Yuan Daoxian

Environmental and engineering problems of karst Geology in China

Karst terrane is generally regarded as a fragile and vulnerable environment. Its underground drainage system can aggrevate both drought and flood problems; the lack of filtration in an underground conduit makes waste disposal more difficult; and the lack of soil cover in bare karstland can enhance deforestation. Moreover, karst terranes are quite often haunted by a series of engineering problems, such as water gushing into mines or transportation tunnels; leakage from reservoirs; and failure of building foundations. In China, there are more than 200 cases of karst collapse, which include many thousands of individual collapse points. Some of these are paleo and natural collapses, but most of them are modern collapses induced by human activities and they have caused serious damage. Many factors such as geologic structure, overburden thickness and character, lithologic features of karstified rock, and intensity of karstification are related to development and distribution of modern collapses. However, Chinas karst is mainly developed in pre-Triassic, old phase, hard, compact, carbonate rock. Consequently most modern collapses have occurred only in the overlying soil. So it is understandable that the fluctuation of the water table in the underlying karstified strata plays an important role in the process of collapse. Nevertheless, there are different explanations as to how the groundwater activities can induce collapse.

Groundwater quality and land use change in a typical karst agricultural region： a case study of Xiaojiang watershed, Yunnan

Taking the typical karst agricultural region, Xiaojiang watershed in Luxi of Yunnan Province as a research unit, utilizing the groundwater quality data in 1982 and 2004, the aerial photos in 1982 and TM images in 2004, supported by the GIS, we probe into the law and the reason of its space-time change of the groundwater quality over the past 22 years in the paper. The results show: (1) There were obvious temporal and spatial changes of groundwater quality during the past 22 years. (2) Concentrations of NH4+, SO42−, NO3−, NO2−, Cl− and the pH value, total hardness, total alkalinity increased significantly, in which NH4+, NO3−, and NO2− of groundwater exceeded the drinking water standards as a result of non-point pollution caused by the expansion of cultivated land and mass use of the fertilizer and pesticide. (3) Oppositely, Ca2+ and HCO3− showed an obvious decline trend due to forest reduction and degradation and stony desertification. Meantime, there was a dynamic relation between the groundwater quality change and the land use change.

The influence of land use change on karst water quality of Shuicheng Basin in Guizhou Province

The influence of land use and land cover on ecological environment is a focus of global change research. The paper chooses an industrial city-Shuicheng in Guizhou Province-as a study area because the karst water quality around the city is deteriorating with land use and land cover change. The natural susceptibility of karst water system is an important factor leading to karst water pollution. But land use and land cover change is also a main factor according to the chemical analysis of karst water quality and land use change. So it is a good way to protect karst water through rational planning and managing of land use and land cover.