Bella P., Littva J., Pukanská K., Gašinec J. & Bartoš K., 2015: Use of terrestrial laser scanning for the investigation of structural geological discontinuities and morphology of caves: the example of the Dúpnica Cave, Západné Tatry Mts., Slovakia. Acta Geologica Slovaca, 7, 2, 93–102. (in Slovak with English summary)

Využitie terestrického laserového skenovania pri skúmaní štruktúrno-geologických diskontinuít a morfológie jaskýň: príklad jaskyne Dúpnica v Západných Tatrách

Use of terrestrial laser scanning for the investigation of structural geological discontinuities and morphology of caves: the example of the Dúpnica Cave, Západné Tatry Mts., Slovakia

Pavel Bella^1,2, Juraj Littva^1,3, Katarína Pukanská⁴, Juraj Gašinec⁴ & Karol Bartoš⁴

¹Štátna ochrana prírody SR, Správa slovenských jaskýň, Hodžova 11, 031 01 Liptovský Mikuláš; pavel.bella@ssj.sk
²Katedra geografie, Pedagogická fakulta, Katolícka univerzita v Ružomberku, Hrabovská cesta 1, 034 01 Ružomberok; pavel.bella@ku.sk
³Katedra geológie a paleontológie, Prírodovedecká fakulta, Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava; littva@gmail.sk
⁴Ústav geodézie, kartografie a GIS, Fakulta BERG, Technická univerzita v Košiciach, Park Komenského 19, 041 01 Košice; katarina.pukanska@tuke.sk, juraj.gasinec@tuke.sk, karol.bartos@tuke.sk

Abstract

Terrestrial laser scanning was used for a detailed survey and 3D visualization of the Dúpnica Cave. This cave of disputable origin is located at the fault zone among the Západné Tatry Mts., Chočské vrchy Mts. and Liptovská kotlina Basin (the northern part of Slovakia). The cave plan drawn based on a classic surveying is too generalizing. It does not display smaller solutional and breakdown forms, and structural geological discontinuities (located mostly on the high walls and ceiling of main chamber). The origin of primary solutional chamber and adjacent cupola-like cavities and blind chimneys was controlled by steep faults. Later, these solutional forms were remodelled by breakdown processes, mainly along intersecting faults. In the SE part of the cave, well-preserved original solutional morphologies of the lateral passage controlled by the steep ENE–WSW fault are clear indicators of speleogenesis by ascending (probably thermal) waters. The formation of the cave by ascending waters was terminated by the activity of NNE–SSW fault. This suggests that the stress field in the studied area changed during the Quaternary from the N–S oriented extension to the extension generally oriented to the E-W direction.

Key words: structural geology, fault, karst, cave, morphology, hypogene speleogenesis, terrestrial laser scanning, digital 3D model

Manuscript received: 2014-09-02

Revised version accepted: 2015-02-17