Morphometric analysis of karst depressions on a mediterranean karst massif

Abstract

Dolines are the most typical landform in karst landscapes. They play an important role in karst hydrogeology; they are effective sediment traps that provide information about past climates and karst evolution, and can also be indicators of tectonic activity. The morphometic analysis of those depressions can help in their study and interpretation. However, detailed identification and delineation of dolines becomes increasingly difficult when the study area is very large, of limited access or covered by vegetation. Here, we have used a method developed by the authors for automatic identification and delineation of karst depressions based on the use of a pit removal algorithm. Next a complete morphometric analysis of the karst depressions has been carried out. The main advantage of the methodology is that by delineating and identifying the depth of each doline from its rim, many morphometric statistics can be obtained, including the relation of doline depth and area with respect to altitude, the main doline orientations, doline density, the fractal dimension of doline area and frequency, and point field analysis, among others. The results are interpreted from a geomorphological point of view and the mapped dolines can be easily integrated into geomorphological mapping. A case study is presented from the large Sierra Gorda karst massif in southern Spain, where 3100 depressions have been identified. A strong structural control of doline shape and orientation is demonstrated; the main areas of doline density are highlighted and doline size is shown to follow a fractal law.

A review of fractals in karst

“…These figures confirm the intuitive similarity of the spatial patterns in Figure 4 and they reflect the universality of the fractal law: very different physical processes give rise to similar spatial patterns. Pardo-Igúzquiza et al (2016c) and Yizhaq et al (2017) have recently demonstrated the fractal character of sinkholes.…”

Um Panorama Sobre Mapeamentos de Dolinas no Brasil, Feições Elementares do Carste

“…Esse tipo de análise quantitativa retira o fator subjetividade nas análises comparativas entre regiões cársticas (Ferrari et al, 1998) e permite revelar dados e informações anteriormente não observadas, possibilitando novas hipóteses (Ford e Williams, 2007). Nesse sentido diversos trabalhos internacionais tratam sobre as formas clássicas ou uso de novas tecnologias de mapeamento de dolinas, análises morfométricas e interpretações ambientais correlatas (Denizman, 2003;Seale et al, 2008;Siart et al, 2009;Faulkner et al, 2013;Kovačič e Ravbar, 2013;Pardo-Igúzquiza et al, 2013;Zhu et al, 2014;Kobal et al, 2015;Aguilar et al, 2016;Gessert, 2016;Keskin e Yılmaz, 2016;Lee et al, 2016;Pardo-Igúzquiza et al, 2016;Telbisz et al, 2016;Wu et al, 2016;Zhu e Pierskalla, 2016;Čeru et al, 2017;Wall et al, 2017;Cahalan e Milewski, 2018;Chen et al, 2018;Harris et al, 2018;Hofierka et al, 2018;Öztürk et al, 2018).…”

LiDAR-Based Morphometry of Dolines in Aggtelek Karst (Hungary) and Slovak Karst (Slovakia)

“…In many cases, previous studies have shown that the doline areas within a study terrain are best characterized by a lognormal distribution [31,[34][35][36]. However, it has also been suggested that the cumulative distribution of doline areas can be well described by a power function, which may be based on fractal properties [37][38][39]. For a more detailed interpretation of this approach, see [39].…”