Lačný A., Lánczos T., Hók J., Józsa Š., Rybárik M., Blaškovič B. & Pachinger P., 2023: Geology, morphology, and speleothems of the Jaskyňa Dezidera Horváta Cave (Western Carpathians). Acta Geologica Slovaca, 15, 2, 61–75.

Geology, morphology, and speleothems of the Jaskyňa Dezidera Horváta Cave (Western Carpathians)

Alexander Lačný^1,2, Tomáš Lánczos³, Jozef Hók², Štefan Józsa², Matej Rybárik⁴, Boris Blaškovič⁵ & Patrik Pachinger⁶

¹State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic, Little Carpathians Protected Landscape Area, Štúrova 115, 900 01, Modra, Slovakia; alexander.lacny@sopsr.sk
²Department of Geology and Paleontology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia; alexander.lacny@uniba.sk, jozef.hok@uniba.sk, stefan.jozsa@uniba.sk
³Department of Geochemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia; tomas.lanczos@uniba.sk
⁴Department of Mineralogy, Petrology and Economic Geology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia; rybarik9@uniba.sk
⁵Cave Group Strážovské vrchy, Stred 66/61, 017 01, Považská Bystrica, Slovakia; felidae@felidae.sk
⁶Slovak Environment Agency Tajovského 28, 975 90 Banská Bystrica Slovakia; patrik.pachinger@sazp.sk

Abstract

The Jaskyňa Dezidera Horváta Cave is located in the inner city of the town of Nitra, south of the Kalvária Hill (227.3 m asl.). The Jaskyňa Dezidera Horváta Cave has thus become the longest cave of the karst areas in the Tribeč Mts. It currently reaches a length of 610 m, with a denivelization of 45 m. Several geological, geomorphological, and geochemical methods have been used to clarify the genesis of the cave. The cave evolved in the Jurassic limestones belonging to the Tatric Unit. NW–SE, W–E, and NNE–SSW discontinuities were significant to the genesis of the cave. The raised air and water temperatures in the cave (12.5–13.5°C) and the occurrence of various, not-so-common speleothem types, such as helictites, corraloids, and calcite crystals make this cave unique within the Western Carpathians. The morphology of the cave spaces, together with the increased temperature of the water and cave air, indicates that it could be a hypogenic cave, and even more specifically, a hypogenic-hybrid in origin. During its speleogenesis, the mixing corrosion by mixing of atmospheric waters and groundwater played an important role.

Key words: Western Slovakia, Tribeč Mts., Nitra Karst, Jaskyňa Dezidera Horváta Cave, speleogenesis

Manuscript received: 2022-12-20

Revised version accepted: 2023-11-09