Limestone 6)

Limestone cliff (scar) |

No depression)

Limestone pavement with clints and grikes |m 7 ig p

A PLLA

Limestone plateau Dry valley |

\ Surface drainage

Pervious (permeable) Carboniferous

limestone

Resurgence (spring) Pr

Taai Stalagmites

ee

Underground river -

_ Horizontal bedding planes

A j a f Ap / Ys 7 Pd Pi g 7

“hen oe

Resurgence (spring)

Impermeable rock

Figure 6.3 Limestone features

The processes involved include carbonation, other deposits. Depressions can range from freeze-
thaw and ice action. In the past ice small-scale hollows to large depressions up action stripped
away horizontal bedding to 30 metres in diameter. Swallow holes (or planes and the overlying
soil. sinks) are smaller surface depressions in
the landscape which may be caused by the solution of limestone; or by the enlargement of a
grike system, by carbonation or river erosion; or by the collapse of a cavern. Often a river
disappears down the hole, hence

the term ‘sink’. Rivers flow underground, following joints and bedding planes. Resurgent
streams arise when the limestone is underlain by an impermeable rock, such as clay. This forces
the water out into the open, forming a spring or resurgent stream.

Dolines are large surface depressions formed by the solution or collapse of limestone.
Frequently they are covered by

Cockpit karst is another type of surface depression in tropical areas. See pages 107—108 for
more details.

Other important surface features include dry valleys. A dry valley is a river valley without

| Figure 6.4 A limestone pavement showing clints and grikes a river and is a common feature on
chalk and

107

6) Limestone

limestone. A number of ideas have been put forward to explain their origin:

iL d

@ Carboniferous limestone is initially impermeable, but becomes increasingly permeable owing

to carbonation over a period of thousands and even millions of years. Therefore river systems
that originally developed on impermeable limestone tend to disappear as the rock becomes
more permeable.

oe

wg -

e Dry valleys could be formed by the collapse ' ———— | Figure 6.6 Stalagmites in Harrison’s
Cave, Barbados of a cave system. ——_————

e Climate change and decreased levels of precipitation since the creation of the valley have left
it dry.

1 What is the difference between a clint and a grike?

e Human activities — such as the use of groundwater for farming and industrial or i residential
uses — may lower the water table 2 What is another name for a sink?

and cause rivers to become dry.

Underground features

Underground features include caves and tunnels formed by carbonation and by erosion by
rivers. Carbonation is a reversible process. When calcium-rich water drips from the ceiling it
leaves behind calcium in the form of stalactites and stalagmites (Figures 6.5 and 6.6). These are
cave deposits formed by the precipitation of dissolved calcium carbonate. Stalactites develop
from the top of the cave whereas stalagmites are formed on the base of the cave. Rates of
deposition are slow — about 1 mm per 100 years (the thickness of a coat of paint). The speed at
which water drips from the cave ceiling appears to have some influence on whether stalactites
(slow drip) or stalagmites (fast drip) are formed. Pillars occur when stalagmites and stalactites
join from a continuous deposit from ceiling to ground

notches at their base. The steepest towers are found on massive, gently tilted limestone.
According to Sweeting, tower karst develops in areas where:

® tectonic uplift is absent or limited e limestone lies close to other rock types @ the water table
is close to the surface.

In wet monsoonal areas, rivers will be able to maintain their flow over limestone, erode the
surface and leave residual blocks set in a river plain. It is likely that there are other important
processes. These include:

e differential erosion of rock with varying resistance

e differential solution along lines of weakness

è the retreat of cockpit karst slopes to produce isolated tower karst

e lateral erosion.

Activities

1 What is the difference between cockpit karst and tower karst?

2 Why is there so much carbonation in tropical areas?

3 How are blue holes formed?

Caribbean karst
The principal karst landscapes of the Caribbean are in the Greater Antillean islands of Cuba,
Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. Smaller karst areas occur throughout the Caribbean,
notably in the Bahamas, the Lesser Antilles, Barbados, the Netherlands Antilles and the Cayman
Islands (Figure 6.11 and Table 6.1).

There is great diversity within the karst landscapes of the Caribbean but they can be classified
into three main types:

1 Doline karst with enclosed depressions and subdued hills.

Limestone 6)

| Figure 6.11 Caribbean karst in the Cayman Islands

Table 6.1 Caribbean karst areas

Antigua and Barbuda

Netherlands Antilles

Source: adapted from M. J. Day, ‘Human impacts on Caribbean and Central American karst’,
Catena Supplement 25, 1993

2 Cockpit karst with enclosed depressions and residual hills in approximately the same
proportions.

3 Tower karst characterised by isolated residual hills separated by almost flat surfaces.

Climatically, there is considerable variation between the individual karst areas although all
experience the tropical wet climate. Mean annual temperatures range around 25°C, and mean
annual precipitation ranges between 1000 and 3000 mm. Altitude and a windward

111

6) Limestone

112

or leeward location affect rainfall totals;

some areas, particularly on the leeward side

of islands, experience a marked dry season between January and May. Typically, much

of the rainfall occurs as convectional storms, especially during the warmer period from May to
October, and much of the region experiences hurricanes between July and October.

Activities
1 Which islands of the Caribbean have the most limestone?

2 What three types of limestone landscape are found in the Caribbean?

The impacts of urbanisation

Urban development includes highway construction, in some places requiring destruction of

karst landforms (Figure 6.12), and increased use of limestone for making roads and cement; this
has been especially apparent in northern Puerto Rico. Numerous regional urban centres use
karst water supplies. For example, Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, draws in part on karst
groundwater. Other urban centres using karst groundwater include those in northern Jamaica
and northern Puerto Rico, Antigua, Barbuda, and to a lesser extent the Netherlands Antilles.

Urban water demands have also led to water contamination, particularly by salt water in low-
lying karst areas or where groundwater is at shallow depths. This has occurred in northern
Puerto Rico and in the Bahamas, and where the waste disposal infrastructure is unreliable.
Contamination problems have occurred in limestone aquifers in Jamaica. An investigation of
groundwater quality throughout the karst area of Puerto Rico detected widespread water
quality problems, including high salinity due to seawater intrusion and irrigation practices, high
levels of bacteria due to inadequate sewage disposal, and traces of organic chemicals.

Urbanisation has also caused increased flooding problems. Hard concrete surfaces lead to
reduced infiltration and a rapid input of storm waters to drainage channels. This is a particular
problem in places where rainfall can be locally intense, for example the urban areas of northern
Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

Industrial activities, in particular quarrying

and mining, have had pronounced impacts on many karstlands. Limestone is quarried for road
building and for cement production (Table 6.2). The Caribbean region produces some 42 million
tonnes of limestone per year, and more than

10 million tonnes of cement. The main producers and exporters of limestone include Cuba,
Jamaica and Puerto Rico; major producers of cement include Cuba, Dominican Republic and
Puerto Rico.

Open pit bauxite mining and alumina production are important industries in the karstlands of
Jamaica and Hispaniola. Commercial bauxite production began in Jamaica only in the

1950s. Some 100000 hectares of northern Jamaican karst, particularly in the Dry Harbour
Mountains, have been exploited for bauxite

and alumina, and current annual production is about 13 million tonnes of bauxite and about
4 million tonnes of alumina. Mining and quarrying activities inevitably have an impact

on local water quality. This has been a particular problem in Jamaica, where contamination

of surface water and groundwater by

‘red mud’ — the caustic waste from alumina production — has been severe, causing extremely
high sodium concentrations in groundwater.

Activities

1 How does urbanisation affect limes