Gypsum Karst in the Southwest Outskirts of the Eastern European Platform (Western Ukraine): A Type Region of Artesian Transverse Speleogenesis

The paper presents the results of an analysis of faults of different ranks near the Okhotnichya Cave in Pribaikalye, aimed at identifying their role in the formation and evolution of the cave and its adjacent areas. This was done using rank-wise structural-paragenetic analysis of faults, which forms the basis of a specialized mapping tool for fault zones. Factual evidence was obtained through several methods. The speleoinitiating fracture network was studied based on the results of the cave digital topographic survey performed using Leica DistoX 310 laser rangefinder. The therewith-generated 3D-model of the cave allowed making up a detailed plan of the passages for linking to the local geological-structural observations with mass fracture measurements and studying dip directions and strike orientations of the cave fractures. The results stated that the passages in the cave network correspond to the paragenesis of the right-lateral NNE trending strike-slip fault. Local analysis of rock fracturing within the cave made it possible to determine the type of kinematics of speleoinitiating fractures and to verify the reconstruction of the fault zone of the supra-local level. It has been stated that narrow tunnels follow the local NNE- and WNW-oriented strike-slip faults, and large chambers and grottoes follow the extension structures - ENE- and NE-striking normal faults. The lineament analysis of the cave-adjacent area revealed that the strike-slip fault network of the cave is an element of paragenesis of the regional normal fault, typical of the late-orogenic Baikal rift system. Thus, the conducted research showed that the genesis of the Okhotnichya Cave has a mixed character and provided the possibility of analyzing the karst caves' spatial patterns to reconstruct kinematic types of faults at different hierarchic levels - local, supra-local, and regional.

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“…Трещины в пещерах подразделяют на следующие генерации [Klimchuk, Rogozhnikov, 1982;Klimchuk et al, 1995]:…”

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The Role of Faults in the Formation of the Okhotnichya Cave (Baikal Region)

Dekabryov

Черемных

2023

Geodin. tektonofiz.

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Speleogenesis

2022

Karst Hydrogeology, Geomorphology and Caves

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Cooling of hydrothermal fluids rich in carbon dioxide can create large karst cave systems in carbonate rocks

Roded,

Aharonov,

Frumkin

et al. 2023

Commun Earth Environ

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Karst systems, comprising interconnected voids and caves, are ubiquitous in carbonate formations and play a pivotal role in the global water supply. Accumulating evidence suggests that a significant portion of the global karst is hypogenic, formed via rock dissolution by groundwater ascending from depth (rather than by infiltration from the surface), yet the exact formation mechanism remains unclear. Here we show that cooling of carbon dioxide-rich geothermal fluids, which turns them into highly corrosive agents due to their retrograde solubility, can dissolve and sculpt large caves on short geological timescales. A conceptual hydro-thermo-geochemical scenario is numerically simulated, showing cave formation by rising hot water discharging into a confined layer. Our models predict field observations characteristic of hypogenic caves, including enigmatic locations of the largest passages and intricate maze-like networks. Finally, we suggest that deep-seated carbon dioxide consumption during karst formation may constitute a link to the global carbon cycle.

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Gypsum Karst in the Southwest Outskirts of the Eastern European Platform (Western Ukraine): A Type Region of Artesian Transverse Speleogenesis

Cited by 4 publications

References 17 publications

The Role of Faults in the Formation of the Okhotnichya Cave (Baikal Region)

The Role of Faults in the Formation of the Okhotnichya Cave (Baikal Region)

Speleogenesis

Cooling of hydrothermal fluids rich in carbon dioxide can create large karst cave systems in carbonate rocks

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