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Permanent drips from straw stalactites of selected caves of the Moravian Karst were studied during one-year period. A hypothetical partial pressure of CO2 that has participated in limestone dissolution, PCO2(H)=10-1.53±0.04, was calculated from the dripwater chemistry. The value significantly exceeds the partial pressures generally measured in relevant shallow karst soils, PCO2(soil)=10-2.72±0.02. This finding may have important implications for karst/cave conservation and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Keywords: cave, carbon dioxide, dripwater, hydrogeochemistry, hypothetical partial pressure, karst processes, karstification model.