Natural and anthropogenic hazards in karst areas of Albania

Abstract

Abstract.In Albania, about one quarter of the country is occupied by outcroppings of soluble rocks; thus, karst represents an important and typical natural environment. Today karst areas are seriously threatened by a number of hazards, of both natural and anthropogenic origin. Many problems are related to agricultural practices: the use of heavy machinery, ever-increasing in recent years, results at many sites in destruction of the original karst landscapes. Use of pesticides and herbicides, in addition, causes the loss of karst ecosystems of great biological relevance, as has been observed in the Dumre district, where about 80 lakes of karst origin are present in the evaporites of Permian-Triassic age. Agricultural practice performed on slopes with medium to high gradient is a further factor which greatly predispose the slopes to erosion. The cave heritage of Albania (estimated so far in about 1000 caves) is at risk because of the uncontrolled quarrying activities which determine the total or partial destruction of karst caves, including many of naturalistic, archaeological and speleological interest. Many caves have also become sites of illegal disposal of solid and liquid wastes, which causes pollution of the karst ecosystems and of the aquifer therein present, with heavy negative consequences on the quality of water. Even though most of the cases here mentioned are related to anthropogenic activities, the natural hazards, such as subsidence phenomena, floods, and the development of sinkholes, have not to be disregarded.

Geochemical characterization of surface water and spring water in SE Kashmir Valley, western Himalaya: Implications to water–rock interaction

“…Karst areas are considered to be a vulnerable habitat for highly diversified vegetal and animal species (Juberthie and Decu 1994;Christman and Culver 2001) and the sediments and speleothems in caves have paleontological (Latham et al 2007) and paleoclimate significance (White 2004(White , 2007Sasowsky 2007). Due to a number of geological, morphological and hydrological features, karst areas are particularly prone to environmental degradation and irreversible landscape damages caused by the negative impact of human activities (White 1988;Gams et al 1993;Williams 1993;Nicod et al 1997;Akdim and Amyay 1999;Burri et al 1999;Urich 2002;Parise and Pascali 2003;Bonaccio 2004;Calò and Parise 2006;Sauro 2006;Parise and Gunn 2007). Urbanisation, stone clearing, deforestation and uncontrolled quarrying in catchment areas have transformed, disturbed and partially or totally destroyed the karst landscape causing modification of the surface and underground drainage, and deterioration in the quality of groundwater (Sauro 1993;Smith 1993;Frumkin 1999;Ginés 1999;Kacaroglu 1999;De Waele and Follesa 2004;Spizzico et al 2005;Delle Rose et al 2007;.…”

Evaporite sinkholes of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region (NE Italy)

“…The genesis and evolution of these depressions is caused by the action of the dissolution of soluble rocks or deposits in addition to internal erosion and/or gravitational processes (Gutiérrez, 2016;Gutiérrez, Guerrero, & Lucha, 2008;Gutiérrez, Parise, De Waele, & Jourde, 2014;Parise, 2015;Waltham, Bell, & Culshaw, 2005). Sinkholes affect several European countries such as Spain (Galve et al, 2009a;Gutiérrez, Calaforra, et al, 2008), England (Cooper, Farrant, & Price, 2011), Albania (Parise, Qiriazi, & Sala, 2004) and Italy (Caramanna, Ciotoli, & Nisio, 2008;Margiotta, Negri, Parise, & Quarta, 2016). Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) is one of the most impacted regions in Italy (Burelli, Cleva, Cucchi, & Oberti Di Valnera, 2004;Calligaris, Zini, Cucchi, & Stefanelli, 2010;Cucchi & Piano, 2002;De Waele et al, 2017;Nisio, Caramanna, & Ciotoli, 2007;Zini et al, 2015a).…”

Sinkhole genesis and evolution in Apulia, and their interrelations with the anthropogenic environment

“…Even if strongly subordinated to carbonates, Triassic evaporite rocks also crop out in Apulia. These rocks, rised at the surface by diapir and faulting, are interested by sinkhole development (Melidoro and Panaro, 2000), representing a serious geohazard, as also experienced in other countries of the Mediterranean Basin (Cooper and Waltham, 1999;Gutierrez et al, 2002;Cooper, 2002;Parise et al, 2004).…”