FORMATION OF CLASTIC SEDIMENTS IN THE ATL CAVE OF THE SIERRA ZONGOLICA, VERACRUZ MEXICO, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE SOIL COVER NASTANEK KLASTIČNIH SEDIMENTOV V JAMI ATL V GOROVJU SIERRA ZONGOLICA, VERACRUZ, MEHIKA, IN NJIHOV A POVEZAV A S POKRITOSTJO TAL Pamela GARCÍA-RAMÍREZ 1 *, Rafael LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ 2 , Sergey SEDOV 3 , Hugo SALGADO-GARRIDO 4 , Teresa PI PUIG 5 & Héctor Víctor CABADAS-BÁEZ 6 Abstract UDC 551.442:551.3.051(23)(720.64) Pamela García-Ramírez, Rafael López-Martínez, Sergey Se- dov, Hugo Salgado-Garrido, Teresa Pi Puig & Héctor Víctor Cabadas-Báez: Formation of clastic sediments in the Atl cave of the Sierra Zongolica, Veracruz Mexico, and their relation- ship to the soil cover Allochthonous cave sediments contain important paleon- tological and archaeological records as well as indicators of recent ecological processes. Correct interpretation of these records requires knowledge about the sediment sources and deposition processes, in particular the interrelation of vertical and lateral sediment transport. Compared to platform karst, knowledge about tropical mountainous karstic geosystems is quite limited. To trace the origin and transportation pathways of sediments, we investigated Atl Cave in the Sierra Zongolica Mountain range, Veracruz, Mexico. Field exploration and mapping have shown that the cave presents two horizontal stages representing phreatic conduits and ancient stability stages and is an epigenetic cave with a point recharge zone at the entrance, which is fed by a stream. A comparative study of the surface soil profiles and the diamicton facies of the cave floor deposits included field morphological description, micromorphological observations, grainsize analysis, colo- Izvleček UDK 551.442:551.3.051(23)(720.64) Pamela García-Ramírez, Rafael López-Martínez, Sergey Se- dov, Hugo Salgado-Garrido, Teresa Pi Puig & Héctor Víctor Cabadas-Báez: Nastanek klastičnih sedimentov v jami Atl v gorovju Sierra Zongolica, Veracruz, Mehika, in njihova povezava s pokritostjo tal Alohtoni jamski sedimenti vsebujejo pomembne paleontološke in arheološke zapise ter kazalnike nedavnih ekoloških procesov. Za pravilno razlago teh zapisov je treba poznati vire sedimentov in procese odlaganja, zlasti medsebojno povezanost vertikalne- ga in lateralnega prenosa sedimentov. V primerjavi z nižinskim krasom je znanje o tropskih gorskih kraških geosistemih pre- cej skromno. Da bi izsledili izvor in poti prenosa sedimentov, so avtorji raziskali jamo Atl v gorovju Sierra Zongolica v Ve- racruzu v Mehiki. Na podlagi terenskih raziskav in kartiranja so ugotovili, da ima jama dve horizontalni stopnji, ki predstav- ljata freatične kanale in starodavne stopnje stabilnosti, ter da je na vhodu epigenetska jama s točko napajanja, njen vir pa je potok. Primerjalna študija profilov površinske prsti in diamik- titnega faciesa usedlin na jamskem dnu je vključevala terenski morfološki opis, mikromorfološka opazovanja, analizo velikos- ti delcev, kolorimetrijo, analizo kemične sestave z XRF in iden- tifikacijo glinenih mineralov z XRD. Iz rezultatov je razvidno, ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3, 133-153, POSTOJNA 2025 1 Posgrado en Ciencias de la Tierra, Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), CDMX, México 2 Departamento de Dinámica Terrestre Superficial, Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), CDMX, México; e-mail: rafaelopez83@hotmail.com 3 Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales y del Suelo, Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), CDMX, México; e-mail: serg_sedov@yahoo.com 4 Instituto de Investigación Científica y Estudios Avanzados Chicxulub (IICEAC), Yucatán, México; hugoe1617@gmail.com 5 Departamento Procesos Litosféricos and Laboratorio Nacional de Geoquímica y Mineralogía (LANGEM), Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), CDMX, México; e-mail: tpuig@geologia.unam.mx 6 Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museografía, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), CDMX, México; e-mail: victor_cabadas_b@encrym.edu.mx * Corresponding author, e-mail: arqueopams42@outlook.com. Received/Prejeto: 4. 12. 2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/ac.v54i2.14015 1. INTRODUCTION Cave sediments have been studied under many different approaches including: 1) as a sink of contaminants use- ful for tracing their movement from surface to under- ground and to the aquifer (Lynch, et al., 2007; Mahler, et al., 2007; Loop, 2019; Vesper, 2019), 2) as a source of paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental records such as isotopes, pollen and macro-rest (Burger, 2004; Harmon et al., 2007; Knapp, et al., 2007; White, 1988 and 2004; Dreybrodt, 2012; Zupan et al., 2020), and 3) as records of anthropic activities and occupations through time, from early Paleolithic to "sacred places" of historical cultures (Ardelean et al., 2020; Béres et al., 2021). Cave sediments have different processes of forma- tion, origin, and type (Ford and Williams, 2007; Springer, 2012). Two major groups of components could be dis- criminated: sediments from outside of the cave called allogeneic, and those formed within the cave known as autogenic. Understanding of the origin and mechanisms of transportation of the allogeneic material has major importance for most cave sediment research. Allogeneic materials can enter the cave system by vertical or lateral transport. Sedimentary structures, particle size and sorting results from the sedimenta- tion mechanism and pathway of the sediments. Vertical transport occurs through the system of cavities generated by dissolution in the epikarst zone. It consists of the re- deposition of the materials from the surface soil mantle, involving predominantly smaller particles: silt and clay; this process is also known as “soil piping” (suffusion) (White, 1988; Beck, 2012). Lateral fluvial transport can move large amounts of material of all sizes and of dif- ferent origins, from soils to fluvial and aeolian sedi- ments (Bosch and White, 2007, 2018; Springer, 2012). Both types of erosion impact the surface soil cover of the karstic geosystems. In fact, soil development on the karst surface is a product of balance between generation of soil by pedogenesis and its loss due to “hidden” verti- cal erosion (Sedov et al., 2023). In some cases, this bal- ance could shift towards nearly complete degradation of the soil mantle (Atalay, 1997). Spatial variability of ero- sion processes results in complex composition of the soil cover on calcareous rocks which combines thin poorly developed profiles of Rendzina type and deep red soils known as Terra Rossa. The latter are enriched in silicate clay and iron oxides (hematite and goethite) and leached of carbonates (Yaalon, 1997; Durn, 2003; Priori et al., 2008). The genesis of Terra Rossa has been a matter of intense debate for decades, especially regarding the ori- gin of the silicate components. The lithomorphic theory states that the accumulation is from the lime-free residue of the underlying calcareous rocks (e.g. Bronger and Se- dov, 2003; Bautista et al., 2011), whereas the alternative explanation points to allochthonous, mostly windblown material (Yaalon, 1997; Durn et al., 1999; Priori et al., 2008; Cabadas et al., 2010). Terra Rossa are also affected by karstic erosion and there is evidence of red soils re- deposited in the interior of caves (Osborn, 1992, 2001; Lynch et al., 2007; Musgrave and Webb, 2007). Thus, un- derground pedosediments could provide important in- formation about the history of soil development and soil erosion on the land surface of karstic landscapes. Calcareous rocks affected by strong karstification occupy vast areas within the tropical zone of Southern Mexico. Large parts of these areas were subjected to long- PAMELA GARCÍA-RAMÍREZ, RAFAEL LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ, SERGEY SEDOV , HUGO SALGADO-GARRIDO, TERESA PI PUIG & HÉCTOR VÍCTOR CABADAS-BÁEZ rimetry, bulk chemical composition via XRF, and clay min- eral identification by XRD. The results demonstrate that the cave deposits have more similarities with the young alluvial and colluvial soils near the entrance than with mature Terra Rossa developed over the limestone formation that hosts the cave. This proves the predominant role of the lateral alluvial transport by high energy events in the formation of the cave diamicton with very restricted contribution of the vertical erosion of Terra Rossa. The main source rock for alluvial and colluvial materials transported to the cave are siliciclastic sed- iments of the Necoxtla formation, whereas Terra Rossa soils were formed from tephra of the Orizaba volcano. High CIA values, high clay content with a predominance of kaolinite, point to greater weathering of Terra Rossa in comparison with other studied surface and underground materials. Keywords: mountainous karst, Atl cave, cave sediments, sedi- ment formation, soil cover, lateral erosion. da so jamski nanosi bolj podobni mladim aluvialnim in kolu- vialnim tlom v bližini vhoda kot pa tlom Terra Rossa v zrelem stadiju, ki so se razvila nad apnenčasto formacijo, v kateri je jama. To dokazuje prevladujočo vlogo lateralnega aluvialnega prenosa z visokointenzivnimi dogodki pri oblikovanju jamske- ga diamikta z zelo majhnim prispevkom vertikalne erozije tal Terra Rossa. Glavna izvorna kamnina aluvialnih in koluvialnih materialov, ki tvorijo nanose v jami, so siliciklastični sedimenti formacije Necoxtla, tla Terra Rossa pa so nastala iz tefre vul- kana Orizaba. Visoke vrednosti kemijskega indeksa sprememb in visoka vsebnost gline s prevladujočim kaolinitom kažejo na večji vremenski vpliv tal Terra Rossa v primerjavi z drugimi proučenimi površinskimi in podzemnimi materiali. Ključne besede: gorski kras, jama Atl, jamski sedimenti, nasta- janje sedimentov, pokritost tal, lateralna erozija. 134 ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 FORMATION OF CLASTIC SEDIMENTS IN THE ATL CAVE OF THE SIERRA ZONGOLICA, VERACRUZ MEXICO, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE SOIL COVER term human occupation and hosted highly developed Prehispanic civilizations, in particular, the ancient Maya culture. The soil mantle of the south Mexican karstic landscape comprised a vital resource for Mayan agrosys- tems and was severely transformed by human-induced erosion and degradation (Dunning et al., 2002; Beach et al., 2006), which is reflected in the properties of the underground pedosediments (Sedov et al., 2023). The soil erosion and redeposition processes are better docu- mented in the platform karst landscapes of the Yucatan peninsula (Sedov et al., 2008, Cabadas et al., 2010; Sedov et al., 2023). There the vertical redeposition by suffusion was proven to be a principal process of pedosediments accumulation in the karst pockets and cave floors, with Figure 1: The study region. A) Location of Sierra Zongolica in Mexico, close to Orizaba City and the volcano Pico de Orizaba, B) Distribu- tions of profiles in the regional geology (SGM, 2001), and C) Context of Atl cave, which is located at the bottom of a closed depression fed by three streams. This cave represents the main drainage of the small basin of 0.15 km2 with a high precipitation regime. A-A’ show the cross section for Figure 2a. ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 135 PAMELA GARCÍA-RAMÍREZ, RAFAEL LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ, SERGEY SEDOV , HUGO SALGADO-GARRIDO, TERESA PI PUIG & HÉCTOR VÍCTOR CABADAS-BÁEZ minimal contribution by lateral fluvial transport. Much less is known about the processes of the underground sedimentation in the high-relief karst landscapes of the fold and thrust belt of calcareous rocks of the Chiapas and Veracruz territories. In this research, we focus on the origin of allogeneic sediments found inside the Atl cave (Sierra Zongolica Mountain range, Veracruz state, eastern Mexico); these sediments comprise a mix of carbonate and siliceous materials in a diamicton facie at the cave bottom. Our research team, which includes soil scientists and kar- stologists, investigated the relationship between the soil and sediment cover on the surface around the cave and the cave floor sediments, as a way of understanding the sources of deposited materials and the pathways of their transport. We also characterized the pedogenesis of dif- ferent soils formed in the karstic landscape of the Sierra Zongolica the Sierra Zongolica to better understand the interaction between the surface and underground pro- cesses. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS 2.1 STUDY REGION The study region is in the Sierra Zongolica, Veracruz, Mexico (Figure 1). The Sierra is part of the Maya Terrain (Ortuño et al., 1992) and is considered a prolongation of the Sierra Madre Oriental with similar tectonic behav- ior. The geological evolution of this zone is related to the opening of the Gulf of Mexico with complex tectonic set- tings and the formation of some sedimentary basins and its evolution from the late Jurassic to the late Cretaceous. During this period, a thick package of carbonate and car- bonate-siliciclastic was deposited, allowing several caves to form during its exposition. Three geological formations are involved in the development of Atl Cave. The Orizaba Formation was described by Viniegra (1965) as gray limestone divided into two main facies: Rudist boundstone and grainstone- packstone of bioclast deposited on a shallow water plat- form during Albian-Cenomanian. This unit is reported to be up to 2000m thick (Martínez-Amador et al., 2002). The Maltrata Formation was described by Böse (1899) as thin stratified limestone with intercalations of slate and shale. This formation is concordant with the Orizaba Formation and it was deposited in a basin envi- ronment during the Late Cenomanian-Conacian (Arám- buro-Pérez et al., 1987). The Necoxtla Formation is still an informal unit, first described by Böse (1899) and more recently by Vi- niegra (1965) as a sequence of slate, shale, sandstone, and limestones with pyrite and some concretions. The age is estimated as Aptian-Albian and deposited in a basin en- vironment with an estimated thickness up to 300m. In this zone, Eguiluz et al., (2000) recognizes three deformation phases: laramide with shortness ENE-WSW , an extensional phase with NE-SE orientation, and the last with shortness in NW-SE direction. This deforma- tion triggers multiple folds and fractures, favoring karst development in the area. The Cenozoic is associated with the Transmexican- Volcanic Belt (TMVB) and represented by the Sierra Negra volcano (4585 masl) and Pico de Orizaba volcano (5670 masl), located very close to each other, sharing the same basement. The first one is an inactive stratovolcano of andesitic composition. The second is an active stra- tovolcano of andesitic-dacitic magma, which currently consists of a fumarole, and previously has had effusive and explosive activities (Carrasco-Nuñez and Rose, 1995; Carrasco-Nuñez, 1999). The area presents vegetation corresponding to a High Evergreen Forest and a Mesophyll Forest of Moun- tain. The climate is characterized by an average annual temperature of 17.6°C; and mean annual precipitation of 2,770 mm, distributed over 196 days a year, and a total evaporation of 1,014.8 mm (CONAGUA, 2020). 2.2 SPELEOLOGICAL RESEARCH Atl Cave takes its name from the Nahuatl term Atl, which means water. The cave was first explored by Benjamín Guerrero, Rodolfo Hernández, Octavio Luno and Nadia Mota González, and then by the Montañismo UNAM and Laboratorio de Carbonatos y Procesos Kársticos of UNAM. The cave was mapped following the standard mapping methods of Haüselmann (2011), with a laser distance meter and Brunton compass. The cave is still under exploration. 2.3 PEDOLOGICAL AND SEDIMENTOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION 2.3.1 Studied profiles The selection of profiles was made to compare the sedi - ments inside the cave, with the soil cover outside the 136 ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 cave. Six profiles were studied, four outside and two in- side. The profiles on the surface include two in a doline adjacent to the cave, and two in small depressions of the limestones of the Orizaba Formation. These positions were selected because they cover the possible origins of the sediments in the cave, one by lateral and one by vertical erosion. The two profiles inside the cave were in subhorizontal passages close to 1400 masl. These profiles were selected based on thickness of the un- derground bottom sedimentary layer and feasibility of obtaining samples. The profiles were described in the field following the IUSS Working Group WRB (2015), and sampled for physicochemical, micromorphological and mineralogical standard analysis; the analyses were made in fractions below 2mm (sand, silt and clay). 2.3.2 Micromorphology All soil horizons and sediment levels were sampled in undisturbed blocks from which thin sections were made and impregnated with resin Crystal MC-40 inside a vacuum chamber. When the resin was solidified the block was cut, polished and mounted on glass slides to further thin the sample until a 30 microns thin section was obtained. An Olympus model BX51 petrographic microscope was used for the study. The analysis and description were made following the terminology of Stoops (2003). 2.3.3 Physicochemical: Color and Texture Selected physicochemical analyses were done at the Laboratory of Paleosoils of the Instituto de Geología of UNAM and at the LANGEM-IGL of UNAM. Color. The color was determined using a Colorim- eter ColorLite sph870, registering the CIEL Lab color (L*a*b*), which indicates the Lightness (L*), the Red/ Geen value (a*) and Blue/Y ellow (b*). Particle size. The analysis was made following Flores and Alcalá (2010) using the pipette method. For this analysis the samples were pretreated with hy- drogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) to dissolve the organic mat- ter functioning as a cementing agent, then the sample was put to agitate for 12 hours with 10 ml of sodium hexametaphosphate and 25 ml of distilled water before proceeding with the determination of the particle’s per- centages. 2.3.4 Mineralogical investigations by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) XRD bulk rock and clay-oriented specimens of selected horizons of the soil and sediment profiles were made in the Laboratorio de Difracción de Rayos X, of the LAN- GEM-IGL, UNAM. The measurements were made with an EMPYREAN XRD diffractometer using CuKα radia- tion, nickel filter, and PIXcel 3D detector. The measure - ments were made with a step size of 0.003° (2theta) and 40s of integration time. For the analysis of the diffrac- tograms, the software HIGHScore v4.5 was used with the ICDD (International Center for Diffraction DATA) and ICSD (Inorganic Crystal Structure Database) da- tabase. Bulk rock samples. The samples were pulverized using an agate mortar, sieved to less than 45 microns and mounted in a back-side aluminum holder. The semi-quantification was obtained using the RIR (Ref- erence Intensity Ratio) method (Hubbard and Snyder, 1988), implemented in the HIGHScore v4.5 software. Oriented samples. According to Stokes' law, the clay size fraction (<2 μm) was separated by centrifuga- tion in distilled water. Air-dried oriented preparations were obtained from the <2 μm fractions by pipetting some drops of the suspension onto a glass slide and then drying at 30°C for a few hours (Moore and Reyn- olds, 1997). Three aliquots were measured in air-dried form (AD), ethylene glycol saturated (EG), and heated (550°C). Clay species were estimated in semiquantita- tive form, using simple peak weighting factors. For area estimation we used Fityk (Wojdyr, 2010), a program for data processing and nonlinear curve fitting, simple background subtraction and easy placement of peaks and changing of peak parameters. For better evaluation of the crystallinity of the main mineral components, we measure Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) values. The FWHM is a key parameter in X-ray dif- fraction (XRD) used to evaluate the crystalline qual- ity of minerals, particularly those belonging to the clay group. This parameter allows distinguishing between well-crystallized (low FWHM values expressed as nar- row peaks) particles and those with lower structural order (high FWHM values expressed as broad peaks), while also providing insights into their formation con- ditions. 2.3.5 Bulk chemical composition by XRF The analysis was made at the Laboratorio de Fluores- cencia de Rayos X, at LANGEM of the Instituto de Ge- ología. Major elements were measured in molten sam- ples, using a Rigaka Primus II equipment, in selected horizons of the studied soil profiles. Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) was applied to explore the weathering trends in the profiles (Nesbitt and Young, 1982); it was also used to evaluate the extent of the transformation of the feldspars group to kaolinitic clay minerals (Nesbitt and Y oung, 1982, 1989; Fedo et al., 1995; Maynard 1992; Price and Velbel, 2003). FORMATION OF CLASTIC SEDIMENTS IN THE ATL CAVE OF THE SIERRA ZONGOLICA, VERACRUZ MEXICO, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE SOIL COVER ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 137 3. RESULTS 3.1 CAVE DESCRIPTION OF ATL CAVE Atl Cave (14Q 0704804E 2079891N) is in a blind valley fed by three mains streams (Figure 1c). The cave is the foremost drain system for this slight, closed depression. Its morphology presents narrow passages, scarce spe- leothems, and abundant allogeneic sediments. The cave exhibits a near vertical development with two horizontal stages representing phreatic conduits and ancient stabil- ity stages at 1400 and 1300 masl, the current base level of the near zone being 1248 masl (Atlaco Ravine) (Figure 2A). So far, the cave has been mapped to 256 m of hori- zontal development and -120 m of depth development (Hernández-Vergara, 2017). It shows two principal gal- leries (Figures 2B and 2C). One of them ends in a sea- sonal small lake towards the north; the other goes south to Atlaco Ravine. This gallery is at the bottom of the cave; however, the gallery continues in a small and quite nar- row passage. 3.2 PEDOLOGY 3.2.1 Studied profiles The profiles studied can be divided into three groups: PAMELA GARCÍA-RAMÍREZ, RAFAEL LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ, SERGEY SEDOV , HUGO SALGADO-GARRIDO, TERESA PI PUIG & HÉCTOR VÍCTOR CABADAS-BÁEZ Figure 2: Section of Tecolayo Mountain and Atl cave map. A) Profile of Tecolayo Mountain and surrounding basin; B) Plan view of Atl Cave; and C) Profile view of Atl Cave (modified from Hernández-Vergara, 2017). It is possible to see how the cave collects the water of the basin and transports it into an underground drain system to the Atlaco Ravine. 138 ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 1) Terra Rossa Type. Located in small depressions in the surface landscape. Both present reddish colors and clayey texture (Figure 3 and Table 1). - The T onalixco profile is in the same formation as the cave Atl (14Q 0704572E 2080131N). It is an Abrup- tic Luvisol (Cutanic, Profondic) and has a depth of 300cm and an Ah-AB-Bw-Bt1-Bt2-BCt sequence of horizons. The topsoil shows grey-brown humus pigmentation, whereas the B horizons have a red- brown color. Evidence of clay illuviation cutans on the aggregate surfaces starts at 110 cm (Bt1 hori- zon) and through the rest of the profile. - The Magdalena profile is ~5km south from the area (14Q 0705935E 2075564N). It is a Stagnic Luvisol (Clayic, Cutanic, Profondic). It has a depth of 300 cm and a Ah-Bw1-Bw2-Bg-2Bt1-2Bt2 sequence of horizons. This profile presents abrupt and strongly undulating contact with the underlying karstified limestone. In the left part of the profile where cal- careous rock is closer to the surface, the specific 3Btg horizon was observed in direct contact to the limestone. Clay cutans are observable at 150 cm (2Bt1 horizon) and some redoximorphic (Stagnic) properties at the Bg and 3Btg horizon, both starting at 130 cm, but in the latter, they are combined with clay cutans. 2) Stagnosols. Located at opposite ends of a doline, ad- jacent to the entrance cave, that forms a somewhat flat terrain in the Sierra landscape; both profiles present col- luvial materials (Figure 4 and Table 1). - Cancha 1 profile is located at the cave entrance (14Q 0704805E 207989N), and is exposed on the bank of the stream entering the cave; the profile shows evi- dence of colluvial and alluvial materials. It is a Gley- ic Stagnosol (Clayic, Colluvic, Skeletic), formed by an Ah-Bw1-Bw2-BCg-Cg sequence of horizons, up to 250 cm depth. High content (~50%) of weathered siliciclastic rock fragments such as siltstone and shale is observed throughout the profile starting at the Ah horizon, and redoximorphic properties are present in the BCg and Cg horizons, at 132 cm and 250 cm. - Cancha 2 profile is located to the opposite extreme of the doline (14Q 0704877E 2079846N), at the lower part of the slope delimiting the depression present- ing colluvial influence. It is a Gleyic Stagnosol (En- doskeletic) and is shallower than Cancha 1, with a depth of 100 cm and an Ah-Bg-Bw-BC sequence of FORMATION OF CLASTIC SEDIMENTS IN THE ATL CAVE OF THE SIERRA ZONGOLICA, VERACRUZ MEXICO, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE SOIL COVER Figure 3: Terra Rossa Type profiles. a) Magdalena profile; b) area of Tona- lixco; and c) Tonalixco profile. Figure 4: Stagnosols soil profiles: a) Cancha 1 pro- file; 2) Entrance to Atl Cave close to Cancha 1 profile; and 3) Cancha 2 profile. ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 139 PAMELA GARCÍA-RAMÍREZ, RAFAEL LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ, SERGEY SEDOV , HUGO SALGADO-GARRIDO, TERESA PI PUIG & HÉCTOR VÍCTOR CABADAS-BÁEZ Table 1: General matrix profile properties. Structure: SB: Subangular blocky, AB: Angular blocky, GR: Granular, MA: Massive, PR: Pris- matic. HCl reaction: weak (X) to strong (XXX). Horizon Depth (cm) Color (dry) Structure Texture HCl Others Tonalixco Ah 0-30 7.5YR 3/4 GR Silt Loam - Organic detritus, gradual limit. AB 30-60 7.5YR 3/4 SB to GR Loam - Low density, gradual limit. Bw 60-110 7.5YR 4/6 SB Clay - Compact, biogenetic pores, gradual limit. Bt1 110-170 7.5YR 4/6 SB Clay - Compact, wavy limit. Bt2 170-210 7.5YR 5/6 SB Clay - Similar to the previous but less red. BCt 210-300 7.5YR 4/6 SB Clay - Interior of soil aggregates of yellow color. Compact. Magdalena Ah 0-40 7.5YR 3/3 GR to SB Silty Clay Loam - Clear limit. Bw1 40-100 10YR 6/6 SB Clay - Fine porosity. Thin cutans and gradual limit Bw2 100-130 10YR 5/6 SB Clay Loam - Gradual limit. Bg 130-150 10YR 6/6 SB Clay - Incline clear limit. 2Bt1 150-210 7.5YR 5/6 SB Clay - Low fine porosity, compact, cutans. 2Bt2 210-300 7.5YR 5/6 SB Clay - Similar to the previous but less red, more compact and with cutans. 3Btg Bg to 2Bt2 7.5YR 4/6 SB to PR Clay - Located at the left side of the profile, in contact with the limestone outcrop. Fe-Mn concretions, rounded of 2mm. Cancha 1 Ah 0-25 10YR 6/4 GR Silty Clay - Angular fragments of weathered stone without clear orientation. Bw1 25-75 10YR 6/4 SB Silty Clay - Rock fragments with green and pinkish mottling. 50% presence of gravels and stones. Bw2 75-132 10YR 7/4 SB Silty Clay Loam - Similar to the previous one. Clear limit. BCg 132-190 10YR 7/6 - Silty Clay - Mottling color (brown, green-gray, pink and yellow). Manganese presence. 60% pedegrosity. Cg 190-250 10YR 7/4 - Silty Clay X 70% pedegrosity. mottling and coatings of Mn. Gray-green siltstone rock. Cancha 2 Ah 0-20 10YR 6/3 GR to SB Silty Clay - Wavy clear limit. Bg 20-40 10YR 7/4 SB Silt Loam - Mottling of Mn and Fe, gravel and weathered rock fragments as inclusions (30%). Gradual limit. Bw 40-70 10YR 7/4 SB Silty Clay Loam - Reddish mottled given by lithics (40%). Gradual limit. BC 70-110 10YR 7/6 SB Silty Clay - Weathered siltstone rock of gray color in more than 50% of the horizon. Atl 1 Level 1 0-20 10YR 7/6 MA Silty Clay XXX Composed of unsorted sub-angular to cobble small clast (~5-10 cm). Atl 2 Level 1 0- 7.5YR 7/6 MA Clay Loam XXX The sediment size was between 5-10 cm. Level 2 70- 7.5YR 6/6 MA Clay Loam XXX Size clasts of ~10-15 cm. Level 3 200- 7.5YR 7/4 MA Clay Loam XXX Composed of sub angular clast of at least 20 cm. 140 ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 horizons. It has weathered rock fragments (~40%) starting at the Bg horizon, 20 cm, and some redoxi- morphic properties in the same horizon with the presence of Mn and Fe mottles. 3) Diamicton. Located in passages of the cave, both pro- files are classified as diamicton facies, and are close to 1400 masl, at -30m depth from the cave entrance with a different horizontal distance (Figure 2B, 5 and Table 1) - Atl 1 profile is located 30 m horizontally from the cave entrance at the end of “Ballons passage.” Its thickness is 20 cm. The profile is composed of a brownish, massive unconsolidated matrix-support- ed deposit. - Atl 2 profile is located 70 m horizontally from the cave entrance at “The crossroad” passage. Its thick- ness is 2m. This profile exhibits a brownish, mas- sive unconsolidated, matrix-supported deposit, but shows a wider range of unsorted particle sizes. The profile was sampled at 0 cm, 70 cm, and 200 cm in depth. 3.2.2 Micromorphology The Terra Rossa Type profiles present complex structure in the upper humus horizons. Small granular aggregates are clustered in the larger porous rounded blocks (Figure 6a). These horizons present fine clayey groundmass with organic pigment incorporating inclusions of charcoal fragments, clay papules and reddish soil fragments (Fig- ure 6b), as well as some volcanic minerals: pyroxene and plagioclase. Below, in the B horizons, these soils present a homogeneous fine clay matrix with reddish ferruginous pigment (Figure 6c), with subangular blocky structure. FORMATION OF CLASTIC SEDIMENTS IN THE ATL CAVE OF THE SIERRA ZONGOLICA, VERACRUZ MEXICO, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE SOIL COVER Figure 5: Diamicton profiles. a) Diamicton deposit inside the cave; and b) Close up to the diamicton deposit. Figure 6: Micromorphology from the Terra Rossa type profiles: a) Magdalena-Ah. Matrix with granular ag- gregates PPL; b) Tonalixco- AB. Charcoal fragment, granular structure and clay papules PPL; c) Tonalixco- Bt1. Matrix with clay ac- cumulation PPL; and d) Magdalena-3Bt. Clay and iron nodules NX. PPL: plane polarized light, NX crossed polarizers. ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 141 In some horizons, we observed small illuvial clay coat- ings, ferruginous rounded nodules (Figure 6d) and a few charcoal fragments. In contrast, the Stagnosols profiles don’t present a well-developed microaggregation in the A horizons. In general, pedogenetic features are less developed and sedimentary structures still visible, in particular micro- lamination and fluidal structure of fluvial origin in the profile Cancha 1 (Figure 7a). Pedofeatures include Fe- Mn nodules indicative of redoximorphic process (Figure 7b). These soils contain abundant inclusions of rock frag- ments (~50%) mainly shales (Figure 7d) and siltstone. Soil groundmass shows areas of sandy texture due to the presence of volcanic rocks and minerals (Figure 7c) which alternate with the areas of finer texture with mate- rials derived from the disintegrated shales. The Diamicton profiles are somewhat like the pre- vious group, they present high proportions of big rock fragments (30-50%) in a fine brown matrix, with some groundmass of lighter color and texture (Figure 8a), and in some areas the matrix shows evidence of fluvial depo- sition with fluidal structures (Figure 8b). 3.2.3 Physicochemical: Color and Texture Color. Colorimetric analysis shows two groups in the Lu- minosity values (L*), the dark colors (~60 to 40) and the light colors (~60 to 70); the first ones correspond to the T er- ra Rosa Type profiles and the second ones to the Stagno- sols and Inside Cave profiles. The a* values present slight- ly higher values in the Terra Rosa Type and Inside Cave groups, while the b* values are higher for the Stagnosols and Diamicton profiles than to the Terra Rosa Type group where they are closer to the a* values (Figure 9). Texture. In general, the texture shows a predomi- nance of silt and clay particles. The Atl 2 profile and some horizons of the Tonalixco profile show higher values of sand content but not as the predominant component (Figure 9). The Terra Rosa Type profiles present predominantly clayey textures. The Magdalena profile presents higher percentages of clay in the lower horizons and the silt per- centage is bigger in the upper horizons. The Tonalixco profile presents three clear sections, in the first the silt predominates, the second shows the maximum values of clays and the last one still presents high values of clay but PAMELA GARCÍA-RAMÍREZ, RAFAEL LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ, SERGEY SEDOV , HUGO SALGADO-GARRIDO, TERESA PI PUIG & HÉCTOR VÍCTOR CABADAS-BÁEZ Figure 7: Micromorphology of the Stagnosols profiles. a) Cancha 1-BCg rock fragment and fluvial structure with clay cutans NX; b) Cancha 2-Bg. Clay illuviation and Fe precipitations NX; c) Cancha 1-Bw1. Sandy matrix with pres- ence of volcanic rock fragments and minerals PPL; and d) Cancha 1-BCg. Rock fragment (shale) PPL. PPL: plane polarized light, NX crossed polarizers. Figure 8: Micromorphology of the diamicton profiles. a) Atl 1-Level 1. Rock fragments in a brown ma- trix with other materials fragments PPL; and b) Atl 2-Level 2. Matrix with fluidal structure PPL. PPL: plane polarized light, NX crossed polarizers. 142 ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 FORMATION OF CLASTIC SEDIMENTS IN THE ATL CAVE OF THE SIERRA ZONGOLICA, VERACRUZ MEXICO, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE SOIL COVER Figure 9: Physicochemi- cal properties of studied profiles. Colorimetry Lab color (L*a*b*), and Texture. ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 143 with higher values of sand and silt. The texture type is loam in the surface and clay below. The Stagnosols profiles present silty clay and silty clay loam textures. Both present a homogeneous distri- bution of percentages through the profile, the difference being a higher amount of sand in the Cancha 1 profile while in the Cancha 2 profile silt predominates. The Diamicton profiles present a silty clay texture in the Atl 1 profile and a clay-loam texture in the Atl 2 profile. They also show a uniform distribution of size particles, with silt, the predominant one, followed by clay and a higher percentage of sand than in the other groups of profiles. 3.2.4 Mineralogical investigations by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) Bulk rock samples. One horizon of each profile was ana- lyzed to present the general mineralogical composition (Table 2). The most abundant primary minerals identi- fied were quartz, plagioclase of intermediate composi- tion, and magnetite. Gibbsite-type Al-hydroxides, cal- cite, and different proportions of 2:1 phyllosilicate (chlo- rite, vermiculite and illite) and 1:1 phyllosilicates of the kaolinite group were identified as secondary minerals. As seen in Figure 10a, the Diamicon profiles are quite similar to the Stagnosol profiles, especially regard- ing the presence of primary minerals and the predomi- nance of 2:1 phyllosilicates. Consequently, they are quite different from the Terra Rossa Type in which secondary minerals, especially kaolinitic clays and gibbsite-type hydroxides, predominate (Figure 10a). The Diamicton profiles are the only ones where calcite was found, while the plagioclase was only found in the Stagnosol profiles. Gibbsite is present only in horizon Bw1 of Magdalena PAMELA GARCÍA-RAMÍREZ, RAFAEL LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ, SERGEY SEDOV , HUGO SALGADO-GARRIDO, TERESA PI PUIG & HÉCTOR VÍCTOR CABADAS-BÁEZ Table 2: Bulk rock RIR mineralogical semiquantitative percentages. T= Tonalixco, M= Magdalena, C1= Cancha 1, C2= Cancha 2, A1= Atl 1, and A2= Atl 2. The values projected in the ternary diagram (Figure 10) correspond to the last columns of this table. The last 2 rows show the corrected values by removing carbonate in the diamicton profiles. Primary Minerals Oxides T:O T:O:T TOT TO Primary Pl Qz Cc Mag Gib K il Cl/Ver 02:01 1:1+Gib Primary A1 L1 49 7 6 10 19 100 28 10 62 A2 L2 47 11 7 8 19 8 100 27 8 65 T-Bt1 10 82 8 100 8 82 10 M-BW1 13 5 30 52 100 0 82 18 C2-BC 15 45 5 9 14 12 100 26 9 65 C1-Bw1 6 49 6 10 16 13 100 29 10 61 A1 L1 52.7 6.5 10.8 20.4 9.7 100 30.1 10.8 59.1 A2 L2 52.8 7.9 9.0 21.3 9.0 100 30.3 9.0 60.7 Figure 10: Ternary diagram of Bulk rock and Oriented samples. a) Bulk rock diagram from the RIR Mineralogical semiquantitative per- centages. Primary minerals= quartz, plagioclase and magnetite; 2:1= vermiculite, chlorite and ilite phyllosilicates; and 1:1= gibbsite and kaolinite phyllosilicates; and b) Principal clay components from the semi quantitative analysis of the oriented sample. 144 ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 profile (Table 2) and it should be interpreted as the prod- uct of intense weathering of aluminosilicate-rich rocks (feldspars or aluminum-rich clays such as kaolinite) un- der humid tropical and subtropical climate conditions. Oriented Samples. 14 samples were analyzed con- sidering the clay content and distribution through the profile (Table 3). The primary 2:1 phyllosilicates compo- nents identified are V ermiculite and some chlorite at 14Å, as well as Ilite at 10Å; in the 1:1 phyllosilicates kaolinite was identified at 7Å, of this phase, two components were FORMATION OF CLASTIC SEDIMENTS IN THE ATL CAVE OF THE SIERRA ZONGOLICA, VERACRUZ MEXICO, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE SOIL COVER Figure 11: Comparative oriented sample diffractograms and semiquantitative analysis. T = 550°C, Gl = ethylene glycol saturated, and AD = air-dried form. The diffractograms show the peaks of vermiculite and chlorite at 14Å, ilite at 10Å, and kaolinite at 7Å, as well as gibbsite at 4.84Å, and quartz at 3.34Å. In the semiquantitative diagrams, profile fitting of the peak located at approximately 7Å for samples Atl 2 Level B and Cancha 1 BW1 required two components with different FWHM values. In contrast, only a single component was identified in sample M 3Btg. This indicates the possible coexistence of two types of kaolinite, with different crystallinity (FWHM values). ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 145 PAMELA GARCÍA-RAMÍREZ, RAFAEL LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ, SERGEY SEDOV , HUGO SALGADO-GARRIDO, TERESA PI PUIG & HÉCTOR VÍCTOR CABADAS-BÁEZ Table 3: Oriented sample semiquantitative weight percentages. T= Tonalixco, M= Magdalena, C1= Cancha 1, C2= Cancha 2, A1= Atl 1, and A2= Atl 2. AD: air-dried form, GL: ethylene glycol saturated, T: 550°C, (): Peaks not clearly defined, ?: undifferentiated, X: collapse peak. SAMPLE AD GL T PHASE % (weight) T-AB ~14Å ~14Å ~12Å Vermiculite 26.4 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 40.0 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 33.7 T-Bt1 ~13Å ? ~10 Mixed layered vermiculite-illite 13.1 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 49.1 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 37.8 T-BCt ~12Å ? ~10Å Mixed Layer vermiculite-illite 19.4 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 33.3 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 47.2 M-BW1 ~10Å ? ~10Å illite 61.3 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 38.7 M-2Bt1 ~10Å ? ~10Å illite 18.3 ~7Å ~7Å ~7Å Kaolinite 71.1 M-3Btg ~13-14Å ? ~12Å Vermiculite 4.4 ~10Å ? ~10Å illite 36.1 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 59.5 C2-A ~13Å ~13Å ~13Å Mixed layered illite-chlorite 39.2 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 26.2 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 1 24.3 ~7Å (~7Å) (X) Kaolinite 2 10.3 C2-BC ~14Å ~13-14Å ~12Å Vermiculite 39.3 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å iIllite 42.2 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 18.6 C1-Bw1 ~14Å ~13-14 Å ~11-12Å Vermiculite 13.0 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 45.4 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 1 7.2 ~7Å (~7Å) (X) Kaolinite 2 34.4 C1-BCg ~14Å ~13Å ~11-12Å Vermiculite 34.2 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 22.3 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 43.5 A1 L1 ~14Å ~13-14Å ~12Å Vermiculite 6.8 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 40.9 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 1 16.1 ~7Å (~7)Å (X) Kaolinite 2 36.2 A2 L1 ~14Å ~13-14Å ~12Å Vermiculite 7.4 ~9-10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 44.5 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 1 30.0 ~7Å ? X Kaolinite 2 18.1 A2 L2 ~14Å ~14Å ~12-13Å Vermiculite 2.9 10Å 9Å 10Å illite 49.0 7Å 7Å X Kaolinite 1 12.2 7Å (7)Å (X) Kaolinite 2 35.9 A2 L3 14Å 13Å 13Å Mixed layered vermiculite-chlorite 3.6 9Å 9Å 10Å illite 51.7 7Å 7Å X Kaolinite 1 11.1 7Å (7)Å (X) Kaolinite 2 33.6 Nov podpis s korigirano tabelo skupaj 1-12-25 Table 3: Oriented sample semiquantitative weight percentages. T= Tonalixco, M= Magdalena, C1= Cancha 1, C2= Cancha 2, A1= Atl 1, and A2= Atl 2. AD: air-dried form, GL: ethylene glycol saturated, T: 550°C, (): Peaks not clearly defined, ?:undifferentiated, X: collapse peak 146 ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 identified in the Stagnosols and Diamicton groups, one with better crystallinity than the other as seen through its FWHM (Full Width at Half Maximum) values (Figure 11). Figure 10b shows how the proportions of these phases differentiate the soil groups. The surface soils present different proportions of these components, the predominant phase in the Terra Rossa Type profiles is kaolinite, followed by illite and minor content of ver- miculite, in the Magdalena profile there is also presence of gibbsite. On the other hand, the Stagnosols profiles present similar proportions of the different compo- nents, the 2:1 clay is present in higher quantities like the illite and kaolinite, the latter component presents two phases, one with low crystallinity (FWHM val- ues of <1.5 (2 theta)) and one with higher crystallinity (FWHM values of <1° (2 theta)). The Diamicton, are like the soils of the Stagnosols group, with higher con- tent of illite, two kaolinite components and the presence of a 2:1 clay that is chlorite. 3.2.5 Bulk chemical composition by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) For 15 samples analyzed, we calculated the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) and built a ternary plot of molecular proportions Al 2 O 3 -(CaO* + Na 2 O)-K 2 O, for establishing interrelations between different soil and sediment materials (Figure 12, Table 4). In this plot the FORMATION OF CLASTIC SEDIMENTS IN THE ATL CAVE OF THE SIERRA ZONGOLICA, VERACRUZ MEXICO, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE SOIL COVER Table 4: XRF elemental analysis of major elements. T= Tonalixco, M= Magdalena, C1= Cancha 1, C2= Cancha 2, A1= Atl 1, and A2= Atl 2. SiO2% TiO2% Al2O3% Fe2O3t% MnO% MgO% CaO% Na2O% K2O% P2O5% PXC% Pr ofile horizon wt wt wt wt wt wt wt wt wt wt wt T-AB 32.192 1.912 29.817 12.272 0.079 0.65 0.339 0.086 0.111 0.223 22.32 T-Bt1 37.634 1.689 32.362 12.342 0.022 0.406 0.05 0.002 0.242 0.143 15.11 T-BCt 37.573 1.66 32.676 12.323 0.043 0.322 0.185 0.002 0.178 0.3 14.74 M-Ah 24.142 1.482 30.439 10.739 0.07 0.492 0.889 0.167 0.313 0.217 31.05 M-Bw1 34.321 1.513 35.295 11.438 0.019 0.17 0.209 0.002 0.051 0.043 16.94 M-2Bt1 17.209 1.943 41.891 14.687 0.021 0.268 0.083 0.002 0.117 0.042 23.74 M-3Btg 40.392 1.599 28.576 11.198 0.182 1.052 0.526 0.002 2.248 0.027 14.2 C1-Bw1 59.314 0.89 18.812 6.908 0.146 1.729 0.243 0.442 2.91 0.095 8.51 C1-Cg 62.621 0.994 17.744 5.892 0.039 1.376 0.315 0.071 2.249 0.047 8.65 C2-Ah 59.869 1.051 15.718 5.718 0.069 1.557 0.519 0.188 2.077 0.085 13.15 C2-BC 57.583 0.935 19.34 7.643 0.086 1.887 0.277 0.082 2.984 0.042 9.14 A1-Level 1 56.853 1.002 19.568 7.009 0.128 1.353 1.939 0.047 2.682 0.209 9.21 A2-Level 1 58.92 0.956 19.038 6.827 0.123 1.301 1.425 0.148 2.634 0.257 8.37 A2-Level 2 54.71 0.894 18.019 6.38 0.126 1.364 4.751 0.118 2.653 0.594 10.39 A2-Level 3 54.234 0.913 18.65 6.764 0.118 1.426 4.079 0.076 2.721 0.7 10.32 Figure 12: Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) ternary plot of mo- lecular proportions Al 2 O 3 -(CaO* + Na 2 O)-K 2 O showing the weath- ering trend of the studied materials after Nesbitt and Young (1982) and Fedo et al. (1995). grouping of the Terra Rossa Type profiles in the supe- rior triangle corner is visible, where an extreme accu- mulation of secondary minerals, such as kaolinite and gibbsite, was encountered; the same profiles show the highest values of CIA in contrast the Diamicton and the Stagnosols profiles are associated with an intermediate weathering; the latter group is associated with a trend of illite accumulation. Table 3: Oriented sample semiquantitative weight percentages. T= Tonalixco, M= Magdalena, C1= Cancha 1, C2= Cancha 2, A1= Atl 1, and A2= Atl 2. AD: air-dried form, GL: ethylene glycol saturated, T: 550°C, (): Peaks not clearly defined, ?: undifferentiated, X: collapse peak. SAMPLE AD GL T PHASE % (weight) T-AB ~14Å ~14Å ~12Å Vermiculite 26.4 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 40.0 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 33.7 T-Bt1 ~13Å ? ~10 Mixed layered vermiculite-illite 13.1 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 49.1 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 37.8 T-BCt ~12Å ? ~10Å Mixed Layer vermiculite-illite 19.4 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 33.3 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 47.2 M-BW1 ~10Å ? ~10Å illite 61.3 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 38.7 M-2Bt1 ~10Å ? ~10Å illite 18.3 ~7Å ~7Å ~7Å Kaolinite 71.1 M-3Btg ~13-14Å ? ~12Å Vermiculite 4.4 ~10Å ? ~10Å illite 36.1 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 59.5 C2-A ~13Å ~13Å ~13Å Mixed layered illite-chlorite 39.2 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 26.2 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 1 24.3 ~7Å (~7Å) (X) Kaolinite 2 10.3 C2-BC ~14Å ~13-14Å ~12Å Vermiculite 39.3 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å iIllite 42.2 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 18.6 C1-Bw1 ~14Å ~13-14 Å ~11-12Å Vermiculite 13.0 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 45.4 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 1 7.2 ~7Å (~7Å) (X) Kaolinite 2 34.4 C1-BCg ~14Å ~13Å ~11-12Å Vermiculite 34.2 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 22.3 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 43.5 A1 L1 ~14Å ~13-14Å ~12Å Vermiculite 6.8 ~10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 40.9 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 1 16.1 ~7Å (~7)Å (X) Kaolinite 2 36.2 A2 L1 ~14Å ~13-14Å ~12Å Vermiculite 7.4 ~9-10Å ~10Å ~10Å illite 44.5 ~7Å ~7Å X Kaolinite 1 30.0 ~7Å ? X Kaolinite 2 18.1 A2 L2 ~14Å ~14Å ~12-13Å Vermiculite 2.9 10Å 9Å 10Å illite 49.0 7Å 7Å X Kaolinite 1 12.2 7Å (7)Å (X) Kaolinite 2 35.9 A2 L3 14Å 13Å 13Å Mixed layered vermiculite-chlorite 3.6 9Å 9Å 10Å illite 51.7 7Å 7Å X Kaolinite 1 11.1 7Å (7)Å (X) Kaolinite 2 33.6 ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 147 4. DISCUSSION 4.1 KARSTIC SETTING Atl Cave is developed in the Sierra Zongolica. Its sur- face geomorphology exhibits many mountains and hills alternating with closed karst depressions such as poljes and dolines, additionally karstic pockets and cripto- dolines are widely distributed (Hernández-Vergara, 2017), all of this resulted from the deformation of Me- sozoic rocks by different events of uplifted, shortened and transported northeastward forming a fold and thrust belt during the Laramide orogeny (Eguiluz et al., 2000; Ortuño-Arzate et al., 2003). Atl Cave is a high relief multilevel structure con- sidered as an epigenetic cave with a point recharge zone at the entrance fed by a water stream, which is part of the drainage system in the basin of Tecolayo Mountain. Sediments are mainly represented by a thick diamicton facies that have filled the conduits in the past; however, these sediments are currently eroded by the stream. The evolution of Atl Cave can be divided into the following stages: Conduits development. The cave started to form in the first stage of karstification, following the model of Dreybrodt and Gabrovšek (2003) suggesting that these morphologies are initiated in areas with intense rainfall, when the discharge within the karst system exceeds the capacity of its conduits. Favoring the dis- solution-erosive process and conduit development in the upper part of valleys, while depositional processes prevail in the lower part of valleys linked to the wa- ter table (Dreybrodt and Gabrovšek, 2003; Audra and Palmer, 2015). This denotes that development of con- duits in Atl cave is linked to ancient tectonic events such as stability (phreatic conduits) and uplift (vadose conduits) which were developed previously to the ar- rival of diamicton facies. Cave filling. As discussed in the next section, the diamicton facies inside the cave correlate with the fa- cies in the Stagnosols soil profiles filling the doline par- tially and the cave almost entirely. This is corroborated by the observation of some vadose conduits completely filling and in some sections a residue of diamicton in the conduit ceilings has remained. This type of facies is related to extreme floods, frequently associated with catastrophic floods and glacial melt events (Bosch and White, 2007, 2018). In Atl cave, the sediments could be associated with debris flows originated in landslides and other catastrophic events during high precipitation seasons. 4.2 FORMATION OF THE DEPOSITS INSIDE THE CAVE The Diamicton group are facies composed of between 30 and 50% poorly consolidated unsorted rock frag- ments without clear sedimentary structures. Its texture is clay loam and silty clay, and presents the highest per- centage of sand particles compared to the surface pro- files. The clay mineralogy shows the presence of illite and kaolinite as principal components with some mini- mal vermiculite and chlorite. Same as the Adjacent to Cave, these profiles present two kaolinite components differentiated by its crystallinity. The mineralogy of these profiles shows the presence of primary minerals as well as Calcite that is interpreted as an input from the cave. These profiles present an intermediate and weak weathering following the Chemical Index of Alteration. Micromorphologically the same fluidal structures as in the Stagnosols profiles can be seen. The similarities with the Stagnosols profiles, as well as the location of these at the entrance of the cave, indi- cate the origin of these diamicton facies by the transport of materials from the doline. The absence of sedimen- tary structures like gradation among others suggests transportation into the cave in a debris flow. This find - ing is interesting because even when a stream is present in the cave, the studied sediments do not display a clear channel, or fluvial facies expected in this type of cave. Instead, the sediment transport to the cave seems to be related to ground mass or high energy events generating hyper-concentrated fluxes. Similar sediment sequences are common in fluviokarstic drainage basins, such as those shown at Mammoth Cave (Bosh and White, 2007, 2018; Bosch et al., 2021); even within pseudo karstic caves as Karmidas (Aliaga-Campuzano et al., 2017). Contrast with platform karst landscapes, where caves are mainly horizontal with low hydraulic gradients as in the Yucatan Peninsula, where the suffusion process is one of the main mechanisms of fine sediment transport (Sedov et al., 2023). 4.3 PEDOGENESIS OF THE STUDIED PROFILES In the soil cover outside the cave, two groups were iden- tified: Terra Rosa Type and Stagnosols. These present different pedogenesis in terms of parent material and time, which results in different physicochemical charac- teristics that are also present within each group. The Terra Rosa Type profiles correspond to deep reddish Luvisols. The predominant texture is clay and tends to be present in the lower horizons. The princi- PAMELA GARCÍA-RAMÍREZ, RAFAEL LÓPEZ-MARTÍNEZ, SERGEY SEDOV , HUGO SALGADO-GARRIDO, TERESA PI PUIG & HÉCTOR VÍCTOR CABADAS-BÁEZ 148 ACTA CARSOLOGICA 54/2-3 – 2025 FORMATION OF CLASTIC SEDIMENTS IN THE ATL CAVE OF THE SIERRA ZONGOLICA, VERACRUZ MEXICO, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO THE SOIL COVER pal clay mineralogy component is kaolinite, with some vermiculite. The upper horizons present a higher per - centage of sand and silt fractions, which could indicate the contribution of volcanic ash fall material, that could explain the presence of pyroxene and plagioclase. The contribution of long-distance volcanic ash falls could be associated to some activity from the Pico de Orizaba volcano and surrounding areas (Schaaf and Carrasco- Nuñez, 2010). The presence of kaolinite and gibbsite, as well as the general characteristics of the profiles, indi- cates a longer period of weathering and pedogenesis, as shown in the Chemical Index of Alteration (Figure 12). Only the Magdalena profile presents Gibbsite maybe in- dicating a longer period of pedogenesis. In subtropical and temperate regions, the presence of gibbsite could be associated to deeper soil horizons with high leach- ing rates (Macías-Vázquez, 1981; Kämpf et al., 2012; Caner et al., 2014). Gibbsite can form directly from the weathering of primary aluminum-containing minerals, such as plagioclase, however more common is its for- mation through the long-term progressive desilication of aluminosilicates (Muggler et al., 2007; Gasparini et al., 2024). The Stagnosol profiles are deep, with around 45% of weathered rocks and redox properties. The predomi- nant texture is silty clay. The clay mineralogy compo- nents present are vermiculite, illite and kaolinite in similar semiquantitative percentages. This group pres- ents two types of kaolinite, one more crystalline than the other, according to the different FWHM values. In kaolinite, a low FWHM suggests formation in stable environments under conditions that favor recrystalli- zation, whereas a high FWHM may be linked to rapid neoformation or intense weathering. The presence of the different clay components sug - gests a diverse contribution of parent material, probably the apport of eolian volcanic material, and terrigenous sediments from the Necoxtla formation that is present in the upper part of the basin. The mineralogy shows the presence of primary minerals, which considering the CIA values, locates them in an intermediate weathering and pedogenesis. Micromorphologically the Cancha 1 profile presents fluidal structures that are not present in Cancha 2, referring to fluvial processes in its formation. The development of different soil types seems to be related to their geomorphic position. The Terra Rossa Type are in depression of the relief where accumulation and no clear erosion is possible, while the Adjacent to Cave are in an area of high hydrology flux that drains into the cave, being highly susceptible to lateral erosion. The relevance of allochthonous material for the for- mation of the soils is evident; the presence of volcanic material in the area has been presented in the form of lahars, pumice and volcanic ash fall in other research (Ferrand et al., 2014; Solleiro et al., 2023). 5. CONCLUSION Through the study of soil and sediment profiles close to the Atl cave in the Sierra Zongolica Mountain range, we were able to understand the deposition processes of the diamicton facies inside the cave, as well as the pedo- genesis of the soil cover around the cave from which the sediments are formed. Three main conclusions are drawn from this study: - The diamicton deposits inside the cave correspond to high energy events generating hyper-concen- trate fluxes from the surface, and not to suffusion of the soils on top of the cave. These events trans- port materials trapped in the doline outside the cave. - There is an important input of silicate material for the pedogenesis of the soils in the form of volcanic ash fall probably from the Pico de Orizaba and ter- rigenous sediments from the Necoxtla formation. - The pedodiversity of the area is highly related to the relief in which the soils develop. The Terra Rossa Type profiles are on stable depressions that allows for continuous pedogenesis, while the Stag- nosols profiles are in a more dynamic position that cuts the pedogenesis and gives colluvial properties to these soils. The finding of this study helps us to understand the sedimentary dynamics in tropical mountainous karst systems, where lateral processes seem to be the main factor in the formation of these cave sediments. Further study of other caves and sediments can expand our understanding of the processes in this particular geosystem. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was supported by the PAPIIT proyect IN105819 in the UNAM (Sergey Sedov). W e are grateful to the Secretaria de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnología e Innovación (SECIHTI) for the scholaship to Pamela García during her postgraduate studies. 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