9. Karst Landscapes

Question 1

Karst landscape

Answer 1

Exposed areas of land made up of soluble rocks such as limestone

Question 2

Porous rock

Answer 2

Contains empty spaces in which fluids, such as water, can be stored

Question 3

Pervious rock

Answer 3

Has joints and bedding planes that allow water to pass through it

Question 4

Soluble rock

Answer 4

Can be dissolved by carbonic acid through the process of carbonation

Question 5

Aquifer

Answer 5

A body of rock that is capable of holding groundwater

Question 6

Groundwater

Answer 6

Precipitation that has infiltrated the soil beyond the surface and collected in empty spaces underground

Question 7

Water table

Answer 7

The upper level of an underground surface in which the soil is saturated with water

Question 8

Joints

Answer 8

Vertical cracks in limestone

Question 9

Bedding planes

Answer 9

Horizontal cracks in limestone that separate layers of rock strata

Question 10

Grikes

Answer 10

Joints in rocks become wider, forming a series of gaps

Question 11

Clints

Answer 11

The rest of limestone, not gaps, is divided into sections of flat-topped segments

Question 12

Karrens

Answer 12

Small hollows that develop on clints

Question 13

Flutings

Answer 13

Channels in the edges of clints, dissolved by rainwater

Question 14

Enclosed depression

Answer 14

Enclosed hollows at the surface of limestone, can range up to hundreds of metres in depth and several kilometres in diameters

Question 15

Doline/ sinkhole

Answer 15

Type of enclosed depression, small to medium in size

Question 16

Swallow holes

Answer 16

Different to dolines as there is a definite rupture of the surface into which water flows down

Question 17

Turlough

Answer 17

Seasonal lakes found in depressions. Turloughs water levels fluctuate throughout the year. Dry in summer and wet in winter