Abstract
During the expedition "Tepuy 93", six caves were explored in the precambrian quartzites of Roraima Group, in the Auyan-tepui massif. One of this caves reaches the depth of 370 m and a development of almost 3 km; its name is “Sima Auyan-tepui Noroeste” and it is currently the deepest cave in the world discovered in siliceous rocks The geological and morphological study of this cave has underlined again the importance of deep solutional weathering, along the network of fractures for the formation of caves in siliceous rocks. The different formation stages of the big superficial shafts, called “simas” were observed in some vertical collapse caves explored during the expedition, while galleries with phreatic forms were observed in the deep network of caves. All these deep forms involve karst processes of solution at least in the initial stage.
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.24.1.2
Recommended Citation
Piccini, Leonardo.
1995.
Karst in siliceous rocks - karst landforms and caves in the Auyàn-Tepui Massif (Est. Bolivar, Venezuela).
International Journal of Speleology,
24: 41-54.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/ijs/vol24/iss1/2
