New concepts in karstology and Quaternary archives: contributions to a renewed understanding of karst morphologies and dynamics
(org. Didier Cailhol, dcailhol@orange.fr)
This round table will discuss recent contributions from karstology to our understanding of Quaternary dynamics, particularly through the analysis of karst systems as sedimentary reservoirs and palaeoenvironmental archives. These recent multidisciplinary approaches have helped to renew the conceptual frameworks of speleogenesis and the evolution of carbonate environments. From this perspective, cavities, conduits, enlarged fissures, inherited porosities (particularly those resulting from phantomisation) and karstic fillings are considered as true sedimentary and geochemical reservoirs, capable of recording environmental, climatic and geomorphological dynamics.
Discussions will focus on processes that are now central to our understanding, such as phantoms, which generate loose inherited volumes that play a major role in the formation and preservation of Quaternary fillings, hypogene karsts, whose recognition challenges traditional models of network genesis and functioning, as well as condensation-corrosion and biocorrosion, whose morphogenic action has a considerable impact on walls as well as fillings. These processes determine the structure of voids, sediment trapping mechanisms and the often polyphasic complexity of deposits.
Through field studies and cross-disciplinary approaches (geomorphology, sedimentology, hydrogeology, geochemistry, archaeology), the round table will address the implications of these concepts for the stratigraphic interpretation of karst fillings, the reconstruction of Quaternary palaeoenvironments, the interpretation of discontinuities and reworking, and the conservation of archaeological sites. It aims to be a space for interdisciplinary dialogue with a view to better integrating karst systems, both underground and on the surface, into current Quaternary issues.
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