Damaged Speleothems and Collapsed Karst Chambers Indicate Paleoseismicity of the NE Bohemian Massif (Niedzwiedzia Cave, Poland)

Multiphase speleothem damage and passage collapse in Niedzwiedzia Cave (NE Bohemian Massif, Poland) were dated with U-series methods, revealing five events: (1) 320-306 ka, (2) 253-236 ka, (3) 162-158 ka, (4) 132-135 ka, and (5) >21 ka. Events 1, 3 and 4 are robustly constrained, and events 2 and 5 are less certain. Although we cannot unambiguously exclude other agents (frost or gravity collapses), the most likely trigger of damage in the cave was an earthquake, which is supported by timing (the damage occurred independently from climatic conditions in cold and warm periods) and deformation style (damage to the ceiling and walls as well as the passage floor). We applied ground motion models to determine the probable seismic source size, which is most likely the Sudetic Marginal Fault - one of the most pronounced tectonic structures in Central Europe. Located 6, the Sudetic Marginal Fault can produce peak ground acceleration values high enough to break speleothems. The other plausible seismic sources are faults in the Upper Nysa Klodzka Graben located to the east and the Trzebieszowice-Biela Fault. Although there are sparse historical data that would allow estimating linked seismic hazards, the <8 km distance between the cave and faults should suffice to destroy the speleothems. Niedzwiedzia Cave shielded environmental earthquake effects from erosion. This study shows the advantage of employing speleoseismology in moderate seismic regions, where earthquake effects are rarely preserved in the geological record.

Automated summary

The study used U-series methods to date multiphase speleothem damage and passage collapse in Niedzwiedzia Cave in Poland, revealing earthquakes as the most likely trigger of cave damage. The research highlights the advantage of employing speleoseismology in regions with moderate seismic activity.