas , and coordinate their future research. I would strongly suggest you to take part in the event.
(5) Karst Water Institute. The new Institute is in West Virginia , USA. John Mylroie(Box 2194 , Mississippi State , MS 39762 , Phone: 601 3258774) , the president of KWI has been in contact with our colleague Jack Hess to insure that the KWI is seen as a contribution to IGCP 299. We have sent IGCP 299 Newsletter of 1990 , 1991 to KWI as first step of exchange.
(6) Union of International Speleology. Hubert Trimmel , president of UIS suggested in a letter of Nov.7 , 1991 , to take the chance of 1994 German Geomorphology Conference , which will be held in Vienna , have vast discussions on recent and future researches and activities of various karst-related international organizations including IGCP 299. The Austria colleagues will organize in this occasion excursions in the alpine karst region of central Europe.

(1) subgroup for studying soil formation in karst areas , suggested by Kazuko Urushibara-Yoshino (Japan) and David Gillieson (Australia) was established during the meeting of the project's International Working Group in China. It includes participants from Australia , China , Indonesia , Italy , Japan , Yugoslavia and UK.
(2) An international cooperative experiment on dissolution kinetics of natural limestone will be carried out next year. This was also decided by the participants during the project's meeting in China. Samples of the most typical limestone of the world will be sent to Dr.Dreybrodt (Germany) for laboratory experiment.
(3) Meetings of the Project in 1992
Field excursion "Karst of Virginia , West Virginia , and Kentucky". August 15-22 , is the major activity of IGCP 299 in 1992 , and in conjunction with IGU field excursion. The field trip begins and ends in Washington D.C. The costs including transportation, food and lodging during the field trip is USD 600. Everybody who wishes to take part in the excursion should contact with Dr. Jack Hess as soon as possible. Correspondence: Dr. Jack Hess , Desert research Institute P.O. Box 19040 , Las Vegas , NV 89132-0040 , USA. Phone: 702-798-8882. Fax: 702- 798 - 0560.
International symposium on Engineering Geology of Karst. July 6-8 , 1992 , Perm , Russia. Correspondence: Prof. I.A.Pechorkin , Chairman of the organizing Committee , Russia , 614000 , Perm , K.Marks st , 30 , apt 56.
International Symposium on Groundwater Tracing. Sept.21-26, 1992. Karlsruhe , Germany. The Commission on Hydrogeology of Karst , IAH will take this chance to hold its 21st session on Sept.18 , 1992. Correspondence: Prof. Heinz Hotzl , Geologische Institute , University of Karlsruhe , Kaiserstrasse , Box 6380 , 7500 Karlsruhe , Germany , Phone: 0721 608 3098. Fax: 0721 606 279.
International karst Symposium in Australia. Dec. 4-18 , 1992.This will be another important activity of IGCP 299 of the year. The scientific program includes humid temperate impounded Karst , sub-humid temperate syngenetic karst, and arid temperate karst. Field excursion will begin from Melbourne , go through Buchan , Naracoorte , Nullarbor Plain , and end in Adelaide. The cost is estimated to be AUS 2250 , which includes all publications , transport , meals and accomodation from Melbourne to Adelaide. Correspondence: Dr. David Gillieson , Dept. of Geography & Oceanography , University College. University of NSW , Australian Defence Force Academy , Campbell , ACT 2600 , Australia. Phone: 06 268 8305 , Fax: 61 06 268 8313.
(4) Future meetings:
International symposium and field Seminar , General and applied karst Hydrogeology , Belgrade , Yugoslavia , May 23-June 2 , 1993 , organized by the Institute of hydrogeology , Petnica Science Center , School of Mining and Geology , University of Belgrade. Correspondence: Radisav Golubovic , symposium Secretariat , Petnica Science Center , P.O.Box 40 , 14000 Valjevo , Yugoslavia.
XI International Congress of Speleology , Aug. 2-8 , 1993. Beijing , China. 22 field excursions , each lasting 6-10 days to various karst regions of China will be vailable. Correspondence: XI ICS , Institute of Geology , Chinese Academy of Sciences. P.O. Box 634 , Beijing , 100029 , China. Tel. (861) 2027766 , ext. 361 , Fax. (861) 4919140.
IGCP 299 Meeting in England , 1994 , probably in Oxford or Wallingford. It will bring the U.K contribution to the project to a conclusion. A field trip is considered.
German Geomorphology Congress. 1994 , Vienna. Karst-related international organizations are invited to have discussion on their recent & future works. Field excursion to alpine karst region of central Europe is considered. Suggestions are asked to kindly send to Prof. Hubert Trimmel , president of International Union of Speleology , A-1232 Wien , DraschestraBe 77 , Austria. Tel. 0222 6719334

The second year of IGCP 299 is characterized by more scientific achievements , publications and participancy.
(1) At the time of drafting this report , the project has 227 participants from 35 countries. Many of them are very active. Cuba , Czechoslovakia , China , Hungary , Japan , Poland , Yugoslavi , UK and USSR have set up their national working groups. Moreover , Dr.E.Raeissi is organizing an Iranian National Working Group , and Dr.Javier E Rodriguz Rubio is trying to establish a regional working group of Central and South America.
(2) The "registration form" for typical karst site has already been used as a basic tool of international correlation. 44 areas from 18 countries are suggested by participants as representative karst sites. Their registration forms along with hundred slides and photos have reached the Project's Secretariat.
(3) The International Symposium and Field Seminar on Karst of Inner Plate Region with Monsoon Climate in China , which is called by some international scientists as "the longest and most ambitious karst trip ever made" , is a good continuation of the Project's first field correlation in Turkey. Because the physic-chemical combination of water , heat and biogenic energy in inner plate and monsoon region is quite different from that of the plate collision belt with Mediterranean climate , participants get a deeper understanding on the mechanism of karst development through comparison between the two field seminars. Moreover , the sharp contrast between the karst features of the humid area and those of the semi-arid area in the monsoon climate has made the basic idea of the project , i.e. , the karst feature complex be better defined. This will benefit the smooth implementation of the project in the future.
(4) Practical aspects of the project have got more attention this year , as suggested by the IGCP Board in the Assessments. For example , the relationship between hydrological settings and karst formation; the different ways to investigate , assess and exploit karst water resources in different types of karst; and more reasonable management on karst environment were discussed in the field seminar this year , some of the results are included in the available publications.

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