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30 Carbonates Evaporites (2011) 26:29–40 The present study documents a methodological approach useful for the geological and geomorphological characterization of these special environments and discusses the conditioning of karst development. Setting Torca Teyera is a large shaft, 738 m deep, located on the northern part of the Picos de Europa (Fig. 1), a mountain massif located in the Cantabrian Mountains of northern Spain. From the structural standpoint, Picos de Europa belongs to the Cantabrian Zone of the Variscides domain (Lotze 1945; Julivert et al. 1972; Alonso et al. 2009). The bedrock consists mainly of 1,200 m of carboniferous limestone affected by E–W to NW–SE and south-directed imbricate variscan system thrust (Fig. 2). The décollement level of the structures is above siliciclastic rocks from the Pisuerga-Carrión province (Pérez- Estaún et al. 1988; Marquínez 1989; Farias and Heredia 1994; Bahamonde et al. 2007; Merino-Tomé et al. 2009). During the Alpine orogeny, some of these thrusts were reactivated, causing the rotation of some thrust sheets Fig. 1 Situation map of the Picos de Europa massif. The locations of the cave of study (Torca Teyera, Fig. 5) are also shown 123 and leading to the formation of the main relief (Alonso et al. 1996; Pulgar et al. 1999; Gallastegui Suárez 2000). Picos de Europa is characterized by a rough and calcareous relief with peaks exceeding 2,500 m above sea level (asl) and by the presence of narrow canyons, such as the Cares Gorge. Canyons up to 2,000-m deep evidence the important fluvial incision derived from uplifting. The karst forms dominate the landscape (Hoyos Gómez 1979; Smart 1984, 1986; Hoyos Gómez and Herrero 1989; Santos Alonso and Marquínez García, 2005), although glacial and periglacial features are preserved (Alonso 1991; González Suárez and Alonso 1994; Gale and Hoare 1997; Alonso 1998; Jiménez-Sánchez and Farias Arquer 2002; González Trueba 2006, 2007; Moreno et al. 2009; Serrano Cañadas and González Trueba 2004). Moreover, nival, gravity and fluviotorrential processes also control the geomorphological evolution of the landscape. Torca Teyera shaft was discovered, explored and surveyed by the Groupe Spéléo du Doubs, the Société Suisse de Spéléo-Section de Genève, the Société des Amateurs des Caverns and the Spéléo Club of Nyon between 1979 and 1982 (Borreguero 1986). During these explorations,
Carbonates Evaporites (2011) 26:29–40 31 Fig. 2 Geological map of Picos de Europa (after Martínez García and Rodríguez Fernández 1984; Marquínez 1989; Merino-Tomé et al. 2009). Location of Torca Teyera (Fig. 5) is shown Borreguero (1986) prepared the first karst research presenting the structural control and cave development. From 2007 to 2009, 2,700 m of new cave passages were discovered by the Asociación Deportiva GEMA. At the present, Torca Teyera has 4 km of known passages reaching a depth of 738 m. 123
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1.3 MB - Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra Jaume Almera

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