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Piatra Craiului Mountains: Grind Pit (Avenul de Sub Coltii Grindului)

2018; Springer International Publishing; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-319-90747-5_10

2364-4591

Spencer Coca,

Landslides and related hazards

Discovered in 1985 at an altitude of 2020 m above present sea level, the “Avenul de sub Colții Grindului” Cave (hereafter Grind Pit) represents Romania’s first Alpine-type cave included on the list of world’s deepest caves. With a depth of 540 m, the Grind Pit was for decades the deepest cave in Romania and has only recently been surpassed by the Vărășoaia cave system in the Apuseni Mountains. The cave develops in the Upper Tithonian limestones belonging to the Grind Formation. The highly tectonized, bedded limestone dips 75° to 85° toward east, and therefore, pit’s verticality is high. The origin of the pit is related to a massive tectonic breccia zone, formed during the uplift of the Carpathians, which is traversed by a fault that facilitated karstification. The stream flowing through the cave is recharging multiple karstic springs (medium flow: 400 l/s) located near the town of Zărnești, four kilometers away. The exploration activities are concentrated at −540 m in an effort to surpass the current terminus of the cave choked by a large boulder. The expected total vertical potential of the Grind Pit is 1270 m.