Snežna jama (Slovenia): Interdisciplinary dating of cave sediments and implication for landscape evolution

0447787 - GLÚ 2016 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Häuselmann, P. - Mihevc, A. - Pruner, Petr - Horáček, I. - Čermák, Stanislav - Hercman, H. - Sahy, D. - Fiebig, M. - Zupan Hajna, N. - Bosák, Pavel
Snežna jama (Slovenia): Interdisciplinary dating of cave sediments and implication for landscape evolution.
Geomorphology. Roč. 247, 15 October (2015), s. 10-24. ISSN 0169-555X. E-ISSN 1872-695X
R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA3013201; GA AV ČR IAA300130701
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z3013912; CEZ:AV0Z30130516
Keywords : cave sediment dating * dating methods * periadriatic fault * Slovenia * speleogenesis
Subject RIV: DB - Geology ; Mineralogy
Impact factor: 2.813, year: 2015
https://escholarship.org/content/qt0zm2c2vs/qt0zm2c2vs.pdf?t=o1ys5t

Caves are important markers of surface evolution, since they are, as a general rule, linked with ancient valley bottoms by their springs. However, caves can only be dated indirectly by means of the sediments they contain. If the sediment is older than common dating methods, one has to use multiple dating approaches in order to get meaningful results. U/Th dating, palaeomagnetic analysis of flowstone and sediment profiles, cosmogenic dating of quartz pebbles, and mammalian dating allowed a robust estimate of speleogenesis, sediment deposition, climatic change at the surface, and uplift history on the Periadriatic fault line during the Plio-Pleistocene. Our dates indicate that Snežna jama was formed in the (Upper) Miocene, received its sedimentary deposits during the Pliocene in a rather low-lying, hilly landscape, and became inactive due to uplift along the Periadriatic and Sava faults and climatic changes at the beginning of the Quaternary. Although it is only a single cave, the information contained within it makes it an important site of the Southern Alps.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0249543