Caves of the Făgăras Mountains

Abstract

The Făgăraș Mountains consisting mostly of impervious metamorphic rocks are an unlikely location for karst development. Yet, due to the occurrence of a series of marble stripes interbedded within the metamorphic rocks, several caves developed in two areas in the central part of the mountains: Piscu Negru (at ~1200 m) and Mușeteica-Râiosu (between ~2100 and ~2400 m). Average air temperature is around 6.5 °C inside the Piscu Negru caves and 3.3 °C in Mușeteica. Cave No. 1 from the Piscu Negru Mine is the longest cavity in the massif (804 m), whereas M3-R2 Cave contains the speleothems from the highest altitude in Romania. Cave fauna is poor, and some bat species were found at the highest elevations of their habitat. The caves preserve reliable speleothem records for future studies on past climate variability and interactions between glaciations and karst.