Development and collapse of karstic cavities in folded marbles: Geomorphological and geophysical evidences in Nerja Cave (southern Spain) Martínez Moreno, Francisco José Galindo Zaldívar, Jesús Liñán Baena, C González Castillo, María Lourdes Benavente Herrera, José Martínez-Martos, M Del Rosal Padial, Y Fernández Rodríguez, L. E. Tendero Salmeron, Víctor Madarieta-Txurruka, A Cave detection Electrical resistivity tomography Gravity survey The authors wish to thank the Nerja Cave Research Institute for its support. In addition, we thank ENADIMSA Company for gravity data and the Speleology Club of Nerja Cave (David Jimena, Alfonso Atencia, Eduardo de la Monja, Adolfo Moyano) for their essential help in the acquisition of the profile. We would like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their positive comments, which have contributed to improve the original manuscript. This research was founded by projects 4427-00 from Nerja Cave Foundation, FCT/UIDB/50019/2020 – IDL (founded by FCT, Portugal) and CGL2016-80687-R (AEI/FERDER) from Spain's Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and RNM148 group, project AGORA P18-RT-3275 and PAPEL B-RNM-301-UGR18 from Junta de Andalucía-FEDER. Karstic evolution leads to the growth and collapse of cavities by the interaction between geological structures and the hydrogeological framework. Nerja Cave developed within marbles belonging to the Alpujarride complex of the Internal Zones in the Betic Cordillera of Spain. The residual gravity anomaly map of the karstified areas –surrounding the known Nerja Cave– may indicate a likely elongated parallel cave system, N-S oriented, unknown up to present, and formed by both small shallow and large deep caves below a nearby hill located north-westwards to the known cave. At the east hillside, a moderate gravity anomaly minimum and geomorphological evidence (vertical walls and sunken terrains) suggest the presence of an old collapsed cave. At the west hillside, a marked gravity minimum is associated with a strongly folded marble layer without evidence of collapse. An electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) profile across the hill –in the E-W direction– supports an interpretation of several voids, two of the bigger ones located on either side of the hill. The combination of geomorphological, ERT and gravity forward modelling indicate the location of unknown caves, one of them partially collapsed. These caves, located at a higher topographic level than the known Nerja Cave, may represent an early stage of cave development, and suggest the preferred dissolution of some layers in the folded marbles. This field example provides new insights on the interaction of structure in the karstic evolution that determines the cavity stability. 2026-01-19T12:02:31Z 2026-01-19T12:02:31Z 2021 journal article Martínez Moreno, F. J.; Galindo Zaldívar, J.; Liñán Baena, C.; [et al.]. (2021). Development and collapse of karstic cavities in folded marbles: Geomorphological and geophysical evidences in Nerja Cave (southern Spain). Journal of Applied Geophysics Volume 187, April 2021, 104287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jappgeo.2021.104287 0926-9851 1879-1859 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/109887 10.1016/j.jappgeo.2021.104287 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Elsevier