| Popis: |
Flank margin caves form in coastal regions by mixing dissolution. Their development is controlled by the position of the freshsalt water mixing boundary, which in turn, is related to sea-level position. They are characterized by a typical cave pattern and cave-wall morphologies and represent good indicators of past sea levels. This contribution shows the results of recent studies conducted in the Carburangeli Cave, a small sub-horizontal cavity developed in Northern Sicily, close to Palermo. This cave was firstly known for paleontological and archaeological findings and for these reasons, along with its speleological and biological interest, a Nature Reserve has been instituted by the Sicilian government, and the cave was put under the management of “Legambiente Sicilia”. Carburangeli Cave opens on a marine palaeocliff at 22 m a.s.l., roughly 500 m far from the coastline, and is partially developed in Mesozoic limestone and in the overlying Pleistocene calcarenites. Its position, pattern, peculiar morphologies, lack of turbulent-flow wall sculptures and alluvial/colluvial sediments suggest an origin controlled by coastal mixing processes giving also important information on the Upper Pleistocene sea level and coastline position in this Northern sector of Sicily. |
