•  
  •  
 

Highlights

  • Seismic traveltime tomography imaging at Alepotrypa Cave (Diros, Greece)
  • Interpreted sediment interfaces provide deposition patterns and allow for thickness and volume estimations
  • Reconstructed buried cave morphology allows for visualization of the buried cave floor shape and cross-section

Abstract

The deposition of unconsolidated clay sediments in caves, in relation to the buried morphology of the karstic conduit, are important parameters for the study of cave evolution. We introduce the application of an active seismic imaging technique to investigate the clay deposits and bedrock morphology in caves. Seismic traveltime tomography, applied for the first time in cave studies, can assist with the interpretation of cave geomorphology. Utilizing the P-wave velocity contrast between the clay sediments and the surrounding rock mass, we map the buried rock surface and significant sediment interfaces and provide an estimate of the sediment thickness and volume. Our study focuses on the Alepotrypa Cave located in Diros (Peloponnese, Greece), revealing important information for the evolution of the cave. The proposed technique could be applied in caves with significant clay deposits, in order to constrain the clay volume and reconstruct the buried floor shape of the cave. The technique exploits fully the ground morphology and access points in a cave, so it is suitable for a detailed three-dimensional exploration of cave deposits and the underlying cave morphology.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.46.1.2005

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Additional Files
Polymenakos.ris (1 kB)
Export citation
Download

Supplemental Content/Export Citation

Share

COinS