Hypogene Speleogenetic Evidences in the Development of Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (Mallorca Island, Western Mediterranean)

The Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (Llucmajor, Mallorca): a singular deposit bearing an exceptional well preserved Early Pleistocene vertebrate fauna

“…The Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (from now on CPV) is an extensive maze cave partially drowned by brackish phreatic waters and it lies in a tabular platform built up by an Upper Miocene reefal limestone sequence (Ginés et al, 2008;Fornós et al, 2010aFornós et al, , 2011, and references there in). It has emerged as a conspicuous tabular deposits outcrop all along the southern and eastern coast, shaping this flat karst region (Fornós & Gelabert, 2004).…”

“…Both taxonomical analysis and chronology of this fauna furnished information on some speleological aspects of the cave. coastal cave-system that allows to investigate complex speleogenetic mechanisms and speleothem formation processes, many of them controlled by Quaternary sea level changes (e.g., Ginés et al, 2009aGinés et al, , 2009bMerino et al, 2009;Tuccimei et al, 2009;Dorale et al, 2010;Fornós et al, 2010aFornós et al, , 2011Merino & Fornós, 2010). In this paper we present the fossil faunal assemblage that has been recorded through a single excavation campaign carried out during May 2010 at CPV.…”

Geologic constraints and speleogenesis of Cova des Pas de Vallgornera, a complex coastal cave from Mallorca Island (Western Mediterranean)

“…Other possible evidence of hypogene karstification consists in crusts and other precipitates rich in Mn and Fe, as well as a peculiar assemblage of uncommon minerals (celestine, strontianite, barite, nordstrandite, etc.) existing as post-drainage deposits close to the vents located in the floor of some passages (Merino et al, 2009;Fornós et al, 2010a;Onac et al, 2014). The above described phenomena could be explained by a deep hypogenic recharge from the Mesozoic basement, linked to the geothermal anomalies associated with the extensional faults limiting the western edge of the Campos subsidence basin (Fig.…”

“…On the other hand an upper tier, mainly consisting in several maze areas, develops at elevations between +7 and +11 m above the current sea level, although its altimetric disposition is far from being uniform. This upper story includes some collapse-enlarged passages, but not as abundant as those Upper Miocene Reef Complex (Ginés et al, 2008(Ginés et al, , 2009aFornós et al, 2010a). It is possible to distinguish: 1) the very porous and permeable reef front facies, with framestone and rudstone textures, where spongework passages and breakdown passages are the rule; 2) the massive calcarenitic and/or calcisiltitic outer lagoon facies, with variable wackestone, packstone and grainstone textures, where joint-guided NW-SE conduits are dominant; and 3) the inner lagoon facies, that are well-bedded as well as increasingly calcisiltitic and marly (wackestone textures) and represent the inland limit of the cave passages.…”

“…These geologic and morphogenetic aspects will be dealt with thoroughly in the present paper, according to the current knowledge about karstification in coastal environments. The main proposed goal is to elucidate the complex speleogenetic mechanisms leading to the formation of this special littoral cave, which until now have only been hinted in previous publications (Ginés et al, 2009b;Fornós et al, 2010a).…”