Search results for "speleogenesi"
showing 10 items of 18 documents
New insights on the Carburangeli Cave speleogenesis: a flank margin cave in Northern Sicily (Italy)
2022
Flank margin caves form in coastal regions by mixing dissolution. Their development is controlled by the position of the freshsalt water mixing boundary, which in turn, is related to sea-level position. They are characterized by a typical cave pattern and cave-wall morphologies and represent good indicators of past sea levels. This contribution shows the results of recent studies conducted in the Carburangeli Cave, a small sub-horizontal cavity developed in Northern Sicily, close to Palermo. This cave was firstly known for paleontological and archaeological findings and for these reasons, along with its speleological and biological interest, a Nature Reserve has been instituted by the Sicil…
Influence of the Plio-Pleistocene tectonics on the evolution of the Purgatorio polje (north-western Sicily)
2013
The evolution of large landforms such as polje are related in most cases to geological events affecting a specific areal context and/or to climatic events which, in combination with the tectonics, affect the karst base level, in a more or less pronounced manner depending on the proximity of limestone karst mountains to the coastline. The genesis of these aforementioned forms depends primarily on structural and lithological factors, their evolution is instead controlled by tectonic and climaticeustatic factors in the reliefs close to the coast. In the inland, due to the distance from the coast, the effects of the latter factors on the karstification process could be less, or very bland, in r…
An Overview of the Hypogene Caves of Sicily
2017
Karst in Sicily develops in both Messinian gypsum and Mesozoic or Tertiary limestone rocks. Caves are also found in the basalts of Mount Etna. Except for some rare cases, until recently most caves developed in limestone were considered to be of epigenetic origin. The discovery of gypsum in some of these caves, and especially detailed morphological studies, have allowed defining a hypogenic origin for a dozen of caves up to now. In some of these, the hypogenic evidences are very clear, while others remain in doubt because of the widespread presence of well-developed condensation-corrosion morphologies not necessarily related to hydrothermal fluids. This paper reports the present knowledge of…
Speleogenesis of the Hermannshöhle cave system (Austria): Constraints from 230Th/U-dating and palaeomagnetic analysis
2015
Hermannshöhle is a show cave located near Kirchberg/Wechsel in Lower Austria. Together with three nearby and genetically connected caves, it forms the Hermannshöhlen cave system (HHS). With a length of 5 km, the HHS is the longest cave in the Lower Austroalpine unit. It is arranged as an extreme three-dimensional maze on a ground area of 200 x 200 x 82 m. Speleothems are abundant in this cave and represent the focus of this study. Low carbon isotope values indicate the presence of a soil-covered catchment above the HHS during times of speleothem deposition. 28 samples were dated by the 230Th/U-method and, in combination with palaeomagnetic data from a 5 m-high sediment profile, indicate mul…
Acqua Fitusa cave: An example of inactive water-table sulphuric acid cave in Central Sicily
2012
Description of the sulphuric acid cave in Sicily (see pdf attached)
Flank Margin Caves In Telogenetic Limestones In Italy
2017
Almost 20% of Italy is characterized by the outcropping of carbonate massifs ranging in age from Cambrian to Quaternary. Coastal karst is present in many Italian regions: from North-East to South and West: the Gulf of Trieste, the Conero (South of Ancona, Marche), the Adriatic coast of Apulia including Gargano, Murge and Salento, Maratea in Basilicata, Cilento in Campania, Circeo and Gaeta in Latium, Argentario and Giannutri Island in Tuscany, the southernmost part of the Ligurian Alps, Palermo Mts., San Vito Lo Capo, Syracuse coast and Marettimo Island in Sicily, and, especially, in Sardinia, which has carbonate rocks touching the sea along the coast of Balai near Porto Torres, Capo Caccia…
Evaporite karst in Italy: A review
2017
none 16 si Although outcropping rarely in Italy, evaporite (gypsum and anhydrite) karst has been described in detail since the early 20th century. Gypsum caves are now known from almost all Italian regions, but are mainly localised along the northern border of the Apennine chain (Emilia Romagna and Marche), Calabria, and Sicily, where the major outcrops occur. Recently, important caves have also been discovered in the underground gypsum mines in Piedmont. During the late 80s and 90s several multidisciplinary studies were carried out in many gypsum areas, resulting in a comprehensive overview, promoting further research in these special karst regions. More recent and detailed studies focused…
Hypogenic caves of Sicily (Southern Italy)
2013
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.
Morphology and evolution of sulphuric acid caves in South Italy
2016
Sulphuric acid speleogenesis (SAS) related to the upwelling of acid water enriched in H2S and CO2 represents an unusual way of cave development. Since meteoric infiltration waters are not necessarily involved in speleogenesis, caves can form without the typical associated karst expressions (i.e. dolines) at the surface. The main mechanism of sulphuric acid dissolution is the oxidation of H2S (Jones et al., 2015) which can be amplified by bacterial mediation (Engel et al., 2004). In these conditions, carbonate dissolution associated with gypsum replacement, is generally believed to be faster than the normal epigenic one (De Waele et al., 2016). In Italy several SAS caves have been identified…
Upper pleistocene interstratal piping-cave speleogenesis: The seso cave system (central pyrenees, northern spain)
2015
The Seso Cave System (SCS, South Central Pyrenees, Northeastern Spain) develops in poorly soluble marly interstratum between limestone beds of Eocene age. We propose an innovative and singular pseudokarstic speleogenetic model under vadose conditions based on cave morphological evidence, physicochemical and mineralogical characteristics of the Eocene marly host rock, U-Th dating of cave deposits, and local geological and geomorphological information. Eocene marls are shown to be sensitive to dispersion processes supported by their high clay content and the high concentration of sodium and low electrical conductivity in the seepage water. Runoff inside the cave results from water that infilt…