Rapid karstic bypass flow in the unsaturated zone of the Yorkshire chalk aquifer and implications for contaminant transport
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Published:January 01, 2007
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CiteCitation
S. J. L. Allshorn, S. H. Bottrell, L. J. West, N. E. Odling, 2007. "Rapid karstic bypass flow in the unsaturated zone of the Yorkshire chalk aquifer and implications for contaminant transport", Natural and Anthropogenic Hazards in Karst Areas: Recognition, Analysis and Mitigation, M. Parise, J. Gunn
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Abstract
Tracer tests have been performed on the unsaturated zone of the East Yorkshire chalk aquifer, UK. Rapid tracer travel times through significant thicknesses of unsaturated chalk (15–38 m) indicate that bypass flow must occur through fractures. Transport processes in the unsaturated zone of the chalk aquifer thus have similarities to those in the vadose zone of more typically karstic limestone aquifers. Modelling of tracer breakthrough curves indicates that bypass flow is sufficiently rapid to significantly inhibit diffusional loss of tracer into the porous matrix of the chalk. The presence of rapid karstic bypass flow in the unsaturated zone of...
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Contents
Natural and Anthropogenic Hazards in Karst Areas: Recognition, Analysis and Mitigation

The book presents an overview of the main hazards affecting karst, including collapse and subsidence phenomena, hydrological hazards and human-induced geohazards. Consideration is also given to the problems of geohazard management in karst. The geological and hydrological properties of karst terrains make them among the most fragile in the world and pose serious problems for land managers. Sustainable development in these terrains requires efforts to limit geohazards of anthropogenic origin and to recognize and mitigate against those of natural origin. Aimed at providing the reader with worldwide case studies, the contributions cover a range of geological and morphological settings. Geographically, the fourteen papers discuss very different karst areas, from North America, the Caribbean and Asia to several karst areas in Europe, including the British Isles, Spain, France and Italy.