Overview
- Offers a multidisciplinary overview of the Lagoa Santa Karst
- Is the first English-language book on this major karst area
- Adopts a unique approach to the topic that appeals to environmentalists, scientists and mining professionals
Part of the book series: Cave and Karst Systems of the World (CAKASYWO)
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About this book
This book discusses the Lagoa Santa Karst, which has been internationally known since the pioneering studies of the Danish naturalist Peter Lund in the early 1800s. It covers the speleogenesis, geology, vegetation, fauna, hydrogeology, geomorphology, and anthropogenic use of the Lagoa Santa Karst and is the first English-language book on this major karst area.
The area, which has been at the heart of the debate on the origin and age of human colonization in the Americas, is characterized by a classical and scenic karst landscape with limestone cliffs, karst lakes and karst plains, in addition to numerous solution dolines. More than 1,000 caves have been documented in the area, many with significant archeological and paleontological value. Despite its great importance, the Lagoa Santa Karst faces severe environmental threats due to limestone mining and the expansion of the metropolis of Belo Horizonte and its surrounding towns. The growing recognition of the area’s remarkable significance has led to increasing concern, and a number of protected areas have now been established, improving the conservation status of this landmark karst area.
The area, which has been at the heart of the debate on the origin and age of human colonization in the Americas, is characterized by a classical and scenic karst landscape with limestone cliffs, karst lakes and karst plains, in addition to numerous solution dolines. More than 1,000 caves have been documented in the area, many with significant archeological and paleontological value. Despite its great importance, the Lagoa Santa Karst faces severe environmental threats due to limestone mining and the expansion of the metropolis of Belo Horizonte and its surrounding towns. The growing recognition of the area’s remarkable significance has led to increasing concern, and a number of protected areas have now been established, improving the conservation status of this landmark karst area.
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Table of contents (15 chapters)
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Front Matter
Editors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Lagoa Santa Karst: Brazil's Iconic Karst Region
Editors: Augusto S. Auler, Paulo Pessoa
Series Title: Cave and Karst Systems of the World
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35940-9
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental Science, Earth and Environmental Science (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-35939-3Published: 23 January 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-35942-3Published: 23 January 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-35940-9Published: 22 January 2020
Series ISSN: 2364-4591
Series E-ISSN: 2364-4605
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 330
Number of Illustrations: 26 b/w illustrations, 178 illustrations in colour
Topics: Hydrogeology, Physical Geography, Nature Conservation, Archaeology, Paleontology, Environmental Management