Project 379: Karst Processes and the Global Carbon Cycle (1995-1999)

The major achievements of the Project can be summarized according to the four main objectives of the Project.

(1) The carbon cycle in epigenic karst processes

The behavior of the carbon cycle at the interfaces between carbonate rocks, water, soil, vegetation and the atmosphere were revealed on the bases of monitoring networks distributed at different ecological conditions of the world including arctic karst (Spitsbergen). This network was set up at the beginning of the Project, and expanded year after year with improved techniques. The carbon cycle in epigenic karst regions was found to be related to temperature, rainfall, snowmelt, atmospheric pressure, permafrost or glacier cover, vegetation type and bushfire. Data on carbonate rock denudation rates as basis for estimation of the carbon sink in karst processes has accumulated at different parts of the world from year to year. Karst denudation maps werere compiled, e.g. for the Irkutsk region of Russia. Global carbon uptake from the atmosphere by karst processes was estimated by different authors with different methods. The results are on the order of (1.1-6.08)*108 t of carbon annually.

(2) Deep source CO2 in karst areas

Deep source carbon dioxide was investigated in karst areas of Tethys from China to Spain and the Pacific realms including the USA, Canada, China and Japan, as well as intraplate regions, such as mainland China. The origins of deep source carbon dioxide were identified as a mixture from the mantle or metamorphism of carbonate rock, or from oil-gas reservoirs as a result of reduction by hydrocarbon of sulfates mixed in carbonate rock strata. Based on the hydrochemical data of 680 hot springs, a map series for deep source carbon dioxide emission from China's Tibet Autonomous Region and its neighbouring Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces was compiled. The annual emission of deep source carbon dioxide from this region is estimated to be 2.68*105 t/a.

(3) Paleoenvironmental reconstruction with karst records

The Project has gotten wide geographic coverage in this objective with improving techniques and resolution. Important paleoenvironment information was collected from karst sediments of 25 countries, which are distributed in 6 continents including Europe, Africa, Asia, North America, South America and Oceania. The dating techniques used include uranium series approach, 14C, AMS 14C, TIMS, TL, fission track, paleomagnetism, 10Be, 26Al, and 210Pb. Paleoenvironmental proxies used include paleontology, growth rates of speleothem, trace elements, stable isotopes, luminescence microbanding and DNA. The resolution of paleoenvironmental reconstruction ranges between millennial and seasonal according to the characteristics of the karst sediments and the techniques used. The paleoenvironment information recovered from karst sediments includes not only paleoclimate, but paleohydrology and paleovegetation.

(4) Sustainable development of karst regions

The new understanding on the behavior of the carbon cycle, water cycle and element migration in karst dynamic systems was used in dealing with many practical problems including karst water exploration; water resources management and pollution of karst water; ecological rehabilitation in rock desertification areas; surface collapse in karst areas; and salt water intrusion in coastal karst.

Project 379, List of Most Important Publications

    1. Jiang, Z. and D. Yuan, 1999, CO2 source-sink in karst processes in karst areas of China, Episodes, 11: 33-35.
    2. Bartolome A. and M. Martin, 1999, Hydrochemistry of spring water associated with travertines, Example of the Sierra de la Alfaquara (Granada, Southern Spain). Earth and Planetary Sciences, 328: 745-750.
    3. The Japanese Group of IGCP 379 contributed 9 papers published in the Japan Contribution to the IGCP, Karst Processes and the Carbon Cycle-IGCP 379, January, 1999, IGCP National Committee of Japan, 73 pages.
    4. Repinski, R. and K. Holmgren, 1999, A late Holocene climate record from a stalagmite, Cold Air Cave, Northern Province, South Africa. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, 150:269-277.
    5. Dorale, J.A. and R.L. Edwards, 1998, Climate and Vegetation History of the Midcontinent from 75Ka to 25 Ka: A Speleothem Record from Crevice Cave, Missouri, USA. Science, 282:1871-1874.
    6. Kamoto, K., T.A.Yanagisawa, and K. Yoshimura, 1998, Tufa deposits in the Akka Karst, Northeastern Japan. Journal of the Speleological Society of Japan, 23:17-27.
    7. Holmgren, K., W. Karlen, and S.E. Lauritzen, 1999, A 3000-year high-resolution stalagmite-based record of paleoclimate for northeastern South Africa.The Holocene, 9:295-309,
    8. Thackeray, F., 1998, Late Quaternary Palaeoclimates at Nelson Bay cave, based on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios from Ungulate teeth: a re-assessment. South Africa Journal of Science, 94:442-443,.
    9. Karst hydrology: recent developments and open questions. In Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology of Sinkholes and Karst, editors: Beck, Pettit and Herring, P.3-21, 1999 Balkema, Rotterdam, William B. White.
    10. Carraso-Cantos, F. and B. Andreo-Navarro, 1998, Human influence on the karst water of the Nerja Cave, Malaga, Southern Spain. In "Karst Hydrogeology and Human Activities, Impacts, Consequences and Implications (D. Drew and H. Hotzl. Eds.) The Netherlands: A.A. Balkema, International Contributions to Hydrogeology 20:178-183.
    11. Vadillo Perez, I., F. Carrasco-Cantos, and B. Andreo-Navarro, 1999, Variation in the groundwater calcocarbonic system parameters by the infiltration of La Mina landfill leachate, Geogaceta, 25: 199-201.
    12. Hydrogeologocal research on carbonate aquifers of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve ( Sierra de las Nieves, Malaga, S. Spain). In Proceedings of the XXIX Congress of International Association of Hydrogeologist, Bratislava, Slovakia, Sept. 6-10, 1999, PP. 203-208, Cristina Linan, Bartolome Andreo, Francisco Carrasco.
    13. Cao J. and D.Yuan, 1999, Relationship between water-holding of carbonate rock and Saxicolous algae, lichen and moss and its ecological significance. Geochimica, 28:248-256,
    14. Pan, G., 1999, Pedogenic Carbonates in aridic soils of China and the significance in terrestrial carbon transfer. Journal of Nanjing Agricultural University, 22 :51-57.
    15. Jiang Z., 1999, Element migration of karst dynamic system. Acta Geographica Sinica, 54:438-444.
    16. 7 papers of IGCP 379 relevance were included in the Abstract Book of the INQUA 15 Congress, August 3-11,1999, Durban, South Africa.
    17. 19 papers of IGCP 379 relevance were included in the proceedings of the 29th Congress of IAH, Hydrogeology and Land Use Management, September 6-10, 1999, Bratislava, Slovakia.
    18. 4 papers contributed to IGCP 379 were included in the Proceedings of the Geology Symposium at Nerja Cave, June 17-20,1999, Malaga, Spain.

The Final Report of IGCP was published in Yuan, D. and Z. Jiang, 1999, Karst Processes and the Carbon Cycle. Beijing: Geological Publishing House.

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Project Contact: Chris Groves
Hoffman Environmental Research Institute, Department of Geography and Geology
Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101 USA
telephone: +1 270 745 5974 fax: +1 270 745 6410 email: igcp513@gmail.com

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Last Updated: November 2007