The Komberek karst area - An example of the basement rock influence on the morphology of karst sinkholes (Malé Karpaty Mts.)

摘要

The studied area, as the part of the Malé Karpaty Mts., are integral parts of the Western Carpathian orogenic belt. The Komberek karst area is built up by the Tatricum and Fatricum tectonic units. The studied area belongs to the Kuchyňa-Ore?any karst, where on the northeastern part the karst plain Komberek (K??) hill (409 m) is situated. During the research, geological (geological mapping), geophysical (electrical resistivity tomography-ERT) and sedimentological (shallow drilling) methods were carried out. This combination of methods allows to interpret the origin and morphology of the sinkholes. The morphology depends on the nature of the basement rocks, the sedimentary cover and the tectonic influence. Funnel-shaped and pot like sinkholes are concentrated into a sinkhole line located in a linear NW-SE trending structure line. In the other side, some sinkholes were formed on the lithological boundary of the karstic and nonkarstic rocks. Moreover, the sinkholes are at the edge of the depression filled with fine-grained impermeable sediments. In addition, this study points out to the possible presence of potentional cave spaces under one of the largest sinkholes found on the karst plateau.