Age and significance of the Quaternary cemented deposits of the Duje Valley (Picos de Europa, Northern Spain)

Villa, Elisa; Stoll, Heather; Farias, Pedro; Adrados, Luna; Cheng, Hai

doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2012.10.005

Cited by 21 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Remarkably, this flowstone represents one of the few sedimentary records of the period comprised between MIS 11 and MIS 9 discovered in the Cantabrian Mountains to date (Villa et al, 2013), in particular by studying cave sediments, and if so it might yield valuable paleoclimate information.…”

Section: Conclusion and Paleoenvironmental Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…In particular, a flowstone comprising aragonite and cemented detrital layers from El Soplao Cave (Cantabria, northern Spain) was dated using the U/Th method, revealing that this speleothem was intermittently formed during the Quaternary, and sediments introduced into the cave mainly around 491–358 ka. Remarkably, this flowstone represents one of the few sedimentary records of the period comprised between MIS 11 and MIS 9 discovered in the Cantabrian Mountains to date (Villa et al ., ), in particular by studying cave sediments, and if so it might yield valuable paleoclimate information.…”

Section: Conclusion and Paleoenvironmental Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Paleoflood events recorded by speleothems in caves

Gázquez

Calaforra

Forti

et al. 2014

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Speleothems are usually composed of thin layers of calcite (or aragonite). However, cemented detrital materials interlayered between laminae of speleothemic carbonate have been also observed in many caves. Flowstones comprising discontinuous carbonate layers form due to flowing water films, while flood events introduce fluviokarstic sediments in caves that, on occasion, are recorded as clayey layers inside flowstones and stalagmites. This record provides a potential means of understanding the frequency of palaeofloods using cave records. In this work, we investigate the origin of this type of detrital deposit in El Soplao Cave (Northern Spain). The age of the lowest aragonite layer of a flowstone reveals that the earliest flood period occurred before 500 ka, though most of the flowstone formed between 422 +69/‐43 ka and 400 +66/‐42 ka. This suggests that the cave was periodically affected by palaeoflood events that introduced detrital sediments from the surface as a result of occasional extreme rainfall events, especially at around 400 ka. The mineralogical data enable an evolutionary model for this flowstone to be generated based on the alternation of flood events with laminar flows and carbonate layers precipitation that can be extrapolated to other caves in which detrital sediments inside speleothems have been found. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Conclusion and Paleoenvironmental Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Conclusion and Paleoenvironmental Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleoflood events recorded by speleothems in caves

Gázquez

Calaforra

Forti

et al. 2014

Earth Surf Processes Landf

Self Cite

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“…This is based on a rather limited sample size (six samples using 21 Ne with replicates on just two samples using 10 Be) and more research is required to test this finding. There is also evidence of a major glaciation during the Middle Pleistocene in the Cantabrian Mountains of northern Spain, recently dated by uranium series (Villa et al 2013). Earlier research in this region had hinted at the presence of major Middle Pleistocene glaciations (Gale & Hoare 1997) although, at present, the actual geomorphological evidence for moraines of this age is as limited as the geochronological control.…”

Section: Quaternary Glaciation In the Mediterranean Mountainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quaternary glaciation in the Mediterranean mountains: a new synthesis

Hughes

Woodward

2016

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The Mediterranean mountains were repeatedly glaciated during the Pleistocene. Glaciers were present in most of the major mountains areas from Morocco in the west to the Black Sea coast of Turkey in the east. Some mountains supported extensive ice caps and ice fields with valley glaciers tens of kilometres long. Other massifs sustained only small-scale ice masses, although this was the exception rather than the norm. Glaciers still exist today and there is evidence that small glaciers were a common sight in many regions during the Little Ice Age. The Mediterranean mountains are important for palaeoclimate research because of their position in the midlatitudes and sensitivity to changes in the climate regimes of adjacent areas including the North Atlantic. These mountains are also important areas of biodiversity and long-term biological change through the Quaternary ice age. All of this provided challenges and opportunities for Palaeolithic societies. This paper reviews the history of the study of glaciation in the Mediterranean mountains from pioneer nineteenth century observations through to the detailed geomorphological mapping and advanced geochronological datasets of recent times. We also review the current state of knowledge to frame the contributions presented in this volume. Lastly, this new synthesis then identifies outstanding research problems and assesses the prospects for new studies of glaciation in the Mediterranean mountains.

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“…Furthermore, ⁓160 km of phreatic/epiphreatic galleries form at least 24 cave levels developed from 140 to 2400 m altitude, now abandoned by base level lowering and valley incision (Ballesteros et al, 2015b). Smart (1986), Senior (1987) and Fernández-Gibert et al (2000) proposed a cave evolution which started in the (Villa et al, 2013;Serrano et al, 2016).…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%