IE GSI Karst Datasets 40k Ireland (ROI/NI) ITM Download

Many people need to know where karst landforms are. Knowing where karst occurs is useful to anyone interested in karst. This includes people who live and farm on karst, people working in water supply and people keeping our water clean. It is also of interest to people building roads and other structures, planners, cavers and archaeologists and tourism.

Knowing where karst occurs is important for people living and farming on karst as karst landscapes are usually fertile and well drained. Karst landforms, such as sinkholes and dolines, can also be a hazard to landowners and can also act as a pathway for pollution so farmers need to extra careful near them. Karst springs are important water sources in an area that might not have many surface streams and are of interest to landowners, farmers and people working in water supply.

Karst landforms can cause problems for structural projects so road builders and planners need to know where they are.

Caves are an important source of archaeological items as well as recording past climates.

Caves and karst landscapes, such as the Burren, are very scenic and can be important tourist destinations.

Water tracing is simply ‘tagging’ water to see where it goes after it goes under the ground. The time taken to get back to the surface is usually recorded too. This gives us information on not only where the water is going but also the speed at which it moves.

The data is useful to anyone interested in groundwater and karst underground pathways, directions and speeds. It is also useful to groundwater and karst scientists when trying to work out what area of land gives water to certain springs, wells, streams and rivers. It also tells them how quickly the water can get there. It is useful in working out where a pollution event at a water body may have come from in order to clean it up.