Introduction by Ivo Lučić
Dinaric Karst
Karst landscape is, in fact, a very active laboratory of a simple, but still endless chemical process. Water, coming down as rain or snow, compounds carbon from the air and turns it into a mild acid. On the soil it reacts even more aggressive as it absorbs more carbon from the roots of plants. This acid attacks the stone, absorbs calcite and dolomite ions, takes them away and puts them down in the underground in the form of stalagmites and stalactites, or it tiles them on the seabed to build future rocks out of it.
This process cannot be observed during the lifetime of a human being. Within millions of years, though, - which is the right measurement for our environmental space - the landscape would be lowered up to 60 meters (Gams 2004). The row of gorges and valleys that can be found in a Karst landscape is a place where huge quantities of ablated minerals are multiplied through the constant work of water."
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Aus: Lučić, Ivo: Der dinarische Karst, eine Zustandsbeschreibung.
Text als pdf:
In deutscher Sprache
Na hrvatskom jeziku
Lučić, Ivo: Presvlaćenje krša, Synopsis, 2019.
Ivo Lučić
Ivo Lučić is a karstologist, a writer and journalist. He was born in Ravno , on the Karst ground of Bosnia and Herzegovina, went to school in Dubrovnik and finished his studies in Zagreb. He achieved his doctorate on the field of karstology in Slovenia.
For him, Karst (krš, kras, Carso, etc.) isn't just some simple, natural phenomenon. He knows that landscape influences humans, plants and animals to a great degree and that it is always an interplay of cooperation and adaptation. The Karst is Ivo Lučić' life theme. In his book "Presvlaćenje krša" (eng.: The conversion of the Karst), published by Synopsis in 2019, he examines all life dimensions in karst regions using the example of Popovo polje. In this moment there no study to be found that is more profound, more wide-ranged and more competent concerning the phenomenon of Karst. What does Karst mean on a geological note, what in regards to anthropology, history and cultural studies? Is it possible to have a holistic view on the Karst? His books give answers to all of these questions. On this site you will find short introductions to his work and summaries of his texts.
Books on the subject of Karst
In german language:
Jan Volker Röhnert: Vom Gehen im Karst. Matthes & Seitz , Berlin 2021.
Karl-Heinz Pfeffer: Karst - Entstehung, Phänomene, Nutzung. Bornträger Verlag, Stuttgart 2010.
