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Rendiconti Seminario Facoltà Scienze Università Cagliari Supplemento Vol. 71 Fasc. 2 (2001) Some examples of karst phenomena in the Sulcis region JO DE WAELE(*), FRANCO FRAU(**) Abstract. In this paper is described the field trip which brought almost 50 participants of the WRI-10 to visit the Sulcis region in south-west Sardinia. This excursion led across a great range of geomorphological landscapes and a wide lapse of geological time. The first stop concerned the Riomurtas karst depression near Narcao, with interesting sinkhole collapse phenomena related to withdrawal of the water table by overexploitation of the karstic aquifer. Near Nuxis, a small carbonatic outcrop with interesting karstic microforms was the object of the second stop, whereas the third stop was at the Is Zuddas cave close to Santadi. The visit of this cave permitted the participants not only to admire striking aragonitic helictites, beautiful calcite concretions and various typical cave deposits, but also to see the results of a geo-environmental monitoring of this cave and its fragile environment. Riassunto. In questo lavoro viene descritto il field trip che ha portato quasi 50 congressisti del WRI-10 a visitare la regione del Sulcis, nella Sardegna sud-occiden- tale. Questa escursione ha interessato un’ampia varietà di paesaggi geomorfologici riferibili a diverse epoche geologiche. Il primo stop ha riguardato la depressione carsica di Riomurtas vicino a Narcao, con interessanti fenomeni di crollo riconducibili all’abbassamento della tavola d’acqua in seguito a sovrasfruttamento dell’acquifero carsico. Vicino a Nuxis, un piccolo affioramento carbonatico con interessanti microforme di erosione carsica ha rappresentato l’oggetto del secondo stop, mentre il terzo stop ha riguardato la grotta di Is Zuddas presso Santadi. La visita della grotta ha dato la possibilità ai congressisti non solo di ammirare le spettacolari eccentriche di aragonite, le belle concrezioni calcitiche e vari tipici depositi di grotta, ma anche di conoscere i sistemi di monitoraggio qui installati per controllare la salute di questo fragile ambiente sotterraneo. INTRODUCTION Some of the most characteristic landscape-features of the Sulcis area are represented by the dolomitic and limestone facies in which karst phenomena, such as caves, canyons, (*) Department of Earth Sciences, Via Trentino 51 – 09127 Cagliari, Italy. [email protected]. (**) Department of Earth Sciences, Via Trentino 51 – 09127 Cagliari, Italy. [email protected]. 126 J. DE WAELE, F. FRAU sinkholes and various microforms, are very well developed. Karst also includes mineralizations, and different lead-zinc and barite mines of the region exploited paleokarst fillings of Tertiary, Permo-Triassic and/or Cambro-Ordovician age. Karst in the Sulcis area is fragmented, being known about 20 carbonatic outcroppings, some of which have important caves and springs. These latter often give rise to travertine deposits. The most interesting features can be seen near the villages of Santadi, Nuxis, Villamassargia, Narcao and Carbonia. This field trip offers the opportunity to visit some features related to karst phenomena in this region. The cover-collapse sinkholes near Narcao are the result of a long-during human impact on the covered karst relief; in fact, overexploitation of the karstic aquifer has caused ravelling which ultimately has resulted in the formation of sinkholes in alluvial deposits covering the buried karst topography. A more directly observable karstic phenomenon is the lapiez surface near Nuxis, where carbonate dissolution by rain water has caused the formation of a complete series of micromorphologies which are typical of exposed compact limestone surfaces. Finally, the Is Zuddas cave near Santadi is one of the most beautiful tourist caverns of Sardinia, and since 10 years it is the subject of a monitoring project aiming at the assessment of the effects of the flow of visitors on its fragile environment. The cave formed since early Pliocene in the slowly dissolving Cambrian dolomite, and nowadays is particularly appreciated thanks to the abundance of aragonite helictites. The complete itinerary is outlined in fig. 1; the numbers refer to the stops planned during the field trip. GEOLOGY OF THE AREA Many different geological landscapes, mainly constituted of Palaeozoic bedrock covered by Tertiary sediments and volcanic rocks, can be admired during this field trip. Stratigraphy The south-western part of Sardinia is characterised by lithologies covering a lapse of time going from Palaeozoic to Quaternary: among these the Palaeozoic sequences are the most interesting. This sedimentary succession starts with the monotonous siltitic and arenaceous sediments of the Bithia Formation (Precambrian? – Lower Cambrian), followed by a thick sequence of Cambrian-Lower Ordovician rocks [1]. The Palaeozoic rocks are well described by BECHSTADT & BONI (1996) [2]; a schematic geological section is represented in fig. 2. From a stratigraphic point of view the Cambrian-Lower Ordovician succession in south-west Sardinia is divided in three major Groups: Nebida Group, Gonnesa Group and Iglesias Group. The Nebida Group (Lower Cambrian) is composed of delta and coastal sediments, and is divided in two formations [3]: the Matoppa Formation and the Punta Manna Formation. The former is characterised by sandstones and shales, and is partially heterotopic with the SOME EXAMPLES OF KARST PHENOMENA IN THE SULCIS REGION 127 Figure 1. Itinerary and stops during the field trip. 128 J. DE WAELE, F. FRAU Bithia Formation, therefore having an indefinite range. The Punta Manna Formation has a range of about 80 meters and starts with oolithic limestones and calcareous sandstones, followed by sandstones with carbonatic fossiliferous lenses and strata. The Gonnesa Group (Lower Cambrian) is characterised by carbonatic sediments, and is divided in two formations according to the trilobite content: the Santa Barbara Formation and the San Giovanni Formation [3]. This succession starts with grey dolostones with clear sedimentary structures, followed by darker and intensely dolomitised rocks in which no structures or fossils have been found, ending with a thick succession of waxy and intensely karstified limestones. The Iglesias Group (Middle Cambrian-Lower Ordovician) is divided in two formations: the Campo Pisano Formation, constituted of nodular limestones, followed by a thick succession of shales of the Cabitza Formation [3]. The deposition of the Ordovician conglomerates (Puddinga auct.) corresponds to an important tectonic phase (Fase Sarda auct.) that determined a long period of continentality, causing erosion of the Cambro-Ordovician rocks, followed by the deposition of fluvial sediments. During Caradoc-Ashgill upon the conglomerates were deposited coastal and deep-sea sediments. The Tertiary sediments outcropping in the area are clearly separated from the Palaeozoic rocks by an E-W striking fault of regional importance of Oligo-Miocene age. The observed lithologies are represented by the sediments of the Cixerri Formation (Eocene-Lower Oligocene [4]), mainly composed of quartzitic sandstones with conglomeratic, clayey, marly or siltitic lenses and strata deposited in a continental environment. More to the north-west (Carbonia), this formation covers Eocene transitional and continental sediments, containing some coal seams [5]. From the early Tertiary, volcanic activity in the Sulcis area starts with alkaline rocks, occurring as sills which cut the Upper Palaeocene to Lower Eocene sediments [6], with an age between 62.1 and 60.2 Ma [7]. Later on, beginning from 32 Ma, Sardinia was interested by important geodynamic and tectonic events, responsible for the opening of the north-western Mediterranean and connected with the drifting of the Sardinian- Corsican microplate. Due to these phenomena, a new volcanic cycle of prevalently calc- alkaline character, related to the subduction of oceanic lithosphere underneath the Sardinian-Corsican microplate [9] [10], starts, giving rise to many volcanic products also in the Sulcis area. The geological succession ends with Quaternary deposits, such as alluvial sediments, landslide deposits, travertines and coastal sandy sediments (e.g. Thyrrenian, fossil and recent dunes, beachrock). Tectonics The first tectonic events recognised in this area are related to the Fase Sarda (auct.), in connection with the Caledonian Orogenesis, and are dated Lower-Middle Ordovician. This tectonic phase is represented by E-W structures, characterised by folds of different SOME EXAMPLES OF KARST PHENOMENA IN THE SULCIS REGION 129 Figure 2. Geological sketch map of south-west Sardinia and schematic stratigraphical section of the Cambro-Ordovician sequence (from [2]). 130 J. DE WAELE, F. FRAU dimensions in relation with the lithologies involved. Later, during the Lower Carboniferous, another tectonic phase, related to the Hercynian Orogenesis, is recognisable. First the tectonic style is similar to the one produced by the Fase Sarda, later it orients perpendicularly (N-S), causing intense cleavage of the shales and a lengthening of the pebbles of the Ordovician conglomerates. The last important tectonic phase that has left a sign in the present geological framework of this area is Oligocene-Lower Miocene in age. In this period the area has been interested by the formation of E-W striking faults, associated with NNE-SSW faults, related to the rifting of the Sardinian-Corsican microplate [1][2][8]. Ore deposits The Sulcis region, together with