Tatra valleys predate the glaciers — cave research rewrites mountain history

New geological dating reveals that approximately 80% of the current depth of the Tatra valleys formed around 1.6 million years ago — before the major glaciations. Caves acted as geological time capsules, filling an 11-million-year gap in the mountains' history. Glaciers reshaped the terrain but did not carve the valleys from scratch; surprisingly, erosion actually slowed during glacial periods.