Karst is a geomorphological topic focused on landscapes developed predominantly in soluble rocks, such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum, through dissolution processes. It encompasses the study of characteristic landforms and hydrologic systems including sinkholes, caves, blind valleys, disappearing streams, and underground drainage networks. Research in karst examines chemical weathering reactions (primarily carbonate dissolution by slightly acidic water), mass transfer in the critical zone, conduit versus diffuse groundwater flow, and vulnerabilities to contamination due to rapid infiltration. Karst studies integrate hydrogeology, geochemistry, and structural geology to understand aquifer behavior, solute transport, and the evolution of subsurface and surface morphologies.
A new Yale study identifies a distinct species of eyeless cavefish, a discovery that challenges long-held conventional wisdom that caves and other subterranean ecosystems are evolutionary dead ends.
Evolution
May 23, 2026
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247
Beneath the lush rainforests of the Yucatan Peninsula lies a hidden, subterranean world: a vast network of flooded sinkholes and anchialine caves. These unique underwater systems, which mix fresh and saltwater and are influenced ...
Evolution
Apr 20, 2026
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53
Every year at Grand Canyon National Park, millions of visitors from all over the world stop at one of a dozen water spigots. Most people are on a rim, seeing the canyon's majesty for the first time, when they step off the ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 5, 2026
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224
You trust the road beneath your tires. But what if that trust is misplaced? Sinkholes are increasingly turning ordinary streets into danger zones. And the cost of ignoring them is skyrocketing.
Environment
Dec 15, 2025
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26
A research team led by Prof. Wang Li from the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has found that ecosystems with more complete ecological succession and longer existence exhibit ...
Environment
Oct 31, 2025
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28
Deep inside caves, water dripping from the ceiling creates one of nature's most iconic formations: stalagmites. These pillars of calcite, ranging from centimeters to many meters in height, rise from the cave floor as drip ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 13, 2025
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122
Water reshapes Earth through slow, powerful erosion, carving intricate landscapes like caves and pinnacles in soluble rocks such as limestone. An international team from the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, ...
Earth Sciences
May 28, 2025
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37
A study led by Prof. Chen Hongsong from the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has unveiled the mechanistic influence of soil thickness (as a representative litho-structural factor) ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 13, 2025
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18
