The Dinaric Karst System of Croatia: Speleology and Cave Exploration

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the Dinaric Karst System in Croatia, featuring fascinating photographs from its karst underground and extensive research on sections of roads, highways, and tunnels. It contains over 12,000 confirmed caves and pits, with approximately 35% containing constant groundwater. The knowledge of this groundwater allows for more accurate hydrogeological predictions in karst areas.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 437 pages
Publication date: 30 September 2022
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

This comprehensive book provides a thorough introduction to the Dinaric Karst System in Croatia, serving as the first comprehensive exploration of the country's caves and karst. It showcases a wealth of captivating photographs from the karst underground, offering a glimpse into the hidden world beneath the surface. To date, approximately 12,000 caves and pits have been confirmed in Croatia, with approximately 35% of them containing constant groundwater. By understanding the quantity, direction, and quality of groundwater discovered in these caves, researchers and engineers can make more accurate predictions about the hydrogeological situation in karst areas where specific drilling or borehole measurements have not been conducted. Over the past thirty years, extensive exploration has been carried out in the karst regions of Croatia as part of the construction of highways. Thousands of caverns, known as speleological features without natural entrances, have been discovered and meticulously explored. These caverns have been geologically mapped, surveyed, and documented in detail, providing valuable insights into the geological characteristics of the region. Extensive research has also been conducted on various road sections, highways, cuttings, slides, tunnels, bridge foundations, viaducts, and other infrastructure projects within the Croatian karst regions. This research has resulted in the creation of approximately 800 kilometers of highways, including notable routes such as the Zagreb-Rijeka highway, Zagreb-Split-Dubrovnik highway, Y-Ipsilon of Istria semi-highway, Rijeka-Rupa highway, Zagreb-Zadar semi-highway, and the Rijeka bypass. Some of these caverns contain large chambers, such as the "Sveti Rok" tunnel, while others require the construction of bridges, such as the "Vrata" tunnel, which is the longest bridge in the world built within a tunnel over a cavern. The book delves into these and many other aspects of cave exploration within the Dinaric Karst System of Croatia, making it an invaluable resource for researchers, engineers, cavers, and anyone with an interest in karst.

Weight: 1135g
Dimension: 279 x 210 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030805890
Edition number: 1st ed. 2021