Abstract
One of the most important karst regions of western Romania is Bihor Mountains, which form the central part of the Apuseni Mountains. The centerpiece of Bihor Mountains is Padiş Plateau developed at about 1000–1200 m altitude and characterized by numerous karst features as dolines, ponors, springs, and caves. Cetățile Ponorului is traversed by a stream that disappears in a sump at the end of the cave to resurface in Galbena Spring. Vărășoaia cave system (V5) with −653 m is the deepest, whereas Humpleu-Poienița is the second longest (36 km) in the country. Another highlight of the Bihor Mountains karst is world’s largest and oldest perennial ice deposit in Scărişoara Cave. Some of the oldest cave paintings in Europe have been discovered in Coliboaia Cave which along with the Secăturii Hill form a cave system. In Vârtop Cave, three Neanderthalian footprints were preserved in a hardened calcite moonmilk deposit, while the Bears Cave (Peștera Urşilor) is known for several cave bear skeletons in anatomic connection. Some of these caves are presented below or in separate chapters of this book.
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Acknowledgements
Many thanks to all the cavers who explored and surveyed the Coliboaia Cave, Survey team: R. Ermesz, G. Halasi, D. Coloji, G. Ponta, P. Brijan, I. Mateuță, L. R. Ţociu, T. Rus, M. I. Kenesz, V. T. Lascu, and R. V. Sarkozi; Scientific team: J. Clottes, B. Gely, F. Prud’Homme, M. Meyssonnier, V. Plichon, M. Venczel, E. Posmoşanu, A. Posmoşanu, I. Meleg, and A. Pitic; Cave conservancy and support team: M. Teușdea, A. Dorotovics, A. C. Oncu, C. Bâc, M. Velin, V. Goncearov, A. Baltă, S. C. Sebeșan, A. Szilvagyi, A. Lăzău, L. Frențiu, A. Bușe, A. Micula, and A. Ardelean.
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Ponta, G.M.L. (2019). Bihor Mountains. In: Ponta, G., Onac, B. (eds) Cave and Karst Systems of Romania. Cave and Karst Systems of the World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90747-5_36
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