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THE EPIKARST, THE SKIN OF KARST

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16 Epikarst
Karst Waters Institute Special Publication 9

THE EPIKARST, THE SKIN OF KARST

Michel Bakalowicz
HydroSciences, CNRS
Universite Montpellier II
cc MSE
F-34095 Montpellier, France

Abstract Considering the groundwater consumption by

The origin of the concept of epikarst and of its
definition is reviewed. The concept originates
from the discovery of abundant populations of
aquatic underground animals living in dripping
water. It became essential in karst hydrogeology,
accounting for the shallow groundwater storage,
the water exchanges with the plant cover and the
groundwater geochemical changes. The main
characteristics of the epikarst related to its nature
and functioning are briefly described. Finally it
is shown, despite its fragility and sensitivity to
erosion and human actions how much the
epikarst plays an important role in karst
processes and in karst aquifer functioning. The
epikarst should be therefore considered as the
skin of karst, being the active and protective
interface with its environment.
the plant cover, he pointed out that the presence
of a quasi-permanent shallow saturated zone is
absolutely required in karst aquifers to account
for all these observations.
Therefore, from hydrological and
geomorphologic considerations, Mangin (1973)
named and defined the "epikarstic aquifer" that
perched shallow saturated zone, storing a part of
the infiltrated water. The term "epikarst" is a
later generalization of the concept of the
epikarstic aquifer. He described it in detail in
1975 and proposed the now well known scheme
designed by Rouch, shown in Figure 1.

Introduction

Cave biologists knew for a long time the

existence of aquatic micro-crustaceans in water
dripping from cave ceilings (see the synthesis
paper by Rouch, 1986). But Rouch (1968),
showing the importance of their populations,
especially in shallow caves, was the first to
suggest that permanent perched saturated zones
should occur above the caves, even when they
are shallow. These first observations were later
generalized. Therefore the concept of a shallow
perched aquifer became necessary to explain the Figure 1: The epikarst, represented without a
generalized presence of aquatic underground significant soil cover, showing a karren at its
animal populations in water dripping into caves surface. The local saturated zone is shown.
of the unsaturated zone. Arrows indicate the infiltration flow, slow and
dispersed in the fine cracks, rapid and
At the same time, interpreting isotopic and water concentrated in enlarged fractures and vertical
geochemical data collected at karst springs, conduits. Modified from Mangin (1974).
hydrogeologists suggested that the recharge of
the karst aquifer is partly delayed by a primary
storage right below the ground surface As early as 1975, the epikarst was considered as
(Bakalowicz et ai, 1974). Mangin (1973) a fundamental part of karst aquifers and
observed the shortage of the aquifer water ecosystems. However its existence was still
budget, during floods after the dry season. debated in hydrology and geomorphology. When

Karst Waters Institute Special Publication 9
simulating the functioning of a Swiss Jura karst
aquifer by means of a distributed mathematical
model, Kiraly (1975) observed that the model
was unable to properly simulate the karst aquifer
functioning without a shallow surface layer, with
a higher porosity and permeability working as a
perched aquifer. Even models show that the
epikarst does exist!
The geomorphologic existence of the epikarst
was introduced and generalized in a fundamental
paper by Williams (1983) who proposed a new
English word for it, the "subcutaneous zone".
This expression was the translation of the French
"karst sous-cutane" from Birot (1966) for
describing the surface of karst morphology in
tropical regions where screes and thick soils are
abundant. However, Birot did not use this exact
expression, but either superficial, sub-superficial
or sub-epidermic. Prior to this, Ciry (1959)
employed the term "karst cutane" (cutaneous
karst), referring specifically to the shallow caves
and karst features of Burgundy. Ciry supposed
that it developed during glacial periods, when the
permafrost limited in depth karst processes
during summer melting. It is now known that no
karst processes occurred during glacial periods
and that the "karst cutane" in Burgundy is what
remains of ancient karst phases after the
reduction of thickness because of surface
erosion.
Despite these demonstrations and the abundant
literature following these pioneer papers, the
epikarst remains a concept rather than a karst
landform, when cave and conduit network are
commonly shown and explored by cavers.
Consequently its definition and functioning still
depends on the field studied, on its observers and
on the discipline. Therefore instead of trying to
propose a Utopian exact definition of epikarst, I
prefer to point out its main characteristics and
their consequences for karst processes and
environmental management.
What Is the Epikarst?
The epikarst is the shallow, superficial part of
karst areas, in which climate, tree roots and karst
processes fracture and enlarge rock joints and
cracks, creating a more permeable zone
overlaying the massive carbonate rock in which
only few open vertical joints and fine cracks
occur (Figure 1). It overlies the infiltration zone
itself, which is intersected by occasional
Epikarst 17
enlarged vertical fractures and karst conduits, so
that the base of the epikarst acts as an aquitard.
The epikarst generally corresponds to the karren
(or lapiaz) zone of geomorphologists and
speleologists (White, 1988); according to
Williams (1983, 1985) dolines or sinkholes
should be considered as part of it. However
sinkholes as well as shafts and swallow holes are
input landforms connecting the surface to the
transmission zone below and to the karst
drainage network. They also connect the epikarst
to the deep parts of the aquifer by draining its
overflows. Karrens and pavements are only its
surface part. Therefore, the epikarst does not
exist everywhere at the karst surface: it is
discontinuous. The soil should be considered as
entirely a part of it, either when it constitutes a
continuous cover or not. Finally the epikarst can
be easily defined by its hydrologic functioning
rather than by a set of landforms.
The Main Characteristics of the Eikarst
The first approaches to studying the epikarst as a
hydrogeological object were indirect, in that its
behavior was deduced from that of the whole
karst aquifer. It soon became evident that a more
direct approach to investigating the shallow zone
of the karst aquifer was required. Several field
test sites were designed for analyzing the
epikarst. The use of tracer tests and artificial
rainfall complemented the classical
hydrodynamic, chemical and isotopic
investigations (see Bakalowicz, 1995, for
references). According to the first interpretations
(Bakalowicz et al., 1973; Mangin, 1974;
Bakalowicz, 1979), these investigations showed
the existence of various infiltration modes
through the shallow part of karst. The rain water
recharges the karst aquifer and emerges at its
springs by the following pathways:
• A part of the water infiltrates directly
and quickly through wide open fractures
and vertical conduits, from dispersed
infiltration at the karst surface, or from
concentrated infiltration through sink
holes; this is the concentrated and
direct infiltration.
• The other part flows through the
epikarst where it is partly stored in
saturated parts and contributes to
different processes:
o A large part is consumed by
evapotranspiration processes.
18 Epikarst
Karst Waters Institute Special Publication 9
o Another part percolates slowly
from the saturated water
bodies through the fine cracks
and rock porosity of the
infiltration zone; this is the
slow infiltration, which is a
two-phase flow identical to
that occurring in porous media.
o The last part is flushed away
into the vertical conduits of the
transmission zone, during the
heavy rains recharging the
epikarst; this is the delayed
infiltration, or vadose and shaft
flows.
Figure 3: GPR profile through the epikarst of the Hortus field test site. A cave, dipping rock, a local fault
and the epikarst are shown (from Al-Fares et al., 2002).
The use of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
appears as an efficient technique for showing the
importance of the epikarst in depth profile. An
extensive fractured zone was shown by GPR
within the first 10 m below the ground surface of
a Mediterranean karst (Al-Fares et al, 2002).
The zone approximately follows the ground
surface (Figure 2), independently of strata
dipping. Occasional major vertical fractures are
the origin of vertical conduits, which are in turn
the origin of the conduit network which
characterizes the karst aquifer. A new
geophysical technique, the Magnetic Resonance
Sounding, MRS, shows systematically the
existence in karst environments of a shallow
water-bearing zone, corresponding to the
epikarst (Vouillamoz et al., 2003).

Karst Waters Institute Special Publication 9
Consequences
Concentrated and direct fast infiltration waters
do not flow through the epikarst. Figure 3
describes how infiltration water is distributed in
karst aquifers according to the different types of
underground flows. Consequently, to each
infiltration mode corresponds a particular type of
water characterized by its own geochemical and
isotope composition and by its own flow regime.
In the reality all these different water types are
mixed together in proportions varying with space
and time, which is sometimes confusing for
characterizing the epikarst role.
Figure 3: Functional scheme of a karstic aquifer
showing the distribution of infiltration water
according to the different types of underground
flows. The epikarst directly drives the slow two-
phase flow infiltration; when full, its overflow is
drained down to the phreatic zone by the conduit
network.
The epikarst is also the site for the accumulation
of organic matter in soil. Here most of the
organic matter is transformed into C0 2 which,
when dissolved in water, is the main solvent of
carbonate rocks. Therefore the epikarst is the
main site for carbonate rock dissolution. A small
amount of organics is carried down by
infiltration into the whole karst aquifer, where it
Epikarst 19
is progressively degraded in C0 2 . Dissolved
organic carbon (DOC) is consequently an
excellent natural tracer for deciphering water
from the epikarst, rich in DOC, and groundwater
with a longer residence time in the phreatic karst
(Batiot et al, 2000).
The epikarst with the associated soil works as a
C0 2 reservoir from where C0 2 is carried and
spread into the whole infiltration zone. A mixing
of air and water is transported in fine cracks and
pores by means of the two-phase flow slow
infiltration. Then the C0 2 -rich air produced in
soil and epikarst is widely dispersed through the
whole infiltration zone where it partly diffuses
through the rock walls of caves (Bakalowicz,
1995). The fast vadose infiltration water, from
direct, dispersed and point recharge, may be
enriched in C0 2 by dissolving it in open system
conditions. Consequently carbonate rock in the
depth of the karst, at the top of the phreatic zone
may be actively dissolved by vadose waters.
Consequently, storage in the epikarst is an
essential mechanism for karst development, at
the surface as well as at depth.
Therefore the functioning of epikarst determines
the spatial distribution of carbonate rock
solution, not only at the ground surface, but also
between the surface and the karst at depth.
Vertical conduits of the transmission zone,
which are the discharge points for the epikarst,
are enlarged near the surface as closed
depressions. They allow for the introduction at
depth of fast-infiltrated aggressive waters that
dissolve the rock more or less deeply below the
surface, in such a way that fractures may be
enlarged into conduits, which are the pre-
requisite for caves.
At the top of the system, waters stored in the
epikarst gently dissolve the rock in the few
meters below the soil, deepening fractures and
cracks. The enlarged fractures can store organic
material, carbonate residue from dissolution or
from displacement by rain, wind and surface
runoff: this is the karren field, which may or may
not be covered with soil and plants. When
climate and plant cover conditions are stable for
a long time, karren, and then epikarst may
develop into spectacular landforms, such as in
the "stone forest" in Yunnan, China, or the tsingy
in Madagascar.
20 Epikarst
Karst Waters Institute Special Publication 9
Conclusion
Finally, epikarst appears as an essential interface
between the biosphere and the karst itself. Karst
develops and evolves as a result of the epikarst
which distributes the infiltrated water and the
rock solvent (C0 2 + water) in such a way that a
characteristic landscape is created at the surface
(closed depressions, karren) as well as at depth
(the conduit network and caves).
But the epikarst is a very fragile, sensitive
medium. It may easily be eroded. For example
during glacial periods of the Quaternary, the
freeze-thaw alternation and the ice and snow
cover movements totally destroyed the epikarst
of cold regions of Europe and Northern America.
Most of the slope debris accumulated at the foot
of limestone cliffs originate from such a process.
In Mediterranean areas, the heavy rains and flash
floods act in the same way, but the erosion is
limited to steep slopes and the accumulation
occurs in dejection cones at the foothill.
The epikarst is particularly sensitive to human
aggressions. Deforestation is the most worldwide
cause of its alteration: Mediterranean regions and
south-eastern Asia are affected by it for more
than 4,000 years. Some well-known examples in
Ireland and England show preserved soil and
epikarst under dolmen (cromlech) in areas
otherwise devoid of such features. Even when
soils were once thick, they have progressively
disappeared, revealing karrens with rounded
shapes, typical of formations more normally
found under soil or a sediment cover. Soil
erosion and drastic changes in the water budget
are the main consequences of epikarst
degradation.
Once the epikarst is eroded, a uniform rock
surface, the pavement, may be observed,
interspersed with only a few cracks and
occasional large vertical conduits. In order to re-
create the necessary conditions for karst
evolution, soil and a plant cover must develop,
but the process requires several thousand years in
a temperate, humid climate.
During the last centuries, quarries, road, highway
and railway construction are destroying the
epikarst in depth. For the construction of
highways and ski stations the epikarst is
systematically destroyed, either because from a
geotechnical point of view it is too fragile for the
buildings foundation, or because it provides a
useful source of rubble. Presently, the modern
agricultural practices and the industrial and
domestic pollutions are important constraints on
the epikarst. Actually it is considered as the most
important criterion when studying the
vulnerability of karst aquifers for mapping and
delineating the protection zones (Doerfliger et
al, 1999; Petelet et al., 2000).
All these characteristics of epikarst lead to define
it as the skin of the karst: fragile but
regenerating, driving exchanges between the
atmosphere and biosphere, above it, and the karst
underneath, protecting the karst aquifer itself
from climate and human effects.
References cited
Al-Fares W., Bakalowicz M., Guerin R., and
Dukhan M., 2002, Analysis of the karst aquifer
structure by means of a Ground Penetrating
Radar (GPR). Example of the Lamalou area
(Herault, France): J. Applied Geophysics, v. 51,
97-106.
Bakalowicz M., 1979, Contribution de la
geochimie des eaux a la connaissance de
l'aquifere karstique et de la karstification:
Doctorat es Sciences naturelles Thesis, P. et M.
Curie Paris-6, Paris, 269 p.
Bakalowicz M., 1995, La zone d'infiltration des
aquiferes karstiques. Methodes d'etude. Structure
et fonctionnement: Hydrogeologie, v. 4, 3-21.
Bakalowicz M., Blavoux B., and Mangin A.,
1974, Apports du tracage isotopique naturel a la
connaissance du fonctionnement d'un systeme
karstique. Teneurs en oxygene 18 de trois
systemes des Pyrenees, France: Journal of
Hydrology, v. 23, 141-158.
Batiot C, Emblanch C, Blavoux B., Simler R.,
Daniel M., 2000, Organic matter in karstic
aquifers: a potential tracer in the carbon cycle. A
small-scale laboratory model approach: "Tracers
and modelling in hydrogeology (TraM'2000
Conference)", Liege (Belgium), IAHS.
Birot P., 1966, Etude de l'usure d'un versant
calcaire sous un climat tropical humide: in
Macar, P., (ed.), L'evolution des versants, Coll.
Internat., Univ. Liege, 69-74.
Ciry R., 1959, Le role du sous-sol gele
quaternaire dans le modele des plateaux

Karst Waters Institute Special Publication 9
bourguignons: Compte Rendus Academic
Sciences Paris, v. 248, 2608-2610.
Doerfliger N., Jeannin P.-Y., Zwahlen F., 1999,
Water vulnerability assessment in karst
environments: a new method of defining
protection areas using a multi-attribute approach
and GIS tools (EPIK method): Environmental
Geology, v. 39, n. 2, 165-176.
Kiraly L., 1975, Rapport sur l'etat actuel des
connaissances dans le domaine des caracteres
physiques des roches karstiques: in A.B.L.D.
(eds.), A.B.L.D., ed., Hydrogeology of karstic
terrains: Int. Union of Geol. Sciences, 53-67.
Mangin A., 1973, Sur la dynamique des
transferts en aquifere karstique. Proc. 6th
Internat. Cong. Speleology, Olomouc, v. 3, 157-
162.
Mangin A., 1974, Contribution a l'etude
hydrodynamique des aquiferes karstiques. lere
partie. Generalites sur le karst et les lois
d'ecoulement utilisees: Annales de Speleologie,
v. 29, n. 3, p. 283-332 ; v. 29, n. 4, 495-601.
Petelet-Giraud E., Doerfliger N., and Crochet P.,
2000, RISKE: methode devaluation multicritere
de la cartographie de la vulnerability des
aquiferes karstiques. Application aux systemes
des Fontanilles et Cent-Fonts (Herault, Sud de la
France): Hydrogeologie, v. 4, 71-88.
Rouch R. 1968. Contribution a la connaissance
des Harpacticides hypoges (Crustaces,
Copepodes): Annales de. Speleologie, v. 23, n. 1,
5-167.
Rouch R., 1986. Sur l'ecologie des eaux
souterraines dans le karst: Stygologia, v. 24,
352-398.
Vouillamoz J-M, Legchenko A., Albouy Y.,
Bakalowicz M., Baltassat J-M., and Al-Fares W.,
in press, Localization of karstic aquifer with
geophysical methods : contribution of magnetic
resonance sounding and resistivity imagery in
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hydrology of karst terrains: Oxford University
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Epikarst 21
Williams P.W., 1983, The role of subcutaneous
zone in karst hydrology: Journal of Hydrology,
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482.
Questions and Answers
Roy Jameson - Why don't you consider dolines
to be part of the epikarst?
Bakalowicz - Sinkholes concentrate precipitation
flow and are the origin of the karst drainage
network. Dolines are a hole in the epikarst; it's
the place where the epikarst drains out.
Roy Jameson - How about the sides of the
sinkhole, a sinkhole is more than just a central
drain?
Bakalowicz - Experiments in which dye was
injected directly into the bottoms of sinkholes
showed much higher recovery rates in the
underlying cave passages and main springs. Dye
injected in shallow wells away from sinkholes
had low recovery rates and appeared at numerous
small springs. This suggests two very different
processes at work.
John Mylroie - Should we differentiate between
the sides of the doline and the throat of the
doline? Under your definition, polygonal karst
does not have epikarst.
Paul Williams — Some karst is nothing but
dolines - polygonal karst - and this has
wonderful epikarst. There is a spectrum of
routes from the surface to the phreatic zone and
the focal points in the center of dolines provide
one of the fast routes. A doline is not watertight
with one hole in the middle - it leaks all around
the edges and along the slopes. Caves
underneath polygonal karst have water entering
from the fast drains from doline bottoms but also
many show many percolation points between the
fast drains. There is a spectrum of slow to fast
routes and the fast routes usually coincide with
the deepest points in dolines.
Bakalowicz - 1 agree that epikarst represents a
spectrum, but generally, epikarst is where water
is retained a long time. Epikarst is where storage
takes place.
 22 Epikarst
Karst Waters Institute Special Publication 9
Derek Ford - Bakalowicz is using a very strict
definition of epikarst and is talking about the
soil/bedrock contact or maybe a route threading
its way along that contact. Consider a doline 100
m in diameter, 10 m deep, with a 1 m diameter
central drain. The connector through the
transition zone is just that shaft; the rest is an
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inclined plain in the epikarst. Similarly, when
we look at a pavement, when we get detritus
down inside the solutional channels, that is the
reaction chamber where all the debris are hung
up. 1 prefer a more general definition of epikarst
as anywhere below the surface where we can
perch water during the infiltration process.