ABSTRACT
Karst landscapes form where solutional removal of bedrock is the dominant process in landform development. Subsurface solution conduits are best studied as cave systems, forms produced during part of the karst hydrologic cycle. The general public poorly understands karst landforms and processes, as evidenced by its opinion of cave conduits and its use of land in karst areas. Karst forms can be classified by their position and function in a hydrological regime, i.e. part of the terrestrial, fluvial component of the hydrologic cycle. Karst topography results from solutional sculpturing of bedrock initiated when this soluble material enters the domain of the hydrologic cycle. Karst landforms and cave systems can develop on a variety of scales from a few meters to many kilometers in magnitude. The observation of passage size, flow markings, sediments and size and orientation of abandoned upper levels can help unravel the geomorphic history of a karst area.
