6.4 Karst Geomorphology: Sulfur Karst Processes

L. D. Hose

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Publication Date

January 2013

Abstract

Recognition and understanding of the important role of sulfur redox processes in developing karst has grown over the last 25 years with the discovery of remarkable sulfur-rich caves worldwide and advances in geomicrobiology. Recent work has shown that microbes interact with hydrocarbons, calcium sulfate bedrock, magmatic fluids, and sulfide ore minerals to reduce gypsum/anhydrite to calcite, produce hydrogen sulfide and sulfuric acid, convert limestone to gypsum, increase porosity in carbonate bedrocks, precipitate massive sulfur, and deposit Mississippi Valley-Type (MVT) ores. These processes are most active in the shallow phreatic and vadose-phreatic subsurface, where transitions between aerobic and anaerobic conditions exist.

Keywords

Artesian, Chemoautotrophic, Gypsum Replacement, Hydrogen Sulfide, Hypogene, Karst, Mississippi Valley Type, Phreatic, Redox, Speleogenesis, Sulfuric Acid, Vadose

Document Type

Article

Identifier

SFS0039987_00001

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