HYDRIC CONNECTION BETWEEN THE BROMELIA AND MARTIMIANO II QUARTZITE CAVES, IN THE IBITIPOCA MOUNTAIN RANGE, MG

Abstract

Defining cave systems and underground water flows when human passage is impossible requires the use of specific techniques such as hydrochemistry and fluorescent dye tracers application, which are widely used methodologies in karst environments. The Ibitipoca State Park (Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca PEIB) is in a speleological district with a high number of registered siliciclastic rock caves in a relatively small area (1,488 ha), the highest density of large siliciclastic rock caves in Brazil. Therefore, this work aims to determine the possible water connection of the two largest caves in the PEIB waterflows, the Martimiano II Cave (the country’s largest quartzite cave) and the Bromélias Cave. This was done by hydrogeochemical analysis and the fluorescent tracer technique, consequently defining the probable largest quartzite system in Brazil, with approximately 7.5 km of underground conduits.