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The caves developed in Lower Paleozoic carbonate rocks of the Bohemian Karst are interpreted as a result of a hydrothermal dissolution. The main evidence includes 1) a close spatial link of the caves to hydrothermal calcite veins, 2) a variety of distinctive dissolution forms indicative of non-gravitational hydrodynamics, and 3) presence of specific, exotic precipitates within the caves. Moreover, most of the features typical of the caves of the Bohemian Karst can be readily compared to those of the Zbrasov Caves of Moravia that have been known for long as a typical example of hydrothermal caves. The origin of at least some hydrothermal caves in the Bohemian Karst and elsewhere in the Czech Republic could have been tied to the circulation of warm fluids along active tectonic lineaments. A line of indirect evidence indicates that in the Bohemian Massif, transient pulses of fluid activity that were responsible for the origin of hydrothermal caves may have occurred since Tertiary period.
Fluid movements along major north-south-trendingseismotectonic zones were responsible for the development of hydrothermal caves in limestones of the Bohemiankarst and elsewhere in the Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic. Many caves and caverns are closelylinked to hydrothermal calcite veins and reveal characteristiccupola-form cavities and exotic internal precipitates.A possible role of sulphuric acid speleogenesis in the origin of the caves is also discussed
Haloes of altered oxygen isotope values ranging in size from < 1 m to several km have been reported around hydrothermal ore deposits. We have found that similar alteration zones could be induced by lukewarm to thermal cave-forming waters. A paleo wall in Entrische Kirche cave (Gastein Valley, Austrian Alps) preserved a 5 cm-thick brownish zone behind a thick flowstone. Across this zone the O isotope values gradually increase by 11 ‰, until they reach values characteristic of the unaltered marble. The isotope composition in the alteration zone is very different from that of the ?owstone above but is similar to phreatic calcite spar from hypogene (thermal) karst cavities in surface outcrops in the area. We interpret this isotopic pro?le as re?ection of the water-rock interaction in a low-temperature hydrothermal karst system. Similar alteration pro?les were found around solutional cavities at Höllenstein (Tux Valley, Austrian Alps), lined with hydrothermal calcite. Sigmoid shapes of isotope profiles suggest that the most-altered bedrock was isotopically equilibrated with paleo waters. This allows use of isotope mass-balance calculations to assess the temperature of the paleo waters. Isotope profiles acquired from a number of other hypogene caves in Austria failed to show any isotopic signals of bedrock alteration.
Lick Creek Cave in northern Montana (USA) is hosted in limestones of the Lower Carboniferous Madison Group near Tiger Butte, an Eocene quartz–syenite porphyry intrusive dome. The cave is located within the zone of contact metamorphism of the dome, which crops out 300 m from the cave entrance. The cave consists of two genetically distinct cave systems separated by a fracture zone: (1) a 80 × 50 m dome-shaped cavern in breccias of a Carboniferous paleocave, and (2) anastomosing conduits 2–10 m across, parallel to the bedding of the Madison Group and extending 100 m up dip to the present cave entrance. The conduits are further subdivided into a tectonised and a maze zone and are variably decorated in several combinations by phreatic isopachous calcite spar cements, with crystals up to several cm long, and with vadose speleothems, including stalactite–stalagmite pairs, flowstone, corallite (cave popcorn), and moonmilk. Our database is comprised of field survey, thin section, XRD, and SEM observations along with 118 ?18O/?13C analyses and 27 87Sr/86Sr measurements from samples of county rock and speleothems. The limestone matrix samples with the heaviest ?18O/?13C ratios are interpreted as the least recrystallised proxy to Tournaisian seawater. Stable isotope data from other Carboniferous limestones, including paleocave breccias, follow a regional meteoric pathway established elsewhere in the Madison for the Late Carboniferous transition from greenhouse to icehouse conditions. Isopachous calcite spar cements from the conduit zone are interpreted as the result of late-stage, Eocene hydrothermal fluid circulation. Stalactite–stalagmite pairs, flowstone, corallite, and moonmilk carry a signature similar to modern or Quaternary high-alpine meteoric water. Previous workers have determined separate hydrothermal and meteoric ?18O/?13C stable isotope fields for speleothems in caves in Carboniferous limestones from the Black Hills, South Dakota. We re-define the stable isotope ranges for meteoric and magmatic–hydrothermal calcites based on a comparison of stable isotope data from the Little Belt Mountains with those from the Black Hills. We further propose that the hydrothermal calcite end-member ?18O composition is around ?20‰ PDB, represented by the lowest oxygen isotope values from all data sets, with a corresponding ?13C of about ?7‰ PDB. Sr-isotope data from speleothems, Carboniferous limestone wall rocks, and from the igneous intrusion itself support the interpretation of an Eocene hydrothermal speleogenic event. The integration of petrographic and geochemical data shows that Lick Creek Cave is the result of polyphase speleogenesis in three major episodes: (1) Middle to Late Carboniferous, (2) Eocene, and (3) (sub-)Recent to Recent. The Carboniferous and (sub-)Recent to Recent speleogenesis appear epigenic, i.e., driven by surface-derived waters, whereas the Eocene event was hypogenic, i.e., driven by ascending hydrothermal waters. Each of the three major speleogenic events probably consisted of two or more distinct “phases”, but our database does not permit these phases to be resolved with certainty.
This paper examines the greyish-blue deposits that were recently discovered in the lower levels of the Sima de la Higuera Cave (Murcia, SE Spain) which occur as patinas over the walls and ceilings, as well as coating boxwork formations. Their mineralogy was determined using XRD and micro-Raman spectroscopy, while EDX microanalysis was used to determine their elemental composition. The mineralogical analyses revealed the presence of Mn oxides (todorokite and pyrolusite) and Fe with a low degree of crystallinity, whereas EDX microprobe showed elevated concentrations of Mn (38.2 wt.%), Fe (15.2 wt.%) and Pb (8.1 wt.%). The ferromanganese oxyhydroxides occur as botryoidal aggregates overlying blades of calcite that have a visibly sugary texture. The speleogenetic model proposed describes (1) an initial phase of precipitation of hydrothermal calcite veins (of hypogenic origin) within the fissures of the host rock under phreatic conditions and (2) a subsequent vadose phase involving preferential corrosion of the carbonate host rock caused by lowering of the pH resulting from CO2 diffusion in condensed water and oxidation of Fe and Mn under aerobic conditions, probably mediated by microorganisms. It is this later phase that gave rise to the boxwork. The boxwork of the Sima de la Higuera Cave is a singular example of a formation that is generated by dissolution–corrosion of the rock due to acidification caused by oxidation of iron and manganese.
This paper examines the greyish-blue deposits that were recently discovered in the lower levels of the Sima de la Higuera Cave (Murcia, SE Spain) which occur as patinas over the walls and ceilings, as well as coating boxwork formations. Their mineralogy was determined using XRD and micro-Raman spectroscopy, while EDX microanalysis was used to determine their elemental composition. The mineralogical analyses revealed the presence of Mn oxides (todorokite and pyrolusite) and Fe with a low degree of crystallinity, whereas EDX microprobe showed elevated concentrations of Mn (38.2 wt.%), Fe (15.2 wt.%) and Pb (8.1 wt.%). The ferromanganese oxyhydroxides occur as botryoidal aggregates overlying blades of calcite that have a visibly sugary texture. The speleogenetic model proposed describes (1) an initial phase of precipitation of hydrothermal calcite veins (of hypogenic origin) within the fissures of the host rock under phreatic conditions and (2) a subsequent vadose phase involving preferential corrosion of the carbonate host rock caused by lowering of the pH resulting from CO2 diffusion in condensed water and oxidation of Fe and Mn under aerobic conditions, probably mediated by microorganisms. It is this later phase that gave rise to the boxwork. The boxwork of the Sima de la Higuera Cave is a singular example of a formation that is generated by dissolution–corrosion of the rock due to acidification caused by oxidation of iron and manganese.
The Na Javorce Cave is located in the Bohemian Karst, Czech Republic, near the Karlštejn castle, about 25 km SW of Prague. The cave was discovered as a result of extensive exploration including cave digging and widely employed capping of narrow sections. Exploration in the cave has already lasted 20 years. The cave is fitted with several hundred meters of fixed and rope ladders and several small fixed bridges across intra-cave chasms. Access to the remote parts of the cave is difficult because of long narrow crawl passages and deep and narrow vertical sections. The Na Javorce Cave became the deepest cave discovered to date in Bohemia with the discovery of its deepest part containing a lake in 2010. The cave was formed in vertically dipping layers of Lower Devonian limestone; it is 1,723 m long and 129 m deep, of which 9 m is permanently flooded (data as of December 2012). The cave is polygenetic, with several clearly separable evolutionary stages. Cavities discovered to date were mostly formed along the tectonic structures of two main systems. One of these systems is represented by vertical faults of generally N-S strike, which are frequently accompanied by vein hydrothermal calcite with crystal cavities. The second fault system is represented by moderately inclined faults (dip 27 to 45°, dip direction to the W). Smaller tube-like passages of phreatic morphology connect the larger cavities developed along the two above-mentioned systems. The fluid inclusion data obtained for calcite developed along both fault systems in combination with C and O stable isotope studies indicate that the hydrothermal calcite was deposited from moderately saline fluids (0.5 to 8.7 wt. % NaCl equiv.) in the temperature range from 58 to 98 °C. The fluids were NaCl-type basinal fluids, probably derived from the deeper clastic horizons of the Barrandian sedimentary sequence. The age of the hydrothermal processes is unknown; geologically it is delimited by the Permian and Paleogene. The hydrothermal cavities are small compared to cavities formed during the later stages of karstification. The majority of the known cavities were probably formed by corrosion by floodwater derived from an adjacent river. This process was initiated during the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene, as was confirmed by typical assemblage of heavy minerals identical in the surface river sediments and in clastic cave sediments. The morphology of most cavities is phreatic or epiphreatic, with only local development of leveled roof sections (“Laugdecken”). The phreatic evolution of the cave is probably continuing into the present in its deepest permanently flooded part, which exhibits a water level close to that of the adjacent Berounka River. Nevertheless, the chemistry of the cave lake differs from that of the river water. The cave hosts all the usual types of cave decoration (including locally abundant erratics). The most interesting speleothem type is cryogenic cave carbonate, which was formed during freezing of water in relation to the presence of permafrost during the Glacial period. The occurrence of cryogenic cave carbonate here indicates that the permafrost of the Last Glacial period penetrated to a depth of at least 65 m below the surface.