Chalk Karst in the Lublin Region

The Lublin chalkland, located in eastern Poland, is one of only a few compact areas in the world where, on the basement of soft carbonate rocks of the Upper Cretaceous age, the so-called chalkChalk karst has developed. This rare type of karst relief is characterized by specific underground drainage, lacking caves but with a rich assemblage of surface forms such as dolinesDoline, uvalasUvala, karst valleys, poplavasPoplava and large karst depressions of poljePolje type. The onset of the evolution of karst relief in this area, embracing the Lublin-Volhynia Uplands and their northern foreland, dates back to the beginnings of the Cenozoic, which is documented by the fillings of numerous paleodolines and/or paleouvalas. The most visible features in the modern morphology are small dolinesDoline, the density of which in the central part of chalkland, within the Chełm Hills, reaches 100 forms per 1 km2. It is also one of the few areas in the world where the presence of a chalky substrate determined the development of karst lakes in periglacial conditions.