Karst of Sicily - A Journey Inside and Outside the Island’s Mountains

484 Pages·2022·98.216 MB·English

by  Rosario Ruggieri

Cave and Karst Systems of the World
Rosario Ruggieri
Karst of Sicily
A Journey Inside and Outside the Island’s Mountains
Cave and Karst Systems of the World
Series Editor
James W. LaMoreaux, P.E.LaMoreaux and Associates, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
This bookseriesfurthers theunderstandingof caveand karst related processesand facilitates
the translation of current discipline-specific research to an interdisciplinary readership by
dealing with specific cave or karst systems. Books in this series focus on a specific cave or
karst system, on the cave or karst systems of a specific region, on a specific type of cave or
karst system, or on any other perspective related to cave and karst systems of the world. The
book series addresses a multidisciplinary audience involved in anthropology, archaeology,
biology, chemistry, geography, geology, geomorphology, hydrogeology, paleontology,
sedimentology, and all other disciplines related to speleology and karst terrains.
Rosario Ruggieri
Karst of Sicily
’
A Journey Inside and Outside the Island s
Mountains
123
RosarioRuggieri
CIRS—Hyblean Center
of Speleo-Hydrogeological Research
Ragusa,Italy
ISSN 2364-4591 ISSN 2364-4605 (electronic)
Cave andKarstSystems of theWorld
ISBN978-3-031-07405-9 ISBN978-3-031-07406-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07406-6
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Don’t flee anywhere. Instead of trying to escape, try to become more aware.
Thatwillbetherealvanishingpoint.Withouttakingrefugeanywhere,youwill
create a cave in your heart and begin living in it.
(Osho)
To my Sister Maria Rita
Preface
In Sicily, given the widespread distribution of karst outcrops, both of carbonate and gypsum
composition,karstphenomena,bothonthesurfaceandunderground,arepresentinalmostthe
entireisland.Infact,thekarstareasoccupy21%oftheterritoryovertheentiresurfaceofthe
region, of which 800 km2 from gypsum formations alone (Cimino 1986).
In general, the most important karst features are located in the Jurassic limestone terms
of the allochthonous strata of theApennine-Maghrebid chain, outcropping innorthern Sicily,
intheMessinianevaporiticrocksofthegypsum-sulfurousseriesemergingincentral-southern
and north-western Sicily in the tertiary limestones of south-eastern Sicily.
The surface and underground forms developed in the aforementioned three main “karst
areas” have different characteristics from each other, in relation both to the intrinsic
litho-structural conditions of the rock formations and, in particular, to the various
paleo-geographical events that have affected the geological history of Sicily from the end
of the Mesozoic to present times.
Theresult isakarstwithpeculiaranddifferent characteristics inthedifferent geographical
contexts of the island, such as in the allochthonous outcrops of northern Sicily, characterized
by mostly vertical caves, whose morphogenesis reflects the complex fold tectonics and
overlapsthatoccurredduringtheneogenicplacementofthenappesonautochthonoussoils;in
the gypsum formations of central-southern and north-western Sicily where there is a karst
contact with blind valleys, between the clayey bases surmounted by the often tectonically
disrupted and fragmented Messinian gypsum formations; while in the quieter sector of
south-eastern Sicily,only inamore mild way involved by theaforementioned orogeny, karst
has developed into an autochthonous carbonate complex, and speleogenesis has recorded the
effects of isostatic uplifts and Quaternary eustatic cycles.
With these premises, which anticipate the presence in Sicily of a great geo-karst-
speleodiversity,IamgoingtointroducethereadertosomeofthemainkarstaspectsofSicily,
bothsurfaceandunderground,withoutpretendingtowanttoshowanexhaustivepictureofthe
entire Sicilian karst-geomorphological scenario currently known, for which in-depth analysis
ofthevariousaspectsthereaderisdirectedtoconsultthevariousbibliographyincludedinthe
text.
As regards the structuring of the text in its various sections, after a description of the
general physical-geological context of the island (Chap. 1) and some statistical data on the
nomenclature of Sicilian karst areas and statistical distribution of its caves (Chap. 2), we will
begin our journey starting from the Sicilian south-eastern sector, mainly occupied by the
Hyblean Meso-Cenozoic Carbonate Plateau (Chap. 3); proceeding clockwise, we will then
enter the central-southern sector mainly characterized by the outcrops of the Messinian
gypsum-sulfur series (Chap. 4); from here, continuing further west, we will enter the
north-western sector, occupied by the Mesozoic carbonate reliefs of the Sicani Mountains
(Chap.5)andtheTrapaniMountains(Chap.6);therefore,turningeastwards,ourjourneywill
continue in the northern sector of the island dominated by the Mountains of Palermo and,
further east, by the Madonie massif (Chap. 7); leaving this sector, we will continue still
approaching the north-eastern sector with the Nebrodi Mountains first and the Peloritani
Mountainsfurthereastafter(Chap.8).Finally,althoughnotkarst,wecouldnotconcludeour
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journey on karst and its caves, without a mention of the lava flow caves generated by the
majestic volcano Etna (Chap. 9).
This description is the result of my personal research conducted over several decades
in different parts of Sicily with my Hyblean Center of Speleo-Hydrogeological Research
(C.I.R.S.Ragusa)andasynthesisofresearchandexplorationsconductedbynumerousother
researchersandspeleologists,whoseworksarementionedinthetextandinthebibliography,
who like mehavedevotedperhaps thebest years oftheir livestochasingkarst features, both
above and below the mountains of our wonderful island of Sicily and to ensure that these
magicalkarstmorphologieswereknown,valued,protectedandwherepossible,insomecases
open to the public visit.
Ragusa, Italy Rosario Ruggieri
Reference
Cimino A., 1986, Anomalie geoelettriche su cavità ipogee della Sicilia. Atti 5 Conv. Annuale G.N.F.T.S.,
Roma,17–18novembre1986:1203–1215.
Acknowledgements
I owe a debt of gratitude to the friends listed below who in various ways contributed to the
enrichmentofthecontentsofthisvolume,somewithphotosandmaps,somewithsuggestions
or indications of their works, some with field trips and more.
Therefore, hoping not to have forgotten anyone, I extend my warmest thanks to friends:
Serafina Carbone, Joanna Smart, Davide Messina Panfalone, Saro Abbate, Antonello
Ingallinera,GiovanniGianninoto,AntonioBambina,MicheleTermine,JanetFoxVhràmberk,
Carmela Modica, Giovanni Buscaglia, Marco Interlandi, Natale Gioitta, Roberto Sammito,
Agatino Reitano,GiovanniMannino,PadreGiovanni Lombardo,Gaetano Giudice,Salvatore
Piccitto,VincenzaMessana,GiuliaCasamento,GiovanniScuderi,AngeloIemmolo,Giuseppe
Spitaleri, Peppe Lombardo, Giuseppe Priolo, Andrea Belfiore, Giuseppe Ippolito Alberto
Terranova, Vincenzo Sottosanti, Vincenzo Belfiore, Corrado Nastasi, Paolo Vultaggio,
Giorgio Sammito, Riccardo Orsini, Gaetano Buscaglia, Giuseppe Garro.
Photos
All photos are by the author except those where a different author has been mentioned.
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