paleokarst

   1. A karstified rock or area that has been buried by later sediments; in some places, ancient caves have been completely filled by the later sediments [10].

   2. A decoupled contemporary system that has experienced tectonic subsidence and lie unconformably beneath clastic cover rocks, occasionally becoming exhumed and re-integrated into the active system [17].

   3. A karst formed in the past under an earlier erosion cycle and often in remote geological times. The karst is preserved by burial or suspension of karstification processes [20].

   4. A karstified surface and the karst features associated with it, such as caves, that have been buried by younger rocks. Paleokarstic features at various scales may be recognized within most carbonate successions. More rarely they may be reexposed (exhumed) by the effects of later uplift and erosion [9].

   Synonyms: (French.) paléokarst; (German.) Paläokarst, foßiler Karst; (Greek.) paleokarst; (Italian.) paleocarsismo, carsismo fossile; (Russian.) paleokarst; (Spanish.) paleokarst; (Turkish.) eski karst; (Yugoslavian.) paleokrÑ, paleokras, paleokarst.

   See also buried karst.