| Peer-Reviewed

Aquatic Shallow Subterranean Habitats: General Features

Received: 25 August 2017    Accepted: 6 September 2017    Published: 5 December 2017
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

Shallow (superficial) subterranean habitats, or SSHs are very close to the surface, but are aphotic. Some of these habitats are large cavities, especially lava tubes, while others are small cavity habitats, especially the underflow of streams and rivers (interstitial aquifers), and the soil. But, there is an especially interesting set of SSHs that do not fit into either category, with intermediate sized space with many close connections with the surface. These habitats include talus and scree slopes, milieu souterrain superficiel (MSS), in both carbonate (soluble) and non-carbonate rocks, including volcanic rocks. Epikarst, the uppermost layer of karst formed largely by solutional processes that may be air or water filled, occupies a similar vertical position to that of the MSS, but perhaps with smaller spaces. The most superficial of SSHs are the miniature perched aquifers (isolated wetlands) given the name hypotelminorheic that exit through seepage springs, diffuse discharges when the flow cannot be immediately observed but the land surface is wet compared to the surrounding area. These two SSHs (epikarst and hypotelminorheic), which do not extend beyond a few meters in depth are called strict sense shallow subterranean habitats and will be presented in more detail.

Published in Earth Sciences (Volume 7, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.earth.20180701.11
Page(s) 1-6
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Epikarst, Hypotelminorheic, Seepage Springs, Shallow Subterranean Habitats

References
[1] Culver, D. C. and Pipan, T. (2009). The biology of caves and other subterranean habitats. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
[2] Culver, D. C. and Pipan, T. (2014). Shallow subterranean habitats. Ecology, evolution, and conservation. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
[3] Culver, D. C. and Pipan, T. (2015). Shifting paradigms of the evolution of cave life. Acta carsologica, 44, 415-425.
[4] Culver, D. C., Pipan, T., and Gottstein, S. (2006). Hypotelminorheic—a unique freshwater habitat. Subterranean Biology, 4, 1-8.
[5] Meštrov, M. (1962). Un nouveau milieu aquatique souterrain: le biotope hypotelminorheique. Compte Rendus Academie des Sciences, Paris, 254, 2677-2679.
[6] Culver, D. C. and Pipan, T. (2008). Superficial subterranean habitats—gateway to the subterranean realm? Cave and Karst Science, 35, 5-12.
[7] Pipan, T., Fišer, C., Novak, T., and Culver, D. C. (2012). Fifty years of the hypotelminorheic: what have we learned? Acta carsologica, 41, 275-285.
[8] Pipan, T. (2005). Epikarst – a promising habitat. Založba ZRC, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
[9] Al-fares, W., Bakalowicz, M., Guerin, R. T., and Dukhan, M. (2002). Analysis of the karst aquifer structure of the Lamalou area (Herault, France) with ground penetrating radar. Journal of Applied Geophysics, 51, 97-106.
[10] Kogovšek, J. (2010). Characteristics of percolation through the karst vadose zone. ZRC Publishing, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
[11] Pipan, T., Christman, M. C., and Culver, D. C. (2006). Dynamics of epikarst communities: microgeographic pattern and environmental determinants of epikarst copepods in Organ Cave, West Virginia. American Midland Naturalist, 156, 75-87.
[12] Pipan, T. (2003). Ekologija ceponožnih rakov (Crustacea: Copepoda) v prenikajoči vodi izbranih kraških jam. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
[13] Pipan, T., and Culver, D. C. (2007). Regional species richness in an obligate subterranean dwelling fauna – epikarst copepods. Journal of Biogeography, 34, 854-861.
[14] Simon, K. S., and Benfield, E. F. (2002). Ammonium retention and whole-stream metabolism in cave streams. Hydrobiologia, 482, 31-39.
[15] Culver, D. C. and Pipan, T. (2011). Redefining the extent of the aquatic subterranean biotope—shallow subterranean habitats. Ecohydrology, 4, 721-730.
[16] Simon, K. S., Pipan, T., and Culver, D. C. (2007). A conceptual model of the flow and distribution of organic carbon in caves. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, 69, 279-284.
[17] Simon, K. S., Pipan, T., Ohno, T., and Culver, D. C. (2010). Spatial and temporal patterns in abundance and character of dissolved organic matter in two karst aquifers. Fundamental and Applied Limnology, 177, 81-92.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Tanja Pipan, David Clair Culver. (2017). Aquatic Shallow Subterranean Habitats: General Features. Earth Sciences, 7(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20180701.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Tanja Pipan; David Clair Culver. Aquatic Shallow Subterranean Habitats: General Features. Earth Sci. 2017, 7(1), 1-6. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20180701.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Tanja Pipan, David Clair Culver. Aquatic Shallow Subterranean Habitats: General Features. Earth Sci. 2017;7(1):1-6. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20180701.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.earth.20180701.11,
      author = {Tanja Pipan and David Clair Culver},
      title = {Aquatic Shallow Subterranean Habitats: General Features},
      journal = {Earth Sciences},
      volume = {7},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-6},
      doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20180701.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20180701.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20180701.11},
      abstract = {Shallow (superficial) subterranean habitats, or SSHs are very close to the surface, but are aphotic. Some of these habitats are large cavities, especially lava tubes, while others are small cavity habitats, especially the underflow of streams and rivers (interstitial aquifers), and the soil. But, there is an especially interesting set of SSHs that do not fit into either category, with intermediate sized space with many close connections with the surface. These habitats include talus and scree slopes, milieu souterrain superficiel (MSS), in both carbonate (soluble) and non-carbonate rocks, including volcanic rocks. Epikarst, the uppermost layer of karst formed largely by solutional processes that may be air or water filled, occupies a similar vertical position to that of the MSS, but perhaps with smaller spaces. The most superficial of SSHs are the miniature perched aquifers (isolated wetlands) given the name hypotelminorheic that exit through seepage springs, diffuse discharges when the flow cannot be immediately observed but the land surface is wet compared to the surrounding area. These two SSHs (epikarst and hypotelminorheic), which do not extend beyond a few meters in depth are called strict sense shallow subterranean habitats and will be presented in more detail.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Aquatic Shallow Subterranean Habitats: General Features
    AU  - Tanja Pipan
    AU  - David Clair Culver
    Y1  - 2017/12/05
    PY  - 2017
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20180701.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.earth.20180701.11
    T2  - Earth Sciences
    JF  - Earth Sciences
    JO  - Earth Sciences
    SP  - 1
    EP  - 6
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5982
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20180701.11
    AB  - Shallow (superficial) subterranean habitats, or SSHs are very close to the surface, but are aphotic. Some of these habitats are large cavities, especially lava tubes, while others are small cavity habitats, especially the underflow of streams and rivers (interstitial aquifers), and the soil. But, there is an especially interesting set of SSHs that do not fit into either category, with intermediate sized space with many close connections with the surface. These habitats include talus and scree slopes, milieu souterrain superficiel (MSS), in both carbonate (soluble) and non-carbonate rocks, including volcanic rocks. Epikarst, the uppermost layer of karst formed largely by solutional processes that may be air or water filled, occupies a similar vertical position to that of the MSS, but perhaps with smaller spaces. The most superficial of SSHs are the miniature perched aquifers (isolated wetlands) given the name hypotelminorheic that exit through seepage springs, diffuse discharges when the flow cannot be immediately observed but the land surface is wet compared to the surrounding area. These two SSHs (epikarst and hypotelminorheic), which do not extend beyond a few meters in depth are called strict sense shallow subterranean habitats and will be presented in more detail.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Karst Research Institute ZRC SAZU, Postojna, Slovenia; UNESCO Chair on Karst Education, University of Nova Gorica, Vipava, Slovenia

  • Department of Environmental Science, American University, Washington, USA

  • Sections