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Figure 2. Diagrammatic representation of the
components of the comprehensive karst system
(Ford, 2006).
and permeable paleokarst reservoirs. According to Li et al. (2008), area that draws tourists to not only the park itself but other area
the Jingbian gas field, China, has a proven initial in-place gas attractions. As a result, cave area tourism generated US$514
reserve of ~11 trillion m3 and is the largest paleokarst carbonate million to the region’s economy and supported 8916 jobs (Stynes,
gas field in China. However, paleokarst can also create numerous 2011). A similar story can be found at some of the other cave-
difficulties in exploiting such reservoirs. According to Dou and centered national park units (Table 1; figures for Mammoth Cave
colleagues (2011), “Paleokarst systems are one of the major factors National Park are included for comparison).
resulting in carbonate reservoir and heterogeneity” (p. 1).
KARST SCIENCE IS COMPLEX AND MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Karst terrane can present hazards to life and infrastructure.
Sinkholes can form without warning, causing costly damage to The study of karst terranes necessarily involves a wide variety of
buildings and infrastructure, and even resulting in human death. subjects and specialties, spanning almost every division in GSA
The surface-subsurface linkage is intimate, complicated, and and scientific disciplines outside of GSA’s purview. These include
extremely variable spatially and temporally. Many rare and geology, biology, microbiology, soils, environmental geology, engi-
endangered flora and fauna exist solely in karst environs. neering, geology, geochemistry, geophysics, structural geomor-
Destabilization of this linkage can lead to ecosystem collapse. phology, archaeology, urban planning, climatology,
paleoclimatology, meteorology, hydrology, speleology, and even
Recreation opportunities in karst terrane can be a substantial planetary studies. Comprehensive karst studies also can require
source of income to area residents. For example, Mammoth Cave the assistance of cave explorers and mappers, cave divers, math-
National Park (Kentucky, USA) generates US$62 million annually ematicians, modelers, and computer programmers. In all cases,
to the south-central area of Kentucky in the form of money spent practitioners in each discipline bring with them their own experi-
by visitors in the park and surrounding communities as well as ences, perspectives, insights, tools, and scales of reference.
jobs directly supported by park tourism (Carson, 2012).
Mammoth Cave National Park acts as an anchor attraction in the
Figure 3. Approximately 25% of the global land GSA TODAY | www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/
surface is underlain by karst terrane (blue; Williams
and Fong, 2010).
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