Plio-Pleistocene karstification and endokarstic sedimentation phases in western Mediterranean area: evolution of Nerja Cave (Málaga province, southern Spain)

Evidence of several phases of karstification and sedimentation in Nerja Cave (Malaga, southern Iberian Peninsula) is pointed out. The mentioned phases could be representative of the Plio-Quaternary endokarstic evolution in the western Mediterranean region. The oldest phase is Pliocene and suposes the formation of important underground holes, being possibly associated to a relatively long period of subtropical climate. During the Pleistocene, several phases of speleothems formation are identified, being separated one of the other by no-chemical sedimentation or erosive periods. Late, in the Medium Pleistocene and in the Upper Pleistocene the periods of speleothems growth correspond to warm isotopic stages of the oceanic sedimentary record. Erosive processes or detritic sedimentation in the endokarst occur during cold periods. The Holocene includes periods of chemical precipitation in the endokarst, in coincidence with the climatic optimum, clearly more humid in northern Africa ca. 7-6 ka