Sources of sulphate minerals in limestone cave—a possible evidence of anthropogenic activity: a case study in Črna Jama Cave (Slovenia)

Abstract

In the caves, the formation of cave minerals is a consequence of a variety of chemical reactions, some of them also due to human activity. There are many caves in Slovenia, but sulphate minerals are not very often reported and analysed. In this study, the presence of sulphate minerals is detected by SEM/EDS analysis of speleothems from Črna Jama, a cave near Kočevje (southern Slovenia). The cave is characterised by its dark, almost black colour on cave walls, floor and speleothems. Anthropogenic influence in the cave is still visible, including the remains of a fireplace, some inscriptions on the walls and wooden containers. The analyses of some of the black-coated speleothems reveal the presence of calcium sulphate, confirmed by XRD as gypsum. Gypsum crystals are around 50 μm in size, and they occur in thin crusts. Additionally, some rare authigenic baryte crystals a few micrometres in size are detected. The sulphates δS value in gypsum found on dark coloured speleothems is + 10.4‰ Vienna Canyon Diablo Troilite (VCDT), while the sulphate δS of the bedrock is + 8.6‰ VCDT. The more likely source of sulphate ions is thus biomass burning rather than bedrock. Also, bedrock and biomass ash are a very probable source of calcium and barium. The highly probable pyrogenous origin of sulphates draws attention to human impact on cave mineralogy.