The paleokarstic structures of Monte Baio (Araba/Alava): their relevance for a quantitative évaluation of the mid-Paleocene sea-level fall

During the period of sub-aerial exposure subsequent to the mid-Paleocene sea level fall, a set of paleokarstic features were generated in upper Danian lagoonal limestones of the Alava province. The most interesting of them all, and potentially the more meaningful, is a horizontal dissolution horizon, possibly recording the position of the upper surface of a paleophreatic zone. If that possibility is correct, the magnitude of the mid-Paleocene sea level fall would be narrowly constrained to circa 40 m/a more realistic figure than those previously estimated for this even