Organ pipes in carbonate-sulphate rocks at the Kungur Ice Cave, near Perm, Russia.

Andrejchuk V., Dorofeev E. and Lukin V.

1997

Abstract: Vertical dissolution channels or organ pipes, formed in gypsum cave roofs, are described from the Kungur Ice Cave, near Perm, Russia. Many, but not all, of the organ pipes connect between surface depressions and horizontal cavities. Organ pipes are formed within the vadose zone in thickly bedded and massive sulphate rocks, in mantled karst situations where the cover beds include carbonate, carbonate-sulphate or carbonate-clay deposits. The presence of carbonate rocks in the overlying sequence is important for organ pipe development, as most of the pipes are formed by water percolating from overlying aquifers. Pipes do not form where cover beds are absent. In Kungur Cave, 146 organ pipes with cross sections ranging from 0.2 to 10m in diameter have been mapped. The organ pipe locations are guided by jointing in the rock, the nature of the overlying aquifer and the presence of thick gypsum.