Minerals and Speleothems of the József-hegy Cave (Budapest, Hungary)

Authors

Szabolcs Leél-Őssy, Eötvös Loránd University, Department of Physical and Historical Geology, 1117 Budapest, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/CFollow
Gyöngyvér Szanyi, HAS Geodetic and Geophysical Research Institute, Seismological Observatory, 1112 Budapest, Meredek u. 18.Follow
Gergely Surányi, HAS Geological, Geophysical and Space Science Research Group, 1117 Budapest, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C

Abstract

With the discovery of the József-hegy Cave, a cave of hydrothermal origin with an abundance of minerals unknown so far in Hungary came to light. Diversity and the frequency of the occurrence of crystals make this cave similar to the Lechuguilla Cave, even if the dimensions of the mineral precipitations and the passages do not compare in scale. The variety and mass of carbonates and sulphates are surprising. This paper describes the minerals and speleothems of the József-hegy Cave, their occurrence and genesis, including determined ages. The 41 U/Th measurements suggest that speleothems begun to develop in the upper level of the cave more than 350 ka ago. Some of these dated old speleothems were developing in dry passages, thus the uppermost passages of the József-hegy Cave have been dry at least for 350 ka. The karst water level was still at the main passage 200 ka ago and dropped to 120 m asl by the time of ~100 ka before present.

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.40.2.11

Recommended Citation

Leél-Őssy, Szabolcs; Gyöngyvér Szanyi; and Gergely Surányi. 2011. Minerals and Speleothems of the József-hegy Cave (Budapest, Hungary). International Journal of Speleology, 40: 191-203.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/ijs/vol40/iss2/12