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Kevin W. Stafford1,2, Raymond Nance3, Laura Rosales-Lagarde1,2, and Penelope J. Boston1,2 84 Kevin W. Stafford, Raymond Nance, Laura Rosales-Lagarde and Penelope J. Boston International Journal of Speleology, 37 (2), 83-98. Bologna (Italy). July 2008 larger ongoing study to evaluate the regional speleogenetic evolution of the Delaware Basin, throughout southeastern New Mexico and far west Texas. Because of the high solubility of evaporite rocks, dramatic karst landscapes can develop in them. The near linear solution kinetics of evaporites encourages the development of large sinks, incised arroyos (i.e. incised stream beds that experience high flow during flash flood events but remain dry the majority of the year), and caves that are laterally limited in epigene settings (Klimchouk, 2000a). Similarly, in hypogene settings steep fluid density gradients can be established in calcium sulfates, which create free convection cells that have the potential to dissolve significant volumes of void space (e.g. Anderson & Kirkland, 1980; Kempe, 1996; Klimchouk, 2007). Whether speleogenesis is epigene or hypogene, the high solubility of evaporites enables the development of extensive karst much more rapidly in calcium sulfates (gypsum/anhydrite) than in carbonate rocks. In the United States, calcium sulfate rocks (gypsum and anhydrite) underlie 35-40% of the continental land surface (Johnson, 2002). However, most studies of karst in these evaporitic rocks of the United States have focused primarily on risk assessment and avoidance associated with gypsum karst geohazards (e.g. Johnson & Neal, 2003; Trzhtsinsky, 2002; Klimchouk & Andrejchuk, 1996; Yauro & Cooper, 2002). In contrast, gypsum karst in other regions of the world has been the focus of significant speleogenetic studies. The giant gypsum maze caves of the western Ukraine, developed in highly fractured, Miocene gypsum, have been studied extensively, providing the basis for much of the modern understanding of hypogenic speleogenesis (e.g. Klimchouk, 1996b, 2000b). Similarly, large, isolated voids, termed Schlotten, developed in the Permian gypsum of Germany have provided greater insight into hypogene processes in regions where little structural deformation of rocks has occurred (Kempe, 1996). In contrast, extensive studies of epigene karst have been conducted in Spain (e.g. Calaforra et al, 2002; Calaforra & Pulido-Bosch, 1996) and Italy (e.g. Sauro, 1996), where gypsum karst forms dramatic landscapes consisting of extensive solutional doline fields and abundant small caves. Cave and karst development within the Castile Formation is extensive. Within the Castile outcrop area of the western Delaware Basin (Eddy County, New Mexico and Culberson County, Texas), surficial karren, sinkholes and associated caves dominate the landscape (Stafford, 2006; Stafford et al., 2006, 2007b). Throughout the entire Delaware Basin, evidence of subsurface dissolution through hypogene speleogenesis occurs in the Castile Formation as evidenced by the widespread distribution of collapse structures and cross-formational brecciation (Anderson & Kirkland, 1980). Here we will systematically discuss the different karst manifestations observed within the Castile Formation (surficial forms, epigene caves, hypogene caves, and intrastratal breccias) with representative examples provided. The Castile Formation offers a unique opportunity to study karst development within an entire formation because it was deposited as a basinfilling sequence that isolated deposition to a restricted region which has subsequently experienced the same tectonic history throughout.

Epigene and hypogene gypsum karst manifestations of the Castile Formation: Eddy County, New Mexico and Culberson County, Texas, USA