Origen y diagénesis de los espeleotemas de Cueva Masero, Monumento Natural Cuevas de Fuentes de León, Badajoz
- Ana M. Alonso-Zarza 3
- Rebeca Martín-García 3
- Andrea Martín-Pérez 1
- Paula Olmeda-Zafrilla 3
- Francisco J. Fernández-Amo 2
- 1 Institute of Palaeontology, Eslovenia
- 2 TECMINSA, S.L., España
- 3 Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España
ISSN: 0213-683X
Year of publication: 2018
Issue Title: Comunicaciones presentadas en la LXIV Sesión Científica / Ávila, 1 de Junio de 2018
Issue: 64
Pages: 119-122
Type: Article
More publications in: Geogaceta
Abstract
The caves of the Natural Monument Cuevas de Fuentes de León developed within mixed detrital-carbonate formations of Cambrian age, containing some dolostones. One of the larger caves of the Monument, Cueva Masero, contains a wide variety of speleothems composed mainly by calcite but also aragonite and some hydromagnesite forming the moonmilk. The speleothem textures are: 1) primary, such as the aragonite fibres, calcite rafts and moonmilk; 2) diagenetic, calcite mosaics and megacrystals, or 3) both: columns and micrite. Dissolution of dolostones from the host rock provides Mg in the infiltration waters, which controls the presence of aragonite and hydromagnesite in the cave. Changes in water composition controlled by climatic changes and the primary aragonite composition of some speleothems drove a variety of diagenetic processes such as aragonite-calcite transformation, micritization, cementation and recrystallization. Our study has shown the interest of this Natural Monument due to the variety of speleothems and the complexity of the processes involved in its diagenesis.