Response of surface evaporation and subsurface leakage to precipitation for simulated epikarst with different rock–soil structures

•The rock-soil fabrics affects the surface evaporation.•There are significant differences in surface evaporation between different rock exposure rate after rainfall of different intensities.•The evaporation from rock maybe is an important part of surface evaporation.•The leakage coefficients with and without cracks varied greatly.•The amount of leakage and the time to reach the peak flow varied greatly among the different rock-soil fabrics.