Aquifer & Forcing Parameters
Subterranean Karst Dynamic Visualizer
Conduit Advective Velocity
142.8 m/hr
Darcy-Weisbach friction model
Critical First Breakthrough
18.4 hrs
Station 1: Gospić Spring
Peak Concentration Ratio
14.6x MCL
Above EU Drinking Safe Limit
Intervention Remediation Efficacy
68.5% Plume Mass Capture
Hydraulic Barrier cone of depression
Real-Time Solute Breakthrough Curves (C/C₀ vs. Time at Monitoring Stations)
Red dashed: Safe MCL Threshold| Station / Drinking Intake | Distance | Transit Mode | Peak Concentration | Status / Public Advisory |
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Why Karst Aquifers Catastrophically Differ from Ordinary Sand Aquifers
In standard granular porous aquifers, toxic pollutants filter slowly over years or decades through silt and sand. In Croatia's Dinaric karst (such as the Lika plateau), acidic rain has dissolved massive subterranean limestone caves, vertical shafts (dolines), and interconnected pipe-like conduits. During rainfall surges, hazardous dump runoff bypasses the natural soil filter through sinkholes, hurtling through subterranean conduits at speeds exceeding 100 to 500 meters per hour directly into regional springs supplying municipal drinking water in Gospić and Zagreb basin tributaries.