What's All The Fuss About Karst?

Attached is a series of articles by Linda Terek Ball that appeared in the Greenbrier County Valley Guide in 2006.

The first article, "What's All The Fuss About Karst?" (February-March 2006), provides an overview of karst, cave formation and karst vulnerability to environmental impacts.

The second article, "A Closer Look at Sinkholes" (April-May 2006), focuses on sinkholes, their formation and role in surface water transport into the karst aquifer.

"The Karst Watershed" (August-September 2006) was the third and final article and focused on the karst watersheds - such as the Greenbrier River - and how they differ from the more typical, non-karst watersheds and how this in turn impacts groundwater flow, transport of contamination and special risks associated with land use in karst terrains.

All three are excellent resources to learn more about karst, cave formation, groundwater flow, contamination risks and the unique karst areas of West Virginia.

Based on a 2008 West Virginia cave database, Greenbrier County leads the state with 1,333 known caves, Pocahontas County is the second with 608 caves and Randolph County is third with 534 caves.

You can also find these and other articles in the Documents section.

(Articles posted with permission from author)