Caves are amongst the Earth most important minerogenetic environments and actually over 300 minerals are known to develop inside natural cavities. It is surely true that speleothems are the major aesthetic attraction of a cave, but their scientific importance is even higher. In fact speleothems proved to be the best archive to reconstruct paleo-climates, paleo-environments and paleo-seismicity within Quaternary. Most of the research have been done by using the characteristics of the calcium carbonate speleothems. Yet recently it has been proved that other cave minerals may be considered important markers for palaeo-environmental studies. The present paper presents a short updated overview on the principal palaeo-environmental studies which can be performed by using cave speleothems, particularly the non carbonate ones.
Chemical deposits in caves: a new tool to study ecosystems
FORTI, PAOLO
2008
Abstract
Caves are amongst the Earth most important minerogenetic environments and actually over 300 minerals are known to develop inside natural cavities. It is surely true that speleothems are the major aesthetic attraction of a cave, but their scientific importance is even higher. In fact speleothems proved to be the best archive to reconstruct paleo-climates, paleo-environments and paleo-seismicity within Quaternary. Most of the research have been done by using the characteristics of the calcium carbonate speleothems. Yet recently it has been proved that other cave minerals may be considered important markers for palaeo-environmental studies. The present paper presents a short updated overview on the principal palaeo-environmental studies which can be performed by using cave speleothems, particularly the non carbonate ones.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.