bcra 11-4-1984
TRANSCRIPT
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ave
Science
The Transactions o the British Cave Research ssociation
I
olume
Number
4
December
Karst
Geomorphology
in
South
China
Cave Exp
lorat lons around
Tresvlso
Speleogenesls In the
Plcos
de
Europa
Palaeokarsts
in
Britain
BeR
984
I
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BRITISH
C VE RESE RCH
ASSOCIATION
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CAVE SCIENCE
TRANSACTIONS OF THE
BRITISH
CAVE
RESEARCH
ASSOCIATION
ISSN 0263-760X
Volume 11
Number
4
December 1984
CONTENTS
Some
Fea tu res of
Kars t
Geomorphology in South China
by A C
altham 185
Cave Explora t ions around Tresv i so Picos de
Europa
Northern
Spain
by
Mark Sef ton
•• 199
The
Geology
Geomorphology and
Speleogenes is
o f the Eas tern
Massi fs P icos de Europa
North
Spain
by Pete r L Smart • •• • 238
Palaeokars t s
in Br i t a i n
by
Trevor D Ford
Index to
Volume
11
Cover photo: Tower
Kars t
along
the
Li
River
South
China
by A.C
Waltharn
Publ i shed by and ob ta inab le from
The Br i t i sh Cave Research Associa t ion
30 Main Road
Westonzoyland
Bridgwater
Somerset TA7
OEB
Copyright
the Br i t i sh
Cave Research Assoc ia t ion 1984.
No par t
of t h i s pub l i ca t ion may be reproduced
in
any
o ther
pub l i ca t ion used
in adver t i s ing
s to red in an
e l e c t ron i c
r e t r i e v a l
sys tem
or o therwise
used for
commercial
purposes
except
for
s ingle copies
fo r r esea rch
purposes wi thout
the
pr i o r wri t ten
consen t o f the authors and of the Associa t ion .
246
265
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CAVE SCIENCE
Transactions o f
the
Br i t i s h Cave Research
Assoc iat ion
Volume
11,
no.4
December
1984
SOME FE TURES OF K RST
GEOMORPHOLOGY
N
SOUTH
CHIN
A. C .
Waltham
ABSTRACT
The ka rs t geomorphology o f
South
China i s
summarised
, spec ia l re ference i s
made
to the
re la t ionships
between cone ( l i t ho l og i c a l l y cont ro l l ed)
,
h i l l peak
and
tower
t e c t o ~ i c a l l y
con tro l led) kars ts
.
The
Guizhou Pla teau
i s
a
massive k a r s t block
with
cave development mainly
in
i t s
marginal
zones .
The Stone Fores t of Lunan i s a spectacu lar karren f i e ld .
Comment
i s
added on
th e
s t a t e o f cave and ka rs t research in China
.
INTRODUCTION
During
the
summer o f 1984,
the
wr i te r
spent th r ee weeks in
China,
tak ing
the oppor tuni ty
to see some
of the
very spec tacu la r kars t scenery
,
and a l so to d i scuss var ious aspects with
Chinese kars t
s c i en t i s t s .
This
paper
i s submit ted as
a
r epor t
o f
t ha t v i s i t
.
t
conveys
second -hand in format ion by commenting
on some
of the cur r en t th inking and research by Chinese
kars t
workers
and
descr ibes
f i r s t -hand
some ind iv idual
components
o f the
kars t
landscape
.
As the Engl i sh language l i t e r a t u r e on Chinese kars t i s ra the r l imi ted , it a l so summarises
some of the
major f ea tures
of the enormous area of kars t in
China
.
KARST
REGIONS OF CHINA
The s t a t i s t i c s
of the Chinese
kars t are amazing
.
t
covers
an
area of
1,300
,
000 sq kID
of
which around ha l f
a mil l ion
square
ki lometres form the
almost unbroken kars t block
of
Guangxi ,
Guizhou
and Yunnan . The rocks of Cambrian to Tr iass i c
age
in South
China
are near ly
70%
l imes tone ; l oca l ly
unbroken
carbonate
sequences have s t ra t ig raphic t h i cknesses
of
3000
m,
and
some i nd iv idua l
l imestone
beds can be fol lowed over
an area of a mil l ion
square
k i l
ometres
.
Combine these fac t s with a t e r r a in
va r i a t i on
from plain
to
p la t eau to
mountain
, a c l imat ic
range from
t rop ica l
to
a lp ine and it
i s
easy
to
see
why the
Chinese kars t i s
of
such importance
.
A map of
l imestone d i s t r i b u t i o n in China ( in
Jennings , 1981)
i s
unfa i r ly
dominated by
the
enormous outcrops of
Xizang
(Tibet ) . The
cold
,
dry c l imate
of
t h i s high a l t i t u d e deser t in
the
hear t
of the
Asian cont inent
i s not
conducive
to
l imestone so lu t ion
, and
the
kars t
i s
very poorly
developed
in t h i s
reg ion
. I n f in i t e ly
more importan t
i s the
grea t
kars t region
sou th
of
the
Chang
J iang
Yangtze River)
reaching
almost
to the
South
China Se a
,
and
to
and
across
the border
with
Vietnam
.
This one vas t
outcrop
embraces
both
the famous tower kars t
of the Guangxi lowlands, and a lso the high l eve l kars t of the Guizhou Pla t eau Fig
.
1)
.
These
are
the most s i g n i f i c a n t areas
of
k a r s t in China, and both
are
fur the r
descr ibed
below
.
The
Guizhou Plateau extends southwest
i n t o
Yunnan
and a lso nor theas t in to Hunan and Hu b
e i
where the l imestone i s con to r t ed in to
chains
of
fo ld
mountains
.
Immediately to the
nor th
the huge Sichuan bas in i s
f loored
by sandstone but
almost r inged
by
l imestone
mountains, whose
outcrops
are connected a t depth beneath the sync l ina l
f loor
of
the
bas in .
The
Yangtze
River
dra in s
the e n t i r e
basin and
escape.s eastwards through the
famous gorges ly ing
between
Wanxian
and Yichang in the
provinces of
Sichuan
and
Hubei
. All the
gorges
are
in l imestone
, formed
where the r ive r breaches a
se r i e s
of massive escarpments .
Ver t ica l
wal ls of
l imestone
r i s e
hundreds
of metres from t he swi r l ing brown
waters
,
though r ive r downcutt ing
has
dominated
almost
to
exc lus ion any t r ue k a r s t landforms in the
area
c lo se to the r i v e r
.
Some
of the
l imestone i s
very
massive, whi le par t s are
probably
too t h in ly
bedded
to conta in extensive
caves
.
But
high above
,
massive l imestone c l i f f s
, f r ing ing the
escarpments and plateaux , so
resemble
the ch a r ac t e r i s t i c c l i f f s of
Europe
' s
cavernous
Urgonian l imes tone t ha t
the
promise
of
some
spec tacu la r k a r s t i s unden iab le
.
Further
nor th in
China
,
kars t
i s
of
l e s s
importance,
l a rge ly
due
to the l ack
of l imestone
outcrops but a lso due to
much
lower so lu t ion ra t e s in
c l imat ic
regimes well removed from the
ho t , wet,
t rop ica l
condi t ions
of Guangxi . Only
towards
Bei j ing
Peking)
do
the l imestone
s
extend in
mountain ranges f r ing ing
the
grea t Yellow
Pla in of the
lower
Huang
He
r ive r .
Near
Shi j i azhuang on the
borders of
Shanxi and Hebei l i e s
the
grea t kars t
spr ing of
Niangziguan
.
I t s
f low ranges
from
14
to 17 cumecs ; the
small va r i a t i on
r e f l ec t s the
very
large phrea t i c
f i ssure s torage and a lso the f low from
s torage
in
a
permeable sandstone caprock
and
does
not
auger well for ex tensive
cave development
. Even neare r Peking i s
Zhoukoudian
where f i ssure
caves in
the
l imestone yielded
the
ha l f
mil l ion
year
old
remains
of
Peking
Man .
Good reviews
of
the Chinese kars t
r egions
have been
publ i shed
in
Engl i sh
by
Zhang
1980)
and Yuan
1981)
. In add i t ion
the re
i s the
famous photographic
book Kars t of
China
( In s t i t u t e
of Hydrogeology, 1976) which suf fe r s from a
complete
l ack of maps; a new and
expanded
edi t ion
of
t h i s i s soon to
be
publ i shed
.
Fina l ly it
should
be
mentioned
t ha t
China
' s
kars t
i s not
r e s t r i c t ed to l imestone .
Qingyan,
in
Hunan province , has
a
major sandstone
k a r s t
,
though
it l acks underground
development on
anything l i k e
the
sca le of t ha t in
Ven
ezuala
.
Manchur ia
has, in the area of
Wudalainzhi , some
l a rge
l
ava caves
;
these contain
some
l
ava glaze
s t a l ac t i t e s
almost to r iva l
those
of
Hawai i ' s lava tubes ,
excep t t h a t
the
Chinese
forms
are
dominated
by
l
arge
c u r t a i n s i n s t ead
of
s ta
l
agmites
.
185
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KARST LANDFORMS
On the
l a rge sca l e ,
the k a r s t o f South
China
i s dominated by the div i s ion between the
Guizhou Pla teau
and the Guangxi Pla in , to gether with the in termediate zones, and these
aspects are consider ed below. But on the small scale the en t i r e region has a chao t i ca l ly
disorgan i sed
landsc ap e ,
t yp ica l
o f
k a r s t ,
with a
ll shapes of i so
l
ated and coalesced
h i l lS
with in a l oca l r e l i e f normal ly of only a few hundred metres. t i s these
h i l l s ,
notab ly
the
towers, which have made China s t rop ica l kars t world famous and
which
cont inue to
provoke cons iderable
unresolved debate ,
both
on t he i r
or ig ins and
the
ex ten t o f
t he i r
evo
l
ut iona ry
re l a t ionsh ips
( i f
any).
In the c l a s s i ca l l i t e ra tu re on t rop ica l k a r s t , two
main
landform types are recognised -
cone k a r s t and tower k a r s t . Cone
kars t
i s t yp i f i ed by t h a t
of
Gunung Sewu in Java
Lehman,
1936;
Waltham e t a l 1983) and the Cockpit
Country
in Jamaica .
Ind iv idua l cones
have he igh t
, width r a t ios of
around
0.25,
are ra re ly
higher
than
100 m, and
though
t he i r
l ower s lopes tend t o a cons tant 30
0
t he i r
upper par t s are well rounded, often to approach
a
hemispher ica l
form
(F ig.
2);
va l ley f loors
between the cones
are narrow and a l luv ia
l
f l
a t s
are
unusual . t
i s
s ign i f ican t tha t
in both
Java and Jamaica,
the morphology
of
the
cones i s r e l a t ive l y cons tant over l a rge a reas . In China, there are areas o f cone kars t in
the hea r t of
the
Guizhou
Pla t eau , but
the
cones d i f f e re from those o f
the type a reas
. They
are
i so la ted and surrounded by a l l u v i a l
f l a t s
, t he i r s lopes vary between l oc a l i t i e s and
they
are more t ru l y conical with l e s s rounded summits (F ig. 2).
The
c l a s s i c example
o f
tower
kars t
i s the Yangshuo area o f Guangxi (F i g . 3) . Ind iv idua l
towers have he igh t
, width r a t ios of over
2,
range
in he igh t
from
30
m to
over 200
m, and while
many do have ve r t i c a l s ides , o the r s
are much
more i r regu lar though still
have
very s teep
wal l s
somewhere
in t h e i r p ro f i l e Waltham, 1983). Charact .e r i s t ica l ly , towers
r i se from
a l luv ia l
f l a t s , and
may
be
as
i so l a t ed ind iv idua l s o r in c l u s t e r s with prec ip i tous i n t e rna l
va l l eys and depress ions .
This tw o - fo ld div i s ion in to cones and towers i s however gross ly
inadequate
to desc r ibe
the myriad
kars t h i l l S
o f
China.
There i s a complete
range
of h i l l p ro f i l e s between the
extremes
of cones
and towers. Par t i cu l a r l y on the
margins
of the
Guizhou
P l ateau ,
the re a re
vas t numbers o f in termedia te forms, which cannot
be
descr ibed as cones, with in the meaning
o f
Lehman, and
ye t
are in
marked
con t ra s t
to the
t rue tm.,ers o f Guangxi
. The dominant
forms
have he igh t ,wid th
r a t ios
around
uni ty , are i r regu lar in
prof i l e ,
always
s teepe r
than cones
and yet not
a t ta in ing the
v e r t i c a l i t y
o f
towers (F ig.
2); val leys
and dOlines sepa ra te the
h i l l s
with only l im i ted a l luv ia
l
f l a t development .
The Chinese
sometimes
r e fe r
to these fo r
ms
as h i ll peaks an d , though t h i s term in not as simple as cones or towers,
the re
seems a
gla r ing need for it
to
be
more
widely
recognised
and used
.
The cont inu ing debate
on
the
or ig ins
of cones,
h i l l peaks
and towers may
well bene f i t
from
cons ide r ing ev idence from both
ins ide
and outs ide China,
which
i s not easy
with
cur ren t
t r ave l
r e s t r i c t ions . Within China,
t rue
towers
occur mainly on
the
Guangxi
Pla in ,
t rue cones are
mostly on th e
Guizhou Pla teau ,
and
h i l l peaks
occur in both
areas
and in the in termedia te zone .
All three forms can develop in massive l imes tone , though some of the Guizhou cones are in
th inne r bedded
carbonate ,
and
s t ronger
beds
form scars
around some h i l l s
.
Many h i l l s
have
no s t ru c t u ra l geological con t ro l , while some have prof i l es c lear ly in f luenced by
t he i r
being
dissec ted remnants of cues tas or hogbacks; rock mechanics determine t h a t the f ines t towers
a re mostly
, but not exclus ive l y ,
in nea r ly hor izon ta l
l imes tone . Most towers
occur
in the
t rop ica l cl imate o f Guangxi with annual r a i n f a l l s of around 2000 and mean temperature
arou
nd 2
0
C,
while the cones and more h i l l peaks are in the sub - t r
opica
l cl imate
of
Guizhou
with a r a in fa
ll c lose
to 1200 and a mean temperature about l5
0
C. The
South China
k a r s t
i s t ec ton ica l ly act ive ; it was affec ted by the Himalayan orogeny 10-20 mill ion years ago an d
up l i f t
has cont inued
i n to the Quaternary
.
The di s t ingu i sh ing parameters , in f luen t i a l on h i l l
genes is ,
are
bas i ca l ly
l i t ho logy ,
cl imate a
nd
t ec ton ic s . Many
of
the
Guizhou cones
are formed in weaker , th inner
bedded
,
more
shaley l imeston
es
- a d is t inc t ion adequate
to expla in t h e i r morphology. However
,
the
cone
kars t o f Java
i s
formed in massive l imestone, where perhaps a c ruc ia l f ac to r i s the ro l e
o f an
a l logen ic s o i l
cover ;
so cone h i l l s
may
have to be regarded
as polygenet ic . The
h i l l
peak kars t may be seen j u s t as an extreme of d isorgan ised k a r s t i c di ssec t ion formed
in
optimum
condi t ions of
massive
l imes tone , tec tonic u p l i f t and
high SO l
ut ion r a t e s .
The
towers
still requ i re
a
gene t ic
d is t inc t ion ,
which
in
tu rn
must
have impl ica t ions
on the
or ig
ins
of
the h i l l peaks.
The towers
are
not pure ly
con t ro l l ed
by l i t ho logy ;
the i r
l imestone
i s s imi la r
to t h a t of
many othe r k a r s t s .
Simi la r ly
the cl imate o f Guangxi i s not unique ; in o the r
t rop ica l kars t s
,
such as Subis
and
Mulu in Sarawak, v e r t i ca l
margins to
the kars t blocks do occur but the
i n t e r io r
s are dol ine f i e l d s without
i so
l ated tower development . Older t heor i e s on the
Chinese
towers , summarised
by Si la r
1965), were based on the ro le of c l imate and the
cons iderable
an t iqu i ty of the
kars t and saw the Guangxi tower kars t as an
eros ional evolut ion
from the
Guizhou
Plateau - though t h i s canno t be supported
by
f i e l d evidence .
Tseng
1964)
saw the towers
as
re s idua l s a f t e r evolu t ion of the a l l u v i a l f l a t s , but could not account for
t h e i r sca rc i ty
elsewhere
.
The
c l a s s i f i ca t i o n of the Gui l in tower
kars t
in Sweeting 1978)
was
purely
desc r ip t ive
of
the
degree of di ssec t ion and o f fe r s no
genet ic re l a t ionsh ips .
Williams
1978)
gave
a fu l l e r
c l a s s i f i c a t ion
and iden t i f i ed the ro l e of v e r t i ca l or
hor izon ta l
dra inage
to di s t ingu i sh re spec t ive ly the cone
and
h i l l peak
kars t from the
tower kars t .
The
most
convincing
explanat ion comes from Zhang
1980)
who
re l a t ed
the cont rast ing kars t s
to
tectonism
.
He claimed t h a t
the
Guangxi
towers
developed by
continued
eros ion
a t the margins
o f
the
a l luv ia
l
f l a t s
where the u p l i f t r a t e
was
equal
to
or s l i g h t l y
l e s s
than the
ra t e
of kars t
denudat ion, while the
Guizhou
h i l l
peaks
formed where u p l i f t
exceeded
k a r s t
e ros io
n
r a t e s .
t
appears
tha t
only
t h i s
theory
accoun ts
for
the
di f fe rences with in
the
Chinese
kars t
and a l so the r a r i t y o f
to\Yer forms
in most
othe r t rop ica l ka r s t s
.
t
should , ho\Yeve
r , be
186
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SOUTH CHIN SE
Vietnam
200
4 Io m
o K RST
Fig 1
The
major topographic uni t s and main kar s t
areas
of Southern China
Tower
ka r s t
Guangx i
Guilin Vengehuo
i l l peak ka r s t
Gu i z hou
Zhennlng
Shulchen
one ka r s t
Gu i z hou
Guiyang
nehun
one k a r s t
Java
West
unung
Sewu
East unung Sewu
Fig 2
The cont r as t ing
h i l l shapes in the
ka r s t of South
China and
a
comparison
with
the
conical
ka r s t of
Java Drawn from
photog
raphs
187
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added t h a t it i s di f f i cu l t
to
f ind
f ie
ld
ev
idence
to prove th
e r e l a t ive u p l i f t r a t es
and
the re
a r e
stil
l kars t s c i en t i s t s in
China
who see the cont ras t in g l andforms as funct ions
of
a combination
of litho
log y
and c l imat ic hi s to ry
.
THE
GUIZHOU
PLATE
U
Th
e Guizhou Plateau i s a huge block of l imestone extending over
an
area more
th
an
500 km
by 300 km
. The province of
Guizhou i s
more
than k ar s t and
the
l imes tone p l
ateau
extends both
nor theas t
and
southwest
. In the cen t ra l area
around Guiyang it
i s a t an
a
l t i t u d e
of littl
e
more
than
1000m,
but
it
r i s e s on
both
s ides to
wel l over
2000m
befo
r e
it runs out of l imestone in centra l Yunnan . N
o r t
hwar ds it ends in the fold
mountains
border ing
the
high l eve l
bas in of Sichuan , wh i l e
to
the south
it
f a l l s away
to th
e Guangxi
P l
a
in
. I t s
cl imate i s mostly
sub
- t r o p i ca l
though
t
en ds
to
be mo re
temperate a t the higher e l
eva t io
ns
of Yunnan . The limes tone bedrock does not benef i t
ag
r i cu l t u r e and Guizhou i s one of the
poorer provin ces of
China
;
it
i s
s t i ll
densely popula ted , and the indus t r ia l c i t y of
Guiya
n g
h as over a mil l ion i nh a b i t an t s .
The ma in kars t a r ea f a l l s broadl y in to tw o l andscape t y pes - the ce
n t r a l
pla teau , and the
more dis sec ted
margina l zones . The
complex
deta i l s
of such
a
mas
s i
ve
t e r r a in do make
any
such
div i s ions
di f f i cu l t to
def ine , espec ia l ly a l ong the southern borders
where
the
k a r s t
i s
cont iguous
with tha t of
the Guangxi lowland. Chen e t a l 1981) make the hydrogeologica l
d i s t i n c
tions betwe
en t he
Yunnan-Guizhou pla teau th
e Hun an-Guizhou-Guangxi s lop e -
mountains
an d the Hun a
n-Gu
a
ngxi-Guangdong
- J i ang
x i
h i l l pl
a i
n extending the l a t t e r t e r r a in i n to i t s
other
pr ovinces) .
Zhang 1980)
, with a mo r e
de t
a
i l ed div is ion
, an d Y
an 1981)
both
fo l
l
ow
bro ad
ly
t he
same pa t te rn
. The bound ar
i e s
on the map Fig . 3) a r e
only
approximate .
The cen t r a l pla te au a r ea i s of low lo ca l
r e l i ef
,
devoid
of a
ny
deeply inc i sed va
ll
eys .
P a r t l y because
of the sheer
exten t
of th
e
pl
a
t e
au , hydr
au
l i c
gradients
to the margins a r e
low
a
nd
th
e r e
i s
no
ex tens ive
development
of
deep
kars t
dra inage .
Tr
unk
dra inage
i s
l a
rge l
y
by sur face
r i v e r s which
flow on e i th e r bare l imestone or a
ve
r y
t h i n
a
ll uv
i a l cover ; the
sediment i s near ly a
ll r es idua l
from l imes t o n e sOl u t ion as t he r e i s ve r y
littl
e sou rce
area
for
der ived mater ia l . The su r face a
lt
e
rn a tes between
broad , a lmost l ev e l planed - of f
bas ins
and
areas of c l ose l y packed
kars t h i l l s
with
lo ca
l r e l i e f of l
ess
th an 1 00 m. Th e h i l l s a
re
mo s t l y
cones
in the
t h i n
b
edded
limes ton e aroun d
Guiyang
, but a r e mor e spectacular h i ll
peaks
in more massive
ro ck
in th e A
nshun
a r ea .
Bo
undar i es wi t h
th
e
bas in s
a
re commonly
s
t r aig
h t
and
on f
au
lt l ine s . Tect o
n i
c f au l t m
ove
me
n t
s of Qua te rn a r y
age
a r e
invoked to accou
n t for
the
re
li e f con t ras t s ;
th i s
i s ce r t a in ly plaus ib le in
view
of
th
e proven event s of y ou n g
t ec tonism
a nd th e
appa
r e
n t
l
ack
of l
i tho logica
l
con t
ro l but the
ch
ronol
og
i ca l
de ta i
l s
of
f au
l t ing
a nd e rosion h i s to r i e s appea r t o
remain
un reso l ve d . So me of
th
e bas in s a r e de sc r i
bed
as pOljes ; the Anshun bas in i s l a rgely dra ined by
ponors
and i s cut in ge n
t ly
dippi n g
l imeston
es
with
an eroded
l
eve
l
f loor
a
nd sh
a rp
margi
ns t o t he surrou nd
h i l l
peaks -
it i s
ind
eed
a spectacu l ar va
ll
ey .
With r eg i on a l
water
t ab les near
the
l eve l
of the
bas in f l oors , cave development i s
l im i t
ed
in the cen t ra l pla teau
k a r s t
. The
Xin
i u
Cave
,
ne
ar A
nshun
, i s a foss il
phrea t ic
system , with
400
m of passage endin g in
th r ee
f ine
chambers
conta inin g s ta l ag mi t es a
nd
columns
some
20m t a l l .
Qiu 19
84)
has descr ibed a
r ec rys t
a
lli sa t ion
sequence
of
a ra
goni t
e
to columna r
ca
l c l t e to bladed ca l c i t e
to
g r a
nul ar ca
l c
it
e re l a t ed to magnesium leaching in
th i
s cave . In the f ina l ch amber
th
ere
i s a l a rge water t ab l e l ake a t the
same
l eve l as th e
basin f l
oor
outs ide , f r om which wa te r i s
pumped
through a
15
cm
pipe l ine to
i r r i g a t e loc
a l
f i e ld s . At Gu i yang, t he
Dixia Gongyu
an cave
un
derground pa rk) i s 550 m l on g , a se g
ment of
phrea t ic
condui t n ow
i so la t ed
in a l
ow h i l l
;
it
con ta in s
some
o
ld coa
r
se
, quar tz r iver
grave l s a
nd
much ca l c i t e i n f i l l inc luding some shie l d fo rmat ions .
T
he
pl a t e au margins
Away fro m t he cen t r a l a r ea of l ow
r e l i ef
, th e plateau ma r gins are increas ing l y
dis sec ted
and
th e
grea te r
r e l i
e f
pe
rmits de ve
l opment of
mor
e spectacu l a r and mo r e caver
no
us kars t .
Th
e bo und a r i e s of the marginal z on e a r e
di f f i cu l t to def in
e accu ra t e l y
and
Fig . 3
ca
n on l y
be
a ge ner a l i s a t ion;
the
l andsca pes a r e complic
a te
d by many l
oca
l var ia t ions which could
s tand as
sub -zon
es .
Th
e esse n t i a l
feature i s f luv ia l d i ssec t io
n - Zhang 1 980) re fe r red to
th i s as t he canyon
zone
. Ma jor su r face r iver s
have
e r oded deep
in to
the p l a t
eau
; the
Hongshui
He a l
ong
the south
s ide
i s a
prime examp
l e .
Canyons
may
be inc i sed 500
m o r
more
,
between
hi
gh
l eve l blocks of spec tacu la r h i l l peak k a r s t . Withi n the k ar s t , the water t
ab
l e
i s commo
n l
y
200
m
be
l ow
the
depress ion f l oors ,
and th i s
s i tua t ion
i s optimum
for
major cave
deve
l opment .
Th e f amous r a i lway l in e
between
Gu i
l i n and Kunming crosses t h e margin a l zon e on each s id e
of
Guiyang
. A
scend ing
the southeas t f lank from
Luizhou
i s the l i n e
immorta l i sed
by
th
e l
a te
Joe Jennings 1981
when
he descr ibed seeing from the
t r a in
window , more
cave
entrances th an
he
had
been i n to in
h i s
who l e
lif
e . There are en t rances a lmost everywhere , including high
l
eve
l
tubes
20 m in diameter , mu
lti
- l
eve
l notch caves ,
some huge arches
and
s t eep
l y descending
potholes . The
h i l l peaks
of t h i s ve r y spec t a
cula r ka
r
s t
are c l ose l y
packed
a nd vary
cons iderab l y in
pro f i
l e
some
being a
lmos t
towers; a
su
r pr is
ing
number of
s t reams oc
cu py
narrow
va l l eys
between
the
h i ll
s , and
the re
a re a l
so
ma n y s inks and r i s ings . West of
Guiyang , the ma r g in a l zone of the kars t pl ateau
i s
equal l y
spec
t ac u l a r .
Th
e
Shuichen
a r ea
lS
perhaps
the
f i n es t ,
with
e nd l
ess
v i s t a s of
h i l l
peaks; the re are n umerous caves , va
ll
ey
f loor
s inkholes
, open
poth
oles an d s inking s t
re
ams .
Away from the rai lway the
Zhenning
area
con ta in s some
of the
f ines t k a r s t
the w
rite r
has seen . t
canno t be
ca l l ed tower ka r
s t
, but the h i l l peaks a r e dramatic a l l y pr ecip i tous ,
r i s ing 2
to
3 m
above
deep
dolines and narrow
val l
eys
.
One h i l l i s
p i
erced
by a
60
m
h i
gh
a rch . Al ong a road l
eng
th of jus t a fe w ki lometres
the re
a r e four substa
n t i
a l
s t ream
s inks ,
one
of
which
feeds to a
re
surgence 2
km away
a f t e r pass ing
beneath
a
deep
dol ine
subjec t t o seasonal f looding
as
the cave
water
backs up . The poten t i a l of the a re a for
caves , b
oth
ac t i ve and f o s s i l , must be cons iderab le .
188
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The
k r s t
p l t e u
n
weste rn Guizhou
with
endless
l imes tone peaks
.
Tower
k r s t ne r
Yangshuo
n Guangxi .
Limestone c l i f f s of the Wuxia Gorge
on the
Yanqste River
.
189
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Caves of
the
pla teau
margins
Availab l e l i t e r a t u r e
in
the Engl ish language
descr ibes
var ious
caves in
the
Guizhou
Pla teau marg ins; some of t hese are located on Fig . 3 , along with a
number
of
r i v e r
s inks
marked on ava i l able topographic maps.
Yuan 1981)
ci ted a to ta l of
over 600 known
cave
s t reams
in t he area
,
each
with a
flow
excess
of 50 l i t r e s
per
second
, including the
Lulangdong with a catchment of 1000 kID and a discharge r angi
ng
9 to 75 cumecs . Song
1981)
descr ibed the Liu chonghe r i v e r which s inks s ix t imes along i t s course , though other r iver s
and
streams
do have longer unin te r r rup ted underground
courses .
No r thwest
o f Guiyang
, the Bi j i e
cave
extends both ways in
massive
s t ream passages
from
a
col lapse en t rance
Balazs ,
1960)
.
Also
in the
nor thwestern
sec tor ,
the
San
Cha
River
s inks
in a 100 m deep gorge to resurge 3
km away,
while a dry
high
l eve l cave r epresen ts an
abandonned p ar a l l e l route .
Some of the water
s inking in
the
Zhenning
area r esu rges
from
the
Dragon
Palace
Cave,
which has a major stream passage
p a r t l y
navigable by boa t . The Tunnanghe
r ive r
has a t l ea s t four
underground sec t ions
where
it
f lows
in
massive canyon
passages over
50 m
t a l l
Balazs , 1
960)
.
Much
fu r the r west and of f F ig . 3) , the Xeishuidong
dra inage
system, in southern Yunnan , has a s t r a ig h t - l i n e s ink to r i s ing
dis tance
of 2 kID , with a
descent of 480 m, as
proved
by
s a l t
t r ac ing Yuan ,
1981).
The p a r t s of t he pla teau margins which
extend
southeas t , across
the
provinc ia l border
i n to
Guangxi
,
a lso
contain some
long underground
dra inage
rou tes . ~ n k
to r i s i n g , s t r a ig h t
l in e
dis tance
for the Banmen stream
with
a
f low
of 3 cumecs) i s lOkm Yuan,
1983), and
for
the Sol iao stream i s 14 kID over a v er t i ca l range of 150 m Yuan 1981 , 1981a). The l a t t e r
has a major cave explored from the s inkhole , with 7600 m
of
passage , including a 4
kID t runk
r i v e r
passage. The Tisu
underground system dra in s
1050
km
2
of k ar s t
,
with
a
low
overa l l
gradien t
; 169 caves
have been
explored with in it , and the resurgence
f low
ranges
between
4 and 390 cumecs H E G T K ~ R , 1976) .
On the
eas te rn
s ide of the pla teau , 15 km of cave have been mapped in the Luota area , j u s t
over
the provinc ia l
border
in to
Hunan
Yuan,
1981
) .
In
eas te rn
Guizhou
,
the
Nine
Dragon
Cave
has 1400 m of passage on
two lev
e l s , th e upper of
which i s
a ser ies of
l a rge
f o s s i l
chambers
;
one
of these , over 150 m square , contains a disp lay of s ta lagmites
which
outsh ine those of
the Aven Armand , with the t a l l e s t r i s i n g to 39 m And
near
Dejiang nor th of F ig . 3) , a
number
of caves Song e t
a l, 1983) include
t h a t
of Chil ingang ,
over 80
m
wide and 20
m high .
There a re of course
many
, many more caves a l r e ady known in the Guizhou Pla teau k ar s t .
But it re ma ins to be seen j u s t
how
many more may be
revealed
when
the
prime objec t ive i s
complete
exp lo
r
a t ion as opposed
to
merely
seeing
what i s
access i b l e or
what
con ta in s
water
resources .
The t u fa wa te r fa l l of
Huangguo shu
A notable feature of the
Guizhou
P l ateau i s the f requent occur rence of
tu f a
being
deposi ted
in so many of t he su r face s t reams and r i v e r s . Among the l a rge r depos i t s i s
tha t
of the Huangguoshu waterfa l l
t he Orange
Fa ll , where the Dabong River
drops 70
m over a
massive t u fa screen . with a f low of around
20
cumecs
th i s
i s a
s ingula r ly
beaut i fu l wa te r fa l l ,
and one
of
the l a rges t in China . It i s formed r igh t on the edge
of the
Guizhou Pla teau where
the
r ive r crosses th
e
uppermost
of
th r ee
knick
points which
break
i t s
co u
r se
through the
marginal
zone
of
the pla teau
.
At the present s i t e of
the
f a l l s ,
the
bedrock l imes tone
dips
a t 50
0
upstream, ensur ing
i t s s t ab i l i t y . The t u fa screen behind the cascade i s
up
to 10 m
th ick ,
of
complex
over
l apping
form, even
with a cave extending ac ro ss it a t
mi d
-
he ight
, and carbon dates of
40,000
yea r s have been obta ined from near the back of it . Below the f a l l s i s an 800 m long r e t r ea t
gorge Fig .
4) ,
with
low
tu f a
cascades
in
i t s
upper par t . It i s poss ib le
tha t the
downstream
h a l f of the
gorge i s
a
di s in tegra ted cave
Zh ang and Mo , 1982);
though t he ev idence
for t h i s
i s not
conc
lus ive , the sequence out l ined by Zhang , of underground development , cap tu re by a
west
b
ank
t r i b u t
ary
and
subsequent
r e t r ea t ,
does a l so
explain the wester ly displacement of
the r ive r course
out
of i t s
main va l l e
y
and
through the
gorge
.
THE
STONE FOREST OF LUNAN
The kars t
pl ateau
of
Guizhou
cont inues
westwards i n t o Yunnan
province
,
r i s ing
s tead i l y to
around 2000 m a l t i t u d e before the l imestone outcrops
s t a r t
to break
up
in the v ic in i t y of
Kunming
. Within the province
the re
a
re some spec tacu la r outcrops
of
mega
-
kerren, known as
s tone
fo res t s
, the
most
famous of which
i s
120
km
SE of Kunming and j u s t NE of Lunan .
S h i l i n
i s
Chinese
for
s tone
fo res t
,
and
tha t
i s
the
name
given
to
both
the
kars t
formation
and
the
ad jacen t vi l lage .
The
Stone For
es t
i s a
karren
on a
monumental
sca le .
The
l imes tone has been carved i n to
a se r i e s of
c lose ly packed v e r t i c a l
-
s ided
pinnacles and towers individu a ll y
up to 30
m high .
It
i s not
tower k a r s t
, but
i s
jus t an
ex tremely dis sec ted lap iez ,
or karren f ie ld .
It
i s
formed in
one bed
of lime s tone , near ly 40 m thick, dipping a few degrees
to
the
west
across
the c r es t of a gent le r idge. The rock i s a s t rong , pale grey , uniform ca lc i lu t i t e , massive
except for a couple
of discont inuous
bedding planes . Major v er t i ca l
j o in t s
occur
on
a
10
-
20
m spacing ,
so t ha t massive
karren blocks
are c rea ted ;
the mos t continuous j o in t s
are eas t - west and t h e i r downdip or ien ta t ion may
have
signif ican
t l y
aided the except iona l ly
deep
dis sec t ion
.
The main Stone Fores t
i s conta ined
with in 100
ha
. It
i s
a m
ass
of t a l l pinnacles
and
deep f i s su r e s
; Bogli
1960)
would
have
c l a s s i f i ed it
as sp i tzkar r en
. The p innac les r i s e
to sharp a re tes , f r e t ted by
r i l l enkar ren ,
wall sca l lops a nd high l evel
kameni tzas ;
some a r e
bladed
where
the j o in t spacing i s
c lose r
in
one
di rec t ion . Th
e i r
lower wal l s have massive
v er t i ca l f l u t e s , l a rge
pockets
and t yp ica l rundkarren morphology . All sur faces are 90
covered
by
l i chen
or
moss
.
Between
the pinnacles
a r e
deep
f i ssures
, a
nd,
as
Shi l in
i s
a
major
tour i s t a t t r ac t i o n , footpaths give easy access to t h e i r depths .
Fissure
f
loor s
a r e
mostly of so i l or l oose s tone - or concrete -
with
some
vege ta t ion , though in par t s the re
192
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......
""'
Capture
polr1"l -
,
· F a l l ~ \
: .
\ -
R tr at gorge
_
- '
-
:
~
- ,
.r
~ 5 ..
/ ~ ~
i
Lower
g r g ~ f
ry valley
~ ~
~
.,
Spring
. .
~ Tufa dam
Fig
. 4 .
The
Hangguoshu Fa l l s
and as soc i a ted
fea tures
of the Dabong River
Val ley
adapted
from
Zhang
1982).
Fig . 5 .
Sketch map
of the
Stone
Fo r e s t
a r
ea
.
Alluviated karren
WEST
400
n
n n
n n
1 ~ ~ l h ~ ~ 1 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I I
n
~
I A n
3
A
A A A A n
A A
n
--
____
/ A nn n
AA A A A A n nn
h Plum
Tree Garden h
n n n n
o
Lake
A A A A A A
II
Main tone or8 l t
A A
A A A
A
n
n
\
Smaller pinnacle
I I I nn
n
n
I /I
\
• I • n
- Alluvial
fill
1 \ \
1
n n
nn Remnant pinnacle
a
A A A
A
h A Ann n
-
- - - - Path
Road
or track
Main
Stone
Forest
Remnant pinnacles
EAST
Fig
. 6 .
Represen ta t ive c ross
sec t ion
through the Stone
For e s t
193
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Flu ted p innac les
and
a r e t e s in
the Major
Stone Fores t Sh i l i n
Yunnan
.
Remnant
Pinnac les
on
the southeas t s ide of the Stone F or e s t .
The
Hangguoshu Water fa l l .
94
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are deep
c lean
meander ing
t r enches
.
Lo c
a
ll
y , f i s s u r e s
en la rge to potholes
1 - 10 m i n diameter
and
the fu ll depth o f
the
kar ren
.
Th
e
re
a r e n o
undercut
no tch
e s
,
except
on a
small sca l e
i n
the few bedding p l anes
, a
nd f a l l e n
pinn
ac l e s
a r e
fe w
.
To th e sou th of the Major Stone
Fores t
F ig .
5)
, the
kar ren
cont inues over many hundreds
o f h e c t a r e s
,
thou gh on
a s
li gh t
l y
l e
ss spec tacu la r
sca l e
,
in an area known as the Plum Tree
Garden
;
even tua l ly the
main outcrop i s l o s t under cover ro c ks on a high pa
rt
of the r idge
.
Th
e l a
nd fo
rms
to the
n
or th
a
re modified by
man a r
ound Sh
i
l i n
l
ake
a
nd the
t ourist
hote
l , a
nd
fu r
th
e r outcrops
are
broken
by
the
morphology
of the r i dge .
West
of the Stone Fores t , the mass i ve limes to n e
bed d ips
gent ly benea th a low
degr
a de d
esc
a
rpment in
a t h i n l y
bedded limes tone and
a
cove
r
of
red Clay .
In the depress ion below the
scarp ,
a l l uv i a l red c l ay suppo
rt
s r i ce paddies through which prot rude a
few low
pinnac les .
A
s imi la r
morphology
with
rundkarren pinnac les only
a
few
metres
high
cont inues
no
r
th w
a
rds
th r
ough much of Sh i l in v i l
l age ,
and an
in te rmedi
a te
form
o f
s
li ght ly
, high e r
sha rper pinn ac l e s
occupies
the weste rn
ma
rg in
o f the Sh i l in
J
ake
.
Eas t
of the Major Stone Fores t ,
the kar ren cont inue
,
but
as a much more
d i ssec t ed
type -
formin g
the Minor
Stone
Fores t and
an a
rea to the
southeast
F ig
.
5)
,
and fo l lowin
g
the ou tcrop
in between . This eas t e rn t ype
of kar ren
has fewer , i s o l a t e d , r emnant pinn ac l es , commonly
a round
15
m
in he igh t , do t t ed
ac r os s a ka r s t sur face o f
degraded
rundkarren with p
a r t i a
l
s o i l
cover and lo c a l r e l i e f of
on ly a
few
metres . Even
fur the r eas
t ,
t he
i s o l a t e d
pinnac les
are
more widely spaced , l ower , a
nd
l ack ing the r i lle n
kar
r
en
a r e t e
tops
.
In p r o f i l e ,
the
kar ren appea r to r epresen t an
evo lu t ionar
y sequence
prog ress ive ly revea led
as
su r face lo w
e r in g e xposes
and
modif ies
the
dipping
limesto
n e
F ig
.
6)
.
The immature
type
in
th
e
west has rundka r
r
en
blocks
emerging
f
rom
a
so i
l
cover
,
with dis sec t ion
increasing
as
the
so i l
su r face
i s
l
owered
. T
he
m
ain
kar ren
f i s s u r e development
,
with in the t rue Sto
n e
Fo r
es t
type ,
t akes p lace
benea th a dense
vege ta t io
n ma t . Analogies wi th
the
ac t ive
pinnac le
l
andform in the r a in f o r e s t of the Mulu area in Sa
r a wak
W
a
lt
ham
a
nd Brook
,
1980) are
inescapable ;
the
P inn ac l es o f Gunong Api , a t Mulu ,
are
very sim il a r t o
t he
Stone
Fores t
excep t t h a t they are a
little
t a l l e r ,
occupy
a
sma
ll e r
area
,
and
a
re more
bladed
due to th
e
n
a tu
r e
o f the
l
imestone j o i n t i ng
.
The f loor s of
t he
Stone
For
es t
f i s s u r e s may have
running
s t r
eams bene
a
th th
e
vege ta t ion
mat
;
the h igher par t s of the pinnac
l
es
, c l e a r
of the
vegetat ion
,
i nc reas ing ly
deve l
op sharper rill
e nk
a r
ren .
Continued
exposure
l eads to degrada t ion
of the p inn ac l es , le aving only remn an t s as in
the
type to the
e a s t
.
In many r
espec t s
there fo re , the S ton e
Fores t
i s
ju s
t a n o
rm
a l
kar ren
, but a n extreme
form in
t e r ms of its
sca l e due
t o
fo r t u i tous geolog
i ca l
cond i t ions
.
I t s spectacu
l
a r development
i s a l so a func t ion
of
its t r op i c a l
envi ro
nm
en t
, and
co r re
l a t ions with the P inn ac l es
of
Mu
lu
may h
ave imp l i ca t ions
with
r espec t t o pas t
c l i m a t e s
in Yunn
a
n.
THE GUILIN AREA
The lowl ands
of Guangxi
province
c ons t i t u t e
the world
s
f i n e s t tower ka r s t
.
The
huge
area
of
a lluvia l
plain do t t ed
with t a ll l imestone towers
i s
known
in
China
as the
fe n
l i n
ka r s t type -
tr ans l
a ted as
the peak
fo res
t
pla i
n . Its
bes t known sec t ion i s formed on
a
sy
n c
l in
a l
outcrop
of
Devonian
a
nd
Ca
rboniferous
lim es tone
wh i
ch has the c i t y o f Gui
l
in a t its
n o
r the rn
e
nd
.
Within Gui l in itse l f
t he
towers
r i s e
50 -
100
m,
but
fu r ther
down the Li
River
t he
towers
a
re
t a l l e r and even
more
prec ip i tous
.
They
CUlminate
in
the
i nc red ib ly
spectacu
l a r l andscapes
around the
l
itt
l e
town o f Yangshuo
-
general ly
reckoned among the
Chinese
to
be t he most
beaut i fu l scenery
in
t h e i r
count ry
. The
to w
e r kar s t o f
Gui l in and
Yangshuo h
as
a lr eady
been
descr ibed in the Engl i sh
l a nguage
Wil l i
a ms ,
1978; Zhang
,
1980
;
Jennings
, 1981 ;
Waltham
,
1983; and
o ther s )
.
Viewed as a whole, the Guangxi
ka r s t
i s a ma tu r e l a nd scape with a very l ong h i s t o r y of
surface
l owe
r ing
a n d ma tch ing u p l i f t . Th e ac t ive tec to n i s m i s
ind icated
b y the e ros ion l
eve
l s
re cogn i
sed
in p r o f i l e s o f the
tower
summits
a
nd the
a ll
uv ia l
pl a i
ns ; f ive
l e ve l s a r e known
in
a ve rti ca l r a
nge
of 500 m, a nd these h
ave been ascr
ibed
to
e i t h e r i n t e r m i t t e n t
u p l i f t
, o r s t e p
f a u l t i ng
with in
the k a r s t , o r a combinat ion o f both , Will iam s ,
1978)
. Ages o f over 500,000
yea r s are
as c r i bed
to the
a
ll uv
i
ums o f
the
L i
River
va ll ey
. Aggrada t iona l t e r r
aces
co r r espond
with c
li
f f no tches a
nd
cave l e ve l s
with in
the
ad jacen t
towers , a
nd
provide
fur the
r ev idence
of
a l o n g
eros io
n a l h i s t o r y .
Caves in the Gui l i n
area
While
some
o f th
e ka r s t towers
have
a c l e a r
ge o l og i
ca l co
n tr
o l
the
m
a j o r i t y
appear
to
be
randomly
d i s t r i bu t e d
across
the a l l
uvial
pla in F ig . 7) . The i s o l a t e d form
of
most towers
i s
a n a
t u ra l
r e s t r i c t i o n
o n
the
po t e n t i a l
len
gth
of
open
caves
,
and
Gui
l in
must be reco gnised
as
a n
area
of most l y
sho r t
caves .
However
,
some of the towers
d r e c l
us t e r ed in to groups
a
nd
eve n the s ize
of i nd iv i du a
l towers
permits
qui te l a rge segments
of foss i l
cave
to
be
preserved for example
Qixing
and
Lu
Ti , descr ibed below)
.
In
addi t ion
,
the l imes ton
e
ex
t e n
ds
beneath the a l luvium between
the
towers a nd hence
bene
a th
the
water ta
b l
e ; whi le
f looded caves
do e x i s t
in t h i s
envi ronment , little
i s ye t known of them
.
As i s
to be
expec ted
in
a n a lluvia ted t r op ic a l k a r s t , c l i f f
foot
notch
es
a nd caves a r e
abun dant , both ac t ive a nd a l so
aba nd
onned a t va r i ous h igher l eve l s .
Some of the
h i ghe r l eve l
dry caves have
been used by
man -
for example the Zhe
n gpi cave ,
south o f Gui l in
,
whic
h
i s
a
deeply
undercut c l i f f foot cave conta i n i
ng
sed iments
which
h ave yie lded human bur i a l
s i t e s
9500
years o ld
.
The
Yueya
h i
ll ,
j us t
e a s t of Gu i l i n , has
f ine
a c t i
ve
and
f o s s i
l
no t
c h
caves .
Tn Lo ngyi
n cave
carved wa l
l i n s c r i p t i ons
are sca l loped to
a
he
i
ght
2 m
above the presen t
wa te r l
eve l
- i nd i
ca t ing
changes of
d r
a inage , probably a rtific ia lly induced,
with in
the l as t
back
o f
th
e
no t ch caves in Yueya
h i l l
r evea l
spec
t
acu
l a r a
nastomoses on
gent ly
l n
c l ln
e d beddlng
pl
a n es . A l
arger sca l e
vers ion of
th
ese i s seen
in Nanx
i h i l l , j u s t sou th
of the
town , wh e r e
the White Snake Cave i s
a
spectacu l a r phre
a
t i c
maze of
tubes
,
mostly
a ro und
3 m
in
a m e t e a l so ~ o n t a i ~ i n g a
zo
n e
?f l a rge sca l e spongework
. The cave was formed
by
sha l low
phr
e a t
l c
so
l
ut lon
, wl
t h ln
a
ver t l ca l
r
ange
of
about 15 m,
adjacent to
an
a
l l u v i a l
f l a t
provid ing
agg r
ess ive
water . La t e r
modi f ica t ions in the White Snake
Cave
inc lude c a l c i t e
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p r e c i p i t a t i o n , l eav ing some f ine fa l se f loors
and
vadose canyon i n c i s i o n in some
o f
the
inc l ined
tubes .
Two l a r ger caves near Gui l i n Fig . 7) are both now
commerc ia l i sed
. L u T i Tung Reed
F l u t e
Cave) northwes t of t h e town has a s ing le chamber over 250 m long packed with massive
s t a l ag mi t e on a spec tacu la r sca l e with end l ess var i e ty
o f
f l owstone go u r s s t a l a c t i t e s and
sh ie lds
.
Across
the r i v e r ,
e a s t
of the town
cen t re
Qixing
Tung
Seven
St a r Cave) provides a
th rough
- r oute o f around a ki lometre in a fo s s i l i s ed segment of t runk passage . Most of the
tunne l i s
10-20
m h i gh and wide with a broad keyhole p ro f i l e a f ine phrea t i c roof , four
l
eve
l s
o f
wall notches and
deep
meander
undercu ts
; t
now
co n ta in s
quan t i t i e s
o f massive
s t a l ag mi t e mos
t
o f
wh i
ch
i s
inac t ive
.
Some
i n d i c a t i o n
o f more ex ten s iv e cave development in
the
Gu i l i n r egion i s provided by
the
Guanyan
cave
Fig .
3)
. This l i e s where a r i v e r s inks
o f f
a non -
carbona te catchment
with a
f low
ranging 1 - 20 cumecs which resurges on the banks of the Li River
7.5
km away . From the
s in k
the
cave
r i v e r
has been fo l
l
owed fo r
3500 m
to
a
sump and the re are v a r io u s sha f t s giv ing
access to
the passage .
CAVE
AND
KARST RESEARCH IN SOUTH CHINA
Due
to
ts sheer
magni tude
in China, k a r s t occupies a s i g n i f i c a n t p a r t o f environmental
r esea rch .
Recorded
o b serv a t io n s go
back
fo r
many c e n t u r i e s
though
resea r
ch has expanded
most dr ama t i c a l l y
in
recen t y ear s
p a r t i c u l a r l y
s ince the r e s t r a in t s of the Cul tu ra l Revolu t ion
ended
in 1976 . The sca l e of modern -work
can
be judged
by
the I n s t i t u t e o f Kars t Geology
c rea ted in Gu i l in with a s t a f f o f
270
in massive
new
b u i ld in g s .
In consequence
the
Chinese unders tanding
of
kars t i s impress ive
espec ia l
l y
when
compared
to most
west
e rn count r i es
though
t h e re i s a concen t ra t ion of
e f f o r t
on
appl ed
s
ubj
ec t s a nd
cave
r esea rch l ags s i g n i f i c a n t l y behind . The prime concern i s over water r esources . Accepting
t h a t k a r s t
hydro logy
i s ve
r y
d i f f e r e n t
from
t h e
convent iona l
hydrology
o f
uniform
aqui fe
r s ,
the Chinese
e x p l o i t
cave water with conf idence and considerab ly more success than t h e i r western
coun t e rp
a r
t s . Pump schemes, cave dams
and
underground
dive rs
ions are
a ll used though the re
st l
l
remains
enormous
untapped poten t i a l .
Hydro - e lec t r i c power g en era t i on
from
resurg ing and
underg r ound
r i v e r s i s
common in
both
Guangxi and Guizhou .
Another
aspect of
k a r s t
research
concerns mineral o r es ; with in the kars t
of Sout
h China, a
nd
par t ly
with in the caves ,
the re
a r e economic depos i t s of gypsum phosphate,
n i t
r a
t e ,
d e t r i t a l t i n and even
ma
l ach i t e copper
o re .
Civ i l
engineer ing
ac t i v i t y on kars t i s a l so the sub jec t
of ex tensive research .
Sophis t i ca ted
geophys i
ca l
techniques includ ing therm
a l imagery
ground radar and e lec t romag n e t i c methods
h ave been app l
ied
with a t l e a s t
some
success to the de tec t ion o f
underground
voids . An en v iab l e
s t a t e of cooperat ion
between r esea
rch
a nd i n d u s t ry a l l owed prec i se
monitoring
of an excava t ion
s i t e a t Gu i l in with r e fe r e n
ce
to the poten t i a l
development
o f subs ide
nce
d o l in es
in
an a l l u v i a l
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cover over l imes tone .
The
work c l e a r l y
ver i f ied
the re l a t ionsh ip
between
so i l cav i t i e s ,
pi
n nac l ed rockhead and
the
zone
of
wate r tab l e f luc tua t ion Yuan,
1983)
.
A westerner may , however ,
be
surpr i sed by t he exten t to which even app l
ied kars t
r esearch
h
as
an
under ly ing theore t ica l
approach . Whi l e
the
purer veins
o f r esearch
are becoming l ess
popu l a r in the west , they
st ll
appear
to
be a major component with in the
Chinese
way of
t h i nk in g . This i s not to sugges t
tha t they
do not work, fo r
the
Chinese apply t h eory to
prac t
i cal prob l
ems
in kars t
with
a confidence stemming
from
vas t
expe
r ience. A mass i
ve
dam on
the Wu J iang r i ver
of no
r t he rn Guizhou) was
founded
on
deep
l y kar s ted l imestone; the
dept
h
of i t s grout cur ta in was determined us ing the theory
tha t
h i gher
leve
l so lu t ion cav i t i e s shoUld
be
more
ac t ive , the re fore sand - f i l l ed and needing
grout ing
,
while
lower cav i t i e s in a zone
of
slower water movement shoUld be c lay - f i l l ed and hence not r equi r ing grout ing Li, 1981)
The
dam and re se rvo i r are st ll
performing
to
design .
At l ea s t in par t the
t heore t i ca l approach
to kars t may be a funct ion of the l ack of
know
l
edge
of the
caves . The underground
hal f
of
the
k a r s t environment does not appear to
r ece ive i t s due share of
a t t e n t i o n
and th i s i s
l a rge ly
because
of
th e low
l eve l
of explorat ion
tec
h niques and
phi
l
osophy
. Cave maps of high qua l i ty are not the automatic
consequence
of
cave exp l ora t ion t h a t they have become in the
west ;
few maps appear
to
be avai l able , and ma n y
of those tha t are l ack des i rab le d e ta i l . High-speed
explora t ions
,
inVOlving
S . R .
T. and
rap id
survey methods, are not a
p a r t
of
kars t
research in
China
. Caving t echniques appear to have
progressed only to
nylon
rope ladders ; ye t some
cave
diving has
been
ca r r i ed out . Then again ,
the use
of man-carrying hydrogen
bal loons i s
a nove l var ian t which
the Chinese
have
appl ied
to
cave s tud ies . Dye
t r ac ing
i s ca r r i ed
out
, though there i s st ll heavy emphasis
on
sa l t as a
t r ace r
,
and cave
da t ing t echniques have progressed to the use of r adio-carbo n , uranium
se r i e s
,
thermoluminescence a nd paleomagnetism .
Another con t ras t in
Chinese
rese a rch methods
i s
provided
by t h e i r use of
manpower.
Concent ra t
ed
e f f o r t s by smal l explorat ion or re s ea rch
teams
over
shor t
f i e ld seasons appear
to
be
only a west e rn pr inc ip le .
In
China
success i s assured
by
weight
of
numbers .
The
study
of
t he Tisu
kars t
a
rea ,
in
Guangxi
, involved
the mobi l i sat ion of
two
thousand
people
;
t
revealed a to ta l
of 52 s i t e s where groundwater
was access ib
le
in the caves . An unfor tunate
r e s t r a i n t on
cave and k a r s t
research
in China
i s the
unava i l ab i l i ty
of
maps ; de ta i l ed
topographic
maps are st ll
r egarded as
mil i ta ry
sec re t s a
nd
t h i s poses a n enormous
hand icap
to any
geomorphological
research.
A conclus ion on
k a r s t
re s
ea
rch in
China must be framed
in terms of progress . More than
anywhere e l se
in the
world ,
the
Chinese have
learned to
l i v e with k a r s t
. T
hey
a l r e
ady have
spec i f i c l aws
which
ban the dumping of
waste
i n to any sinkho l e - though such environmental
concern
h a s st ll not f i l t e r ed
through to the g rass
roo ts ,
for
China has ser ious pOl lut ion
problems.
New i n d u s t r i a l
dev
e
lopment i s forbidden
in
Gui l in , so t ha t th
e c i t y may devote i t s e l f
i nc reas ing l y
to
tour i sm in the kars t landscapes . Overa l l , the Chinese
have
unpara l le led
ex
pe r i ence and unders tanding in k a
r s t
r esearch . Prospects for the
fu ture are exc i t ing and,
hopefu l ly ,
wil l
include more cooperat ive work a
nd
in terchanges of ideas with
kars t
s c i en t i s t s
from the west . Much has al ready
been done,
but the poten t i a l i s vas t .
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For generous
hosp i t a l i t y with in China and
the benef i t s
o f f r i end ly d i scuss ion ,
the
author
wishes
to
thank
Prof . Chen
Zhiping, Song
Linhua , Prof.
Yang
Mingde, Prof. Yuan Daoxian,
Zhang Dian ,
Prof .
Zh a ng Yingjun
and Prof .
Zhang
Zhigan
. Though mu
ch
of the raw ma te r i a l in
t h i s paper
der iv es
from
th
e work
of
those named , the co mm
en t s
and
opin ions are
the
r e sp o n s ib i l i t y
of the au thor .
REFERENCES
Balazs , D. ,
19
60 .
Bei t rage
zur
Spe lao log ie
des sudchinesischen
Karstgebietes; Karszt es
Barlangkutatas vol . 2, pp
3-80.
Bagl i ,
A.,
19 60. Kalklasung und
Karrenbi ldung;
Zei t . Geomorph.
Supplementband 2,
pp 4 - 21.
Chen , W., Huang, X., Song, H.
and Dong,
B . , 1981. Karst groundwater
in
South Ch ina ; Acta
Geol.
Sinica vol . 61, pp 149-160 .
HEGTKAR
Hydrogeological
and Engine
e r ing
Geological
Team
of
the
Geological
Bu r
eau
o f
the
Kwangsi Chuang Autonomou s Region) , 1976.
On
the underground r i ve r sys tem o f the
Tisu
kars t
area
, Tuan
County,
Kwangsi, China; Spec ia l Report , 17 pp.
I n s t i t u t e o f Hydrogeology ,
19 7 6.
Karst in China; Shanghai
People
s Publ ish ing House, 140 pp.
Jennings, J .N . , 19 81 . Karst in China; Caving
In t erna t
. Mag. vol .
13
, pp 6 -
17.
Lehmann, H.,
1936
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Morpho1ogi
sche Studien auf Java; Geog . Abhand .
se r i e
3, p t . 9,
pp
1 -
114.
Li,
M.,
1981. The deep
k a r s t s
in Wujiang val ley a t Wujiangdu dam s i t e ; Proc . 8th In ternat .
Congo Spel . Bowling Green, Kentucky,
pp
732-734.
Qiu, Y. ,
1984.
Cave
depos i t s
and i t s
diagenesis
in Xiniu Cave , Zhenning ,
Guizhou Prov
ince ;
Carsologica Sinica vol . 3 , pp 55 -
63
.
Si l a r , J . , 19
65
. Development o f tower kars t of China and North
Vietnam;
Bull .
Nat
. Spel . So c .
vol
.
27, pp
35-46.
Song
, L. , 1981 . Some
c ha ra c t e r i s t i c s of
k a r s t hydrology
in Guizhou Pla teau
,
China; Proc
.
8th
In ternat . Cong o Spel . Bowling Green, Kentucky, pp 139-142.
Song, L , Zhang,
Y.,
Fang, J . and Gu , Z. , 1983. Karst development and the di s t r i bu t i on of kars t
dra inage sys tems
in
Dejiang, Guizhou Province, Ch ina; Journ . Hydrol .
vol .
61, pp 3- 17.
Sweeting ,
M M
. ,
1978.
The k a r s t
of
Kweilin , sou thern
China
;
Geog
. Jour .
vol .
14 4 , pp
199-204
.
Tseng , C. , 1964 . Some ques t ions on the c l a s s i f i c a t i on of r e l i e f types in
k a r s t
r
egion
o f
South China;
Acta
Geol. Sinica
vol .
44,
pp
120-130.
Waltham , A. C . ,
1983.
Impressions o f Gu i
l i n ; Caves and
Caving
No
. 19 , pp 8 - 9.
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Waltham A.C.
and
Brook
D. B .
1980. Geomorpho
l ogica l
observat
io
ns on
the l imestone caves
o f
G
unung
Mulu Nat ional Park
Sarawak
;
Trans
.
Br i t . Cave
Res
Assoc . vol .
7
pp 123-139.
Wa l tham A. C . Smart P. L . Fr ieder ich H. Eavis A. J . and Atkinson T.C. 198 3 . The
caves
of Gunung Sewu Java; Trans Br i t .
Cave
Re s . Assoc . vo l . 10
pp
55-96.
W
l l iam
s
P.W .
1
978. Karst research
in
China;
Trans .
Br i t . Cave Res Assoc
. ,
vo l
. 5
pp 29-46.
Yuan
D .
1981. A
b r i e f
in t roduc t ion to China s research in kars t ; In s t . Kars t Geol . Gui l in
35 pp .
Yuan D .
1981a.
On the underground
stream
and cave
sys te
ms of
Sol iao ka rs t area
Bama County
Guang x i
China;
Proc
8th In ternat
.
Congo
Spel . , Bowling
Green Kentucky
p
317.
Yuan
D . 1983.
Problems
o f environmental
protec t ion
o f
kars t
area; I
nst .
Kars t
Geol
.
Guil in
15 pp.
Zhang
Y.
and
Mo Z .
1982. The
o r ig in
and evolu t ion of
Orange
Fal l ;
Acta
Geog
. Sinica ,
vol .
37
pp
303 -
316.
Zh
ang
Z.
19 80 .
Kars
t types
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China ; GeoJo urna l , vo l . 4
pp
541-570.
MS rece ived November
1
984
1 98
A. C. Waltham
Civ.
Eng. Dept .
Tren t
Poly technic
Nottingham
NG I
BU
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8/21/2019 BCRA 11-4-1984
19/90
ave
Science
Tran
sac t io n s
o f the Br i t i sh
Cave Re s
ea rc
h
Associa t ion
.
V o l . l l no 4
De
ce
mber , 198 4 .
CAVE EXPLORATIONS AROUND TRESVISO
PICOS
DE EUROPA NORTHERN SPAIN
1975 1983
Compiled
a
nd ed i t ed by
Mark
Sef
ton
with
the
ass i s tance
of
D.Checkley
ABSTRACT
Ever
y summer from 1975 t o 1983
the
Lancas ter
Univers i ty
Speleolog i c a l Socie ty
and
the Seccion De E
sp e
l
eo log ia
Ingeniero s Indus t r i a l es from
Madrid
197 8 - 19 83)
have
v i s i t e d the eas te rn mas s i f
of the
P icos
de Europa
in Northern Spain to
ex p
lore the
caves o f the
reg ion . A number
o f
en t rances in the
area
around the v i l l a g e
o f
Trevi so near the centr
e
of the mass i f were examined and have led
t o
th
e
discovery of
severa l
impor tan t
systems inc lud ing
La Cueva
del
Agua,
an llkm lo n
g
resu rgence cave bel ieved to dra in an area
o f
abou t
25km
2
,
and
La Cueva
de
l a
Marniosa
(
leng th
2 . 8 km) , a
l i ke ly
feeder
to La
Cueva
del
Agua.
From 1977
onwards the
exped i t i
ons have a l so
undertaken in tens ive
exp lora t ion
o f
the
caves
and mines
among
the h igh peaks to
the
so u th in a reg ion known as
Andara.
Over
25
0 cave s
and
mine
en t
rances were inves t iga ted
and
th i s has led to the d i scovery
o f
some
o f th
e deepes t cave s in
Spain
. T
hese
include
Mazarrasa
depth,-318m),
Torca Boulde r osa -313m) , Sara (- 648m) , Tere -792m), Flowerpot
-7 2
3m and 56 -1,169m). Dye - t e s t i ng
has show
n
t h a t
t h e s t
r eamw
ay in Sara and a t
l
e a s t one o f
the
s t
r
eams in 56
dra in i n t o La Cueva del Agua
.
RESUMEN
Cada
verano desde
1975 hasta 1983
ha
v is
itado
l a
Sociedad
Espeleo rog ica de la Univers idad
de
Lancas ter y e l
Secc ion De Espeleo log ia I
ngenieros
In
d u s t
r i a l es de M
adr id
1 97 8 -1983) , la pa r t e or i en ta l de
los
Picos
de
Europa en
e l
nor te
de Espana para exp lorar l a s cuevas de la region.
Han
examinado unas en t radas en e l
a re a a l rededor de la a ldea de Tresv iso ce
r