Caverna del León, Picunches Department, Neuquén Province, Argentinai

Regional Level Types
Caverna del León	Cave
Picunches Department	Department
Neuquén Province	Province
Argentina	Country

Introduction: The province of Neuquen is one of Argentina's largest Karst regions since it has the largest limestone rock systems, the Cuchillo Curá system. Its extensive development and its speleogenetic characteristics motivated exploratory studies which identified 111 cavities surveyed at the time. These include caverns generated by karstic processes in limestone and gypsum and pseudokarstic processes such as volcanic caves. The origin of karst cavities took place during the Holocene, alternatingly cold/dry and warm/humid climate conditions. These days the caves are dormant hydraulically, but minimal karstic processes due to the semiarid climate characterize the region.

The lion's Cave: Cave of the lion is located on the cord of the Curymil, 20 kilometres south of the city of Las Lajas, about 38°37'46 "S, 70°13'31" W and 1.310 m. a.s.l. You can also access it from the South, about 25 km to the NW of Zapala by the national route 40 that leads to Las Lajas, passing through "Agua de los Alazanes", and then along about 5 km to the West on a path to an abandoned marble quarry. There walk 100 m to the left, you will reach an area of petrified coral of reddish colour that can be seen in a cut to the peak of the Curymil cord which is 2 m high by about 100 metres long. The entrance to the cave is narrow, leads to a wide gallery of approximately 20 m wide by similar in height and about 65 m deep in descending slopes toward a pond of crystal clear waters. Approximate length is 852 meters and is the highest registered 24.31 meters. The host rock corresponds to the Auquilco formation, comprising an evaporitic succession composed of gypsum and anhydrite, with thin interbedded limestone algal banks. Subordinately, opal and chalcedony and thin banks of pelitic lenses can be seen. The gypsum is affected by systems of normal faults and joints associated with a fold of East-West, East dipping affecting Jurassic units.

The region where this cave, surrounded by surface Karst forms such as dolines, depressions by dissolution whose original term is subsidence troughs, karrens solution of few centimeters on exposed levels of gypsum and blind valleys, and described the presence of chimneys of gypsum "gypsum chimneys" in unconsolidated deposits constituting the cover of the karst, features that are similar to the edaphic forms known as tunnel erosion. It is small vertical tubes of variable section to reach 20 cm in diameter and which are coated by crystals of gypsum of orthogonal layout to the shaft inside.

At the eastern end of the least sheds room is located and the room of the Chimenas which can be accessed through a covered by gaps of collapse, and only 1.45 meters high called the "U" through. The room also has accumulations of gaps of collapse and marks of the periodic floods recorded in the walls and bodies of water (the Lake). It is common to observe the presence of cones formed by sediment fraction sand associated with crashes of roof in the form of tubes or pipes. This room leaves a cat whose roof presents small stalactites of yellow-brown, and of gypsum crystals are faceted by action movies (films) water and thin plaster needles associated with joint of reticulated design (boxwork) games. In the floor sediment, there are small crystals of gypsum (selenite) less than mm. The decoration of the walls includes in the sectors most protected, added very long and thin plaster fibres called "cotton flakes", and thin veils covered by a layer of white which they called "deposits of gypsum powder". This layer consists of small aggregates by even smaller crystals of calcite.

There are numerous forms of dissolution on walls and ceiling as the scallops and pockets and domes associated with fissures. It is estimated that these forms result from phenomena corrosive by action movies (films) of water generated by condensation on the inside of the cavity, especially during the winter.

The Lake room is located to the Northwest and is characterized by the presence of abundant gaps of collapse and partially to fully flooded sections. This room houses a mirror of approximately 50 meters in diameter with a depth of approximately 40 metres being surrounded by cones by the collapse of the ceiling. The water temperature is 7°C with a visibility of 30 metres. This room out waterlogged minors who arrive to the drum, or the limestone room and room Escondida, which develops to the South; There are also 3 pits detected at the bottom of the Lake, still unexplored. The upwelling of the cavity would be associated to the wetland of the cave.

References

External Links

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality