Karst of Sicily - A Journey Inside and Outside the Island’s Mountains

This book describes Sicily’s unique and varied karst features, discussing the notable geographical areas, their lithology and genesis and, in a number of cases, their value as geosites to be preserved for scientific or tourism purposes. The rich variety of Meso-Cenozoic outcropping rocks in Sicily make the island highly significant in terms of the geological history of the Mediterranean area. The soluble rocks (limestones and gypsum), widely present on the island, play an important role in shaping and continuously altering the landscape, both in the reliefs with spectacular fluviokarst cayons and suggestive gorges, and below ground where there is a wide range of speleogenically and speleologically important caves. Preface Reference Photos Introduction Contents 1 The Territory of the Region 1.1 Geographical Aspects 1.2 Geomorphological Features 1.3 Climatic Aspects 1.4 Hydrogeological Features 1.5 Geological Context 1.6 Vulcanism: The Volcanic Districts of Sicily and Surrounding Seas References 2 Karst Areas of Sicily 2.1 General Aspects of Classification and Distribution of Karst Areas in Sicily 2.2 Classification of Sicilian Karst Areas by Orographic Units 2.3 Classification of Sicilian Karst Areas by Hydrogeological Basins 2.4 Some Statistical Data on Sicilian Caves References 3 South-Eastern Sicily 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Geotectonic Arrangement of South-Eastern Sicily 3.3 Morphological Features 3.4 Karst Area of the Eastern Hyblean Mountains 3.4.1 Geolithological Aspects 3.5 Fluviokarst Morphologies 3.5.1 Cava Grande del Cassibile 3.5.1.1 Historical Aspects 3.5.2 Anapo Valley—Calcinara Pantalica, Valle dell'Anapo, and Torrente Cava Grande Nature Reserve (Unesco World Heritage Site) 3.5.2.1 Geolithological and Karst Aspects 3.5.2.2 The Civilization of Pantalica: A Brief Historical Note 3.6 Main Karst Caves of the Eastern Hyblean Sector 3.6.1 The Villasmundo-Alfio Cave Karst System 3.6.2 The Grotta Palombara 3.6.3 The Grotta Chiusazza 3.6.4 The Grotta Monello 3.6.5 The Grotta dei Pipistrelli 3.6.6 The Grotta Trovata 3.6.7 The Grotta Pillirina 3.6.8 The Grotta del Fico 3.6.9 The Grotta Sucolifre 3.6.10 The Pozzo Canseria 3.7 Karst Area of the Western Hyblean Mountains 3.7.1 Geolithological and Tectonic Aspects 3.7.2 Hydrogeological and Hydrokarst Aspects 3.7.2.1 Western Hydrogeological Basin 3.7.2.2 Central Hydrogeological Basin 3.7.2.3 Eastern Hydrogeological Basin 3.8 Karst Morphologies 3.8.1 The Fluviokarst Gorges of the Tellesimo Valley 3.8.1.1 Archeological Aspects 3.8.2 The Fluviokarst Valley of Prainito 3.8.3 The Fluviokarst Valleys North of Ragusa 3.8.4 The Gole della Stretta 3.8.5 The Polje di Piano degli Angeli 3.8.6 The Cava d'Ispica 3.8.7 The Cava Grande—Lazzero 3.8.8 The Conca del Salto 3.9 Underground Karst Morphologies 3.9.1 The Grotta del Salto 1 3.9.2 The Grotta Incredibile 3.9.3 Karst System “Oro Spring Cave-Scribano-Misericordia Spring Cave” 3.10 Caves in the Messinian Gypsum Along the Vallone Scifazzo 3.10.1 The Grotta Arenatura 3.10.2 The Grotta Cannabis 3.10.3 The Grotta Falcone 3.11 Tectonic Relations/Eustatic Variations—Karst in the Hyblean Plateau 3.11.1 Miocene Karst (The Messinian Karst Erosion Surface) 3.11.2 Pleistocene Karst in the Eastern Ionian Area 3.11.3 Pleistocene Karst in the Central-Southern Area of Hyblean Plateau References 4 Central-Southern Sicily 4.1 Physical and Geographic Aspects 4.2 Geological Aspects 4.2.1 The Mediterranean Salinity Crisis 4.3 Karst Aspects 4.4 Surface Karst Morphologies 4.4.1 Vallone del Ponte-Grotte d’Acqua 4.5 Underground Morphologies 4.5.1 The Grotta Sant’Angelo Muxaro-Grotta Ciauli 4.5.2 The Grotte dell’Acqua Mintina 4.5.3 The Caves of Monte Conca 4.5.4 The Zubbia Camilleri 4.5.5 The Grotta Bruno 4.5.6 The Grotta Inferno Complex 4.5.7 The Grotta dei Cristalli o dell’Amfora 4.5.7.1 Historical Aspects 4.5.8 The Grotta di Monte Faggebba 4.5.9 The Grotte dell’Acqua Fitusa References 5 Central and South-Western Sicily 5.1 Sicani Mountains 5.1.1 Geographical and Physical Aspects 5.1.2 Geological Aspects 5.1.3 Karst Geomorphological Features 5.2 The Tardara Gorges and its Karst Caves 5.3 The Monte Kronio and its Vaporous Caves 5.3.1 Geological, Hydrogeological, and Karst Aspects 5.3.2 Historical and Archeological Aspects 5.4 The Gorges of Castidduzzu 5.5 The Sosio River and its Fantastic Gorges 5.6 The Grotta di Santa Ninfa and the Blind Valley of Biviere 5.7 The Grotta Pafuni 5.8 The Rocca and the Entella Cave References 6 North-Western Sicily 6.1 Geographical and Physical Aspects 6.2 Geological Aspects 6.3 Karst Geomorphological Features 6.4 Karst Morphologies of the Monti di Capo San Vito 6.5 Macro Karst Forms 6.5.1 The Cipollazzo Gorges 6.5.2 The Bufara Doline 6.5.3 The Purgatorio Polje 6.5.3.1 Genesis and Evolution of the Purgatorio Polje 6.6 The Karst Area of the Zingaro Natural Reserve 6.7 Underground Karst Features in the Capo San Vito Mountains 6.7.1 Karst and Speleological Park of Piano Zubbia 6.7.2 The Grotta Maria SS. di Custonaci 6.7.3 The Grotta della Clava 6.7.4 The Grotta del Fantasma 6.7.5 The Grotta Rumena, a Geosite of World Scientific Value 6.7.6 The Abisso del Purgatorio 6.7.7 The Abisso delle Gole di Cipollazzo 6.7.8 The Zubbia delle Meraviglie 6.7.9 The Grotta Tonnara del Secco 6.8 Karst Features in Monte Inici 6.8.1 The Karst System Grotta dell’Eremita-Abisso dei Cocci 6.9 Karst Features in Montagna Grande 6.9.1 The Grotta Domingo 6.10 Karst Features in the Egadi Islands 6.11 The Island of Favignana 6.11.1 Geological Aspects 6.12 The Historical Quarries of Favignana 6.13 The Underground Karst Morphologies 6.13.1 The Ciacca Niura 6.13.2 The Grotta Faraglione 6.13.3 The Grotta delle Pecore o della Madonna 6.13.4 The Grotta d’Oriente 6.13.5 The Grotta dell’Acqua o dei Coralli References 7 Northern Sicily 7.1 Geographical Aspects 7.2 Geological Framework 7.3 The Karst Area of the Palermo Mountains 7.3.1 The Mount Pellegrino 7.3.2 The Abisso della Pietra Selvaggia 7.3.3 The Zubbione della Pizzuta 7.3.4 The Stone Forest of Cozzo San Pietro 7.3.5 The Gypsum Rìdge of the Serre di Ciminna 7.4 The Karst Area of the Madonie Massif 7.4.1 The Abisso del Vento 7.4.2 The Abisso del Gatto References 8 North-Eastern Sicily 8.1 Geographical and Physical Aspects 8.2 Geological Framework 8.3 Karst Aspects 8.3.1 The Mount Scuderi 8.3.2 The Cascate del Catafurco 8.3.3 The Rocche del Crasto 8.3.4 The Grotta del Lauro 8.3.5 The Grotta del Tono 8.3.6 The Grotta di San Teodoro References 9 Volcanic Caves of Mount Etna 9.1 The Lava Tube of the Etna Volcano 9.1.1 The Grotta dei Tre Livelli 9.1.2 The Grotta di Serracozzo 1 9.1.3 The Grotta dell’Intralio 9.1.4 The Grotta dei Rotoli 9.1.5 The Grotta dei Ladri 9.1.6 The Grotta Micio Conti 9.1.7 The Grotta del Gelo 9.1.8 The Grotta dei Cento Cavalli e dell’Eremita 9.1.9 The Grotta dei Lamponi References