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Structural Settings and Hypogenic Flow Paths for Three Colorado Caves

2017; Springer International Publishing; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-319-53348-3_36

2364-4591

R. Mark Maslyn, Harvey R. DuChene, Frederick G. Luiszer,

Groundwater flow and contamination studies

Colorado, a state with diverse geology and high topographic relief, contains several significant hypogene cave systems. Three are described here: the Orient Mine Cave System, Cave of the Winds, and Glenwood Caverns. All are located near present thermal springs, which help to determine the chemistry of the cave-forming water. The Orient Mine Caves were encountered during mining operations to extract limonite ore for the manufacture of steel. The ore follows the bedding, but hypogene cave galleries also cut across bedding and extend upward as domes. The galleries were formed by warm water rising along the San Luis fault and mixing with cool recharge from nearby mountains. Cave of the Winds follows the plunge of an anticline and probably formed when water with high CO2 rose along faults and mixed with shallow meteoric water. At Glenwood Caverns, carbonic acid in rising thermal water is responsible for most speleogenetic dissolution, but some dry parts of the cave have a sulfuric acid overprint.