Karst and caves in the Bihor Mountains - ITIM

depression whose flat bottom is mostly flooded both duringheavy rains and at snow melting. The waters reappear atthe surface at two different locations: Poliţei spring andCoteţul Dobreştilor resurgence.Downstream from the last ponor in the depression, thevalley shape is hardly visible, but the old meanders maystill be noticed. Then, after a short gorge sector beyond thewell at Vuiagă the valley ends in a small ponor, in front of asteep cliff. On top of the cliff, in a large doline, opens theentrance shaft of the Şesuri Pothole. The doline is closed tothe south by the Culmea Pârjolii, the massif which hosts theScărişoara Ice Cave.The proper depression extends over 3.6 km 2 and isdominated by the Ocoale Hill to the north, the Comărniceland Bocului hills to the west, Culmea Pârjolii to the southand Piatra Corbului hill to the east. Its sides are slopinggently because subaerial streams quickly infiltrateunderground when they cross karst areas and the reducedflowrates of the streams from the western and northernedges cannot induce erosion. The exokarst consists ofdolines and numerous types of karren, of which the bestrepresented are the channel karren types.The geological setting of the Ocoale - Gheţar Plateau israther simple. The entire plateau is developed on Mesozoicsedimentary rocks belonging to the Bihor Unit(autochthonous). To the west, the autochthonous isoverthrust by the Permian detrital formation developed in atypical Verrucano facies (purplish-red colored quartzitesandstone, conglomerates, and shales). This latter one ispart of the Gârda Nappe.The existence of the Scărişoara Cave has stimulatedmany speleological investigations in the area. In particular,the water divide between Gârda Seacă and Ordâncuşavalleys, dominated by the Ocoale – Scărişoara closecatchment basin, was the object of many observations.Among these, groundwater flow directions and flow rate