Dolomitización en sistemas kársticos actuales: el caso de la Cueva de Castañar de Ibor (Cáceres)

Abstract

Deposits of recent dolomite in caves constitute one more setting that provide data in order to get one more approach to the "dolomite problem". The moon-milk deposits of the Castañar de Ibor Cave (Cáceres) include spheroidal dolomite which occurs associated with huntite that grows mostly on fibrous aragonite crystals. This study suggests that dolomite formed in relation to microbial films that developed on the aragonite crystals. Within these films, both dolomite and huntite formed, but also the wide presence of dolomite is due to transformation of huntite which is metastable. Magnesium is provided by the dissolution of Precambrian dolostones on which the cave developed.