Un aquifère gypseux de haute montagne : mesures physico-chimiques et traçage dans la vallée de Gébroulaz (Vanoise, France), 1996,
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Dzikowski M. , Nicoud G. , Arfib B. , Paillet A. , Rovera G.

During the high flow period of summer 1995, conductivity and temperature were periodically measured in two losses and five springs along a gypsum and anhydrite outcrop in the Gébroulaz valley. These experiments together with a water chemical analysis and an artificial tracer test have highlighted two kinds of flows through the evaporitic formations. The springs are characterised by a rapid flow directly influenced by the infiltration of melt water in a surficial karst. A slower flow shows a deeper circulation through a saturated and fissured milieu. So, in a high mountainous area, the gypsum layer shows a surficial karst over a fissured aquifer. This interpretation allows us to explain the stability of the physico-chemical parameters for the springs, which are not influenced by karstic flow conditions.

Karst groundwater connections in the valley of the Seven Triglav Lakes, 2000,
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Brancelj Anton, Urbanc Janko

Results of a tracing test in the high mountain lake of Jezero v Ledvici (Triglav Lakes area) are presented. The tracing experiment proved hydraulic connections between lakes Jezero v Ledvici, Močivec and Dvojno jezero. The article also deals with a comparison of the faunistic and floristic characteristics of the Triglav lakes. The occurrence of biotic species in different lakes is not very similar. No clear explanation for this phenomenon was found up to now, so further investigations of this system are proposed.

Soil types and eolian dust in high-mountainous karst of the Northern Calcareous Alps (Zugspitzplatt, Wetterstein Mountains, Germany), 2003,
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Kufmann C. ,

This, study deals with the soil formation on pure limestone in the high-mountainous karst of Wetterstein Mountains (Northern Calcareous Alps). The study area in detail covers the alpine (2000 to 2350 in) and the subnivale zone (2350 to 2600 in) of Zugspitzplatt, a tertiary paleosurface situated next to the highest summit of Germany (Zugspitze 2963 in). The formation of autochthonous soils is determined by the following parameters: uniform geology and geochemistry of Triassic limestone (CaCO3 MgCO3 greater than or equal to 98%), variable substrata (solid rock, debris, local moraine), hypsometric pattern of vegetation modified by microclimate and aspect, variety of micro-environments in karst relief. In the subnivale zone, only leptosols (lithic, skeletic) and regosols (calcaric, humic) occur, whereas in the alpine zone different stages of folic histosols and rendzic leptosols prevail due to the diversity of vegetation. The purity of limestone prevents a distinct contribution of residues to soil formation. Instead of expected A-B-C profiles, the residues are mixed with organic matter of folic horizons (O-OB-C). Only in karst depressions or on local moraines small Bt horizons (2 to 5 cm) occur. They mark a developed stage of folic histosol (O-OB-Bt-C) representing the climax of autochthonous mineral soil genesis in the study area. Special features are brown deposits (mean thickness 30 cm) covering large parts of the alpine zone. On the basis of mineralogical (X-ray diffraction, heavy minerals) and pedological data (grain size, soil chemistry), eolian origin is indicated. The resulting soils are classified as loess loam-like cambisols (Ah-Bw-2(Bt)-2C) and are related to late glacial loess deposition (Egesen-Stade of Younger Dryas). The abundance of mica and silt in the surface layers and the grain size distribution of snow dust samples prove that dust influx by southerly winds is still continuing. The major sources for both late glacial and present-day dust are magmatic and metamorphic rock formations of the Central Alps. Additionally, local dust transport from adjacent outcrops of Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous sediments is evident. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

The Emine-Bair-Hosar ?Mega-Trap?. In: Mitteilungen der Kommission für Quartärforschung Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2005,
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Vremir M. , Ridush B.

The results of the most recent speleo-palaeontological investigations made in the huge Pleistocene bone accumulation in the Emine-Bair-Khosar Cave in Crimean high-mountains are presented. Several cave sites were investigated in the Bair Cave at Chatyrdag massif and new information regarding fossil remains from these sites is given. The conclusion about the Valdaian age (Middle to Late Valdaian) of the oldest known sites in the cave is made. The palaeoenviromental indicators (including vertebrate fauna and pollen) show the predominant presence of steppes together with some indicators for wetland and forests.

The deepest cave in the world in the Arabika Massif (Western Caucasus), 2008,
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Klimchouk A. B. , Samokhin G. V. & Kasjan Yu. M.

Arabika is an outstanding high-mountain karst massif in the Western Caucasus composed of Lower Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic limestones continuously dipping southwest to the Black Sea shore and plunging below the sea level. The central sector (elevations within 2000-2700 m) is characterized by pronounced glacio-karstic landscape and hosts several deep caves including the deepest cave in the world (Krubera-Voronja Cave) recently explored to the depth of -2191 m.  Dye tracing experiments conducted in 1984-1985 revealed that the Krubera Cave area is hydraulically connected with major springs at the Black Sea shore and the submarine discharge, with the flow directed across major fold structures. Krubera Cave has an extremely steep profile and reveals a huge thickness of the vadose zone. Its lower boundary is at elevation of about 110 m, which suggests a very low overall hydraulic gradient of 0.007-0.008. Reported low salinity groundwater tapped by boreholes in the shore area at depths 40-280, 500, 1750 and 2250 m, which suggests the existence of deep flow system with vigorous flow. Submarine discharge in the Arabika coast is reported at depths up to ca. 400 m bsl. Huge closed submarine depression is revealed at the sea-floor in front of Arabika with the deepest point of ca. 400 m bsl. These facts point to a possibility that the main karst system in Arabika could have originated in response to the Messinian salinity crisis (5.96 – 5.33 Myr) when the Black Sea could have almost dried up, similarly to the adjacent Mediterranean where the sea level drop up to 1600 m is well established. Further development of the huge vadose zone and a super-deep cave have been caused by subsequent uplifts during Pliocene-Pleistocene, highly differential between the shore sector (0.1-0.2 km of total uplift) and the central sector (2-2.5 km) of Arabika.

The hydrogeology of high-mountain carbonate areas: an example of some Alpine systems in southern Piedmont (Italy), 2015,
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The hydrogeological characteristics of some springs supplied by high-mountain carbonate rock aquifers, located in the south of Piedmont, in Italy, are presented in this work. The aquifers have different geological-structural conditions, including both deep and superficial karstification. Their catchment areas are located in a typical Alpine context at a high altitude of about 2000 m. These aquifers are ideal representations of the different hydrogeological situations that can be encountered in the high-altitude carbonate aquifers of the Mediterranean basin. It is first shown how the high-altitude zones present typical situations, in particular related to the climate, which control the infiltration processes to a great extent. Snowfall accumulates on the ground from November to April, often reaching remarkable thicknesses. The snow usually begins to melt in spring and continues to feed the aquifer for several months. This type of recharge is characterized by continuous daily variations caused by the typical thermal excursions. The hourly values are somewhat modest, but snowmelt lasts for a long time, beginning in the lower sectors and ending, after various months, in the higher areas. Abundant rainfall also occurs in the same period, and this contributes further to the aquifer supply. In the summer period, there is very little rainfall, but frequent storms. In autumn, abundant rainfall occurs and there are there fore short but relevant recharge events. It has been shown how the trend of the yearly flow of the high mountain springs is influenced to a great extent by the snowmelt processes and autumn rainfall. It has also been shown, by means of the annual hydrographs of the flow and the electric conductivity of the spring water, how the different examined aquifers are characterized by very different measured value trends, according to the characteristics of the aquifer.