KARST CONFERENCE SCHEDULE WITH PARTIAL ABSTRACTS
Tuesday, June 3, 2003
KARST COMMISSION MEETINGS
7:30-8:30	Registration - Garrett Conference Center Lobby
8:30-9:00
9:00-10:00
10:00-10:15	Refreshments Provided - Van Meter Hall
10:15-11:15
11:15-11:30	Refreshments Provided - Van Meter Hall
11:30-12:30
12:30-2:00	Catered Lunch - Kentucky Museum
2:15-3:15
3:15-3:30	Refreshments Provided - Van Meter Hall
3:30-5:00
7:00	Dinner Provided at Lost River Cave
Wednesday, June 4, 2003
7:30a-8:15	Refreshments Provided - Van Meter Hall
8:15-8:30	Greeting from WKU Pres/Maca Supt
	PLENARY SESSION 1
8:30-8:50	John Gunn - "Flow Divergence in Karstified Carbonate Aquifers"
	Most models of permeability development in karstic carbonate aquifers are based on groundwater flowing through a dendritic network of conduits and targeting a single, integrative, outlet spring. It is also recognised that a single conduit may discharge through a number of distributary springs and these may exhibit underflow and overflow characteristics....
8:50-9:10	Yaun Daoxian - "On the Karst Ecosystem"
	According to the definition of ecology, ecosystem is a system, which is composed of producer (vegetation), consumer (animal) and decomposer (microbe) between inorganism and organism. Whereas, in the Glossary of Geology (Gary et al,1973) compiled by the American Geological Institute, the ecology is defined as the study of the relationships between organisms and their environments...
9:10-9:30	Alexander Klimchouk - "Unconfined versus Confined Speleogenetic Settings: Variations of Solution Porosity and Permeability"
	Speleogenesis in unconfined settings tends to produce broadly dendritic patterns of channels due to highly competing development. Such development occurs because the positive feedback relationship between dissolution rate and discharge causes accelerated growth of selective favourable paths. Discharge increases with the growth of the conduit before and, more dramatically, after breakthrough...
9:30-9:50	John Mylroie - "The Interaction of Hypogenic Caves and Explorational Bias: Under Representation of Cave Data"
	Epigenic cave development is surface-water controlled. Hypogenic caves develop at depth as a result of mixing of different phreatic waters, independent of surface conditions. Palmer (1991) created five cave categories: branchwork, anastomatic, network, spongework, and ramiform...
9:50-10:10	Parris Lyew-Ayee - "GIS Techniques for Karst Morphometric Analysis: The Case of the Cockpit Country, Jamaica"
	Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology has been applied in many different fields, ranging from simple cartography to business and scientific applications. Within the realm of karst geomorphology, GIS has been used to illustrate the pattern and distribution of karst phenomena, as well as to serve as a framework for more detailed analysis using more sophisticated analytical programs and for fieldwork...
10:15-10:30	Break - Refreshments Provided - Van Meter Hall
10:30:10:50	Elena Tromfimova - "Condensation in the Caves of Lake Baikal"
	The moisture of the condensation plays an important role in speleogenesis, especially in the steppe karstic regions. The estimations of the moisture of the condensation for the Olkhon region were carried out using the data of the microclimatic observations during the five years in two well- known caves...
10:50-11:10	Steve Worthington - "Numerical Simulation of the Aquifer at Mammoth Cave"
	Carbonate aquifers are often assumed to behave like porous media. A justification is that karst features may be present, but it is suggested that they may be ignored at the scale of the whole aquifer. There are copious data on the carbonate aquifer in the Mammoth Cave area..
11:10-11:30	S. Goryachkin - "The Reasons of High Biodiversity in Karstic Landscapes and the Influence of Karst on Natural Zonality."
	The zonal (regional) landscape is greatly impacted by the karst rock, and the tundra karst drainage may occur in some forestry. Karst areas in northern forestry zones may secure some relict species of the Arctic and Alps within sinkhole bottoms and oligotrophic plant groups of the rock outcrops as well...
11:30-11:50	Philipp Haeuselmann - "Preliminary Cosmogenic Datings of the Siebenhengste Cave Area (BE, Switzerland)"
	The Siebenhengste region, located north of Lake Thun, contains one of the biggest cave systems in the world. Extending over a vertical distance of 1500 m, the cave system contains more than 280 km of mapped passages and consists of 13 different speleogenetic phases, which can be related to paleovalley bottoms....
11:50-12:10	James Baichtal - "Evolving Karst Management on the Tongass: What Twelve Years of Implementation and Development Have Taught"
	For the past 12 years the Tongass National Forest in Southeastern Alaska has worked to identify, inventory, explore, and manage the extensive karst resources found there. Fueled by the requirements of the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988 and the Tongass' interpretation of that Act, internal regulations...
12:10-1:30	Catered Lunch at Western Kentucky University - Kentucky Museum
1:30-1:50	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 3 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Biology/Ecology Session I	Rick Fowler - "Specific DNA Biomarkers for Two Bacterial Species Associated with Karst Aquifers and Corrosion Residues in Cave Microenvironments"
	Environmental DNA extracted from cave sediments contains many DNA sequences, some of which encode bacterial 16S rDNA from the cave bacterial community. Prior efforts in our laboratory have led to the creation of a database of 16S rDNA sequences from a clone library of bacterial DNA extracted from cave sediments or bacteria...
GIS/Mapping	Lee Florea - "Importance of Karst Land Units in the Assesment of Environmental Impacts: Somerset Northern Bypass Karst GIS"
	The I-66 Special Project of the National Speleological Society was formed to study and document potential impacts of the construction of an interstate highway (I-66) across the karstlands of Southern Kentucky…..A karst GIS was developed for analysis using ArcView 3.2A software. Vector files used include: Corridor and alternates, urban areas, suburban areas, woodlands....
Climate/Dating Session	Darlene Anthony - "Episodic Incision of the Upper Cumberland River, Tennessee and Kentucky, Determined from Radioactivity Decay of Cosmogenic 26AI and 10Be in Cave Sediments"
	Episodic incision punctuated by brief periods of base level stability left the Upper Cumberland River and its tributaries deeply entrenched into the surface of the Highland Rim. The timing of these events may now be determined from multilevel caves using the differential decay of cosmogenic 26Al and 10Be found in clastic cave sediments...
1:50-2:10	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 3 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Biology/Ecology Session I	Yu Long-jiang - "Effects of Temperature and Inorganic Ions on Carbonic Anhydrase Activity in Leaves of Typical Plants in the Karst Experimental Site, Guilin, China"
	Carbonic anhydrase (CA) could act as an activator in carbonate rock dissolution. To find the actual role of biological CA in weathering, it is necessary not only to examine in situ distribution and activity of CA in living organisms and their surrounding environment, but also to investigate the stability of CA in living organisms and their surrounding environment.
GIS/Mapping	Yongli Gao - "Extending GIS-based Database Management Systems to Make Karst Hydrology and Geomorphology Datasets Available for Resource Management"
	In the past decade, GIS-based Database Management Systems (DBMS) have been widely used in the karst communities in the U.S. and other countries to manage and analyze karst hydrology and geomorphology datasets….
Climate/Dating Session	Jacques Mudry - "Karst Development Potential and Base Level Changes in Mediterranean Regions: a Unique Reference Model"
	Karst develops only when necessary conditions occur, named the karstification potential, KP. KP includes a "solvent", generally water and dissolved CO2, and an "engine" driving the ground water flow. The main "engine" is the difference in altitude between the recharge area and the discharge point...
2:10-2:30	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 3 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Biology/Ecology Session I	Li Wei - "Carbonic Anhydrase Activity in Soil and its Microbes from Different Karst Ecosystems of Southwest China"
	The origin and distribution of carbonic anhydrase (CA) which could accelerate karst processes were investigated in this paper. The soil samples used in the study were collected from 4 different kinds of karst ecosystems of southwest China…
GIS/Mapping	Zhang Chuanrong - "A GIS Approach to Conservation of Stone Forest Landscape in Lunan, China"
	The Lunan Stone Forest (Shilin) is one of the world's outstanding karst landscapes - a dramatic pinnacle karst that is not only scientifically important, but which also has considerable cultural significance and is a major international tourist destination. At the same time, the stone forest environment is inherently fragile and has already been adversely affected by human activity...
Climate/Dating Session	Zhang Meiliang - "High resolution paleoclimatic environment records from a stalagmite of Dongge cave since 15000 years in Libo, (Guizhou) China"
	The time sequence of high resolution paleoclimatic change since 15473a B.P. has been reconstructed by dating ages of the high precision TIMS-U series and the analysis of the carbon and oxygen isotopes from a stalagmite of Dongge cave in the area of Libo, Guizhou. The study results showed that the record of the warm and cold events from the stalagmite since 15437a B.P. in the area of Libo reflected the paleoclimatic change which can be divided into four stages:
2:30-2:50	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 3 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Biology/Ecology Session I	Garrett Ryan - "The Optimization of Chemical Parameters in Contaminant-Specific Plants"
	Concern about the environmental fate of metals, and organic solvents in soil and groundwater has compelled a nationwide focus on cost-effective remediation technologies. The process of plant-enhanced degradation, and isolation through phytoremediation, has generated interest in the use of constructed wetland systems for remediation....
GIS/Mapping	Joe Ray - "Diagrammatic Karst Flow Models"
	Diagrammatic flow models with unknown "black box" segments can help conceptualize karst drainage and interpret tracer tests (Brown and Wigley, 1969). Additional flow/storage concepts have been added by Atkinson and others (1973), Gasper (1987), and Fields (2002). Expanding on these contributions, several additional flow models are proposed to represent complex relationships...
Climate/Dating Session	Yavor Shopov - "A New Method for Improved Dating of Sedimentary Paleoclimatic Records Using Evolutive Spectral Analysis of Orbital Variations"
	Spectral time series analysis of luminescent records in speleothems shows that it contains cycles of variations of orbital elements and many shorter solar cycles. Luminescence of organic matter in speleothems depends on solar visible and infrared radiation so it can be used as a proxy index of Solar Insolation (SI)...
2:50-3:10	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 3 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Biology/Ecology Session I	Ilona Barnay-Kevei - "The Effect of Climate, Soil, and Vegetation on the Environmental Contamination of a Karstecological System"
	The functioning of the karst-ecological system is mostly influenced by extrinsic factors. In this complex system there is a close connection between climate, soil and vegetation (Bárány-Kevei, 1989). The change of any of these parameters will draw the alteration of the others...
GIS/Mapping	Gheorghe Ponta - "Proposed Modifications of the International Standard Legend for Large Scale Hydrogeological Maps in Carbonate Rocks"
	In the mid-eighties, the IAH Commission on Hydrogeological Maps, in cooperation with IAHS and UNESCO prepared a revised edition of the International Standard Legend for Hydrogeological Maps (ISLHM), published as a UNESCO technical paper in Hydrology (ANON, 1983). The modified version of legend was used to complete the Romanian Hydrogeological Mapping program for karstic terrain...
Climate/Dating Session	Bray Jeff - "The Pirate of Monroe: A Hydrogeologic and Geophysical Study of the Monitor Lineament in Monroe County, West Virginia, USA"
	The Monitor Lineament is a 4.5 mile (7.2 km) long linear feature, oriented N 75 o E, passes through the Monroe County karst of southern West Virginia. This lineament, first identified by Eberhard Werner (1975), occurs within the Mississippian Greenbrier Limestone, which is about 1,100 ft (330 m) thick locally. The lineament is manifested by numerous steep-sided dolines elongated parallel to the lineament trend and up to 150 feet (45 m) deep.
3:10-3:30	Break - Refreshments Provided - Garrett Conference Center
3:30-3:50	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 2 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Geology Session	Nadine Goppert - "Overview of Karst Development in Carbonate Conglomerates in Europe: a Contribution to the IGCP 448 'World Correlation on Karst Ecosystem'"
	Large parts of Tertiary gravel fans in the foreland of European alpine orogens are made of coarse-grained conglomerates, which predominantly consist of carbonate components in a carbonate matrix. Although these rocks are predisposed to karstification due to their mineralogical composition...
Geochemistry/ Sediments Session	Josh Rubenstein - "Carbonate Controls of Strontianite Saturation in Celestite-Calcite-Dolomite-Aqueous Solutions"
	The composition of strontianite (SrCO3) saturated solutions in celestite (SrSO4) and calcite or dolomite solutions are mapped in terms of their contributing minerals. The composition of the solutions at saturation for celestite and strontianite are determined by the minimum carbonate concentration required for strontianite saturation.  Since strontianite, calcite and dolomite contain a carbonate component, the composition...
3:50-4:10	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 3 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Biology/Ecology Session II	He Shiyi - "A Comparative Study on Hydrological and Ecological Effects in Different Karst Ecosystems"
	By making a comparative analysis in different karst ecosystems, the research work mainly focuses on the situation of vegetation growth, community characters of vegetation, the hydrochemical respondence to system, the functions of epikarst zone, and the ecological and hydrological effects...
Geology Session	Autur Galstvan - "Tectonic-Plutonic Reasons of Formation of Karst Depressions in the Limestone Massives in Vaik"
	Hard conditions of Armenian mountain range, geomorphologic and geological structure determined characteristic features of caves in Armenia. Tectonic and volcanoes processes in Pliocene and Holocene determined formation of caves. Tectonic structure in Vaik, plicative and disjunctive infringements and the gravity fractures determined the direction of the underground cave forming water streams...
Geochemistry/ Sediments Session	Ellen Herman - "Transport of Suspended Sediments in Karst Aquifers"
	Sediment fluxes are important as a geomorphic process in the evolution of karst drainage basins and also as an important vector in the transport and storage of contaminants through karst aquifers. Sediment movement is mostly episodic with most transport taking place during storm flow through the conduit system.   Sediment fluxes can be investigated either by observation of sediment piles and stream bed sediments in caves with active streams or by capturing sediments at spring outlets...
4:10-4:30	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 3 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Biology/Ecology Session II	Michale-Sean Chenoweth - "The Biogeomorphology of the Jamaican Cockpit Country"
	The Jamaican Cockpit Country is the World's "type-example" of the cockpit style of polygonal karst. Although it has been the subject of extensive geomorphological, hydrological and biological studies, extensive interest in its future conservation status has only recently emerged with the suggestion that it be nominated as a U.N. Natural World Heritage Site...
Geology Session	Trevor Faulkner - "The Hydrogeology of Crystalline Rocks: Pointers to Tectonic Inception Mechanisms in Karst"
	Considerable advances have been made in recent years to understand the processes leading to the creation of the triple porosity hydrogeology described for karstic limestones. These have concentrated on the physics and chemistry of karst dissolution, during the inception and gestation phases of conduit evolution in sedimentary limestones...
Geochemistry/ Sediments Session	Han Xingru - "Characteristics of Karst Hydrodynamical and Hydrochemical Zone of Ordos Basin"
	The Ordos basin is a large inland basin with area 280,000 km2 located in the east part of  Northwest China . The annual rainfall ranges from 600mm to 100mm and decreases from southeast to northwest, classifying semiarid and arid climate. Lower Palaeozoic carbonate rocks rises to the edge of the basin and forms karst mountains with elevation of over 2000m...
4:30-4:50	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 3 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Biology/Ecology Session II	Mick Day - "Faunal Associations with Karst Landscapes: The Example of Birds in Belize"
	The ecological significance of karstlands is a recent focus of studies by karst scientists, and there is growing recognition of the need for an holistic approach to their geo-ecology. The existence of distinctive and significant karstland vegetation communities raises the question of whether there are similar associations between karstlands and their fauna...
Geology Session	Jeff Bray - "Microgravity Applications at Maxwelton Cave in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, USA"
	Maxwelton Cave is a 9.6 mile long mapped cave in Greenbrier County near Lewisburg. This cave was first partially opened to cavers by flood waters from hurricane Camille in 1969, but has been closed since hurricane Agnes flooding of 1972. Its former entrance is situated at the downstream end of a spectacular karst blind valley containing Cove Creek...
Geochemistry/ Sediments Session	David Ek - "Hydrologic and Geochemical Cycling with Karst versus Non-Karst Basins within the Interior Low Plateau Province of South-Central Kentucky"
	There has been much written on basin and global-scale cycling of water and dissolved chemical species within non-karst watersheds. Many other studies have focused upon specific and even landscape-scale karst research. However, few studies have linked the two, focusing upon how the degree and nature of karst development within a basin impacts hydrologic and geochemical cycling...
5:00-6:30	Poster Session / Reception - Fine Arts Center - Art Gallery
Thursday, June 5, 2003
7:30am - 9:00 p.m. -- Field Trip to Mammoth Cave
Friday, June 6, 2003
7:30a-8:30	Refreshments Provided - Garrett Conference Center
8:30-8:50	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 2 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Environmental Mngt Session I	Nico Goldscheider - "Vulnerability and Risk Mapping for the Protection of Carbonate (Karst) Aquifers: a Pan-European Approach"
	Carbonate terrains comprise one third of the land area of Europe. Karst aquifers hold important groundwater resources supplying up to 50% of drinking water in some countries. The European COST Action 620 (Cooperation in Science and Technology), including delegates from 16 countries, worked from 1997 to 2002 to develop an approach to vulnerability and risk mapping...
Hydrogeology Session I	Miomir Komatina - "Karst Water Resources in Yugoslavia and Water Management"
	At the territory of Yugoslavia, karst is present within two geotectonic units - Inner Dinarides (Montenegro and western Serbia) and Carpatho-balkanides (eastern Serbia). Dinaridic karst is the typical unit in the world scale, characterized by groundwater resources. Opposite of Dinaridic karst, karst aquifers of Carpatho-balkanides are formed of numerous limestone masses...
8:50-9:10	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 2 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Environmental Mngt Session I	David Drew - "Intrinsic Vulnerability Mapping for the Protection of Carbonate (Karstic) Aquifers: a Pan-European Approach"
	Carbonate terrains comprise one third of the land area of Europe. Karst aquifers are important sources of groundwater supplying up to one half of public drinking water supplies in some countries. A pan-European COST Action (co-operation in science and technology), including delegates from 15 countries, worked from 1997 to 2002 to develop an approach to vulnerability and risk mapping...
Hydrogeology Session I	Zhang Cheng - "Analysis on the Short-Term Scale Variation of a Typical Epikarst Spring: Case Study of Landiantang Spring and Dongwang Spring at Nongla Village, Mashan County, Guangxi Province"
	Nongla, a typical karst dynamic system monitoring site, is located at Nongla Village, Mashan County, Guangxi Province. The data from the site automatic records indicates that the karst dynamic system is highly sensitive to environment. Multi-day and diurnal physico-chemical variation of epikarst spring water is quite different under the different climatic condition...
9:10-9:30	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 2 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Environmental Mngt Session I	Inaki Vadillo - "Application of the Pan-European Approach for the Protection of Carbonate Aquifer in the Pilot Site of Sierra de Libar (South Spain)"
	The Sierra de Líbar, a karst system in Southern Spain, was used as a test site to apply methods of intrinsic and specific vulnerability mapping, hazard and risk mapping that were developed within the framework of the European COST Action 620…
Hydrogeology Session I	Eric Gilli - "The Role of the Messinian Crisis in the Spatial Organization of the Mediterranean Karstic Aquifers"
	The main karstic springs of southern France reveal geometry and  behavior that are difficult to explain without a drop in the water table below the lower levels of the glacio-eustatic fluctuations. The principal peri-mediterranean karstic features are probably inherited from the Messinian period when the sea level dropped dramatically due to the closing of the Straight of Gibraltar and the drying of the Mediterranean...
9:30-9:50	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 2 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Environmental Mngt Session I	Heinz Hoetzl - "Risk Assessment of Karst Aquifers: a Pan-European Approach"
	The protection of our natural karst groundwater resources requires a sustainable groundwater management which should be based on a comprehensive risk analysis. Within the EU-COST Action 620 “Vulnerability and Risk mapping for the protection of carbonate (karst) aquifers” several approaches for risk assessment were discussed. Following the concept of the COST 620, total risk assessment comprises two steps in the analysis...
Hydrogeology Session I	Tony Cooley - "Characterization of Rainfall Percolation Routes Through the Clay Mantle Over a Doline in the Kentucky Bluegrass Karst"
	This paper presents the results of a field study of rainfall percolation through the clay mantle and along the top of rock into a doline near Frankfort, Kentucky. The soil-water head distributions at 59 locations within a 1 acre site were measured every fifteen minutes for more than a year using a datalogger...
9:50-10:10	CHOOSE 1 OF THESE 2 SESSIONS TO ATTEND:
Environmental Mngt Session I	Steve Capps - "Seasonal Variations of the Sensitivity of Groundwater in the Mammoth Cave Aquifer, Kentucky, USA"
	Mammoth Cave in central Kentucky is the longest known cave system in the world. Previous research has shown that the groundwater in the cave system is susceptible to contamination from accidental spills of hazardous materials due to several transportation corridors crossing its' recharge area. In addition, the groundwater is very sensitive to this threat of contamination due to the unique cave life found in the cave...
Hydrogeology Session I	Peter Idstein - "When Does an Understanding of a Karst System Become Complete? An Example of Evolution of the Understanding of Boiling Spring, Fort Campbell"