WORLD KARST MAPS
New ‘World Karst Aquifer Map’ to allow better global quantification of karst systems
The map is intended to increase the awareness of these valuable but vulnerable freshwater supplies and to help to address global water resources management. This World Karst Aquifer Map allows a more precise global quantification of karst systems and will help to increase awareness of karst groundwater resources in the context of global water issues. It should also serve as a basis for other karst-related research questions at global scales: for example, those related to climate change, biodiversity, food production, geochemical cycles and urbanisation. You can download the map here.
Source:
International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre
UNESCO Global Geoparks Map
The Global Geoparks Network (GGN), of which membership is obligatory for UNESCO Global Geoparks, is a legally constituted not-for-profit organisation with an annual membership fee. The GGN founded in 2004 is a dynamic network where members are committed to work together, exchange ideas of best practise, and join in common projects to raise the quality standards of all products and practises of a UNESCO Global Geopark. While the GGN as a whole comes together every two years, it functions through the operation of regional networks, such as the European Geoparks Network that meets twice a year to develop and promote joint activities.
Now the GGN continues to expand, drawing in new expertise and knowledge from all parts of the world and different cultures. And it’s always developing models of best practice and setting high-quality standards for territories that integrate the preservation of geological heritage into strategies for regional sustainable economic development.
USGS Releases a New U.S. Karst Map
USGS has released a digital map compilation, database, and report delineating areas of the United States, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, having karst or the potential for karst development pseudokarst.
For the past several years, the US Geological Survey has developed a new karst map of the USA. Today they have released the digital map compilation and database at http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20141156