Karst Glossary

aquifer

A formation, a group of formations, or part of a formation that contains sufficient saturated permeable material to yield significant quantities of water to wells and springs.

 

cover collapse

The collapse of unconsolidated cover (soil, regolith, residium, or outwash) into the underlying cavernous bedrock.

 

graded-filter technique

A technique for filling sinkholes where the sinkhole throat opening in the bedrock is bridged with large pieces of stone. The layer of large stones is covered with a second layer of stone, such that the rocks are large enough to bridge the openings between the underlying stones. Layers of stone are laid down in courses until a final layer of fine gravel can be covered with soil and the surface graded.

grike

A vertical or subvertical fissure in a limestone pavement developed by solution along a joint.

joint

A break of geological origin in the continuity of a body of rock occurring either singly, or more frequently in a set or system, but not attended by a visible movement parallel to the surface of the discontinuity.

karst

A terrane, generally underlain by limestone or dolomite, in which the topography is formed chiefly by the dissolving of rock, and which may be characterized by sinkholes, sinking streams, closed depressions, subterranean drainage, and caves.

 

sinkhole

A basin- or funnel-shaped hollow in limestone, ranging in diameter from a few meters up to a kilometer and in depth from a few to several hundred meters.

sinking stream

A small stream that disappears underground.

spring

Any natural discharge of water from rock or soil onto the surface of the land of into a body or surface water.

swallow hole

A place where water disappears underground in a limestone region. A swallow hole generally implies water loss in a closed depression or blind valley, whereas a swallet may refer to water loss into alluvium at a stream bed, even though there is not a depression.

 

 

Reference for Glossary

Field, M.S., 1999, A lexicon of cave and karst terminology with special reference to environmental karst hydrology: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Assessment, EPA/600/R-99/006, 201 p. Digital version by Karst Waters Institute.