The evolution of karst and caves in the Konûprusy region Bohemian Karst, Czech Republic), Part II: Hydrothermal paleokarst, 1998, Bosak, Pavel

The origin of hydrothermal karst cavities was connected with the Variscan hydrothermal process. The cavities were formed and filled by crystalline calcite. The process was accompanied by the intensive dolomitisation. Younger phase of hydrothermal karstification was not connected with vein-filling, but with the deep circulation of groundwater, probably associated with neovolcanic activity in the Bohemian Massif. This is supported by pollen grains and decomposed volcanic ash in speleothems which were formed after the major phases of speleogenesis. It is supposed that caves in the Konûprusy Devonian were formed in confined aquifer under phreatic and batyphreatic conditions. Thermal conditions appeared when paleogeothermic gradient was increased due to intensive neovolcanic activity. Hydrothermal karstification partly changed the morphology of caves. The maximum temperatures were stated to 60-700 C from large calcite crystals precipitated under phreatic and deeply phreatic conditions. The piezometric level was situated above limestones in Upper Cretaceous platform siliciclastics as indicated by numerous subvertical phreatic tubes („depressions") filled with sunkened Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments after the water buyoancy support decreased. Popcorn-like silicified Konûprusy Rosettes can be result of decrease of thermal water level and mixing with infiltrating meteoric waters. Outer zones of large calcite crystals with precipitation temperatures of about 400 C can indicate the gradual cooling of the whole system.

The evolution of karst and caves in the Konûprusy region (Bohemian Karst, Czech Republic), Part III: Collapse structures, 2000, Bosak, Pavel

Vertical and subvertical pipes are circular to ovate in shape with diameters from 2-4 m up to tens of metres and with proven depth up to 82 m. Some of them terminate by horizontal cave levels at depth. Pipes are filled with complicated sedimentary sequences with clearly developed collapse structures. The fill is composed of pre-Cenomanian, Cenomanian-Turonian and Tertiary deposits. Internal structures of the fill indicate multi-phase collapses. Cretaceous and pre-Cretaceous deposits are often subvertical with chaotic internal texture. In the centre of some of pipes, there are traces of younger collapses, most probably induced by continuing karstification and suffosion at depth. Tertiary deposits overlay the Cretaceous ones unconformably; they show gentler centripetal inclination, but in places they fill the central parts of collapsed fill. The origin of solution pipes is connected with hydrothermal activity most probably during Paleogene to Miocene, when the surface of limestones was still covered by slightly eroded cover of Upper Cretaceous platform sediments. Hydrothermal karst forms developed up to the surface of limestones as the piezometric level was situated within the Cretaceous cover. After the lost of buoyancy support of water, sedimentary cover started to move (collapse) down.

Fluid inclusion and stable isotopic evidence for early hydrothermal karstification in vadose caves of the Nizke Tatry Mountains (Western Carpathians), 2004, Orvosova M. , Hurai V. , Simon K. , Wiegerova V. ,

Hydrothermal paleokarst cavities with calcite crystals up to 20 cm in diameter were found in two caves of the Nizke Tarry Mountains developed in Triassic limestone and dolomite of the Guttenstein type. In both caves, older zones of tectonic and hydrothermal activity have been overprinted by vadose speleogenesis. According to fluid inclusion microthermometry data, prismatic-scalenoliedral calcite from the Silvo ova Diera Cave has precipitated at temperatures between similar to60 and 101degreesC from low salinity aqueous solutions (less than or equal to0.7 wt. % NaCl eq.). Carbon and oxygen isotope profiling revealed significant delta(13)C decrease accompanied by slight delta(18)O increase during growth of calcite crystals. The negatively correlated carbon and oxygen isotope data cannot be interpreted in terms of any geologically reasonable models based on equilibrium isotopic fractionation. Fluid inclusion water exhibits minor decrease of deltaD values from crystal core (-31 %o SMOW) to rim (-41 %(0) SMOW). Scalenohedral calcite from the NovA Stanisovska Cave has precipitated at slightly higher temperatures 63-107degreesC from aqueous solutions with salinity : less than or equal to2.7 % NaCl eq. The positively correlated trend of delta(13)C and delta(18)O values is similar to common hydrothermal carbonates. The fluid inclusion water deltaD values differ significantly between the crystal core (-50 %(0) SMOW) and rim (- 11 %o SMOW). The calcite crystals are interpreted as representing a product of an extinct hydrothermal system, which was gradually replaced by shallow circulation of meteoric water. Fossil hydrothermal fluids discharged along Alpine uplift-related NNW-SSE-trending faults in Paleogene-pre-Pliocene times. Increased deuterium concentration in the inclusion water compared to recent meteoric precipitation indicates a warmer climate during the calcite crystallization

Resolving the Richat enigma: Doming and hydrothermal karstification above an alkaline complex, 2005, Matton Guillaume, Jebrak Michel, Lee James K. W. ,

The Richat structure (Sahara, Mauritania) appears as a large dome at least 40 km in diameter within a Late Proterozoic to Ordovician sequence. Erosion has created circular cuestas represented by three nested rings dipping outward from the structure. The center of the structure consists of a limestone-dolomite shelf that encloses a kilometer-scale siliceous breccia and is intruded by basaltic ring dikes, kimberlitic intrusions, and alkaline volcanic rocks. Several hypotheses have been presented to explain the spectacular Richat structure and breccia, but their origin remains enigmatic. The breccia body is lenticular in shape and irregularly thins at its extremities to only a few meters. The breccia was created during karst dissolution and collapse. Internal sediments fill the centimeter- to meter-scale cavities. Alkaline enrichment and the presence of Cretaceous automorphous neoformed K-feldspar demonstrate the hydrothermal origin of these internal sediments and their contemporaneity with magmatism. A model is proposed in which doming and the production of hydrothermal fluids were instrumental in creating a favorable setting for dissolution. The circular Richat structure and its breccia core thus represent the superficial expression of a Cretaceous alkaline complex with an exceptionally well preserved hydrothermal karst infilling at its summit

Resolving the Richat enigma: Doming and hydrothermal karstification above an alkaline complex , 2005, Matton G. , Jebrak M. , Lee J. K. W.

Dolomite formation in breccias at the Musandam Platform border, Northern Oman Mountains, United Arab Emirates, 2006, Breesch L, Swennen R, Vincent B,

The presence of dolomite breccia patches along Wadi Batha Mahani suggests large-scale fluid flow causing dolomite formation. The controls on dolomitization have been studied, using petrography and geochemistry. Dolomitization was mainly controlled by brecciation and the nearby Hagab thrust. Breccias formed as subaerial scree deposits, with clay infill from dissolved platform limestones, during Early Cretaceous emergence. Cathodoluminescence of the dolostones indicates dolomitization took place in two phases. First, fine-crystalline planar-s dolomite replaced the breccias. Later, these dolomites were recrystallized by larger nonplanar dolomites. The stable isotope trend towards depleted values (delta O-18: -2.7 parts per thousand to - 10.2 parts per thousand VPDB and delta C-13: -0.6 parts per thousand to -8.9 parts per thousand VPDB), caused by mixing dolomite types during sampling, indicates type 2 dolomites were formed by hot fluids. Microthermometry of quartz cements and karst veins, post-dating dolomites, also yielded high temperatures. Hot formation waters which ascended along the Hagab thrust are invoked to explain type 2 dolomitization, silicification and hydrothermal karstification. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V, All rights reserved

Mixed, classical and hydrothermal karstification in a carbonate aquifer: Hydrogeological consequences. The case of the Saida aquifer system, Algeria, 2008, Djidi Kaddour, Bakalowicz Michel, Abdel Majid Benali

In the Saida area, Algeria, a regional aquifer has formed in Jurassic carbonate rocks. Recharged by direct infiltration and swallow holes on horsts, it discharges into the Saida graben. Geochemical and isotope contents show deep groundwater flow at temperatures of around 100 °C at depth and CO2 of deep origin, developing a hydrothermal karst interconnected with the shallow, classical karst. This particular type of karst aquifer, mixing hydrothermal karst conduits in the phreatic zone and classical karst features in the infiltration zone occurs preferably in active tectonic regions. Such a situation is favourable to productive well boring, consequently to groundwater withdrawal and deterioration of water quality. Still badly known in general, this type of complex aquifer should be studied in depth for an efficient and proper exploitation and protection of the groundwater resource.

Hypogene Speleogenesis and Karst Hydrogeology of Artesian Basins, 2009,

The volume contains papers presented during the International Conference held May 13 through 17, 2009 in Chernivtsi, Ukraine.

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CONTENTS

PRINCIPAL FEATURES OF HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS
Alexander Klimchouk

HYPOGENE CAVE PATTERNS
Philippe Audra, Ludovic Mocochain, Jean-Yves Bigot, and Jean-Claude Nobécourt

MORPHOLOGICAL INDICATORS OF SPELEOGENESIS: HYPOGENIC SPELEOGENS
Philippe Audra, Ludovic Mocochain, Jean-Yves Bigot, and Jean-Claude Nobécourt

HYPOGENE CAVES IN DEFORMED (FOLD BELT) STRATA: OBSERVATIONS FROM EASTERN AUSTRALIA AND CENTRAL EUROPE
R.A.L. Osborne

IDENTIFYING PALEO WATER-ROCK INTERACTION DURING HYDROTHERMAL KARSTIFICATION: A STABLE ISOTOPE APPROACH
Yuri Dublyansky and Christoph Spötl

MICROORGANISMS AS SPELEOGENETIC AGENTS: GEOCHEMICAL DIVERSITY BUT GEOMICROBIAL UNITY
P.J.Boston, M.N. Spilde, D.E. Northup, M.D. Curry, L.A. Melim, and L. Rosales-Lagarde

SIDERITE WEATHERING AS A REACTION CAUSING HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS: THE EXAMPLE OF THE IBERG/HARZ/GERMANY Stephan Kempe

SIMULATING THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOLUTION CONDUITS IN HYPOGENE SETTINGS
C. Rehrl, S. Birk, and A.B. Klimchouk

EVOLUTION OF CAVES IN POROUS LIMESTONE BY MIXING CORROSION: A MODEL APPROACH
Wolfgang Dreybrodt, Douchko Romanov, and Georg Kaufmann

SPELEOGENESIS OF MEDITERRANEAN KARSTS: A MODELLING APPROACH BASED ON REALISTIC FRACTURE NETWORKS
Antoine Lafare, Hervé Jourde, Véronique Leonardi, Séverin Pistre, and Nathalie Dörfliger

GIANT COLLAPSE STRUCTURES FORMED BY HYPOGENIC KARSTIFICATION: THE OBRUKS OF THE CENTRAL ANATOLIA, TURKEY
C. Serdar Bayari, N. Nur Ozyurt, and Emrah Pekkans

ON THE ROLE OF HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS IN SHAPING THE COASTAL ENDOKARST OF SOUTHERN MALLORCA (WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN)
Joaquín Ginés, Angel Ginés, Joan J. Fornós, Antoni Merino and Francesc Gràcia

HYPOGENE CAVES IN THE APENNINES (ITALY)
Sandro Galdenzi

STEGBACHGRABEN, A MINERALIZED HYPOGENE CAVE IN THE GROSSARL VALLEY, AUSTRIA
Yuri Dublyansky, Christoph Spötl, and Christoph Steinbauer

HYPOGENE CAVES IN AUSTRIA
Lukas Plan, Christoph Spötl, Rudolf Pavuza, Yuri Dublyansky

KRAUSHÖHLE: THE FIRST SULPHURIC ACID CAVE IN THE EASTERN ALPS (STYRIA, AUSTRIA) (Abstract only)
Lukas Plan, Jo De Waele, Philippe Audra, Antonio Rossi, and Christoph Spötl

HYDROTHERMAL ORIGIN OF ZADLAŠKA JAMA, AN ANCIENT ALPINE CAVE IN THE JULIAN ALPS, SLOVENIA
Martin Knez and Tadej Slabe

ACTIVE HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS AND THE GROUNDWATER SYSTEMS AROUND THE EDGES OF ANTICLINAL RIDGES
Amos Frumkin

SEISMIC-SAG STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS IN TERTIARY CARBONATE ROCKS BENEATH SOUTHEASTERN FLORIDA, USA: EVIDENCE FOR HYPOGENIC SPELEOGENESIS?
Kevin J. Cunningham and Cameron Walker

HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS IN THE PIEDMONT CRIMEA RANGE
A.B. Klimchouk, E.I. Tymokhina and G.N. Amelichev

STYLES OF HYPOGENE CAVE DEVELOPMENT IN ANCIENT CARBONATE AREAS OVERLYING NON-PERMEABLE ROCKS IN BRAZIL AND THE INFLUENCE OF COMPETING MECHANISMS AND LATER MODIFYING PROCESSES
Augusto S. Auler

MORPHOLOGY AND GENESIS OF THE MAIN ORE BODY AT NANISIVIK ZINC/LEAD MINE, BAFFIN ISLAND, CANADA: AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF PARAGENETIC DISSOLUTION OF CARBONATE BEDROCKS WITH PENE-CONTEMPORANEOUS PRECIPITATION OF SULFIDES AND GANGUE MINERALS IN A HYPOGENE SETTING
Derek Ford

THE INFLUENCE OF HYPOGENE AND EPIGENE SPELEOGENESIS IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE VAZANTE KARST MINAS GERAIS STATE, BRAZIL
Cristian Bittencourt, Augusto Sarreiro Auler, José Manoel dos Reis Neto, Vanio de Bessa and Marcus Vinícios Andrade Silva

HYPOGENIC ASCENDING SPELEOGENESIS IN THE KRAKÓW-CZĘSTOCHOWA UPLAND (POLAND) ? EVIDENCE IN CAVE MORPHOLOGY AND SURFACE RELIEF
Andrzej Tyc

EVIDENCE FROM CERNA VALLEY CAVES (SW ROMANIA) FOR SULFURIC ACID SPELEOGENESIS: A MINERALOGICAL AND STABLE ISOTOPE STUDY
Bogdan P. Onac, Jonathan Sumrall, Jonathan Wynn, Tudor Tamas, Veronica Dărmiceanu and Cristina Cizmaş

THE POSSIBILITY OF REVERSE FLOW PIRACY IN CAVES OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN BELT (Abstract only)
Ira D. Sasowsky

KARSTOGENESIS AT THE PRUT RIVER VALLEY (WESTERN UKRAINE, PRUT AREA)
Viacheslav Andreychouk and Bogdan Ridush

ZOLOUSHKA CAVE: HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS OR REVERSE WATER THROUGHFLOW?
V. Eirzhyk (Abstract only)

EPIGENE AND HYPOGENE CAVES IN THE NEOGENE GYPSUM OF THE PONIDZIE AREA (NIECKA NIDZIAŃSKA REGION), POLAND
Jan Urban, Viacheslav Andreychouk, and Andrzej Kasza

PETRALONA CAVE: MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS AND A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON ITS SPELEOGENESIS
Georgios Lazaridis

HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS IN MAINLAND NORWAY AND SVALBARD?
Stein-Erik Lauritzen

VILLA LUZ PARK CAVES: SPELEOGENESIS BASED ON CURRENT STRATIGRAPHIC AND MORPHOLOGIC EVIDENCE (Abstract only)
Laura Rosales-Lagarde, Penelope J. Boston, Andrew Campbell, and Mike Pullin

HYPOGENE KARSTIFICATION IN SAUDI ARABIA (LAYLA LAKE SINKHOLES, AIN HEETH CAVE)
Stephan Kempe, Heiko Dirks, and Ingo Bauer

HYPOGENE KARSTIFICATION IN JORDAN (BERGISH/AL-DAHER CAVE, UWAIYED CAVE, BEER AL-MALABEH SINKHOLE)
Stephan Kempe, Ahmad Al-Malabeh, and Horst-Volker Henschel

ASSESSING THE RELIABILITY OF 2D RESISTIVITY IMAGING TO MAP A DEEP AQUIFER IN CARBONATE ROCKS IN THE IRAQI KURDISTAN REGION
Bakhtiar K. Aziz and Ezzaden N. Baban

FEATURES OF GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF THE ORDINSKAYA UNDERWATER CAVE, FORE-URALS, RUSSIA
Pavel Sivinskih

INIAAIIINOE AEIIAAIIIAI NIAEAIAAIACA AI?II-NEEAA?AOIE IAEANOE CAIAAIIAI EAAEACA
A.A.Aao?ooaa

AEOAEIIIA NO?IAIEA AEA?IAAINOA?U: IIAAEU AA?OEEAEUIIE CIIAEUIINOE
A.I. Eaoaaa

?IEU EA?NOA A OI?IE?IAAIEE NIEAIUO AIA E ?ANNIEIA IEAI?ENEIAI AANNAEIA
Aeaenaia? Eiiiiia, Na?aae Aeaenaaa, e Na?aae Nooia

IDENTIFYING PALEO WATER-ROCK INTERACTION DURING HYDROTHERMAL KARSTIFICATION: A STABLE ISOTOPE APPROACH, 2009, Dublyansky Y. , Spotl C.

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.

Aqueous Geochemical Evidence of Volcanogenic Karstification: Sistema Zacaton, Mexico, 2011, Gary M. O. , Doctor D. H. , Sharp J. M.

The Sistema Zacatón karst area in northeastern Mexico (Tamaulipas state) is limited to a relatively focused area (20 km2) in a carbonate setting not prone to extensive karstification. The unique features found here are characteristic of hydrothermal karstification processes, represent some of the largest phreatic voids in the world, and are hypothesized to have formed from interaction of a local Pleistocene magmatic event with the regional groundwater system. Aqueous geochemical data collected from five cenotes of Sistema Zacatón between 2000 and 2009 include temperature (spatial, temporal, and depth profiles), geochemical depth profiles, major and trace ion geochemistry, stable and radiogenic isotopes, and dissolved gases. Interpretation of these data indicates four major discoveries: 1) rock-water interaction occurs between groundwater, the limestone matrix, and local volcanic rocks; 2) varying degrees of hydrogeological connection exist among cenotes in the system as observed from geochemical signatures; 3) microbially-mediated geochemical reactions control sulfur and carbon cycling and influence redox geochemistry; and 4) dissolved gases are indicative of a deep volcanic source. Dissolved 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios (mean 0.70719) are lower than those of the surrounding Cretaceous limestone (0.70730-0.70745), providing evidence of groundwater interaction with volcanic rock, which has a 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratio of 0.7050. Discrete hydraulic barriers between cenotes formed in response to sinkhole formation, hydrothermal travertine precipitation, and shifts in the local water table, creating relatively isolated water bodies. The isolation of the cenotes is reflected in distinct water chemistries among them. This is observed most clearly in the cenote Verde where a water level 4-5 meters lower than the adjacent cenotes is maintained, seasonal water temperature variations occur, thermoclines and chemoclines exist, and the water is oxic at all depths. The surrounding cenotes of El Zacatón, Caracol, and La Pilita show constant water temperatures both in depth profile and in time, have similar water levels, and are almost entirely anoxic. A sulfur (H2S) isotope value of δ34S = -1.8 ‰ (CDT) in deep water of cenote Caracol, contrasted with two lower sulfur isotopic values of sulfide in the water near the surface of the cenote (δ34S = -7 ‰ and -8 ‰ CDT). These δ34S values are characteristic of complex biological sulfur cycling where sulfur oxidation in the photic zone results in oxidation of H2S to colloidal sulfur near the surface in diurnal cycles. This is hypothesized to result from changes in microbial community structure with depth as phototropic, sulfur-oxidizing bacteria become less abundant below 20 m. Unique microbial communities exist in the anoxic, hydrothermal cenotes that strongly mediate sulfur cycling and likely influence mineralization along the walls of these cenotes. Dissolved CO2 gas concentrations ranged from 61-173 mg/L and total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) δ13C values measured at cenote surfaces ranged from -10.9 ‰ to -11.8 ‰ (PDB), reflecting mixed sources of carbon from carbonate rock dissolution, biogenic CO2 and possibly dissolved CO2 from volcanic sources. Surface measurements of dissolved helium gas concentrations range from 50 nmol/kg to 213 nmol/kg. These elevated helium concentrations likely indicate existence of a subsurface volcanic source; however, helium isotope data are needed to test this hypothesis. The results of these data reflect a speleogenetic history that is inherently linked to volcanic activity, and support the hypothesis that the extreme karst development of Sistema Zacatón would likely not have progressed without groundwater interaction with the local igneous rocks