Acta Mus. Moraviae, Sci. geol. LXXXVI (2001):111–160, 2001 CENOZOIC HISTORY OF THE MORAVIAN KARST (NORTHERN SEGMENT): CAVE SEDIMENTS AND KARST MORPHOLOGY JAROSLAV KADLEC, HELENA HERCMAN, VOJTĚCH BENEŠ, PAVEL ŠROUBEK, JIMMY F. DIEHL & DARRYL GRANGER Abstract Kadlec, J., Hercman, H., Beneš, V., Šroubek, P., Diehl, J. F., Granger, D., 2001: Cenozoic history of the Moravian Karst Karst (northern segment): cave sediments and karst morphology. Acta Mus. Moraviae, Sci. geol., 86:111–160 (with Czech summary). Vývoj severní části Moravského krasu v období kenozoika: jeskynní sedimenty a krasová morfologie. Cave systems of the Moravian Karst were formed by subsurface streams in dependence on the morpho- logy of karst valleys representing a local base level before the Lower Badenian marine transgression. During the Cenozoic, stream activity in the caves alternated with speleothem deposition. Fluvial bodies formed in the Early, Middle and Late Pleistocene are preserved in ponor caves in the N segment of Mo- ravian Karst. However, fluvial sediments filling the caves near resurgences of subsurface streams were deposited only in the Late Pleistocene. Reconstruction of the Cenozoic karst processes was proposed on the basis of the morphology of karst valleys filled with sediments as shown by geophysical survey and cave deposit datings. Filling of cave corridors with sediments was induced by local events in many cases (e.g., the collapse of the Macocha Chasm roof). These events considerably inhibited the flow of subsurface streams in the cave systems. As a result, bodies of fluvial sediments in the caves of the Moravian Karst cannot be correlated with fluvial terraces formed by surface streams. Key words: cave sediments, karst morphology, radiometric and paleomagnetic datings, geophysical sur- vey, Moravian Karst Jaroslav Kadlec, Institute of Geology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Rozvojová 135, 165 02 Praha 6, Czech Republic Helena Hercman, Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland Vojtěch Beneš, G IMPULS Praha spol. s r. o., Přístavní 24, 170 00 Praha 7, Czech Republic Pavel Šroubek, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, 49931 USA Jimmy F. Diehl, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, 49931 USA Darryl Granger, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907 USA 1. Introduction The Moravian Karst is atypical example of fluviokarst with extensive cave systems formed by subsurface streams. Detrital sediments as well as speleothems are commonly preserved in the caves, deposited in different stages of the development of karst systems. The earliest systematic studies of sediments in caves of the Moravian Karst started in the second half of the 19th century. The first studies focused largely on detrital sediments deposited in the neighbourhood of cave entrances. The principal aim was to collect pa- leontological and archeological material preserved in sedimentary strata (e.g., WANKEL, 111