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Featured articles from Cave & Karst Science Journals
Characterization of minothems at Libiola (NW Italy): morphological, mineralogical, and geochemical study, Carbone Cristina; Dinelli Enrico; De Waele Jo
Chemistry and Karst, White, William B.
Engineering challenges in Karst, Stevanović, Zoran; Milanović, Petar
The karst paradigm: changes, trends and perspectives, Klimchouk, Alexander
Long-term erosion rate measurements in gypsum caves of Sorbas (SE Spain) by the Micro-Erosion Meter method, Sanna, Laura; De Waele, Jo; Calaforra, José Maria; Forti, Paolo
Featured articles from other Geoscience Journals
Geochemical and mineralogical fingerprints to distinguish the exploited ferruginous mineralisations of Grotta della Monaca (Calabria, Italy), Dimuccio, L.A.; Rodrigues, N.; Larocca, F.; Pratas, J.; Amado, A.M.; Batista de Carvalho, L.A.
Karst processes and landforms, De Waele, J.
Karst environment, Culver D.C.
Mushroom Speleothems: Stromatolites That Formed in the Absence of Phototrophs, Bontognali, Tomaso R.R.; D’Angeli Ilenia M.; Tisato, Nicola; Vasconcelos, Crisogono; Bernasconi, Stefano M.; Gonzales, Esteban R. G.; De Waele, Jo
Calculating flux to predict future cave radon concentrations, Rowberry, Matt; Marti, Xavi; Frontera, Carlos; Van De Wiel, Marco; Briestensky, Milos
BAFFINS LANE CHICHESTER, W SUSSEX PO19 1UD, ENGLAND
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 2000, Vol 25, Issue 2, p. 1221-1235
Field survey and analysis of hillslopes on tower karst in Guilin, southern China
Tang T. , Day M. J. ,
Abstract:
Limestone dissolution in tropical and subtropical humid southern China created residual hills with steep slopes, a landform that is referred to as tower karst. Two types of tower karst landform feature, fenglin or peak forest (isolated towers) and fengcong or peak cluster (linked-base towers), were identified in Guilin. Previous studies proposed two hypotheses regarding their origin and evolution. One is the sequential evolution model from peak cluster to peak forest. The other is a parallel development model, which postulates that both peak cluster and peak forest have developed simultaneously. Through detailed field survey and analysis of slope forms on tower karst in Guilin, it was found that the mean slope angle of the towers is very high (62.4 degrees) and ranges from 60 degrees to 75 degrees. There is no significant difference in mean slope angle and slope angle distribution between towers in the peak cluster basin and peak forest floodplain areas. Mean slope angle increases with intensified fluvial dissection. Three levels of caves in the towers of the peak forest in Guilin were identified in previous research. The isolated towers of the peak forest as well as scattered residuals of peak cluster are generally distributed in the centre of the Guilin syncline. Favourable circumstances of allogenic water concentration indicate that development of the peak forest resulted from the combined effects of subcutaneous and subterranean dissolution as well as subsequent collapse and recession by fluvial erosion after uplifting. By contrast, peak clusters generally occur on the limbs of the syncline or at the periphery of the Guilin basin with relatively higher elevations. The thick vadose zone and predominantly vertical flow suggests that peak clusters are mainly formed by the combination of intensive uplifting and the enhancement of original dolines. The evidence of slope survey and slope analysis suggests that both isolated towers and linked-base towers developed simultaneously but by different mechanisms of formation and different combinations of development processes. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Limestone dissolution in tropical and subtropical humid southern China created residual hills with steep slopes, a landform that is referred to as tower karst. Two types of tower karst landform feature, fenglin or peak forest (isolated towers) and fengcong or peak cluster (linked-base towers), were identified in Guilin. Previous studies proposed two hypotheses regarding their origin and evolution. One is the sequential evolution model from peak cluster to peak forest. The other is a parallel development model, which postulates that both peak cluster and peak forest have developed simultaneously. Through detailed field survey and analysis of slope forms on tower karst in Guilin, it was found that the mean slope angle of the towers is very high (62.4 degrees) and ranges from 60 degrees to 75 degrees. There is no significant difference in mean slope angle and slope angle distribution between towers in the peak cluster basin and peak forest floodplain areas. Mean slope angle increases with intensified fluvial dissection. Three levels of caves in the towers of the peak forest in Guilin were identified in previous research. The isolated towers of the peak forest as well as scattered residuals of peak cluster are generally distributed in the centre of the Guilin syncline. Favourable circumstances of allogenic water concentration indicate that development of the peak forest resulted from the combined effects of subcutaneous and subterranean dissolution as well as subsequent collapse and recession by fluvial erosion after uplifting. By contrast, peak clusters generally occur on the limbs of the syncline or at the periphery of the Guilin basin with relatively higher elevations. The thick vadose zone and predominantly vertical flow suggests that peak clusters are mainly formed by the combination of intensive uplifting and the enhancement of original dolines. The evidence of slope survey and slope analysis suggests that both isolated towers and linked-base towers developed simultaneously but by different mechanisms of formation and different combinations of development processes. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Keywords: area, areas, basin, c, caves, china, collapse, dissolution, distribution, doline, dolines, erosion, evolution, field, flow, fluvial, fluvial erosion, forest, form, hydrology, hypotheses, karst, level, limestone, limestone dissolution, mechanism, mechanisms, milwaukee, model, origin, peak cluster, peak forest, planning, range, recession, residuals, slope, slopes, southern, subterranean, time, times, tower karst, usa, vadose zone, water, wisconsin, zone,