Compilation and Production of a Karst map of Mexico

Twenty percent of Mexico's territory consists of karst terrain, which has been classified in two main provinces: one is the peninsula of Yucatan and the mountain systems of Chiapas and the other karst bodies are distributed in the Sierra Madre del Sur and Sierra Madre Oriental. These karst bodies developed in rocks of Triassic and Cretaceous age. Due to the importance of karst features in Mexico, the International Association of Hydrogeologists through the Karst Comition requested the collaboration of the Institute of Geology, UNAM, to compile a map of soluble surface rocks in Mexico. This work seeks to classify and georeference karst locations and generate a database to link these sites with karst geological formations and lithologies, as well as geomorphological processes that have contributed to the formation of the karst bodies. Also, we want to provide a basis for cave and karst research and for management of karst resources. In order to produce a national karst map in digital form, the tools being used are: the geographical information system Arc View and Google Earth, with the support of scientific journals, hiking and speleological documents, and 1:50000 scale geological maps of Mexico elaborated by the Institute of Geology, UNAM.