Karst
Definition
Terrain formed on soluble rock, typically limestone or dolomite, characterised by sinkholes, dolines, caves, and underground drainage. Surface material can enter the subsurface rapidly.
- Rock type
- Soluble rock, typically limestone or dolomite
- Surface features
- Sinkholes, dolines, caves
- Subsurface feature
- Underground drainage networks
- Forensic relevance
- Rapid surface-to-subsurface material transport
Common questions
Why is karst terrain significant when predicting where a body may be deposited?+
Sinkholes and caves can conceal remains from a surface search entirely, and the microclimate inside them can alter the decomposition rate compared with a body left on the open surface.
How does karst change the way a search is planned?+
Because surface material can enter the subsurface quickly through solution features, search teams often need to account for vertical access points such as sinkhole openings, in addition to a horizontal search grid.
Related terms
- Geomorphology
- The branch of Earth science that studies landform origin, classification, and the physical processes that create and modify surface relief over time.
- Grave Subsidence
- The formation of a shallow depression above a clandestine burial as backfill compacts and organic matter decomposes, creating a micro-topographic anomaly detectable...
- Hydraulic Sorting
- The differential transport of skeletal elements by flowing water based on their size, density, and hydrodynamic shape. Small flat bones travel furthest;...
- Mass Movement
- The downslope displacement of soil, sediment, or rock under gravity, including slow creep, debris flows, and shallow landslides. All can relocate buried...
- Terrain Ruggedness Index (TRI)
- A raster-based metric that quantifies local elevation variability by summing the absolute difference between a central grid cell and all adjacent cells....