The cavern of the Nus, Antioquia Department
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32685/0120-1425/bolgeol16.1-3.1968.117Keywords:
Colombia, metamorphism, description, geology of the cavern, structural description
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Abstract
The Caverna del Nus is located on top of a low metamorphic marble rock between the Nus and Samaná rivers. The marble is bounded to the east and west by major faults.
The cavern is made up of nine halls whose floor area is 2approximately 5750m. The cavern measures 220 m from north to south, by 50 m from east to west. The halls are ornamented with secondary calcite deposits in the form of flowstone, stalactites, and stalagmites. The floors of the halls are covered with blocks that have fallen from the ceilings and dark brown mud. The marble crags adjacent to the one containing the Cavern of the Nus are crisscrossed by numerous caves.
The Caverna del Nus is now completely above the groundwater level. It was formed by solution below the water table before the regional uplift and consequent dissection of the canyons, which left it isolated on top of a rocky outcrop. The regional uplift is Pliocene (?) or younger. Therefore, the minimum age of the Caverna del Nus is between one and eleven million years.
References
Banco de la República, 1959. - Atlas de Economía Colombiana. Primera entrega: Bogotá.
BOTERO A., GERARDO, 1940. - Geología sobre el Ordoviciano de Antioquia: Medellín, Minería, v. 17, NQ 99, p. 8249-8257.
HOLMES, ARTHUR, 1960. - A revised geological time scale: Edinburgh Geol. Soc., Trans. v. 17, pt. 3, p. 183-216.
Servicio Geológico Nacional, 1957. - Plancha K-9, "Armero": Bogotá.
THORNBURY, W. D., 1954. - Principles of Geomorphology: New York, John Wiley and Sons, 618 p.
WOKITTEL, R., 1960. - Recursos Minerales de Colombia, Comp. de Estudios Geol. Of., Tomo X, p. 325.
