interstratal karst

   ; interstratal karstification

   1. Features formed by the dissolutional removal of all or part of a buried rock unit. Interstratal-karst features are common within highly soluble evaporite rocks such as gypsum and halite, and may be equally common, but less readily recognized, within the preserved remnants of carbonate successions. Interstratal karst should not be confused with buried karst. The finest interstratal karst in Britain is the extensive cave development in the limestones beneath the Namurian Millstone Grit plateaux of South Wales, where the large collapse dolines in the Millstone Grit are interstratal-karst landforms [9].

   2. The process of karstification of highly soluble rocks (e.g., gypsum, anhydrate, and salt) that are overlain by less soluble rocks (e.g., shales), but are still selectively dissolved by circulating ground water [10].

   Karst topography that is covered by and developed beneath prekarst rock or sediment and may or may not be part of the contemporary landscape. It is younger than its cover and is formed by the solution of soluble rock in the subsurface, most commonly beneath relatively insoluble rock such as sandstone or chert. The term refers to areal solution rather than to cave development but is also applicable to rejuvenated mantled karst and rejuvenated buried karst. Subsoil karst is transitional to interstratal karst [17].

   Synonyms: (French.) karst sous- jacent; (German.) unterirdisches Karstphänomen; (Greek.) kalyménon karst; (Italian.) carso coperto; (Spanish.) karst interstradal; (Turkish.) tabakalar aras2 !!!karst.

   See also buried karst; denuded karst; covered karst.