Conditioning factors in flooding of karstic poljes—the case of the Zafarraya polje (South Spain)

Time series analyses for Karst/River interactions assessment: Case of the Coulazou river (southern France)

“…The infiltration capacity of the main swallow holes is assumed to control this transfer in the karst area (López-Chicano et al, 2002). If the direct infiltration capacity is exceeded, the specific discharge in G2 is close or higher than the specific discharge in G1, else the specific discharge in G2 is relatively low and accounts only for the direct infiltration in the karst aquifer.…”

Use of a flood-routing model to assess lateral flows in a karstic stream: implications to the hydrogeological functioning of the Grands Causses area (Tarn River, Southern France)

“…Stream flows can re-infiltrate karst aquifers (totally in some cases) depending on the aquifer's storage capacity (Bailly-Comte et al 2009;De Waele et al 2010;Jourde et al 2013) and so attenuate the flood peak. Flooding in karst areas can have two origins that can be schematically conceptualised by (1) infiltration excess runoff due to a small retention capacity of the karst medium (Maréchal et al 2008;Fleury et al 2013), and (2) backflooding following rapid infiltration with a simultaneous rapid rise of the aquifer's water level due to a limited saturation capacity of the conduit network (Lopez-Chicano et al 2002;Bonacci et al 2006;Jourde et al 2007;Bailly-Comte et al 2008a, b). As an indication of the karst role in flood amplification at catchment scale, contributions controlled by karst saturation can generate event runoff coefficient close to 1 (Maréchal et al 2008).…”

Recent advances in karst research: from theory to fieldwork and applications

“…There is an urgent need to understand how human activities directly affect the recharge and flow of groundwater in karst because there are important consequences if karst lands are inundated during heavy and torrential rainstorms. This potentially leads to flash floods, which, in addition to sinkholes, represent the most common and dangerous hazard in karst (López-Chicano et al 2002;Parise 2003;Bonacci et al 2006;Jourde et al 2007Jourde et al , 2014Najib et al 2008;Kovacǐč& Ravbar 2010). There is a great need to improve our understanding of flood dynamics in karst terrains to contribute to the assessment and management of flood risks (European Council 2007).…”