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The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey IX: Anhydrite and limestone karst in the Tripolitanian pre-desert

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

C. O. Hunt ,
S. J. Gale  and
D. D. Gilbertson
C. O. Hunt
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, The University of Sheffield
S. J. Gale
Affiliation:
Jesus College, Oxford
D. D. Gilbertson
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, The University of Sheffield
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Abstract

Active karst landforms (poljes, dolines, sinkholes, caves and rillenkarren) and hydration and weathering phenomena on anhydrite and limestone are described from the Tripolitanian pre-desert. Rainfall in the study area is considerably less than the 250–300 mm a−1 previously suggested as the minimum precipitation threshold for the development of karst landforms. These findings suggest that the presence of karst land-forms in an arid region cannot necessarily be taken as evidence for higher precipitation levels in the past.

Type
Articles
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 16 , 1985 , pp. 1 - 13
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 1985

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