Karst in Slovenia

Abstract

Karst is a type of landscape with special surface, underground and hydrological features and phenomena. Its main characteristic is dissolution of the carbonate rocks by water enriched with CO2 as the dominant morphological process, removal of the rock in the form of solution and prevalent underground drainage that forms caves. In Slovene language, kras means a rocky, barren surface developed on limestone or dolomite and is also used as a toponym, so the word karst was developed from the name of the Kras plateau, which is a classical, reference site for the karst type of landscape.