Non-Carbonate Karst Landscapes

Connected Sites: 3

Definition
"Karst" is a land system that has been shaped, at least largely, by chemical solution. The vast majority of such landscapes worldwide were formed in limestone or other carbonate rocks. "It is now widely recognised that both quartz and amorphous silica are soluble in water, particularly at high temperatures. However, solution is much slower than in many other rocks such as the carbonates, gypsum and salt" (AB - IUCN). This phenomenon has only been identified by geo-morphologists since c1966.

Map

Connected Sites

  • Canaima National Park
    Canaima National Park
    Venezuela
    Inscribed: 1994
    3.74
    27
    3
  • Wulingyuan
    Wulingyuan
    China
    Inscribed: 1992
    4.03
    57
    5

    "more than 3,000 narrow quartz sandstone pillars" (OUV) and "The most notable geographic features of the park are the pillar-like formations that are seen throughout the park. Although resembling karst terrain, this area is not underlain by limestone and is not the product of chemical dissolution, which is characteristic of limestone karst. They are the result of many years of physical, rather than chemical, erosion. Much of the weathering that forms these pillars is the result of expanding ice in the winter and the plants that grow on them." (wiki)
  • Purnululu National Park
    Purnululu National Park
    Australia
    Inscribed: 2003
    3.84
    16
    4