engleski

Croatian submerged caves - undisclosed treasure

A substantial part of Dinaric karst, worldwide known as locus typicus of Classical karst, is presently submerged by the Adriatic Sea. Likewise in the rest of the world, submerged karst, including submarine caves, is the least explored karstic phenomenon in Croatia, due to the specific skills required for its exploration. Nevertheless, by the scientific (geological, speleological and biological) researches, and recreational diving, over 235 submerged caves have been discovered within the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea. Their distribution, origin and hydrological functions are not uniform ; 60% of them are horizontal caves and 40% are vertical pits, and as for the hydrological settings, 126 of them are completely within marine environment while the rest goes for anchihaline caves and submerged springs. Given the geographical settings i.e. total Croatian coastline length of >6000 km with 1246 islands, islets and rocks, thousands of submerged caves are yet to be discovered and explored, not only in terms of karstology but also for the hydrology, biology, archaeology and other environmental aspects. Speleothems, found in more than 140 submerged caves, have already been used for the reconstruction of the relative sea-level changes and regional neotectonic movements. Exceptional biological value of marine cave environment was approved by the discovery of deep sea sponge species, here found at the depth 5-30 m, and archaeological researches within the caves would probably come out with valuable results, as well. Namely, during the Last Glacial Maximum, with sea- level ca 130 m lower than today, many of those caves were ideal shelters for the early humans, similarly as those presently along the Croatian coast.

submerged caves; karst; Croatia

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