Entre o Planalto de Guapiara e a Serra de Paranapiacaba ocorrem sistemas cársticos que estão sob constante pressão do avanço antrópicodas mais variadas naturezas, como mineração de rochas carbonáticas, silviculturas, agriculturas e a própria ocupação humana. Este estudo apresenta primeiramente um levantamento detalhado de aspectos geológicos e geomorfológicos do carste da região, baseado em fotointerpretação, geoprocessamento e trabalhos de campo. Os sistemas cársticos se desenvolvem de forma distinta em ambos os compartimentos geomorfológicos. No Planalto de Guapiara o carste é pouco expressivo com feições cársticas dispersas e raras em todos os corpos carbonáticos abordados. O relevo mais suavizado, com gradientes hidráulicos relativamente baixos e o pouco tempo de exposição das rochas carbonáticas não permitiram o desenvolvimento de umsistema cárstico pleno no planalto. Na Serra de Paranapiacaba, o relevo mais acidentado, associado a altos gradientes hidráulicos, carbonatos mais puros, e maior tempo de exposição das rochas carbonáticas, permite que as feições sejam mais concentradas e apresentem maior desenvolvimento em relação ao planalto. A partir dadeterminação da configuração do carste foi possível se determinar a vulnerabilidadee a delimitação de um zoneamento ambiental do sistema cárstico com a utilização de dois métodos: EPIK e KDI. Na região do Planalto de Guapiara a vulnerabilidade do carsteé baixa e a ocupação humana é mais expressiva, com poucos riscos ao sistema e à população que ali se estabeleceu. Na região da Serra de Paranapiacaba a presença de feições cársticas mais constantes e mais concentradas indica vulnerabilidade muito alta, porém a presença de Unidades de Conservação garante a preservação deste tipo de sistema e a baixa ocupação e interferência humana. Espera-se que este estudo venha a contribuir para políticas públicas de ordenamento territorial futuro, minimizando os eventuais impactos no carste da região. / Between the Guapiara Plateau and the Paranapiacaba Range there are karst systems that are under constant pressure from anthropic advancement of various natures, such as mining of carbonate rocks, forestry, agricultureand human settlement itself. This study presents a detailed survey of geologic and geomorphologic aspects based on photo interpretation, GIS and fieldwork observations. Karst systems develop differently in both geomorphological compartments. At the Guapiara Plateau is not very expressive with scattered and rare karst features in all carbonate bodies covered by this study. The most cushioned relief, with relatively low hydraulic gradients and the short time of exposure of the carbonate rocks did not allow the full development of a karst system at the plateau. At Paranapiacaba Range, the most rugged relief, associated with high hydraulic gradients, purer carbonates and longer exposure of the carbonate rocks, allows karst features to be more concentrated and greater development in relation to the plateau. From the determination of the karst setting was possible to determine the vulnerability and delimitation of an environmental zoning of karst system using two methods: EPIK and KDI. At the Guapiara Plateau the karst vulnerability is low and human settlement is more expressive, with little risk to the system and the people who settled there. At Paranapiacaba Range the presence of karst features is more constant and more concentrated so the vulnerability is very high, but the presence of protected areas to guarantee the preservation of this type ofsystem and the low occupancy and human interference . It is hoped that this study will contribute to public policies for future land use, minimizing any impacts on the karst region.

Thesis (M.S.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Geosciences. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Two experimental rainfall simulation plots in the Edwards Aquifer region of Texas were established to measure the effects of brush clearing on surface and subsurface water movement pathways. Multi-stage rainfall simulations were carried out at a site with Juniperus ashei (ashe juniper) cover both before and after brush removal, with three replications of a particular rainfall event for each vegetation condition. Similar simulations were carried out on a plot with a longstanding grass cover. Both plots included trenches at their downhill ends for observation of shallow lateral subsurface flow. Canopy interception was found to represent a major water loss, with interception of 32.7 mm for an average 166 mm, 5.25 hr rainfall event. Brush clearing had little impact on surface runoff, with no overland flow occurring at the juniper plot for either vegetation condition, while 31.9 percent of applied rainfall moved as overland flow at the grass plot. This difference was attributed to differences in the structure and permeability of the epikarst. Brush removal caused significant (90 percent confidence level) reduction in shallow lateral subsurface flow into the trench after brush removal, with 56.7 percent of water reaching the surface entering the trench for the pre-cut condition and only 43.4 percent for the post-cut condition. However, subsurface water movement through other pathways increased from 31.0 to 54.1 percent after brush removal. This additional water, due to removal of canopy interception, could either move off-site through conduit and fracture flow or remain on site as storage in conduits, unconsolidated caliche/marl layers, or in soil pockets. Two tracer tests with fluorescent dyes were also conducted using simulated rainfall to assess discrete flow paths discharging into the trench at the downhill end of the juniper plot. Analysis of samples from sixteen outlet locations revealed that not all areas of the plot were connected hydraulically to the trench. Additionally, subsurface flow paths were found to have a high degree of interconnection, linking conduit flow outlets with multiple inlet locations on the plot surface. Conduits showed strong connection with an area surrounding juniper vegetation, with rapid water flow (up to 2.4 m/h) from this area.

The detailed morphologies, evolution and termination of Neogene tropical carbonate platforms in the Northern Carnarvon Basin (NCB) on the passive margin of the Northwest Shelf of Australia reveal information on the history of local oceanographic processes and changing climate. Cool-water carbonate deposition, dominant during the early-middle Miocene, was superseded by a siliciclastic influx, which prograded across the shelf beginning in the late-middle Miocene during a period of long-term global sea-level fall. The resulting prograding clinoform sets, interpreted as delta lobes, created relict topographic highs following Pliocene termination of the siliciclastic influx (Sanchez et al., 2012a; 2012b). These highs created a favorable shallow-water environment for subsequent photozoan carbonate production. A composite, commercial 3D seismic volume allows investigation of the temporal and spatial evolution of the resulting Pliocene-Pleistocene carbonate platforms. Initiation of carbonate development, in addition to being a response to cessation of siliciclastic influx and the existence of suitable shallow-water substrate, was also influenced by the development of the warm-water Leeuwin Current (LC), flowing southwestward along the margin. Four flat-topped platforms are mapped; each platform top is a sequence boundary defined by onlap above and truncation below the boundary. Successive platforms migrated southwestward, along-strike. Internally, platforms have progradational seismic geometries. The mapped platform tops are large (≥ 10 km wide). Evidence of karst (e.g., v-shaped troughs up to 50m deep and ~1 km wide and broader karst basins up to 20 km2 coverage area) on platform tops suggests episodic subaerial exposure that contributed to the demise of individual platforms. The most recent platform, platform 4, is unique in having interpreted reefs superimposed on the progradational platform base. The base of these reefs now lies at ~153 m and the reefs may therefore have developed post-LGM (~21 Ka). The reefs subsequently drowned, with drowning possibly aided by turbidity associated with formation of adjacent sediment drifts and weakening and strengthening LC during the late Pleistocene. The progressive drowning and termination of platforms from northeast to southwest along strike may result from differential compaction of the deltaic substrate or differential tectonic subsidence caused by the collision at the Banda Arc between the Australian and Pacific plates / text

Αναγνώριση και καταγραφή των παγετωδών και καρστικών γεωμορφών φυσικογεωγραφικών και γεωμορφικών στοιχείων στον Παρνασσό (Κεντρική Ελλάδα). / Identification and registration of glacier and natural-geografic Karst landforms and geomorphic elements in mountain view (Central Greece).

Multiple parameters were monitored during an 18-month period in two karst groundwater basins in Woodford County, Kentucky, in order to assess the effects of land use on water quality. Blue Hole Spring drains a primarily urban area, whereas spring SP-2 drains an agricultural area. Water-quality parameters were monitored manually weekly or biweekly, as well as more frequently during storms. Discharge (Q), temperature (T), specific conductance (SC), and turbidity were continuously monitored and logged at 15-minute intervals. It is hypothesized that pathogen and sediment concentrations would be lower at SP-2 than at Blue Hole Spring due to differences in land use between basins. Average Q was greater at Blue Hole than at SP-2, and SC values were greater at Blue Hole than at SP-2 for 70 of 71 sample sets. During two monitored storms, as Q increased, SC decreased and turbidity increased. Biweekly Blue Hole fecal coliform (FC), total coliform (TC), and atypical colonies (AC) values averaged 160, 3,600, and 40,000 cfu/100 mL, respectively, and fluctuated more than at SP-2. Biweekly SP-2 FC, TC, and AC values averaged 130, 2,000, and 8,300 cfu/100 mL, respectively. Biweekly values for AC/TC averaged 14.29 at Blue Hole and 6.27 at SP-2. AC/TC ratios were greater at Blue Hole than at SP-2 for 29 of 31 biweekly sample sets. There is a statistically significant difference between the biweekly data sets from the two sites, as well as between data collected under WET and NORMAL flow conditions at each site. Male-specific coliphage (MSP) was detected in most samples collected from Blue Hole, but was never detected at SP-2. Given the proximity of the basins, differences in water quality appear to reflect differences in land use, as hypothesized. Results were similar to other studies in the Inner Bluegrass region. For both Blue Hole and SP-2, wet weather was associated with changes in certain parameters. This study has also shown that the AC/TC ratio appears to be a valid tool for determining the source of contamination within karst ground-water systems as well as in surface water.

Groundwater is a significant component of the world's water balance and accounts for >90 % of usable freshwater. Around the world groundwater is an important source of water for major cities, towns, industries, agriculture and forestry. Groundwater plays a role in the ecological processes and 'health' of many surface ecosystems, and is the critical habitat for subterranean aquatic animals (stygofauna). Over-abstraction or contamination of groundwater resources may imperil the survival of stygofauna and other groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs). In two karst areas in Western Australia (Yanchep and Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge), rich stygofauna communities occur in cave waters containing submerged tree roots. These aquatic root mat communities were listed as critically endangered because of declining groundwater levels, presumably caused by lower rainfall, groundwater abstraction, and/or forest plantations. Investigation of the hydrology and ecology of the cave systems was considered essential for the conservation and recovery of these threatened ecological communities (TECs). This thesis investigated the hydrology and ecology of one of the TECs, located in the Jewel Cave karst system in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge. A multi-disciplinary approach was used to explore aspects pertinent to the hydrology and ecology of the groundwater system. Thermoluminescence dating of the limestone suggested that development of the karst system dates from the Early Pleistocene and that caves have been available for colonisation by groundwater fauna since that time. Speleogenesis of the watertable maze caves occurred in a flank margin setting during earlier periods of wetter climate and/or elevated base levels. Field mapping and leveling were used to determine hydrologic relationships between caves and the boundaries of the karst aquifer. Monitoring of groundwater levels was undertaken to characterise the conditions of recharge, storage, flow and discharge. A hydrogeologic model of the karst system was developed. The groundwater hydrograph for the last 50 years was reconstructed from old photographs and records whilst radiometric dating and leveling of stratigraphic horizons enabled reconstruction of a history of watertable fluctuations spanning the Holocene to Late Pleistocene. The watertable fluctuations over the previous 50 years did not exceed the range of fluctuations experienced in the Quaternary history, including a period 11,000 to 13,000 years ago when the watertable was lower than the present level. The recent groundwater decline in Jewel Cave was not reflected in the annual rainfall trend, which was above average during the period (1 976 to 1988) when the major drop in water levels occurred. Groundwater abstraction and tree plantations in nearby catchments have not contributed to the groundwater decline as previously suggested. The period of major watertable decline coincided with a substantial reduction in fire frequency within the karst catchment. The resultant increase in understorey vegetation and ground litter may have contributed to a reduction in groundwater recharge, through increased evapotranspiration and interception of rainfall. To better understand the relationships between rainfall, vegetation and fire and their effects on groundwater recharge, an experiment is proposed that involves a prescribed burn of the cave catchment with before-after monitoring of rainfall, leaf-area, ground litter, soil moisture, vadose infiltration and groundwater levels. Molecular genetic techniques (allozyrne electrophoresis and mitochondria1 DNA) were used to assess the species and population boundaries of two genera and species of cave dwelling Amphipoda. Populations of both species were largely panrnictic which was consistent with the hydrogeologic model. The molecular data supported the conclusion that both species of amphipod have survived lower watertable levels experienced in the caves during the Late Pleistocene. A mechanism for the colonization and isolation of populations in caves is proposed. Multi Dimensional Scaling was used to investigate patterns in groundwater biodiversity including species diversity, species assemblages, habitat associations and biogeography. Faunal patterns were related to abiotic environmental parameters. Investigation of hydrochemistry and water quality characterized the ecological water requirements (EWR) of the TEC and established a baseline against which to evaluate potential impacts such as groundwater pollution. The conservation status of the listed TEC was significantly improved by increasing the number of known occurrences and distribution range of the community (from 10 m2 to > 2 x lo6 m2), and by showing that earlier perceived threatening processes (rainfall decline, groundwater pumping, tree plantations) were either ameliorated or inoperative within this catchment. The GDE in the Jewel Cave karst system may not have been endangered by the major phase of watertable decline experienced 1975-1987, or by the relatively stable level experienced up until 2000. However, if the present trend of declining rainfall in southwest Wester,,Australia continues, and the cave watertable declines > 0.5 m below the present level, then the GDE may become more vulnerable to extinction. The occurrence and distribution of aquatic root mat communities and related groundwater fauna in other karst catchments in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge is substantially greater than previously thought, however some of these are predicted to be threatened by groundwater pumping and pollution associated with increasing urban and rural developments. The taxonomy of most stygofauna taxa and the distribution of root mat communities is too poorly known to enable proper assessment of their conservation requirements. A regional-scale survey of stygofauna in southwest Western Australia is required to address this problem. In the interim, conservation actions for the listed TECs need to be focused at the most appropriate spatial scale, which is the karst drainage system and catchment area. Conservation of GDEs in Western Australia will benefit fi-om understanding and integration with abiotic groundwater system processes, especially hydrogeologic and geomorphic processes.

Zugl.: Regensburg, Universiẗat, Diss., 2006.

Thesis (MSc(Geology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Abstract in English. Includes bibliographical references.

Diss. Basel 2004 ; Nr. 33. / Text vorwieg. dt., teilw. engl. Literaturverz.