Yuan Daoxian

The scientific activities in the third year of this Project are characterized by more extensive trans-continental karst correlation, with a major field excursion across Central Appalachian in USA, and two others in Central Ural of Russia, and Southern Australia respectively. 21 persons from 9 countries (Austria, Bulgaria, China, Japan, Germany, France, Romania, Italy and USA) took part in the American excursion (August, 1992).About 130participants from 7 countries ( China, Germany, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine ) were at the Russian meeting and field trip (July, 1992); 34 persons from 7 countries ( Austria, Australia, China, France, Japan, UK, and USA ) attended the symposium and field seminar in Australia (December, 1992). Moreover, there are new progresses at some National Working Groups of the Project. The tie with other international karst organizations, such as UIS, and the karst commissions of IAH, and IGU has been more closely. Members from these organizations work together successfully for the major events of the Project in the past year. Future works are discussed and decided during the meetings. The informations are given as follows.

The major achievements come from the three field correlations. The correlation trip from Washington D. C. to Cave City, Kentucky covered karst of Appalachian Mt. , Appalachian Plateau,as well as Central Basin of Kentucky.It passed through Appalachian Mt. twice and totalled about 1600 km. 17 sites were examined ,which included 4 points of karst geomorphology and hydrology,6 caves,3 points of karst environment and cave utilization, and 4 points of other geological and hydrogeological interest. 7 sites are in the Appalachian Mt. region, and 10 in the Appalachian Plateau and Central Basin region. Geologically, the study area covers both platform region with gentle dip, and folding belt with many thrusts. The modern climate is temperate humid , characterized by annual mean precipitation of 1200 - 1500 mm, and annual mean temperature 8 - 14?. The Appalachian karst is one of the most well-studied region in United States and has played important role in the developement of American karstology. A symposium entitled " Appalachian Karst " devoted to the 50 Anniversary of National Speleological Society ( NSS ) was held in Radford,March ,1991.Its 33 paper proceedings was delivered to every participants of the IGCP 299 excursion, giving the up-to-date informations on karst research in this region. The field correlation in Russia was in parallel with an International Symposium on Karst Engineering Geology, held in Perm, July,1992.The week long trip included Berezniki, Solikamsky where the biggest potassium mine of the world locates,ice cave near Kungur,and Ufim Karst Plateau. Russiancolleagues provided excellent research result on typical sites of evaporite karst and karst in humid cold temperate area with Taiga and extensive alluvial or periglacial deposits (Photo 1, 2, 3). The two weeks long trip in southern part of Australia totalling 6500 km is another most ambitious excursion ofthis Project. It started from Canberra and passed through 4 statesincluding New South Wales , Victoria , South Australia and West Australia.

Photo 1. Taiga Forest along Kama Reservoir, Perm, Russia , with collapse bank on gypsum beds. (drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 2. Kisloe Lake, with medical mud, a resurgence of a karst hydrological system. Ust-Kisherty, Central Ural, Russia.(drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 3. Karst collapse on Kungur Plateau, Russia. (drawn by Wang Keda)

Geologically, It covers Tasmania Mobile Zone of eastern mountainous region, and Australia Craton at West. The modern climate en route the trip ranges from Mediterranean type with annual precipitation 700- 1500 mm which is concentrated in the winter months of June to September, to the arid climate in the west with annual precipitation 200 mm, and annual mean temperature 15-16?. Three major types of karst covering 40 sites in Southern Australia were examined, i.e., humid temperate impounded karst in southeast mountainous region, arid karst on Tertiary carbonate rocks,and syngenetic karst on Quaternary calcarenite. The excursion which combined field discussions with symposiums was well organized. A 115 pages Guidebook was published and given to every participant before the trip began. Dr. David Gillieson kindly promised to send a copy forevery National Working Group of the Project. The major results of international karst correlation this year are summarized as follows:

1.1. INTERNATIONAL CORRELATION WITH PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES
In contrast with the Project 's two previous correlation sites in Turkey and China, karst in Appalachian and Central Basin of Kentucky, or Perm region of Western Ural, are characterized by dense forest and extensive Quaternary cover.Bare carbonate rock outcrop widespread in China or Mediterranean karst is very few in Perm region or Kentucky. It is believed that periglacial environment during the last glaciation and less Cenozoic uplift are two geological background that bring about the situation. About 10 thousand years ago, Kentucky was near the southern border of Hudson Bay continental ice sheet, and Perm region near the Baltic and western Siberia ice sheet. It is the moraine that has provided rich source material for the extensive Quaternary deposits of different origin ( fluvial, eolian , and etc.)that cover the two karst region.This geological setting, along with generally low relief, and the dense vegetation has strong influence on karst features. Both areas are recognized as covered karst ( karst covered by loose overburdern ) in majority, characterizedby tedious surface feature, no tower karst of southern China, rare in big solutional basin ( polje )of Mediterranean Karst. Dolinen such as those seen in Sinkhole Plain, Kentucky (Photo 4), or Kungur Plateau, Perm ( Photo 5) , appear as dish shaped shallow ones covered by loose sediments and pastures.Deep polygonal dolinen of subtropical karst in South China are not available here . Moreover, minor surface features such as karren and kamenitza are also scarcely seen. However, subsurface karst features are well- developed under favorable climatic, hydrologic, and geochemical conditions. In Perm region, relatively humid climate is good for cave formation in evaporite. Moreover, there are many bogs under the Taiga (Photo 6). Surface water are usually aggressive with pH6-7, and carbonate hardness less than 6 (German degree), so, it is also favorable for cave developement in carbonate rock. In the Central Basin of Kentucky, aggressive allogenic water from non-carbonate rock area flows into the gently dipped Mississippi limestone. Besides, there are vertically percolating water from the overlying Pennsylvania sandstone. It is the joint hydrological action of the two type waters that has created the world 's longest cave, the 530 Km long Mammoth cave system. The subsurface depositional features of the two regions are characterized by more collapse blocks, fluvial sediments, but less speleothem (Photo 7). Big flowstone or dripstone as those in South China are very rare. It is believed, that the aggressive geochemical environment as described before and the slow process in cold temperate region is not favorable for speleothem to grow. The marvellous speleothem in Luray Cave of Virginia (Photo 8) look  very old, and are not the product of modern climate. There are some unique speleothem near Perm, such as the salt stalactites in potassium mine (Photo 9), and the permanent ice flowstone, ice dripstone, and ice flakes in Kungur Cave (Photo 10). If we compare the Appalachian and Kentucky karst with those of the North China semi-arid region, then we can find the importance of climate in karst formation. Both areas are under similar latitude, and all have the Paleozoic hard, compact carbonate rocks, but dolinen like the Sinkhole Plain of Kentucky, or gigantic cave like the Mammoth Cave System are not available in North China semiarid karst. In a word , the third year of international karst correlation has provided good examples of humid temperate karst and evaporite karst in gentle folding regions with extensive Quaternary cover.

Photo 4. Dolinen on sinkhole plain, Kentucky, USA. (drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 5. Dolinen on Kungur Plateau, Russia.(drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 6. Bog in Taiga forest, with acidic water. Berezniki,
      Central Ural, Russia. (drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 7. Solutional features in Skyline Cave, Virginia, USA. (drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 8. Big stalagmite in Luray Cave. Virginia, USA. (drawn by Wang Keda)

As the only one southern hemisphere correlation excursion for this Project, Southern Australia enjoys many unique karst features, which can make remarkable contribution to our knowledge on karst formation. For example, the Buchan karst in Victoria, is on a latitude of 38°S with humid temperate climate, but it is abundant in growing speleothem such as those being seen in Fairy Cave or Royal Cave. This is unique in comparison with other humid temperate karst in Northern Hemisphere. As an "impounded Karst", with carbonate rocks being enclosed by big area of nonsoluble rock, the important role of allogenic water with high aggressivity (carbonate hardness about 1German degree, pH about 7) in shaping dissolution karst features (big caves, surface dolinen) is the same as other humid temperate karst, but the carbonate hardness in cave water is remarkable (12-13 German degree). It explains the abundance of speleothem, but why it becomes high so quickly remains a question. It was found that in some part of Buchan caves the Pco₂ is very high (e.g. 2000 ppm as being measured in Royal Cave). Moreover, participants were told, that it may be even higher, say 10%, in some Eastern Australian caves. It tells that the carbon cycle in this area of dense forest is very active, and might thus intensify the karst process and speleothem formation. In addition, the climate, although humid temperate in general, but with Mediterranean character, i.e., dry in summer and high evaporation, may also be favourable for speleothem forming. In western part of the Australia Excursion, the exsudation process in Tertiary carbonate rocks caves opens eyes for most of the participants. The fact that the growing of evaporate speleothem can seriously damage the previous calcite speleothem should be taken into account in the whole spectra of karst formation mechanism. Besides, the kilometers long caves in Tertiary carbonate rocks of Nullarbor area; the syngenetic karst on Quaternary calcarenite; the limestone pavement surface inherited from the former sea level, as well as dissolutional features on silicates (Granite Batholithin Wudina) are all particular features and potential to contribute for our karst knowledge.

Photo 9. Salt stalactites in Berezniki Potassium Mine, Russia. (drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 10. Ice flowstone, Ice Flake in Kungur ice cave, Kungur,
Russia. (drawn by Wang Keda)

1.2 KARST CORRELATION BETWEEN APPALACHIAN MT. AND CENTRAL BASIN OF KENTUCKY, AND RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
1.2.1 Karst features at Appalachian Mt. Appalachian Plateau, and Central Basin are different, as a result of differences in tectonism and relief. The Appalachian Mt. extends in NE direction at the western border of Virginia State, with a general width of 100 Km. The landscape is characterized by northeast oriented ridges and valleys, with elevation 1000 - 2000m a.s.l. on the ridge, and 300 - 500 m a.s.l at valley. Because of the strong folding,thrusting, and uplifting, and many insoluble formation in Paleozoic Group,the macroscopic landscape of Appalachian Range is normal shape mountain. Karst features, such as natural tunnels (Photo 11), swallet streams are available where streams flow through carbonate rock area. At the Great Valley along the eastern side of Appalachian Mountain, karst features are more concentrated. Underlain by Cambrian and Ordovician dolomite and limestone, there are many small, shallow dolinen, and big caves (Photo 12). The Appalachian plateau lies on the eastern part of West Virginia State. The altitude of the plateau surface is 700 - 1000m asl. The strata with gentle dip enjoy a two layer structure. The Pennsylvania sandstone on the surface is underlain by the main karstified strata, the Mississippi limestone of lower Carboniferous. In those parts where the Mississippi limestone exposed following deep dissection, there are a lot of typical karst features, such as deep dolinen (Photo 13) , uvala, and sinkhole (Photo 14, 15). However, they never match with cone karst which wide spread in south China subtropical region. The Central Basin of Kentucky State with surface altitude 300 - 400 m asl. has the similar geological background as Appalachian Plateau. The Pennsylvania sandstone covers the highland, but as a result of long time denudation its thickness is limited. The underlying Mississippi limestone exposes in many places, where skylights of subterranean stream, sinkholes, vertical shafts can often be seen (Photo 16, 17). Under the joint action of vertical percolating water and allogenic water, the world 's longest cave, the Mammoth Cave System has developed under the highland . On the lowland, numerous shallow, dish- shaped dolinen form the well-known Sinkhole Plain (Photo 18).

Photo 11. Natural Tunnel in Ordovician dolomitic limestone, SW Virginia, USA.
(drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 12. Aragonite flower in Skyline Cave. Virginia, USA.(drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 13. Deep doline in Droop Mt. region. West Virginia, USA.
(drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 14. Sinkholes in doline. Droop Mt. region, W Virginia, USA.
(drawn by Wang Keda)

1.2.2 Environmental Problems. The ecological environment in the Appalachian and Kentucky  karst area is good through long time of careful cultivation . Most area are covered by forest or pasture ( Photo 19) . Bare carbonate rock which are widespread in South China or Mediter- ranean karst are very rare here. Water pollution problems in karst area are getting better after some waste water treatment plants put into use. Awful smell which used to fill some caves (such as the Horse Cave in Kentucky) has now been improved remarkably. However, local residents still concern about landfill in karst area , e. g. the feasibility of Pulaski landfill is questioned although it has already been put into use for one year. People are not satisfied with the explanation that there is an impermeable bed between the landfill and the underlying caves and karst springs. Another problem is the environmental Radon. Air from some of the Kentucky caves was used for air-conditioning in residence or greenhouse , but is now abandoned because it is found that the Radon concentration in the cave air is too high. The origin of the Radon has been investigated , and some conclusions reached (Photo 20).

1.3 KARST IN WESTERN URAL OF RUSSIA AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
The area enjoys the world 's typical profile of Permian System, and Perm City is the location where the name of the stratigraphic System comes from. Its upper part is composed of evaporites, underlain by carbonate rock of reef phase. Consequently, evaporite karst with its particular features , such assalt ( gypsum ) karren , salt ( gypsum )dolinen ,salt ( gypsum )cave, saltstalactite are unique in the region (Photo 21). Actually, evaporite karst is important for the whole territory of Russian Platform. On the other hand ,western Ural provides a good example for humid cold temperate karst.

Photo 15. A swallet of Salt Peter cave system W. Virginia.
(drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 16. Natural Bridge near Carlter cave, Kentucky, USA.
(drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 17. Flute on vertical shaft, Mammoth cave, Kentucky, USA.
(drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 18. Sinkhole plain, Kentucky, USA. (drawn by Wang Keda

Photo 19. Kudzu Vine in Appalachian Forest, a photo taken
near Pineville, Kentucky, USA. (drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 20. A structure to conduct cave air for greenhouse, Sloan
valley, Kentucky, USA. (drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 21. The alteration of anhydrite into gypsum, Kungur cave, Russia ,
the white colour part along joints are gypsum. (drawn by Wang Keda)

1.3.1 New ideas on karst ecological system .From humid subtropical experiences, it has been generally considered , that the development of underground drainage system is unfavorable for agriculture because it brings about leakage of water , and drought on the surface . However ,Russian colleagues find the advantage of underground course for agriculture by draining away excess surface water , as verified by the contrast between Northern and Southern Perm. In its North , agriculture can hard develop in the Taiga and bog region , but in the South , potato , tomato , and many other crops are growing , following intensive karstification and development of subterranean drainage system (Photo 22).
1.3.2 Water Quality. One problem comes from the waste piles of potassium and other salt mining .Each pile totalling several hundred millions cubic meters is so big that the TDS of water leaching from it is as high as 6-120g/l, which pollutes water resources in a remarkable area (Photo 23). Another source of pollution is from the wells that attract oil from the Permian reef and other lower reservoirs.
1.3.3 Karst collapses .Many incidents of this kind have taken place around Perm region. Some of them related to salt mining , e.g. , a big collapse happened in January, 1986 in the Taiga above Berezniki Potassium Mine (Photo 24). It is elliptical on the plane, with the long axis about 100 m. 1.3 million m³ of water invaded into the mining tunnel, and caused serious damage (Photo 25).There are also natural karst collapse in carbonate rock .One of them 40m in diameter occurred near the Siberia Railway in June, 1949, which sank a farmer's house , and promoted scientific research on this geological hazard in the former USSR . Karst collapse are very common in the whole area of Russian Platform some of the modern  ones are inherited from paleokarst collapse, dating back even to late Carboniferous , as reported by Russian scientists fromd etailed works for Moscow Subway and other urban engineering geological investigation .

Photo 22. Potato field near Kungur, Russia. showing the advantage of
underground karst drainage system foragriculture. (drawn by Wang Keda

Photo 23. Salt Karren, a technogenic karst feature develops on waste pile
of potassium salt mine, Berezniki , Russia. (drawn by Wang Keda)

Photo 24. Underground Mining Area in Berezniki Potassium Mine , Russia , remained
by Combine Excavation Machine. Some parts of it are now used for Speleotherapy .
(drawn by Wang Keda)

1.3.4 Permanent ice in cave. On north latitude of 58, Perm is not in aperma-frost region. But there are permanent ice storage in the entrance part of Kungur Cave. It is the result of the special way in heat exchange and storage between surface and different parts of a cave system with chimney effect. Russian colleagues have given the explanation with their data from many years of monitoring and experimental works.

1.4 KARST CORRELATION BETWEEN AUSTRALIA CRATON AND TASMANIS MOBILE ZONE
1.4.1 There are significant differences between karst features at the Australian Craton and those of the Tasmania Mobile Zone , as a result of difference in geology and climate. The latter distributes at the mountainous regions of eastern part of New South Wales and Victoria states ,with a general relief of 1000 m , and a summit of 2234 m at the southern border of NSW. It is generally covered by dense forest predominated by Gondwana flora of Eucalyptus and some others such as Casuarina . Thousands meters of lower Paleozoic marine deposit and volcanic rocks were strongly folded, with a general strike of NS, and medium to vertical dip angle. There are about 100 m of limestone in the Silurian System near Canberra. Whereas in Buchan area of Victoria, there are pure reef limestone and several layers of carbonate rocks with thickness ranging from 40-190 m in lower Devonian Series. Cenozoic volcanism were active here, e.g. near Cooma , about 100 km to the South of Canberra. Tertiary basalt is found filling caves in Silurian limestone. In Buchan, basalt dated back 40millions years by K/Ar approach covers Eocene terrace gravel. This geological background along with humid climate brings about a hydrological setting where aggressive allogenic water flows into limestone area and forms a special type of karst with intensive karstification , which Australia colleagues call as "impounded karst". The karst features of this type include solutional doline , big collapse doline , swallet stream , natural bridge , kilometer long cave passages with many phreatic or vadose dissolutional feature and various types of speleothem . However, micro surface features, such as deep sharp subaerial karren which could usually be seen in humid karst with bare rock, such as South China, Yorkshire, UK ,are rare here although available . Perhaps the dense forest prevents the direct corrosional process of rainfall on limestone surface. The soil cover in this region are dark, and dark brown lime soil in general .
The Australian Craton extends from western part of Victoria through South Australia and West Australia states. It was a part of Gondwana Land whichd is integrated after Triassic period. The old land had undergone long time of denudation before Cretaceous when a major transgression covered most part of the Central and Northern Australia. Later, considerable transgression occurred again during Tertiary time in the coastal areas, which deposited 100-400 m of Tertiary carbonate rocks. The lithology are porous, with chert concretions in some layers. The bedding planes are usually horizontal except some cross-beddings. After the regression of Late Tertiary, Pleistocene sand dunes 20-40m high accumulated on some beaches, which became calcarenite afterward. There are about 100 Quaternary Craters on the border between Victoria and South Australia . The latest eruption was at 4000 B. P, but the geothermal impact on karstification is uncertain. The modern surface elevation is 30-80 m in general , but there are 200-300 m high low hills and knobs on Eyre Pennisula in South Australia state. On the coast lines underlain by Tertiary limestone, there are usually a cliff 70-80 m high, with a broad, endless plain behind it . As the modern climate changes from semiarid to arid westwards, the vegetation also changes from Eucalyptus forest at east to xerophile grass in Nullarbor Plain (the Latin word means a treeless plain) gradually . The geological and topographical background , along with an although dry but still having annual mean rainfall of about 200 mm gives rise to a hydrological setting with considerable hydraulic gradients, which is good for development of karst ,especial underground features. The most attractive karst features on the Cenozoic carbonate rocks are the coastal limestone towers, the blowhole and vertical shafts on the Nullarbor Plain, and the long cave system beneath it .Some of the caves are 1-4 km long, with great halls, underground streams and lakes , others are decorated with many carbonate and evaporite speleothems . Moreover , following the development of underground drainage system , shallow dish-like dolinen develop around some blowholes , which can swallow surface flood into underground passage. For example, the doline on the surface of Thampanna Cave has a catchment area of 12 km². It can be inundated in some wet years, after the 40 m deep cave system was filled up by the flood. The carbonate hardness of the water in cave passage is low (less than 4 in German degree), which shows that this kind of rainfall-recharged water is aggressive. However, dripping water in cave is usually saturated, with carbonate hardness of 11-13 degree, and good for speleothem forming. Micro surface features are rare on these Cenozoic porous weak carbonate rocks, but we did see some good karren where there are encrustation of case-hardening. The soil are reddish brown in general, with Fe-Mn concretions being very common. The Australian arid karst on Cenozoic carbonate rocks is different from either arid karst in other part of the world, such as Northwest China, or Yucatan karst on young carbonate rocks at its bigger underground passages and relevant surface features. It is different from the former because it enjoys more rainfall and weaker rock .It is different from the later because it has been more uplifted and thencehas a favourable hydrological setting.
1.4.2 Karst Environment. The situation is good in general. Natural forests and wildlife are well protected. There are many kangaroos en route the excursion . Moreover, Southern Australia is an area of low geomorphic entropy .Participants were told that natural hazards, such as storm, flood, soil erosion and earthquake are not serious in this region. According to the research with Cs137, Be10 and some other nuclides, their higher concentration appears on the 5 cm surface soil of highland. In Buchan area, the Eocene terrace alluvium gravel still remains about 200 m above the local base level. However, there are some particular environmental problems in South Australian karst regions.
Salinization. In some areas, water table rises up after changing forest into pasture. It is estimated that one piece of Eucalyptus tree can evaporate250 liters of water from the aquifer per day. Hence the forest clearing can bring about water table rise and salinization under the climate where evaporation is much higher than precipitation. The remedy measures are to lower down the water table by planting trees on the hills around the pasture ,and constructing drainage system on the basin.
Cave Environment. Some of the Australia caves have too high CO₂ content, moreover, Australian colleagues are aware on the Radon problem, which is now being studied. The conflict between World Heritage Protection in Exit Cave of Tasmania and limestone quarry has been solved recently through negotiation.
Bush Fire. It is found from stalagmite record that Bush Fire is more a natural than a man-made disaster, as some of the events can be dated back to hundreds thousand years. The ecological features of some Eucalyptus forests have fitted this situation, and can survive Bush Fire.
Drinking Water. Because of salinization problem, rainwater is used for domestic water supply in many areas. In general, the hygiene system to accumulate roof water is good. However, the mineralization of rainwater is too low , and there may be a shortage of some trace element, necessary for human body. Compulsory measure has been taken in some areas to use tablets for compensation .

1.5 RECONSTRUCT PALEOENVIRONMENT WITH KARST RECORDS
In the Appalachian New York, Paul Rubin tries to use karst features in Clarksville Cave to trace the paleohydrology of the meltwater from the Wisconsinan glaciation . In western part of Virginia , David Hubbord and others take the surface travertine-marl as an "environmental barometer" to tell the increase of runoff resulted by land -use practice, and water pollution. During the field Excursion in Appalachian, Y. Y. shopov talked about his result from using Laser Luminescent Micro Zonal Analysis on cave minerals to reconstruct environmental change. In Slovenia, Andrej Kranjc and his colleagues try to use the size of flowstone in SkocJanske cave to reconstruct climatic change .In the Ybbstaler Alpen Karst area of Austria , Rudolf Pavuza analyses the hydrodynamic characteristics of karst features, and suggested a phreatic condition before last glaciation(<10000a), and vadose one after that. Moreover , he uses the data of Ca/Mg ratio variation to propose a change in the water chemistry and catchment area. In Guilin , China , Lin Yushi and others carried out a thorough study on the feasibility of using speleothem to reconstruct environmental change .They sent stalagmites of different shape and size to a Marble Manufactory to saw out their whole cross section, and investigated the depositional features and the sedimentation history of each stalagmites. It is discovered that the interior sedimentological structure of stalagmites are quite different, some of them are rather simple, but most of them are very complicated .Accordingly ,it is inappropriate to take sample from the surface of a stalagmite, or to make an arbitrary drill hole on it for sampling without a clear understanding on its interior sedimentary sequence and history. In some Nullarbor caves, where the calcite speleothem are mixed with evaporite speleothem , Australian colleagues find with Uranium disequilibrium approach ,that the age of calcite speleothem are ranging between 300 thousand to more than 530 thousand years, whereas the halite are between 20 to 37 thousand years , or within the period of Holocene. Because the deposition of large amount of calcite speleothem needs a warm wet climate, whereas evaporites usually deposit in dry condition, it is very possible to reconstruct Pleistocene environment with the data from Nullarbor caves.

(1) Hydrogeology of selected karst Regions.493 pages ,Edited by H.paloc, W.Back, J. Herman, Verlag Heinz Heise. This is a contribution from the Karst Commission of International Association of Hydrogeologists to IGCP 299. The 32 chapters of the book are the result of contributions made by 44 authors in describing the process of karst formation and their control on the occurrence and movement of ground water in 31 settings around the world.
(2) IGCP 299 NEWSLETTER 1992, 66 pages. Ed. Lin Xinhong ,supervised by Yuan Daoxian, The Institute of karst Geology ,Guilin ,CHINA .
(3) Guidebook for IGCP 299 international field symposium in Australia ,humid temperate impounded karst, sub-humid temperate syngenetic karst, and arid temperate karst, Canberra ? Nullarbor. December, 1992. Edited by DavidGillieson,115 pages, with 61 figures, and 11 tables, special publication No.4,Department of Geography and Oceanography, the University of New South Wales,ADFA, Canberra, Australia.

3. PROGRESS AT NATIONAL WORKING GROUPS OF IGCP 299 IN 1992

3.1 Austria (Rudolf Pavuza). A typical site at "YBBSTALER ALPEN" withdense forest was proposed for international karst correlation. It isunderlain by Upper-Triassic evaporite-carbonate rocks or dolomite 400 m to1000 m thick with close folding. The latitude is 47°55'N, and the altituderanges between 360 m and 1167 m. The annual mean precipitation is 1400 mm, and the annual mean temperature 6.7°C, with maximum snow accumulation of 2 m.The karst hydrological system covers 70 km², with water table 100 m in depth.The discharge of karst spring ranges between 400 l/s and 900 l/s. Thehydrochemical features are distinguished into two types. An open karsthydrological system is characterized by: TDS 344 ppm, Ca²⁺ 43 ppm, HCO₃^- 266ppm, pH 7.7, temperature 5.7°C, whereas a closed system has: TDS 1088 ppm, Ca²⁺ 245ppm, HCO₃^-  310 ppm, SO₄^2- 490 ppm, pH 6.9 and temperature 10.5°C. Thesurface karst features are characterized by dry valleys in dolomite, and manytufa-producing springs. Dolinen and karren are few. There are 32 caves with atotal length of 1350 m. Scallops are available. but speleothem are few. Aregistration form with some slides have been sent to the Project's Secretariat.

3.2 Australia(David Gillieson). In addition to the organization of  IGCP299 field excursion, Australian colleagues are involved in rehabilitation planfor the quarry which overlies Exit Cave, a world heritage in Tasmania. Theyare trying to recreate a polygonal karst terrain.

3.3 China (Yuan Daoxian). A key project supported jointly by theMinistry of Geology and Mineral Resources, and the National ScienceFoundation of China, entitled" The Formation of Karst in China andEnvironment Change Prediction " has been put into operation. Two seminarswere held. 5 monitory stations is being set up on different geological,climatical, hydrological and vegetation conditions to look at therelationship between carbon clycle and karst formation. A 1.6 m longstalagmite was taken for cutting and exposing its interior structureon longitudinal profile. Two major sedimentation breaks during the past10-20 thousand year were found. Detail work with high resolutionincluding AMS method will be done to reconstruct palaoenvironment for thepast 20 thousand years. Field correlation trip in North China is plannedin 1993. Prof.H. H. Tsien, Director of the Department of Geology, TaiwanUniversity will try to find out environment change records on Quaternarylimestone in the southern part of Taiwan Island.

3.4 Commonwealth of Independent States (G.N.Dyblyanskaya V.H.Dublyanskyand A.B.Klimchouk from Ukraine, K.A.Gorbunova from Russia, and others). The members of this Project from former USSR have finished the draft of a karst map series. It is in the scale of 1/2500000, and has 16 sheets covering thewhole territory of former Soviet Union. Moreover, they have reduced it intothe scale of 1/25000000 as a contribution to IGCP 299 in compiling a worldkarst map. The series include 3 maps, they are: (1) map of karst lithologictypes in CIS; (2) types of karst in CIS according to the characteristics of overburden; (3) map of geotectonic region in CIS. The Project has receivedthe latest issue of Newsletter from Kiev Karst and SpeleologicalCenter, "The Light"(supplement No.2, 1992 December, edited by A. Klimchouk). The 8 pages Newsletter are all written in English. In addition to Ukraine, it includes the latest karst informations from all over the former USSR, such as Georgia, Uzbekistan, and Russia. Two major 1993 karst projects in CIS are announced. One in Arkhangelsk, Russia, March or September, to examine gypsum karst at 60°N latitude between North Dvina River and Mezen River, including the 14500 m long Kulogorscaja Cave. (contact Jury Nikolaev, "Arkhangelsk geologia", Prospekt Vinogradova 137, Arkhangelsk, 163015, Russia). Another in Uzbekistan, to examine some deep caves in Jurassic limestone of Surkhandarja region, at altitude 1000-3500 m a.s l. (contact Tourist Sport Club, 700060, Tashkent, Shevchenko St, 44, Republic of Uzbekistan).

3.5 Czechoslovakia (Vaclav Cilek and Vojen Lozek). The project's WorkingGroup of former Czechoslovakia will concentrate their work on thecorrelation of climatic changes with karst process during the Late Tertiaryand Quaternary. They will try to find the course of climatic cyclereflected by changes in sedimentation, soil formation, CaCO₃ dissolution or precipitation, as well as fauna and flora. The Group specializes in two ways:1- Mesozoic and Tertiary history of the karst of Bohemian massif on the basisof geomorphological study combined with detailed mineralogy and geochemistryof weathering profiles. The preliminary results "Bohemian Karst in Tertiary"were presented as IGCP 299 contribution in Bordeauk late 1992 ( Basak- Cilek- Tipkova), 2- the study of Quaternary history of karst lead by V. Lozek. Areport on cave expedition in Nepalian Himalaya has reached the Secretariat.

3.6 Hungary (Denes Balazs). Hydrothermal karst correlation were madebetween caves in Hungary and USA (Jewel Cave, and Wind Cave). Stable isotopeand cathode luminescent analyses were carried out in Oxford University,further stable isotope and fluid inclusion analyses are in progress atMcMaster University, Canada, and at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics,Novosibirsk, Russia. The project on global karst data-base and Karst Atlas ofthe world is supported by the Hungarian Speleological Society. A paper onglobal correlation of karst depression (doline type and doline complex) hasbeen published.

3.7 Japan (Nobuyuki Hori). It is considered that the present coral reefsmust be formed on the bases of karst topographies which have been eroded bysubaerial solution at several glacial phases of low sea-level during theQuaternary period. An attempt is made to study the climatic and sea levelchanges during Quaternary with the data of Atoll lagoon floor depth.

3.8 Poland (Marian Pulina). A book written in Polish on karst of Sudetyand Haut Plateau, Silesie-Cracovie, 101 pages, has reached the Secretariat.

3.9 Slovenia(Andrej Kranjc). New progress has been made on the systematicresearch at Skocjanske Jame. It includes cave survey, lithostratigraphy andpaleoecology study, flowstone dating, hydrochemical study on percolationwater, flowstone deposition rate measurement and cave erosion and corrosion rate measurement. The hydrochemical feature of the percolation water are found different from place to place, with its Ca²⁺ content varied from 3.82 to 5.91 mev/l. The flowstone deposition are concentrated in some places only. The deposition rate is estimated to be 5cm/100 years. On some cave wall with scallop, the intensity of corrosion is calculated on the bases of micrometric measurement to be 1.5 mm/100 years.

3.10 UK (M. M. Sweeting). Mike Price and R. Downing have completed theediting of a work on the chalk and hydrogeology. Goudie and Viles have published work on tufa deposit in Kimberley, Australia. P. Bull continues hiswork on cave sediments of Guilin, and Laibin, China. M. M. Sweeting has nearlycompleted a monography on karst geomorphology in China. Helen Goldie hascontinued work on limestone pavement and preservation problems. P. Smartpublished a paper on methods of dating in karst. Tony waltham and his fellow speleologists visited Xingwen, Sichuan, and Tibet, China. The British Group has provisionally booked rooms in Oxford forIGCP 299 meeting in 1994.

4. REPORTS FROM SUB-GROUPS

4.1 Soil formation in karst area (Kazuko Urushibara-Yoshino). Field workswere carried out in Guilin-Guizhou, China(April, 1992), and Gunung Sewu, JavaIsland, Indonesia(December, 1992). Soil samples were taken, and are now beinganalysed in Komazawa University, Japan, and the Nanjing AgriculturalUniversity, China.

4.2 Chemical kinetics of karst formation(W. Dreybrodt, Liu Zaihua).Cooperative field works were carried out in June. 1992. Two sites in Chinawith extensive calcareous deposition were examined. One is anthropogenetic inWujiangdu dam site, Guizhou, where grouting tunnels were filled byspeleothem under the high alkaline environment of cement solution. Theother is natural tufa cascades down a karst spring in Huanglong highmountain resort, Sichuan. Solid, aquatic and gaseous samples for chemical or isotope analyses were taken, flow rate was monitored, precipitation or dissolution rate were measured with marble tablets on the spot, so as to find out the relationship between carbon cycle, water cycle, calcium cycle and karst formation. From the result of dC13 analyses with CO2 bubbles, it is found that the karst spring may have a geothermal origin, which is otherwise difficult to be known, because itstemperature is very low after being mixed with snow melt water under amodern end moraine. The result will be published in the proceedings of IGCP 299 symposium.

5. COOPERATION WITH INTERNATIONAL KARST ORGANIZATIONS

1992 was a year of more close cooperation between this Project and themajor International Karst Organizations. We have also developed exchangeswith some other institutions. Members of major karst-related international scientific organizations were involved in the field excursion in Appalachian and Kentucky, August 1992, including the Karst Commission of International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) , the newly established Karst Commission of InternationalUnion of Geography (IGU), and the Union of International Speleology (UIS). Common issues, such as the development of GIS and databases about karst, information exchange, and future meetings were discussed during the excursion. Two chances were selected for the joint meetings of these organizations in 1993 and 1994, i.e., the Third International Geomorphological Conference (August 23-29, 1993, Canada), and theInternational Symposium on the Changing Karst Environment:Hydrogeology,Geomorphology and Conservation(September 10-23, 1994,England).

5.1 Karst Commission of IAH. The commission made great contribution to this Project by the publication of the 493 page book "Hydrogeology of SelectedKarst Regions", and by helps to make important decisions for the Project.During its 21st session in Karlsruhe, September, 1992, the commission made adecision for next major activity in preparing a volume entitled "KarstHydrogeology and Human Activities: Impacts, Consequences and Implication". Itwill be co-edited by the vice-presidents of the Commission: David Drew, andHeinz Hotzl. People who would like to contribute for this volume are welcometo contact: Dr. David Drew, Trinity College, Department of Geography, Dublin2, Ireland.

5.2 Karst Commission of IGU. The Project got resolute supports frommembers of IGU Commission in Organizing the 3 international field karstcorrelations in 1992. A new publication of the IGU Commission "Environmentalchanges and human impact in karst terrains" (Edited by P. Williams) will comeout as the 25th supplement volume of CATENA soon. Another proposal for theCommission's publication entitled "Saving Caves-Towards an InternationalProtection System for Karst Environments" is now under way. Our Project isasked to contribute for the new volume. The co-editors will be the chairman ofthe Commission Prof. Ugo Sauro and Dr. Finlayson Brian (Department ofGeography, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Melbourne,Australia).

5.3 International Union of Speleology. Many members of the Union tookactive part in the Project's 1992 field correlations. We have been inregular contact with the Union's president Prof.Hubert Trimmel. He suggeststhat the Austrian contribution to IGCP 299 will be presented at a symposiumentitled "High mountain karst with a particular regard to the Alps",which will be in conjunction with the 20th Meeting of German Working Groupof Geomorphology and the Austrian Commission of Geomorphology, to beheld in Vienna, July 18-24, 1994. The program will include an excursionto the caves and the high alpine karst of the Dachstein massif (Upper-Austria).

5.4 GLOCOPH (Commission on Continental Paleohydrology, the InternationalUnion for Quaternary Research.), Regular exchange has established between ourProject and GLOCOPH. During a meeting of 8-12 September, 1992 in Krakow Poland,the GLOCOPH figured out its main aim. It is to analyze the nature of globalhydrological changes, fluxes and storages during the last 20,000 years withthe time resolution of 100-1000 years in all land areas with emphasis inthose holding the greatest human population and the most sensitive areas interms of water resources. I consider the IGCP 299 project can contribute a lotto this aim with karst records. Chairman of GLOCOPH: L. Starkel, Dept. ofGeomorphology and Hydrology, Inst. of Geography, Polish Academy of Sciences,31-018 Krakow, Ul. SW, Jana 22, Poland.

5.5 GEO-indicators, a Working Group of Commission on Geoscience forEnvironmental Planning, IUGS. The aim of the WG is to establish aninternational checklist of geological indicators needed to assess the healthand integrity of natural environment. It will deal with erosion anddeposition, neotectonics, slope stability, weathering and soil development,geochemical and geophysical parameters, seismicity, the quality of groundwater, intensity of the earth's magnetic field. IGCP 299 is invited tojoin this WG. Chairman: Dr. A. R. Berger, 3439 Caribou Drive NW, Calgary,Alberta T2L OS4, CANADA.

5.6 Karst Water Institute, USA.(President: Dr. John Mylroie, P. O. Box2194, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA). The latest Newsletter of the KWIincludes many informations about the new development of the Institute. We areinterested in the announcement that KWI will sponsor a conference onBreakthroughs in Geomicrobiology. It will be an interdisciplinary conferenceon the microbiology of karst, more specifically, the geomicrobiology ofoxidation / reduction reactions in karst terrain. The three daysconference will include an examination of the unusual chemistry of mineralsprings in Colorado springs and nearby Manitou springs, and a tripto Wind Cave, Colorado, for a look at some of the results of karstprocesses interacting with microbiology. For more details, contactchairman of the conference, Dr. David C. Culver, Dept. of Biology, theAmerican University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington D. C. ,20016,USA.

5.7 IGCP 296 and IGCP 324. According to a suggestion from IGCP Board inthe 1993 assessment on our Project, we have contacted Dr.J.L.Rau, leader ofIGCP 296: Quaternary in the Asia/Pacific Region, and Dr.L. Cabera, leader ofIGCP 324: Global Paleoenvironmental Archives in Lacustrine System (GLOPALS) , to start a cooperation.

6. FUTURE WORKS OF THE PROJECT

6.1 FINAL PRODUCT OF THE PROJECT
During the meetings in 1992, discussions took place concerning the finalproducts of the project. It was agreed to look at publishing a book comparingand contrasting the areas visited on the seven field excursions of the project: 1. Turkey, Oct. 1990; 2. China, July, 1991; 3. Russia, July, 1992, 4. USA,August, 1992; 5. Australia, December, 1992; 6. Canada, August, 1993, 7.England, September 1994. A second product discussed was the compilation ofslides from each of the seven areas illustrating significant karst featuresand aspects of the areas.
Because of the limitation of participancy in the discussion. I would liketo know your comment and suggestion about the final product, especially on thefollowing issues:
(1) How to reflect works from National Working Groups, especially thosefrom the selected correlation sites, and results from sub-groups into thefinal product.
(2) Who will be responsible to prepare each of the seven chapters, couldI ask the organizers of the seven IGCP 299 Excursion to be kindly in charge ofthe relevant chapter?
(3) To be really a final result of international correlation, I considereach chapter of the final volume should not be as diversified as those in aproceedings,i.e, it should be prepared according to a guideline in accordanceto the general aim of IGCP 299. Can I make a suggestion that authors use theregistration form of typical karst correlation site which we delivered at thefirst year of the project as a general line of data collection. Please sentyour comments and suggestions at your earliest convenience.

6.2 MEETINGS OF THE PROJECT IN 1993
(1) Symposium and Excursion on "Glacial Karst", Hamilton, Ontario,CANADA, August 23-31, 1993. It was agreed with other international karstorganizations, that the major meeting of the project in 1993 will be inCANADA, in conjunction with the third International Geomorphology Conference.The conference will take place from 23 to 29 August, 1993, and there will be apost conference karst excursion B5 from 29 to 31, August, 1993, entitled"Coasts, karst and glaciation on the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario" (Leader: Dr. D.C. Ford, Department of Geography, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S4K1, Canada, Co-leaders: J. Lundberg, S. Vajoczki). People who would like totake part in the meeting and have not registered yet, please contact as soonas possible D. C. Ford, who is also the Co-chairman of the ConferenceOrganizing Committee.
(2) International Symposium on Water Resources in Karst with specialEmphasis in Arid and Semi-arid Zones, 23-30, Oct, 1993, Shiraz, Iran. (Dr. A.A. Afrasiabian, general secretary of the symposium, Ministry of Energy, WaterResources Organization, 1-P. O. Box 15875-3584, Teheran, Iran, Fax 0098-71-35073). Topics from general karstology to practical problems in exploring,estimating, exploiting, and protecting karst water resources will beincluded in the symposium. It will be followed by excursions through someof the most spectacular karst terrains in South Iran (Zagros Range).
(3) International Congress of Speleology, August 2- 8, 1993, Beijing,China ( XI ICS, Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. P. O. Box634, Beijing, 100029, China). This Project will have a work meeting during theconference.
(4) Other meetings of interest to the Projcet
1. A special study school on Karst Environment, August, 1993, organizedby Silesian University, Poland (Pulina Marian, Dept. of Karst Geomorphology,Silesian University, Ul. Mielkzarskiego 60, PL41-200, Sosnowiec, Poland).
2. International Symposium on "Man on Karst" Sept. 23-25, 1993,Postojna, Slovenia, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Acad. Prof. Ivan Gams(contact, Mihevc Andrej, Institut Za Raziskovanje Krasa, 66230 Postojna, Titovtrg 2, Slovenia).

6.3 PUBLICATION OF THE PROJECT IN 1993
(1) IGCP 299 Newsletter 1993. A summary of the results from the threefield correlation trips in Russia, USA and Australia will be given. Newdevelopment at some National Working Groups, as well as personal reports willbe included. Prepared by IGCP 299 Secretariat, published by the Institute ofKarst Geology, Guilin.
(2) World Karst Correlation, Proceedings of the International Symposiumon Karst of Inner Plate Region with Monsoon Climate, Guilin, July, 1991.Editor: Yuan Daoxian. It will be published as the NO.2 English Supplement of Carsologica Sinica. The 28 papers in the 230 page book has great geographiccoverage with different types of karst, that includes: Humid subtropical karston old phase carbonate rocks in the southern part of Mainland China; Humidtropical karst on Cenozoic reef limestone of Ryukyus Island in Japan;Mediterranean karst of Yugoslavia; Semiarid karst on lower Paleozoic carbonaterocks of Northern China; Arid karst on Mesozoic carbonate rocks with manyevaporites in Iran; Alpine karst in western part of China; and Thermal karst of Hungary. The book will come out at about June, 1993. Price: USD 20. Anorder form is enclosed herewith, the total price including postage will be USD 25.

6.4 MEETINGS IN 1994
(1) Meeting in England, 10-23 September, 1994. It was agreed that thefinal meeting of the Project will be in England. The symposium will beorganized by the University of Huddersfield and the University of Oxford,and entitled "Changing Karst Environment: Hydrogeology, Geomorphology andConservation". (Meeting Secretary: Prof.John Gunn, Department of Geographical and Environmental Sciences, the University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH, England, Tel.0484 472130, Fax 0484 451547). It will bea joint meeting of IGCP 299 with Karst Commissions of IAH and IGU. Thefirst circular is available in this IGCP 299 Newsletter. After the meeting,there will be a possible visit to karst of Montpellier,France, organized byProf. J. Avias.
(2) International symposium and field seminar on tropical karst of Cuba, April 1994 (Dr. Javier E. Rodriguez-Rubio, Institute of Geography, Cuba Academy of Sciences, Calle 11, No.514 e/DyE Vedado, 10400, La Habana, Cuba). There will be four days symposium in Havana, and 11 days field excursion covering 3 major karst types in western part of the country, i.e cone and tower karst in Pinar del Rio Province; karst plain near Matanzas; and mountain karst in marbles at Cienfuegos.
(3) Symposium on High Mountain Karst with a particular regard to Alps,July 18-24, 1994. Vienna, Austria (contact Prof. Hubert Trimmel Draschestra  ße77, A-1232 Vienna, Austria, Tel.(0222) 67 19 334 )
(4) General and Applied Karst Hydrogeology, 23 May - 2 June, 1994Yugoslavia. According to a letter from Dr. Zoron Stevanovic, the scheduled 1993 symposium has been postponed to 1994.
(5) Symposium and field excursion on human impact in Karst of SouthernPoland, August, 1994, organized in connection with the European RegionalConference of IGU.

The new development of IGCP 299 in 1992 could be summarized as more fruitful and extensive international correlation, and closer cooperation with other karst groups of the world.
In additional to previous experiences of the karst in plate collision belt with Mediterranean climate, and karst in inner plate region with monsoon climate, this year we have got evaporite karst, karst in cold temperate humid region, arid karst on Cenozoic carbonate rock. Through field correlation, the importance of Quaternary sedimentation, vegetation, allogenic water, the hydrological setting with non-soluble caprock, and the exsudation process ofevaporites to karst formation are better recognized. New evidences fromkarst records to reconstruct paleoenvi- ronment were found.
Moreover, through world correlation between karst morphology and its environment of formation, and monitoring the relationship between carboncycle, water cycle, calcium cycle and karst process on typical sites, wehave gradually penetrated from geological, climatic, hydrological, biologicbackground of karst formation into the physic-chemical mechanism, i.e., theregularities of energy-material shifting behind it.
Cooperation with other international karst organizations has been enhanced. The field excursion in Appalachian Karst were organized jointly with Karst Commission of IGU. Moreover,leaders of the karst Groups of IAH, IGU, IGCP, and UIS were all at the excursion. Cordination on future works, and some practical issues, such as information exchange,karst data bank were discussed.It is believed that these efforts will help the smooth and more efficient development of world karst study.
Practical problems have been continuously emphasized this year. Karst water resources, ecological system, water quality, surface collapse are all examined and compared in each karst correlation site. Participants are more convinced that practical problems which are related to karst feature are varied with different karst types. Consequently, it is important to treat them
in line with the characteristics of different karst types.
The Project went more smoothly this year. The benefit of the Project's guideline in improving karst study, i.e.correlating global geology,climate,and hydrology to different type of karst feature complex have been getting better understood. Accordingly, it is reasonable to summarize in a book the results of contrasting the seven typical correlation sites of this Project as its final product.

Comments and suggestions to Webmaster,
Copyrights by Karst Dynamics Laboratory and Network Center of Guangxi Normal University,
1995-1999. All rights reserved.