CAVE AND KARST DEVELOPMENT OF THE JUDAS–AGUADA COASTAL PLAIN, SANCTI SPIRITUS, CUBA (Invited Presentation)

The Judas-Aguada coastal plain is a karstic area located on the Atlantic coast of Sancti Spiritus Province, Cuba. The landscape is characterized by extensive caves, sinkhole collapses, and arches. Cayo Caguanes and Lomas Judas are two heavily karsted zones within the Judas-Aguadas coastal plain. Subterranean and surface surveys, geologic mapping, and morphometric analyses identified three types of caves in these zones: flank margin caves, and their incipient form called banana holes, and littoral caves. Flank margin caves and banana holes are coastal features formed due to fresh water/salt water mixing dissolution at the margin of a discharging freshwater lens. Littoral caves, which are pseudokarstic are the result of abrasive wave action on the coastline. This action also overprinted erosionally breached flank margin caves. The presence of flank margin caves and banana holes in the karsted zones, and the coastal topography indicate that Cayo Caguanes and Lomas de Judas were separated from the Cuban mainland during past sea-level highstands. The size and shape of the cave passages reflect episodes of sea-level stability between fluctuating sea levels. The combination of glacioeustasy and tectonic uplift have greatly influenced cave development in the Judas-Aguadas coastal area. Rising sea levels coupled with either positive or negative (elevation-wise) tectonic activity could reactivate karst development. The identification and occurrence of the different types of caves provides a means of understanding the evolution of the coastal karst and paleohydrology of the Judas-Aguada coastline.