Rapid evolution of salt glacier caves on a mountain diapir in a semiarid climate

0580768 - GLÚ 2025 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Bruthans, J. - Filippi, Michal - Slavík, M. - Závada, Prokop - Zare, M.
Rapid evolution of salt glacier caves on a mountain diapir in a semiarid climate.
Geomorphology. Roč. 448, March (2024), č. článku 109058. ISSN 0169-555X. E-ISSN 1872-695X
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GC20-18647J
Institutional support: RVO:67985831 ; RVO:67985530
Keywords : Salt karst * Halite cave * Salt glacier * Uplift rate * ¹⁴C * Erosion rate * Salt diapir
OECD category: Geology; Geology (GFU-E)
Impact factor: 3.9, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169555X24000084?via%3Dihub

Salt caves occur mostly in hyperarid and arid climates and are typically a few thousand years old. There is little data on the evolution of salt caves in semiarid climates, and no data on caves developed in salt glaciers, i.e., salt masses spreading under their own weight, similar to ice glaciers. The age of salt caves and the incision rates of cave streams were studied on a salt glacier of the Jahani diapir in a semiarid climate, Zagros Mts., Iran. Wood fragments from 3 caves sampled 0–11.3 m above the present streambed were dated by AMS ¹⁴C. The cave passages accessible today were developed during the last ~600 years at the Jahani. The cave level 5–6 m above the present streambed was formed 1520–1660 CE or slightly earlier, then the stream incised upward and reached its highest level between 1690 and 1920 CE or slightly earlier. Then, the downward incision started. This indicates that caves in semiarid climates evolve extremely rapidly. The maximum vertical incision rate of the cave stream on the semiarid Jahani diapir is 20–110 mm/yr, which is faster than 0.4–25 mm/yr in caves in hyperarid climates. The incision rate of the cave stream at the Jahani exceeds the denudation rate of the thick cap soil surface, being comparable to the denudation rate of salt exposures. The persistence of the steep longitudinal profiles of the integrated salt caves at the Jahani is probably caused by the transport of very coarse sediment. Aggradation was probably caused either by blocking of cave passages by earthquakes or by more intense erosion of the cap soil. The salt glacier at the Jahani is moving slowly (<10 mm/yr), claims that this glacier is the fastest on Earth (velocity in the range of m/yr) are based on a study that did not follow geodetic standards and are in strong disagreement with the age of the caves and other lines of evidence.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0351713