Karst morphology across a steep climatic gradient, southern Mount Hermon, Israel

The southern slopes of Mount Hermon display a multiphase karst system developed over a climatic and topographic gradient. The important factors are certain geologic features, altitude defining the climatic belts, the local slope gradient and the paleohydrological evolutionary history of the mountain. Doline density and cave depth tend to increase with altitude. Active vadose caves draining dolines are more common at the upper, alpine zone, while ancient phreatic caves appear in the lower altitude slopes. Intense fissuring of the authigenic karst surface favors diffuse seepage over concentrated flow, restricting conduit size.