Solution pipes and pinnacles in eogenetic karst and benefits of U/Th dating methods
Abstract
Solution pipes are vertical tubular voids in young carbonate rocks with matrix porosity, and the pinnacles are often referred to the rock pillars between the extremely widened solution pipes. What is clear is that their formation is a result of focused flow of water, followed by dissolution. Over time, the shapes of these landforms often become independent of the initial conditions and depend just on global parameters, such as the rainfall amount, temperature, and porosity of the rock matrix. This opens up an attractive possibility of linking the observed pipes with the geology and hydrology of the area at the moment of their formation and, most importantly, with past climatic conditions. In order to achieve this, the dating of these karst features (often seen as empty voids) is necessary, yet extremely challenging. It can only be done indirectly through processes that happened before or after their formation.
Biography
Dr. Matej Lipar is the head of the Physical Geography at the Anton Melik Geographical Institute of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU). He studied geography and history at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and completed his PhD at the La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. His primary work is focussed on karst phenomena in eogenetic carbonate rocks, and Quaternary to Miocene palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, including speleothem science and cryosphere.