EVIDENCE OF A DEEP FLUID ORIGIN FOR A SURFICIAL CAVE, COAL CREEK CAVE, OKLAHOMA, USA

Coal Creek Cave is located in the Pontotoc Ridge Preserve, northeast of Pontotoc, Oklahoma, USA. The cave is located close to the northeast boundary of the Eastern Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer which is a thick carbonate aquifer with a sharp faulted boundary. Although the cave is surficial with surface discharge and vegetation roots in the ceiling, the cave may be dominantly formed from deep upwelling basinal fluids instead of simple meteoric water flow. The hypothesis of deep flow was tested using geologic previous mapping and groundwater flow modeling, as well as additional geomorphic, mineralogical, geochemical, and geophysical data. The results suggest that while a number of features in the cave are the result of epigenic surface weathering processes, deep fluids have played a strong role in the formation of the cave. This suggests that vertical flow in the system may generate surficial karst features from depths of approximately a kilometer.