0000000001275192
AUTHOR
Jo Hilaire Agnes De Waele
Hypogenic caves of Sicily (Southern Italy)
First results of a study on hypogenic caves in Sicily are presented. Inactive water-table sulphuric acid caves and 3D maze caves linked to rising of thermal waters rich in H2S were recognized. Cave patterns are guided by structural planes, medium and small scale morphological features are due mainly to condensation-corrosion processes. Calcite and gypsum represent the most common cave minerals. Different types of phosphates linked to the presence of large bat guano deposits were analyzed.
Secondary minerals from halite caves in the Atacama Desert (Chile)
In the past 15 years several expeditions by French, American and especially Italian cavers have surveyed over 15 km of salt cave passages in the Cordillera de la Sal, close to San Pedro de Atacama village (Atacama Desert, Northern Chile). Over 50 caves have been explored up to now at an elevation around 2,500 m asl. These karst systems are characterized by in-cave temperature of around 17 °C and a relative humidity always very low, with a maximum of 15%. This extreme aridity is due to the severe conditions of the area with only a couple millimeters annual rainfall and several years without rain. Currently the rare precipitation events are enough to allow the dissolution of the salt rock and…