The proceedings of the Sinkhole Conferences have become standard references on karst in for engineering geologists. The following review on the proceedings of the 5th conference (Gatlinburg, Tennessee, April 1995), has been reprinted with permission from Environmental & Engineering Geoscience, the Joint Publication of the Association of Engineering Geologists and the Geological Society of America, Volume II, Number 2, Summer 1996, pages 269-270
Book Review: Karst Geohazards: Engineering and Environmental Problems in Karst Terrane By: Barry F. Beck (Editor)
Review by: DANIEL L. KELLEHER Rust Environment & Infrastructure, 1240 East Diehl Road, Naperville, IL, 60563
This book, edited by Barry F. Beck, with assistance from F. M. Pearson, presents the proceedings of the fifth multidisciplinary conference on sinkholes and the engineering and environmental impacts of karst. This book contains 66 independent papers from the proceedings and is organized into 12 broad fields of: (1) keynote paper, (2) karst geology: surficial processes and sinkholes, (3) karst hydrogeology, (4) karst geohazards: groundwater contamination through sinkholes and the karst surface, (5) karst geohazards: transport of ground-water contamination in a karst aquifer, (6) karst geohazards: stormwater drainage and flooding problems, (7) karst geohazards: case studies on engineering sinkholes, (8) foundation considerations and improvements in karst, (9) investigating karst with geophysics, (10) planning and investigation for engineering in karst, (11) government regulations for karst areas, (12) field trip guide book and related papers. Because of the large number of papers included in this book, it would be impractical for this review to address each paper independently. Therefore, this review discusses the overall technical approach of selected papers and the application of the book.
The organization of the text and each field of study provides to engineering geologists with the skills for solving geological and engineering problems observed in karst terrane. In my opinion, this book would be a valuable standard handbook for geologists and engineers to use for solving karst-related problems. This book could also be used as a supplemental textbook for a graduate level seminar.
Although each field includes a particular karst geohazard topic, many papers addresses detailed discussions of hydrogeologic and geochemical concepts, geophysical applications, geomorphic indicators, and applications to subsidence and stability. The book touches upon so much information, the publisher used 9-point font to maintain a manageable size for the book.
Karst Geohazards covers an extensive variety of geographic locations throughout the United States including Key Largo, west-central Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Lawrence County, Indiana, eastern Iowa, central Missouri, central New York, the Holbrook Basin in Arizona, Louisiana, and additional U.S. locations. Several papers also include many study areas located outside the United States. Because of the variety in geographic locations, the book may have been more useful if every paper included a site location map. Unfortunately, some papers do not include a site location map and few papers neglect a description of the geologic setting. Thus, if I am thumbing through the book searching for a specific geographic area, it requires less time to find a case study if an illustration is included to depict its position with respect to the regional setting. As a consulting hydrogeologist, I plan to use this book mainly as a starting point to develop a project approach or as a guideline to measure project feasibility.
It is refreshing to note that the far majority of the papers in Karst Geohazards use an interdisciplinary approach solving hazardous karst-related problems. As ydrogeologists, we are always reminded to do geology first. In other words, we normally develop a geologic framework or conceptual model before we interpret bydrogeologic conditions (Sara, 1993). Many of the papers in Karst Geohazards describe the regional and site-specific geologic setting before interpreting geochemical results, hydraulic characteristics, or engineering conditions. It is this fundamental component in combination with the multidisciplinary approach for solving problems that gives such great value to the book.
The occurrence and movement of ground-water flow in a karst aquifer is primarily through fractures and dissolution channels. The regional ground-water flow direction is controlled by the spatial distribution of hydraulic conductivity and degree of anisotropy (White, 1988; Greene and Rahn, 1995). The collection of papers in the karst hydrogeology field provide an excellent discussion of the occurrence and movement of ground water. The papers include a variety of methods for investigating regional and local karstic systems, analysis of normalized base flow, stream-aquifer hydrographs, and spatial-correlation of water quality parameters.
As mentioned earlier, this book is not only useful as a tool to evaluate an technique for solving karst-related problems, but also serves as an excellent starting point to develop a project approach. Many of the papers include a substantial number of references which is extremely useful for continuing a site-specific investigation. For example, papers by Quinlan and Ray, and Stephenson and Beck provide detailed background information and provide an outstanding number of references.
I particularly enjoyed the final chapter which included two field trips: (1) the geology of Cherokee Caverns and (2) field trip through East Tennessee karst with emphasis on practical problems. Although I did not attend the field trips during the conference, some of the site-specific photographs enabled me to easily understand the concepts referred to in the text.
Karst Geohazards may be purchased for $99.00 through A.A. Balkema Publishers, Brookfield, Vermont (phone: 802-276-3162).
GREENE, E. A. AND RAHN, P. H., 1995, Localized anisotropic transmissivity in a karst aquifer, Ground Water, Vol. 33, No. 5.
SARA, M., 1993, The Standard Handbook for Solid and Hazardous Waste Facility Assessment, Lewis CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
WHITE, W. B., 1988, Geomorphology and Hydrology of Karst Terranes, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, 464 p.