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Karst morphology and groundwater vulnerability of high alpine karst plateaus

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

High alpine karst plateaus are recharge areas for major drinking water resources in the Alps and many other regions. Well-established methods for the vulnerability mapping of groundwater to contamination have not been applied to such areas yet. The paper characterises this karst type and shows that two common vulnerability assessment methods (COP and PI) classify most of the areas with high vulnerability classes. In the test site on the Hochschwab plateau (Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria), overlying layers are mostly absent, not protective or even enhance point recharge, where they have aquiclude character. The COP method classifies 82% of the area as highly or extremely vulnerable. The resulting maps are reasonable, but do not differentiate vulnerabilities to the extent that the results can be used for protective measures. An extension for the upper end of the vulnerability scale is presented that allows identifying ultra vulnerable areas. The proposed enhancement of the conventional approach points out that infiltration conditions are of key importance for vulnerability. The method accounts for karst genetical and hydrologic processes using qualitative and quantitative properties of karst depressions and sinking streams including parameters calculated from digital elevations models. The method is tested on the Hochschwab plateau where 1.7% of the area is delineated as ultra vulnerable. This differentiation could not be reached by the COP and PI methods. The resulting vulnerability map highlights spots of maximum vulnerability and the combination with a hazard map enables protective measures for a manageable area and number of sites.

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Acknowledgments

The karstmorphological investigations including field mapping were supported by the Vienna Waterworks (Municipal Department 31) within the KATER I and II project as part of the INTEREG IIIB EU-Programme. We especially thank Gerhard Kuschnig, as project manager, for the financial support. Nico Goldscheider and Jo De Waele are thanked for improving the earlier version of the manuscript through their helpful comments. Bartolomé Andreo and an anonymous reviewer made helpful contributions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geodynamics and Sedimentology, University of Vienna, UZA II, Geozentrum, Althanstrasse 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Lukas Plan, Kurt Decker, Michael Wagreich & Bernhard Grasemann

  2. TerraMath, Heiligenstaedterstr. 107/30, 1190, Vienna, Austria

    Robert Faber

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  1. Lukas Plan
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Correspondence to Lukas Plan.

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Plan, L., Decker, K., Faber, R. et al. Karst morphology and groundwater vulnerability of high alpine karst plateaus. Environ Geol 58, 285–297 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1605-5

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