Abstract:

Caves in the Balearics are renowned by its remarkable scenic values due to the great variety and abundance of carbonate speleothems, whose mineralogy is mainly composed by calcite being aragonite relegated to a second place. Other minerals are also represented but in a very minority way, such as gypsum. This situation is due to the monotonous carbonate lithology that characterizes the Balearics geology. The mineral monotony is counterweighted by the utmost morphological diversity showed by the speleothems, being caused by diverse genetic processes and influenced by climatic as well as temporary factors. The following types of cave crystallizations are distinguished: dripping water speleothems, flowing water speleothems, capillarity speleothems, vadose subaqueous speleothems and littoral phreatic speleothems. On the other hand, a wide range of uncommon minerals have been identified linked to the hypogenic processes documented in southern Mallorca, which are related to a deep seated recharge connected with the geothermal anomalies existing in the area. The presence of bat populations in some caves results in a specific series of phosphate minerals