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The study deals with the Lena Pillars (Sakha Republic, Russia, Siberia). The Lena Pillars are pinnacle features which are characteristic on karsts. The importance of these features is that they are extremely large and occur on very large areas. Their occurrence is interesting because they do not appear on tundra karst. We investigated the veneers o...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... Lena Pillars form the southern valley side of the Middle-Lena east to west orientation (Fig. 2). The Lena River is one of the longest rivers in Siberia -Republic of Sakha (Jakutia), East Siberia, Russiaon the border of Middle Siberia Plateau and the Baikal Range. The direction of the river changes to North after Yakutsk and continues its way in the giant Lena basin towards the Arctic Ocean. The basin was filled by the Lena River ...
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Citations
In Hungary, geographical publications already mentioned special karst objects more than half a thousand years ago. About 250 years ago, some authors explicitly dealt with limestone mountains including their spectacular large cave entrances and their famous gorges. The caves of Hungary are widely known in the world based on their natural, cultural and historical values as well as their role in scientific research, despite the fact that there are no Hungarian caves among the longest or deepest caves in the world. In many cases, the hypogenic caves in Hungary served as study areas even for foreign researchers. The “Bükk Culture” is an internationally acknowledged denomination for a prehistoric culture named after the artefacts found in the caves of the Bükk Mountains. Likewise, the Middle Pliocene "Estramontinum" vertebrate biostratigraphic stage refers to the exploration site at Esztramos Hill. The work of Hungarian cave researchers contributed to solving the problems of several special karstic phenomena (e.g. the formation of helictites, the effect of tidal phenomena on the discharge of karst springs). Furthermore, the contribution of Hungarian cave researchers was also important in establishing new scientific fields (e.g. biospeleology) or raising them to an international level (e.g. speleotherapy). Our oldest-known, best-researched cave system is Baradla, which is one of the longest dripstone caves in the temperate zone with an active stream, and one of the earliest tourist caves in the world. In the nineteenth century, it was recorded as the second-longest cave in the world after Mammoth Cave (USA). The international reputation of our researchers and the universal value of our caves are proved by the fact that Hungary hosted the 10th International Speleological World Congress in 1989, and the caves of Aggtelek Karst (together with Slovak Karst) are the only objects listed in the Natural Category of World Heritage sites in Hungary.KeywordsSurface karst phenomena and landformsArchaeological findingsCave explorationCave mappingCave protection
The leading role of dissolution and the dominant subsurface drainage determine the special idiosyncrasy of karst geomorphology, with some notable variations depending on the type of soluble rock. The formation of karren is essentially related to the uneven or differential dissolution of the bedrock surface controlled by a number of factors, resulting in the development of depressions, clefts, channels, tubes, protruding features, and irregular patterns. Sinkholes or dolines are enclosed depressions with internal drainage widely regarded as one of the most characteristic landforms of karst landscapes. They are typically circular to subcircular in plan and show wide morphological diversity (cylindrical‐, conical‐, bowl‐, and pan‐shaped). In some cases, the variable geometry of the sinkholes can indicate different evolutionary stages and the relative age of the depressions. In nature, a complete spectrum between suffosion, collapse, and sagging sinkholes can be found in covered karst settings.
Significance
This work reveals a mechanism that may contribute to the formation of sharply pointed rock spires in karst or dissolved landforms such as stone forests. We show that solids dissolving into liquids in the presence of gravity naturally produce flows that carve ultra-sharp spikes. Better understanding the origin of these delicate structures may aid in natural conservation efforts. Our experimental and theoretical techniques may also be applied to other problems in geomorphology and phase-change processes such as ice melting. The mechanism could be used to manufacture fine-scale structures, and our theory provides the relevant control parameters.
The current growth in geotourism requires an urgent development of classifications of geological features on the basis of criteria that are relevant to tourist perceptions. It appears that structure-related patterns are especially attractive for geotourists. Consideration of the main criteria by which tourists judge beauty and observations made in the geodiversity hotspot of the Western Caucasus allow us to propose a tentative aesthetics-based classification of geological structures in outcrops, with two classes and four subclasses. It is possible to distinguish between regular and quasi-regular patterns (i.e., striped and lined and contorted patterns) and irregular and complex patterns (paysage and sculptured patterns). Typical examples of each case are found both in the study area and on a global scale. The application of the proposed classification permits to emphasise features of interest to a broad range of tourists. Aesthetics-based (i.e., non-geological) classifications are necessary to take into account visions and attitudes of visitors.
