Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Espeleogênese em quartzitos da Serra do Ibitipoca, sudeste de Minas Gerais

1997; UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO DE JANEIRO; Volume: 20; Linguagem: Inglês

10.11137/1997_0_75-87

1982-3908

Atlas Vasconcelos Corrêa Neto, João Baptista de Oliveira e Souza Filho,

Geological Modeling and Analysis

The caves built in quartzites at the Ibitipoca Range are part of hierarquized underground drainage systems. Spelcogencsis was a two-stage process, following the sanding/piping model. In the first stage, porosity was generated by feldspar and phyllosilicates alteration and silica solution from quartz. The essential conditions for cave development were: (1) a large diference between local and regional base levels; (2) presence of rock layers specially susceptible to sanding and piping processes (fine-grained micaceous quartzite) and (3) a sequence of cycles of stability and uplift Different cave patterns and sizes can be explained by changes in one or more of the above conditionants.