Glossary of Karst and Cave Terms

Field, M.S., 1999, A lexicon of cave and karst terminology with special reference to environmental karst hydrology: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Assessment, EPA/600/R-99/006, 201 p.

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Term	Description
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classical karst	Originally the region called Kras in Slovenia, which gave its name to the karst landscape. Used in this sense about ...		View
clastic	Pertaining to a rock or sediment composed principally of broken fragments that are derived from preexisting rocks or minerals and ...		View
clastic carbonate rock	Carbonate rock that is made up of carbonate grains (e.g., shells, shell fragments, oolites).		View
clastic rock; detrital rock	A sedimentary rock derived from fragmentated other preexisting rock or organic structures [16].		View
clastokarst	Karst phenomena in clastic rocks composed of detrital carbonate material [20]. Synonyms: (French.) clastokarst; (German.) Klastokarst?; (Greek.) clastokarst; (Italian.) carsismo ...		View
claustrophobia	An irrational fear of being in a closed space [25].		View
clay	1. A rock or mineral fragment or a detrital particle of any composition smaller than a very fine silt grain, ...		View
clay ball, clayball	A chunk of clay released by erosion of a clayey bank and rounded by wave action.		View
clay boil	A mud circle that suggests a welling-up or heaving of the central core.		View
clay colloid	1. A clay particle having a diameter less than 1 micron (0.001 mm.) 2. A colloidal substance consisting of clay-size ...		View
clay fill	Dry or wet clay that fills a cave passage [10].		View
clay filling	Time interval between end of phreatic solution of a cave and beginning or deposition of flowstone [10].		View
clay loam	A soil containing 27-40% clay, 20-45% sand, and the remainder silt.		View
clay marl	1. A whitish, smooth, chalky clay. 2. A marl in which clay predominates.		View
clay mineral	One of a complex and loosely defined group of finely crystalline, metacolloidal, or amorphous hydrous silicates, essentially of aluminum.		View
clay parting	1. Clayey material between a vein and its wall. 2. A seam of hardened carbonaceous clay between or in beds ...		View
clay plug	Fine flood deposits in a cut off river meander [16].		View
clayey sand	1. An unconsolidated sediment containing 50-90% sand and having a ratio of silt or clay less than 1:2. 2. An ...		View
clayey silt	1. An unconsolidated sediment containing 40-75% silt, 12.5-50% clay, and 0-20% sand. 2. An unconsolidated sediment containing more particles of ...		View
claypan	A dense, heavy, relatively impervious subsurface soil layer that owes its hardness to a relatively higher clay content than that ...		View
clean sand	Sand with little or no clay content [16].		View
cleavage	The tendency to cleave or split along definite parallel planes, which may be highly inclined to the bedding. It is ...		View
climate	The average weather conditions of an area, including temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind, and hours of sunlight, based on records kept ...		View
climatic factor	A factor influencing hydrologic parameters due to the local climate [16].		View
clinometer	An instrument for measuring vertical angles or angles of dip [25].		View
clint	(British.) 1. Flat or sloping bare limestone outcrops (limestone pavements) weathered into straight-sided or furrowed blocks and ridges of limestone ...		View
clog, to	The action of blocking fluid flow paths, especially around a well bore [16].		View
clogger	A type of ascender without a handle; used with a karabiner to keep it securely on the rope [25].		View
closed depression, closed basin	1. Any karst hollow with internal drainage, including dolines, uvalas, poljes, cockpits and all varieties of blind karst valleys, of ...		View
closed karst	A karst terrane that is covered by sediments. Synonyms: (Russian.) skryty karst or zakryty karst. See also buried karst; interstratal ...		View

Glossary references