An inception framework hypothesis for karst development in the Burren, Ireland

The Inception Horizon Hypothesis (IHH) postulates that certain stratigraphic horizons in a limestone sequence, combined with structural surfaces such as joints, provide a framework for cave development. Although subsurface and surface karst landforms are fundamentally linked, the IHH has not yet been extended to surface karstification. We tested this extension of the IHH in the world-renowned Burren karst due to its stratigraphic and structural simplicity. We used very high-resolution remote sensing datasets and detailed fieldwork to develop an updated map of the Burren's surface karst features, combined with a 3D geological model containing over 60 km of mapped cave passages.

Our analysis shows that karstic connectivity between the surface and subsurface is primarily provided by a suite of vertically-persistent calcite and silica-rich veins, which form a non-stratabound fracture system across the Burren. The flow pathways provided by these veins then intersect the following inception horizons: (i) boundaries between distinct lithological units in the limestone sequence; (ii) crinoidal cycle tops, and more sporadically chert lenses, within one of those units (the Slievenaglasha Formation); (iii) thin horizons of non‑carbonates (‘clay wayboards’) within another unit (the Aillwee member). At the surface, the same horizons have been preferentially exploited by glacial processes, creating surfaces from which meteoric waters now recharge the subsurface and form new surface karst depressions and other karst landforms. Our new inception framework for karstification thus provides a new basis for understanding surface and subsurface connectivity in the karst critical zone in the Burren landscape, and it provides new geological insight into the functioning of carbonate critical zones more generally.