Abstract
Anchialine caves in coastal locations develop in two ways: by pseudokarst processes that form talus caves, sea caves, tafoni, fissure caves and lava tubes, and by karst dissolutional processes that form stream caves, flank margin caves, and blue holes. Pseudokarst caves are of minor importance in anchialine cave habitat development, with some lava tubes being notable exceptions. Dissolution caves provide the most extensive, variable, and long-term environments for anchialine habitats. The Carbonate Island Karst Model (CIKM) allows dissolutional cave development in carbonate coasts to be understood as the interplay between freshwater and marine water mixing, sea-level change, rock maturity, and interaction with adjacent non-carbonate rocks. Glacioeustatic sea-level changes of the Quaternary have moved all coastal anchialine cave environments repeatedly through a vertical range of over 100 m, and modern anchialine environments could not develop at their current elevations until ~4,000 years ago when sea level reached its present position. Blue holes form by a variety of mechanisms, but the most common is upward stoping and collapse from deep dissolutional voids. As a result, they provide vertical connection between different levels of horizontal cave development produced by a variety of earlier sea-level positions. Blue holes are overprinted by successive sea-level fluctuations; each sea-level event adds complexity to the habitats within blue holes and the cave systems they connect. Blue holes can reach depths below the deepest glacioeustatic sea-level lowstand, and thereby provide a refugia for anchialine species when cave passages above are drained by Quaternary sea-level fall. Blue holes represent the most significant anchialine cave environment in the world, and may provide clues to anchialine cave species colonization and speciation events.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Back, W., B. B. Hanshaw, J. S. Herman & J. N. Van Driel, 1986. Differential dissolution of a Pleistocene reef in the ground-water mixing zone of coastal Yucatan, Mexico. Geology 14: 137–140.
Beddows, P. A., P. L. Smart, F. F. Whitaker & S. L. Smith, 2007. Decoupled fresh-saline circulation of a coastal carbonate aquifer: spatial patterns of temperature and specific electrical conductivity. Journal of Hydrology 16: 18–32.
Bögli, A., 1964. Mischungskorrosion: Ein Beitrag zum Verkarstungproblem. Erkunde18: 83-92. As reported in Bögli, A.,1980. Karst Hydrology and Physical Speleology. Springer Verlag, New York.
Bottrell, S. H., P. L. Smart, F. Whitaker & R. Raiswell, 1991. Geochemistry and isotope systematics of sulphur in the mixing zone of Bahamian blue holes. Applied Geochemistry 6: 99–103.
Carew, J. L. & J. E. Mylroie, 1995. Quaternary tectonic stability of the Bahamian Archipelago: evidence from fossil coral reefs and flank margin caves. Quaternary Science Reviews 14: 144–153.
Choquette, P. W. & L. C. Pray, 1970. Geologic nomenclature and classification of porosity in sedimentary carbonates. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 54: 207–250.
Dreybrodt, W., 2000. Equilibrium chemistry of karst water in limestone terranes. In Klimchouk, A. B., D. C. Ford, A. N. Palmer & W. Dreybrodt (eds), Speleogenesis—Evolution of Karst Aquifers. National Speleological Society, Huntsville: 126–135.
Engel, S. A., 2010. Microbial diversity of cave systems. In Barton, L., M. Mandl & A. Loy (eds), Geomicrobiology: Molecular & Environmental Perspectives. Springer, New York.
Florea, L. J., J. E. Mylroie & A. Price, 2004. Sedimentation and porosity enhancement in a breached flank margin cave. Carbonates and Evaporites 19: 82–92.
Ford, D. C. & P. W. Williams, 2007. Karst Hydrology and Geomorphology. Wiley, Chichester.
Frank, E. F., J. E. Mylroie, J. Troester, E. C. Alexander & J. L. Carew, 1998. Karst development and speleologensis, Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 60: 73–83.
Ginés, J., A. Ginés, J.J. Fornós, A. Merino, & F. Gràcia, 2009. About the genesis of an exceptional coastal cave from Mallorca Island (Western Mediterrnean), the lithological control over the pattern and morphology of Cova des pas de Vallgornera. In White, W.B. (ed.), Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Speleology. National Speleological Society, Huntsville, Alabama, 2: 481–487.
Iliffe, T. M. & L. S. Kornicker, 2009. Worldwide diving discoveries of living fossil animals from the depths of anchialine and marine caves. Smithsonian Contributions to Marine Sciences 38: 269–280.
Jenson, J. W., T. M. Keel, J. R. Mylroie, J. E. Mylroie, K. W. Stafford, D. Taboroši & C. Wexel, 2006. Karst of the Mariana Islands: the interaction of tectonics, glacioeustasy and fresh-water/sea-water mixing in island carbonates. Geological Society of America Special Paper 404: 129–138.
Jocson, J. M. U., J. W. Jenson & D. N. Contractor, 2002. Recharge and aquifer response: Northern Guam Lens Aquifer, Guam, Mariana Islands. Journal of Hydrology 260: 231–254.
Kelley, K., J. E. Mylroie, J. R. Mylroie, C. Moore, P. J. Moore, L. Collins, L. Ersek, I. Lascu, M. Roth, R. Passion, & C. Shaw, 2006. Eolianites and Karst Development in the Mayan Riviera, Mexico. In Davis, R. L. & D. W. Gamble (eds), Proceedings of the 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and Other Carbonate Regions, Gerace Research Center, San Salvador, Bahamas: 88–99.
Labourdette, R., I. Lascu, J. E. Mylroie & M. Roth, 2007. Process-like modeling of flank margin caves: from genesis to burial evolution. Journal of Sedimentary Research 77: 965–979.
Meyerhoff, A. & C. Hatten, 1974. Bahamas salient of North America: tectonic framework, stratigraphy and petroleum potential. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 58: 1201–1239.
Mylroie, J. E. & J. L. Carew, 1990. The Flank Margin Model for dissolution cave development in carbonate platforms. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 15: 413–424.
Mylroie, J. E. & J. R. Mylroie, 1991. Meander cutoff caves and self piracy: the consequences of meander incision into soluble rocks. National Speleological Society Bulletin 52: 33–44.
Mylroie, J. E. & J. R. Mylroie, 2007. Development of the Carbonate Island Karst Model. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 69: 59–75.
Mylroie, J. E. & J. R. Mylroie, 2009a. Caves and Karst of the Bahamas. In Palmer, A. N. & M. V. Palmer (eds), Caves and Karst of the USA. National Speleological Society, Huntsville: 348–353.
Mylroie, J. E. & Mylroie, J. R., 2009b. Flank margin cave development as syndepositional caves: examples from The Bahamas. In White, W. B. (ed.), Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Speleology, National Speleological Society, Huntsville, Alabama 1: 533–539.
Mylroie, J. E. & J. R. Mylroie, 2009c. Caves as geologic indicators, Kangaroo Island, Australia. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 71: 32–47.
Mylroie, J. E., J. L.Carew & H. L. Vacher, 1995a. Karst development in the Bahamas and Bermuda. In Curran, H. A. & B. White (eds), Geological Society of America Special Paper 300, Terrestrial and Shallow Marine Geology of the Bahamas and Bermuda: 251–267.
Mylroie, J. E., J. L. Carew & A. I. Moore, 1995b. Blue holes: definition and genesis. Carbonates and Evaporites 10: 225–233.
Mylroie, J. E., J. W. Jenson, D. Taboroši, J. M. U. Jocson, D. T. Vann & C. Wexel, 2001. Karst features of Guam in terms of a general model of carbonate island karst. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 63: 9–22.
Mylroie, J. E., J. R. Mylroie & C. N. Nelson, 2008. Flank Margin cave development in telogenetic limestones of New Zealand. Acta Carsologica 37: 15–40.
Otoničar, B., N. Buzijak, J. E. Mylroie & J. R. Mylroie, 2010. Flank margin cave development in carbonate talus breccia facies: an example from Cres Island, Croatia. Acta Carsologica 39: 79–91.
Palmer, R. J., 1985. The Blue Holes of the Bahamas. Jonathan Cape, London.
Palmer, R. J., 1989. Deep into Blue Holes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Panuska, B. C., J. E. Mylroie, D. Armentrout & D. McFarlane, 1998. Magnetostratigraphy of Cueva del Aleman, Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico and the species duration of Audobon’s Shearwater. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 60: 96–100.
Plummer, L. N., 1975. Mixing of sea water with calcium carbonate ground water. In Whitten, E. H. T. (ed.), Quantitative Studies in Geological Sciences. Geological Society of America Memoir, Ottawa: 219–236.
Raeisi, E. & J. E. Mylroie, 1995. Hydrodynamic behavior of caves formed in the fresh-water lens of carbonate islands. Carbonates and Evaporites 10: 207–214.
Shackleton, N. J., 2000. The 100,000-year ice-age cycle identified and found to lag temperature, carbon dioxide, and orbital eccentricity. Science 289: 1897–1902.
Steadman, D. W., L. R. Franz, G. S. Morgan, N. A. Albury, B. Kakuk, K. Broad, S. E. Franz, K. L. Tinker, M. P. Pateman, T. A. Lott, D. M. Jarzen & D. L. Dilcher, 2007. Exceptionally well preserved late Quaternary plant and vertebrate fossils from a blue hole on Abaco, The Bahamas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104: 19897–19902.
Vacher, H. L., 1988. Dupuit-Ghyben-Herzberg analysis of strip-island lenses. Geological Society of America Bulletin 100: 223–232.
Vacher, H. L. & J. E. Mylroie, 2002. Eogenetic karst from the perspective of an equivalent porous medium. Carbonates and Evaporites 17: 182–196.
Waelbroeck, C., L. Labeyrie, E. Michel, J. C. Duplessy, J. F. McManus, K. Lambeck, E. Balbon & M. Labracherie, 2002. Sea-level and deep water temperature changes derived from benthic foraminifera isotopic records. Quaternary Science Reviews 21: 295–305.
Whitaker, F. F. & P. L. Smart, 1997. Groundwater circulation and geochemistry of a karstified bank-margin fracture system, South Andros Island, Bahamas. Journal of Hydrology 197: 293–315.
White, S., 2000. Syngenetic karst in coastal dune limestones: a review. In Klimchouk, A., D. Ford, A. Palmer & W. Dreybrodt (eds), Speleogenesis: Evolution of Karst Aquifers. National Speleological Society, Huntsville: 234–237.
Wilkens, H., T. M. Iliffe, P. Oromí, A. Martínez, T. N. Tysall & S. Konemann, 2009. The Corona lava tube, Lanzarote: geology, habitat diversity and biogeography. Marine Biodiversity 39: 155–167.
Wilson, W. L., 1994. Morphology and hydrology of the deepest known cave in the Bahamas: Dean’s Blue Hole, Long Island. Abstract & Program of the 7th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas: 21.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Gerace Research Centre, San Salvador Island, Bahamas, and the Department of Geosciences, Mississippi State University, for decades of support. Jim Carew, John Jenson, Neil Sealey and Len Vacher were central to the development of the cave ideas presented in this paper. Extensive comments by two anonymous reviewers greatly improved the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Guest editors: C. Wicks & W. F. Humphreys / Anchialine Ecosystems: reflections and prospects
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mylroie, J.E., Mylroie, J.R. Void development on carbonate coasts: creation of anchialine habitats. Hydrobiologia 677, 15–32 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0542-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0542-y