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Caves and Speleogenesis in the Lagoa Santa Karst

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Lagoa Santa Karst: Brazil's Iconic Karst Region

Part of the book series: Cave and Karst Systems of the World ((CAKASYWO))

Abstract

Nearly 1,400 caves have been registered in the Lagoa Santa Karst, the most-researched karst area in Brazil, as of December 2017. These caves developed in the Proterozoic carbonates of the Sete Lagoas Formation, mostly in the relatively pure upper Lagoa Santa Member. Much of our sample of 1,399 caves comprise short caves (<20 m in length), which were identified during detailed cave prospecting in environmental assessment studies for limestone quarrying projects. Due to the small area of the karst, which is limited by two rivers (the Velhas and Mata) that act as local base levels, and the limited noncarbonate areas, most of the caves are fed by autogenic (i.e., within the carbonate) water sources. The fragmented nature of the outcrops favors the development of mostly small caves; the longest one, Santo Antonio Cave, is 2.6 km long. As expected, the karst plateaus present the largest number of caves. Paragenetic caves are extremely common due to the availability of sediment and low hydraulic gradients, although syngenetic caves, mostly floodwater mazes, also exist. Floodwater mazes are favored by the existence of numerous sinkhole lakes located at the base of limestone cliffs. The smaller caves are usually fragmented sections of large caves, short vadose shafts, epikarst voids or, less frequently, talus caves. The Lagoa Santa Karst caves display abundant sedimentation and have been subjected to several paleoclimate-controlled episodes of sediment input and removal. Indurated mid to late Pleistocene sedimentation partially or totally fills many cave passages, some of which contain remarkable vertebrate remains. Chemical sedimentation is not frequent, with the exception of ubiquitous calcite layers that can cover significant portions of the cave passages. The 230Th ages of the speleothems show that in some caves, older calcite precipitated before 650 kyr. The age of the initiation of speleogenesis is presently unknown but is likely to have occurred well within the Tertiary period, when groundwater flow started under the now largely removed metapelite cover.

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Acknowledgements

This work results from three decades of research in the Lagoa Santa Karst. I acknowledge the help of many individuals, especially the members of the Grupo Bambuí de Pesquisas Espeleológicas. Local farmers and mining companies graciously allowed access to their properties. The staff at Carste Ciência e Meio Ambiente helped immensely, especially Bárbara Zambelli, Fernanda Pizani, Rafael Cruz, Gabriela Teixeira, and Caroline Reis. Thanks also to Tatiana Souza for reviewing the manuscript.

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  1. Instituto do Carste, Rua Barcelona 240/302, Belo Horizonte, MG, 30360-260, Brazil

    Augusto S. Auler

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  1. Augusto S. Auler
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Correspondence to Augusto S. Auler .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto do Carste, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Augusto S. Auler

  2. Instituto do Carste, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Paulo Pessoa

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Auler, A.S. (2020). Caves and Speleogenesis in the Lagoa Santa Karst. In: S. Auler, A., Pessoa, P. (eds) Lagoa Santa Karst: Brazil's Iconic Karst Region. Cave and Karst Systems of the World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35940-9_9

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