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A Karst Region - Term Papers

A Karst Region

The physical area I have chosen to discuss and to describe is the Burren region in county Clare.

Formation and the physical characteristics.

The Burren is a very well-known area of karst limestone rock in north Clare. Limestone is a grey, organic, sedimentary rock. This means it formed from dead sea plants and sea animals that decomposed over thousands of years and then compressed into many layers on the seabed. In the Burren, the limestone forms a distinctive limestone pavement of karst. This is bare limestone rock. Limestone pavement forms because limestone is chemically weathered by the process known as carbonation. Carbonation occurs when rain mixes with carbon dioxide in the ...

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the body of the rock itself. As it is a sedimentary rock, this means it has many layers known as strata. The area between each layer is known as a bedding plane. The joints are deepened after a period of time to become known as grikes that separate huge, flat areas known as clints. The combination of glints and grikes looks similar to a paving slab.

When carbonation takes place underground, it leads to the formation of caves. Caves contain stalagmites, stalactites and pillars. All of these together are known as a dripstone feature. These can all be seen in the Ailwee Cave in the Burren. The carbonic acid reacts with the alkaline limestone rock. This causes a slow chemical reaction to occur which forms calcium bicarbonate. This happens because limestone is made of calcium carbonate. As rainwater passes through the clints and grikes, it carries this solution underground. When the rainwater containing the calcium bicarbonate reaches the rood of the cave, it forms droplets. These ...

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 3/14/2014 09:35:08 AM
Submitted By: leaharthur123
Category: Geography
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1100
Pages: 4

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