Subaerial chemical weathering and meteoric groundwater dissolution
typical scale
Local dolines (10–1,000 m) to regional plateaus (Dinaric Alps, South China Karst, Nullarbor Plain)
characteristic lithology
Fractured limestone (CaCO₃), dolostone (CaMg(CO₃)₂), gypsum, and halite evaporites
examples
Dinaric Kras Plateau, South China Karst (Guilin), Mammoth Cave, Yucatán Cenotes
Core Principles & Analysis
Named after the Kras (Karst) plateau of Slovenia and Italy and systematized by geomorphologist Jovan Cvijić in 1893, karst forms where rainwater enriched with atmospheric and soil CO₂ (carbonic acid, H₂CO₃) dissolves fractured carbonate bedrock.
Surface drainage is captured underground through sinkholes (dolines), cenotes, and sinking streams (ponors) into conduit aquifers and cavern networks, leaving dry valleys, flat-floored poljes, and residual tower karst (fenglin/mogotes) above ground.
Karst aquifers supply roughly 25% of global drinking water, while buried ancient karst networks ('paleokarst') in the stratigraphic record host up to 50% of the world's carbonate hydrocarbon reserves.