Intense karst denudation in a crystalline basin with a small share of carbonate rocks (Sudety Mountains, SW Poland)

The purpose of the paper is to describe the determination of the intensity of karst dissolution in a small ungauged catchment in the Góry Złote Mountains in the Sudety mountain range (SW Poland). In the study area, the marble interbed is surrounded by non-carbonate crystalline metamorphic rock. Marble corrosion is caused primarily by the influx of allogenic waters from the non-carbonate part of the catchment. Hydrochemical measurements were made over the course of eight years. The calculated denudation rate per year was 7.35 m3 of marble. This translates into a rate of 203.0 mm ka− 1 for the surface area of the investigated marble outcropping. The paper discusses both the study areaʹs rate of denudation and the process used to calculate it.