pseudokarst

   1. Terrane with features similar to karst but formed in nonsoluble rocks, as by melting of permafrost or ground ice, collapse after mining, and by outflow of liquid lava from beneath its solidified crust [20].

   2. Karst-like terrane produced by a process other than the dissolving of rock, such as the rough surface above a lava field, where the ceilings of lava tubes have collapsed. Features of pseudokarst include lava tunnels, lava tubes, lava stalactites, and lava stalagmites [10].

   3. A landscape containing karst-like features such as caves and dolines, but not formed by bedrock dissolution as in true karst. Pseudokarst embraces volcanic landscapes with lava caves, cryokarst or thermokarst formed by ground-ice melting in a permafrost environment, and situations where mechanical soil piping has occurred, producing depressions and pipes, as occur commonly in areas of loess cover [9].

   Synonyms: (French.) pseudokarst; (German.) Pseudokarst; (Greek.) psevthokarst; (Italian.) pseudocarsismo; (Russian.) psevdokarst; (Spanish.) pseudokarst; (Turkish.) aldat2c2 karst; (Yugoslavian.) pseudoks \#, pseudokras, pseudokarst, navidezni kras.

   See lava cave, lava karst, pahoehoe.