Quaternary environmental evolution in the South Carpathians reconstructed from glaciokarst geomorphology and sedimentary archives

The Carpathian island-type glaciokarst has a great potential of preserving signals of past environments, archived in cave deposits like speleothems and clastic infills. We present here the geomorphology and structural control of several relict alpine caves and the surrounding glaciated marble karst in the Făgăraș Mountains. Four truncated and partially unroofed caves remained on the ridge-top of Mușeteica Mountain, above the glacial cirque, while a ponor cave that developed on the cirque bottom could be related to the Last Glacial Period. Structural measurements and cave morphology showed that the conduits formed at the intersection of foliation planes and tectonic fractures on the NE-SW and NW-SE directions. Cave development reflects three speleogenetic stages: 1) texture- and fabric-controlled dissolution and distension; 2) structurally-controlled breakdown; and 3) truncation, unroofing, and cave infilling with sediments. Slow diffuse dissolution was typical for the ridge-top caves, whereas M1 Cave developed by pressure flow.