Geology/Hydrology/Karst & Cave Studies of Lake Sulzkar and its surroundings

The Sulzkar Sea is a high alpine lake of glacial origin, mostly indirectly related to the karst phenomenon of the surrounding area. Its anthropogenic influence appears to be inconsistent in the long term with the objectives of the National Park and the inclusion of the critical areas around the lake is also not necessary. It also makes it difficult to analyse the natural interactions of the lake with its surroundings and its history of origin. The (natural) regeneration of the lake usually takes place via local surface waters, sometimes also indirectly from the karst in the course of snow melting and heavy rain. The environment of the lake is a moraine landscape with a number of springs whose water comes partly from the surrounding karst landscape, but partly from the moraine landscape itself. The karstum frame of the lake is surprisingly poor in caves, as far as this can be inferred from the ascents made, although the mother rock is undoubtedly very well carved. This was demonstrated by the direct measurements of near-surface removal by means of limescale plates as well as the total removal calculated from source data, which lie within the range of the values of the classical alpine karst areas with their extensive cave systems.