Karst and Caves of Romania: A Brief Overview

Onac, Bogdan P.; Goran, Cristian

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90747-5_4

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Northern Dobrogea is characterized by faulted limestones and dolomitic limestones, but the karst landscape is isolated (e.g., small ridges) and disrupted by the loess cover, the most important karst features being represented by cliffs (e.g., Somova, Mahmudia, Murighiol). Southern Dobrogea is represented by a platform region composed of three main karst units (Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene), characterized by a semiburied plateau, the main karst feature being represented by large closed depressions filled with loess and dry valleys [29]. From hydrogeological perspective, Northern Dobrogea belongs to the North Dobrogea Orogen Karst, where the carbonate rocks are represented mostly by Triassic dolomitic limestones ( Figure 2), and is characterized by a low hydraulic gradient of the aquifer accumulations and a dry pluviometric regime (250-530 mm).…”

Section: Description Of the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Geology and geographic particularities of the tested springs area[29].Praporgescu spring (GW1, 45 • 0 52.99 N, 28 • 22 42.93 E) belongs to the Danube basin at the limit with Taita basin, the last also including the Closca spring (GW2, 45 • 0 40.04 N, 28 • 28 9.70 E). GW1 is situated in the eastern part of the General Praporgescu village, while GW2 in the western part of the Closca village.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Quality and Health Risk Assessment Associated with Water Consumption—A Case Study on Karstic Springs

Moldovan

Hoaghia

Kovács

et al. 2020

Water

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In rural areas without centralized water supply systems, inhabitants often use groundwater of unknown quality as drinking water, without understanding the possible negative consequences on their health. Karstic spring waters from Dobrogea region in Romania were assessed for their potential to be used as drinking water source, according to their quality and seasonal variation. The physico-chemical parameters of waters were compared with the guideline values for drinking water established by the World Health Organization and the Directive 98/83/EC. The nitrate and Cr concentrations exceeded the guideline value in the springs from Southern Dobrogea, but met the quality criteria in those from Northern Dobrogea, thus, to be used as drinking water, the karstic springs located in Southern Dobrogea require treatment for nitrates removal. Heavy metals pollution indices showed low to medium cumulative heavy metal pollution in all springs, while the human health risk assessment by oral exposure indicated possible noncarcinogenic risks of nitrates, both for adults and children in springs from South Dobrogea. A rigorous monitoring of the water quality before human consumption is recommended for all four studied water sources.

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Section: Description Of the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Quality and Health Risk Assessment Associated with Water Consumption—A Case Study on Karstic Springs

Moldovan

Hoaghia

Kovács

et al. 2020

Water

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“…In Romania, karst areas cover about 5500 km 2 (~2.3% of the country area) and are located mainly in the Carpathian Mountains and along the Black Sea coast [31]. In total, 10 natural springs located in the karst area of the Southern Carpathians (SCP) and 14 natural springs located in the karst area of the Apuseni Mountains (APS), Romania (Figure 1), were studied.…”

Section: Study Area Sampling and Sample Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sr Isotope, Major, and Trace Element Signatures in Karst Groundwaters

Török

Moldovan

Tănăselia

et al. 2023

Water

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Natural and anthropogenic factors highly influence the concentration of major (Na, Mg, K, Ca) and trace (Sr, Ba, Mn, Li) elements, anions (HCO3−, NO3−, SO42−, Cl−), and Sr isotopic signatures. The current study identified the Sr isotopic signature in groundwaters from the Southern Carpathians and Apuseni Mountains karst areas of Romania and its relation to the water’s chemistry. The Sr concentration ranged between 16.5 and 658 µg/L, but in most groundwaters, it was below 200 µg/L. A considerable spatial variation and a low temporal variation, with a slightly lower Sr concentration in the winter than in spring, were observed. The strong positive correlation of the Sr with Ca, Mg, K, and Na indicated the common source of these elements. The main source of the Sr in groundwaters was the dissolution of carbonates, especially calcite, and dolomite to a lesser extent. The 87Sr/86Sr isotopic ratio ranged between 0.7038 and 0.7158. Generally, waters with a high Sr concentration and moderate 87Sr/86Sr ratios indicated carbonate dissolution, whereas samples with low Sr concentrations and high 87Sr/86Sr ratios suggested the dissolution of silicates.

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“…Early studies revealed Pseudomonadota , Acidobacteriota (synonym Acidobacteria ), and Actinomycetota (synonym Actinobacteria ) as the most abundant phyla in addition to ‘rare’ (<1% of relative abundance) or unclassified prokaryotic lineages that were also detected ( Addesso et al, 2021 ). A large number of caves, both show and pristine caves are found in the karst areas of the Romanian Carpathians ( Onac and Goran, 2019 ). Information on microbial diversity within karst caves with restricted human access in the Romanian Carpathians is limited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity, distribution and organic substrates preferences of microbial communities of a low anthropic activity cave in North-Western Romania

et al. 2023

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IntroductionKarst caves are characterized by relatively constant temperature, lack of light, high humidity, and low nutrients availability. The diversity and functionality of the microorganisms dwelling in caves micro-habitats are yet underexplored. Therefore, in-depth investigations of these ecosystems aid in enlarging our understanding of the microbial interactions and microbially driven biogeochemical cycles. Here, we aimed at evaluating the diversity, abundance, distribution, and organic substrate preferences of microbial communities from Peștera cu Apă din Valea Leșului (Leșu Cave) located in the Apuseni Mountains (North-Western Romania).Materials and MethodsTo achieve this goal, we employed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and community-level physiological profiling (CLPP) paralleled by the assessment of environmental parameters of cave sediments and water.Results and DiscussionPseudomonadota (synonym Proteobacteria) was the most prevalent phylum detected across all samples whereas the abundance detected at order level varied among sites and between water and sediment samples. Despite the general similarity at the phylum-level in Leșu Cave across the sampled area, the results obtained in this study suggest that specific sites drive bacterial community at the order-level, perhaps sustaining the enrichment of unique bacterial populations due to microenvironmental conditions. For most of the dominant orders the distribution pattern showed a positive correlation with C-sources such as putrescine, γ-amino butyric acid, and D-malic acid, while particular cases were positively correlated with polymers (Tween 40, Tween 80 and α-cyclodextrin), carbohydrates (α-D-lactose, i-erythritol, D-mannitol) and most of the carboxylic and ketonic acids. Physicochemical analysis reveals that sediments are geochemically distinct, with increased concentration of Ca, Fe, Al, Mg, Na and K, whereas water showed low nitrate concentration. Our PCA indicated the clustering of different dominant orders with Mg, As, P, Fe, and Cr. This information serves as a starting point for further studies in elucidating the links between the taxonomic and functional diversity of subterranean microbial communities.

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Karst and Caves of Romania: A Brief Overview

Cited by 7 publications

References 8 publications

Quality and Health Risk Assessment Associated with Water Consumption—A Case Study on Karstic Springs

Quality and Health Risk Assessment Associated with Water Consumption—A Case Study on Karstic Springs

Sr Isotope, Major, and Trace Element Signatures in Karst Groundwaters

Diversity, distribution and organic substrates preferences of microbial communities of a low anthropic activity cave in North-Western Romania

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