Self-Organization in Solution Pipe Patterns: A Comparative Study from Australia and the Mediterranean

Solution pipes—vertical, cylindrical voids in karst terrains—are enigmatic geomorphic features whose formation mechanisms remain poorly understood. These structures exhibit spatial distributions suggesting self-organization processes. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the spatial arrangements of solution pipes from Australia and the Mediterranean region. We quantified spatial patterns through metrics such as the radial correlation function, angular order parameter, and Voronoi tessellation. The results reveal non-random distributions consistent with self-organization, driven by feedback mechanisms involving dissolution dynamics and localized groundwater flow. These findings support the idea that self-organization plays a critical role in the development of solution pipes and offer new insights into the processes driving karst landscape evolution on a global scale.