Filling of dolines with aeolian sediments in the high-mountain karst of the Dinarides (Mt. Durmitor, Montenegro)

Abstract

Filling of dolines with aeolian sediments, one of the less frequently described ways in which they are filled, is analysed in the present study on an example of a doline in the high-mountain karst of the Dinarides. There is a series of deep dolines on a broad ridge (about 2450 m a.s.l.) on Mt. Durmitor (Montenegro) in the southeastern part of the Dinarides. The accumulation of very fine-grained sand that almost completely fills one of the dolines was analysed. More than 99% of the accumulation was found to be composed of well-sorted quartz grains with an average size of 89 µm and no vertical differences in granulometric or textural characteristics. With respect to mineral composition, the accumulation differs significantly from that prevalent in this part of the Dinarides, in which different kinds of carbonate rocks are dominant. The conducted analyses indicated an aeolian origin of the sediments. Significant aridification that began in the Middle Holocene made the area of North Africa a source of sediments that were transported by the aeolian process to neighbouring regions. Geomorphological-sedimentological research on Mt. Durmitor and earlier investigations of the wider Mediterranean region indicate that dolines in highmountain karst can be filled with aeolian sediments. The sediments originated from territory of the northern Sahara, and the filling occurred in the Late Holocene, at the close of the African humid period. The present study shows that apart from the influence of local factors, regional geomorphological processes such as aeolian transport can also exert significant influence on the filling of dolines. It also indicates a high intensity and strongly expressed dynamics of aeolian sediment transport from the territory of Africa to this part of Southern Europe.