Glacial Lake Schoharie: An Investigative Study of Glaciolacustrine Lithofacies in Caves, Helderberg Plateau, Central New York

Abstract

Karst landscape evolution has been widely studied in recent years on karst plateaus, but the use of dating methods has not usually been possible owing to a lack of data. The intensely karstified Garraf Massif, however, presents large solution dolines and several shafts that contain archaeological and palaentological remains that can be used for determining the chronological framework of the karstification processes. These sites have been dated using various techniques, and the resulting data combined with evidence from previous geomorphological studies. The results allow us to define the pattern and timing of the evolution of karst morphologies in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula. We propose a simple five-stage geomorphological model of the evolution of the Garraf dolines located on the plateau, between the Middle to Upper Miocene and the Holocene.