Limestone Dissolution Processes in Beke Doline Aggtelek National Park, Hungary

Aggtelek National Park, Hungary, is a limestone karst upland characterized by karren, dolines and river caves. For a period of two years, climatic and carbonate dissolution variables were monitored at four depths in a 7·5 m shaft through the soil fill in the floor of a typical large (150 m diameter) doline. Results are compared to other monitoring stations in the shallow soils on side slopes. Runoff and groundwater flow are focused into the base of the doline soil fill, where moisture is maintained at 70–90 per cent field capacity and temperatures permit year‐round production of soil CO2. The capacity to dissolve calcite (limestone) ranges from c. 3 g m−2 per year beneath thin soils on the driest slopes to 17–30 g m−2 per year in the top 1–2 m of doline fill and at its base 5–7 m below. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.