The occurrence of groundwater in South Africa is to a very large degree limited to a surficial zone of weathered and fractured hard rock formations. Primary aquifers include narrow strips of alluvium along certain river stretches and to Cenozoic coastal deposits. Coupled with a rainfall that is well below the world average, South Africa is therefore poorly endowed with large springs. These are almost totally confined to karst areas. 相似文献
Arid karst landscapes that have been degraded by human activities provide a challenge for rehabilitation and an opportunity
to test ideas about the stability and resilience of limestone ecosystems. The Nullarbor Plain is the largest arid karst area
in Australia (220 000 km2) and is divided into extensive closed karstic depressions separated by low rocky ridges, while the dominant vegetation is
chenopod shrubland. Since European settlement there has been considerable change in the vegetation, with significant reduction
in shrub and grass cover over large areas of the plain. These changes are related to a state and transition model of vegetation
dynamics which incorporates climatic variability, fire history and grazing pressure from sheep, kangaroos and rabbits. A partial
sediment budget using 137Cs inventories reveals local and regional patterns of soil redistribution within this arid karst landscape. Rehabilitation
of eroded soil in pastoral lands has been accomplished at several sites but is labour intensive and vulnerable to climatic
fluctuations. Given the low stock numbers, limited number of people involved, and poor economic returns, it would be sensible
to make pastoral activities on the Nullarbor secondary to conservation priorities. This would necessitate a change in land
ethic to stewardship, with emphasis on rehabilitation and control of feral animals. Management of increased numbers of visitors
to the caves and karst also requires that resource inventories and management plans for each area be drawn up and used.
Received: 1 June 1995 · Accepted: 4 December 1995 相似文献
Vertical seismic compressional- and shear-wave (P-and S-wave) profiles were collected from three shallow boreholes in sediment of the upper Mississippi embayment. The site of the 60-m hole at Shelby Forest, Tennessee, is on bluffs forming the eastern edge of the Mississippi alluvial plain. The bluffs are composed of Pleistocene loess, Pliocene-Pleistocene alluvial clay and sand deposits, and Tertiary deltaic-marine sediment. The 36-m hole at Marked Tree, Arkansas, and the 27-m hole at Risco, Missouri, are in Holocene Mississippi river floodplain sand, silt, and gravel deposits. At each site, impulsive P- and S-waves were generated by man-made sources at the surface while a three-component geophone was locked downhole at 0.91-m intervals.
Consistent with their very similar geology, the two floodplain locations have nearly identical S-wave velocity (VS) profiles. The lowest VS values are about 130 m s−1, and the highest values are about 300 m s−1 at these sites. The shear-wave velocity profile at Shelby Forest is very similar within the Pleistocene loess (12 m thick); in deeper, older material, VS exceeds 400 m s−1.
At Marked Tree, and at Risco, the compressional-wave velocity (VP) values above the water table are as low as about 230 m s−1, and rise to about 1.9 km s−1 below the water table. At Shelby Forest, VP values in the unsaturated loess are as low as 302 m s−1. VP values below the water table are about 1.8 km s−1. For the two floodplain sites, the VP/VS ratio increases rapidly across the water table depth. For the Shelby Forest site, the largest increase in the VP/VS ratio occurs at 20-m depth, the boundary between the Pliocene-Pleistocene clay and sand deposits and the Eocene shallow-marine clay and silt deposits.
Until recently, seismic velocity data for the embayment basin came from eartquake studies, crustal-scale seismic refraction and reflection profiles, sonic logs, and from analysis of dispersed earthquake surface waves. Since 1991, seismic data for shallow sediment obtained from reflection, refraction, crosshole and downhole techniques have been obtained for sites at the northern end of the embayment basin. The present borehole data, however, are measured from sites representative of large areas in the Mississippi embayment. Therefore, they fill a gap in information needed for modeling the response of the embayment to destructive seismic shaking. 相似文献
Paleocollapse structure is a rock collapse, resulting from the failure in the geological history of the bedrock overlying
karstified limestone. Depending on the present hydrogeological conditions within the area of paleocollapse and the internal
properties of these structures, they can provide a means to facilitate groundwater flow and contaminant transport. Inactive
paleocollapse structures can be reactivated by human activities such as dam construction, mining underground minerals, pumping
groundwater, and development of landfills. They can also be reactivated by natural events such as earthquakes and neotectonic
movements. In the mines of northern China, sudden inflow of karst water from Ordovician limestone into drifts and mining stopes
through paleocollapse structures has caused significant economic loss. Water pumping tests and accompanied dye traces are
effective approaches of locating water-conducting paleocollapse structures. Grouting is probably the best means of preventing
them from becoming geohazards.
Received: 26 November 1996 · Accepted: 17 June 1997 相似文献
Environmental impacts on karst settings are common as they are more sensitive than those of other rock terrains. Regulatory
procedures that are effective in other rock terrains are not necessarily applicable to karst settings. Development and exploitation
by man that affect the karst hydrology regime can trigger catastrophic events and result in numerous legal actions where the
effects of changes go beyond property boundaries. A great variety of regulations and examples of litigation exist for karst
areas.
Received: 25 October 1994 · Accepted: 17 October 1995 相似文献