Wann entstanden die Tropfsteine in der Kraushöhle bei Gams (Steiermark)?

Translated title of the contribution: When did the speleothems in Kraushöh- le near Gams (Styria, Austria) form?

Christoph Spötl*, Ronny Boch, Gina Moseley, Susanne Brandstätter, Richard Lawrence Edwards, Hai Cheng, Augusto Mangini, Lukas Plan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

Abstract

n this article we present the first data on the age of stalagmites from Kraushöhle near the village of Gams (Styria), a cave that is known for its prominent gypsum occurrences. Unfortunately, most of the few stalagmites in this cave were vandalised. Determining the onset of the growth of some of these sta-
lagmites, however, is still feasible as their trunks are preserved. Drill cores carefully recovered from the base of eleven speleothems, from which small subsamples were analysed using the Uranium-Thorium method, yielded ages between 6.8 and 86.0 kyr (1 kyr = 1000 years). Most of the stalagmites reveal a Last Glacial age and only one sample started its growth during the
Holocene. The age data clearly suggest that temperatures in Kraushöhle were mostly above the freezing point during Last Glacial period. During the Last Glacial Maximum, however, speleothems were apparently not
forming, implying very cold (and dry) conditions that did not permit vegetation and soil formation hence prohibiting dripstone formation. The U-Th age of the oldest stalagmite sample agrees well with the, albeit highly imprecise, age on the mineral alunite (80 ± 80 kyr), whose presence indicates the timing of hypogene cave development. A geologically speaking young speleogenesis
of this cave system is thus supported by these results.
Translated title of the contributionWhen did the speleothems in Kraushöh- le near Gams (Styria, Austria) form?
Original languageGerman
Pages (from-to)18-24
JournalDie Höhle
Volume65
Issue number1-4
Publication statusPublished - 2014
Externally publishedYes

Fields of Expertise

  • Sonstiges

Treatment code (Nähere Zuordnung)

  • Basic - Fundamental (Grundlagenforschung)

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