CARBONATE EROSION RATES IN SOUTHWESTERN WISCONSIN

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Abstract
Between 1977 and 1979 three sets of erosional weight loss tablets were em-placed in the karst of southwestern Wisconsin to measure both potential and actual rates of carbonate erosion. Tablets of Jamaican White Limestone, which has been used in many other karst areas, were used to gauge relative erosion potential while tablets of the local bedrock, Prairie du Chien dolomite, were used to assess absolute rates. Tablets of Yugoslavian limestone were emplaced as part of a world-wide study of comparative rates. Tablets were recovered in 1983 and 1984. Although potential erosion rates are similar to those in other carbonate areas, the sluggish dissolution of the indigenous dolomite retards karst development. Soil cover increases erosion rates and rates at a given depth are consistent over sites of up to 10 m2. The highest erosion rates were recorded by the Yugoslavian tablets but betweensite variations caution that results based on a single site may be unrepresentative. Over 37% of all tablets were affected by mechanical weathering processes, probably freeze-thaw action.