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Virginia Natural Heritage Karst Program
Cave and Karst Protection

Karst Activities | Bats of Virginia | The World Beneath our Feet (PDF) | Living on Karst (produced by the Cave Conservancy of the Virginia's) | VA Cave Board

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VA Counties Containing Karst Topography

• Karst - a landscape resulting to a significant degree from the dissolution of bedrock


• Karst - landscapes are most commonly underlain by limestone and dolostone bedrock.


• Karst - landscape features include sinkholes, sinking and losing streams, caves, and large flow springs.


• Karst - landscapes are characterized by underground drainage networks that commonly bypass surface drainage divides.


• Karst - landscapes provide and support habitat for rare animal and plant species, including bats, cave-adapted invertebrates, plants that grow on the surface and at springs and seeps, and fish and mussels living in streams and rivers fed by karst springs.


• Karst - landscapes supply water for many Virginians. Land use activities place these water supplies at risk.

Karst Activities within DCR's Natural Heritage Program

Virginia Karst Program - Groundwater and habitat protection in karst areas, supported by EPA Section 319 Clean Water Act Program. This page is currently under construction, check back for more information. In the meantime, click on the links below for karst related information.

Click to download the Introduction to Virginia's Karst powerpoint presentation in PDF format. You'll need the free Adobe reader.

Project Underground - a karst education program.

Virginia Cave Board - Governor appointed advisory board of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, established by the Virginia Cave Protection Act of 1979.

Click to view the PDF file The World Beneath our Feet, a poster presentation from the Center for Subterranean Biodiversity, Karst Waters Institute. You'll need the free Adobe reader to view this file.