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Klimchouk’S Impact On The Development Of Speleogenetic Models For Castile Evaporites: West Texas And Southeastern New Mexico, Usa, Kevin W. Stafford

International Journal of Speleology

Due to the pioneering work of Alexander Klimchouk (2007), hypogene karst is now recognized as being complex and extensive throughout Permian strata of the greater Delaware Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico (USA). Klimchouk heavily influenced our current understanding of hypogene speleogenesis in the Permian Ochoan Castile Formation where we now recognize diverse hypogene manifestations that include vertically-extensive breccia pipes, laterally-extensive blanket breccias, morphologically-varied caves, diagenetically-altered sulfates, and unique venting structures. Underlying Bell Canyon strata provide the transmissive zone for delivery and removal of solutionally aggressive fluids to the conformably overlying Castile evaporites. Current speleogenetic models indicate that …

Predictive Modeling Of Cave Entrance Locations: Relationships Between Surface And Subsurface Morphology, William Blitch, Adia R. Sovie, Benjamin W. Tobin

International Journal of Speleology

Cave entrances directly connect the surface and subsurface geomorphology in karst landscapes. Understanding the spatial distribution of these features can help identify areas on the landscape that are critical to flow in the karst groundwater system. Sinkholes and springs are major locations of inflow and outflow from the groundwater system, respectively, however not all sinkholes and springs are equally connected to the main conduit system. Predicting where on the landscape zones of high connectivity exist is a challenge because cave entrances are difficult to detect and imperfectly documented. Wildlife research has a similar issue of understanding the complexities of where …

Book Review: De Waele, J., Gutiérrez, F., 2022. Karst Hydrogeology, Geomorphology And Caves, Augusto S. Auler

International Journal of Speleology

No abstract provided.

Bubble Trail And Folia In Cenote Zapote, Mexico: Petrographic Evidence For Abiotic Precipitation Driven By Co2 Degassing Below The Water Table, Rafael López-Martínez, Fernando Gázquez, José M. Calaforra, Philippe Audra, Jean Y. Bigot, Teresa Pi Puig, Rocío J. Alcántara-Hernández, Ángel Navarro, Philippe Crochet, Liliana Corona Martínez, Raquel Daza Brunet

International Journal of Speleology

Folia are speleothems that resemble bells, inverted cups, or bracket fungi, and whose origins are still controversial. Cenote Zapote (an underwater cave) in the Yucatán Peninsula (México), is home to some of the largest folia reported to date. These speleothems are currently growing in an active underwater system, meaning this site offers an excellent opportunity to constrain the different formation models proposed for folia, which have traditionally relied on inactive examples. In Cenote Zapote, folia are closely related to bubble trails and cupolas, suggesting an underwater CO₂-degassing process. In thin section, they display a succession of columnar-open and …

Barite Replacement Boxwork In The Frasassi Caves (Italy), Sandro Galdenzi

International Journal of Speleology

The Frasassi caves, located in the Sentino River Gorge in Ancona Province (Marche, Italy), contains boxwork in a small zone in the inner part of the cave system where it is closely associated with subaqueous corrosion produced by sulfuric acid speleogenesis. The boxwork consists of barite that replaces calcite spar-filled veins and limestone porosity and projects from the corroded cave walls. The replacement involved only the calcite that protrudes from the rock surfaces, indicating that the process took place in the cave environment, and therefore the boxwork is not simply a product of differential corrosion. I hypothesize that the boxwork …

A Reply To The Comment On “Assessing Preservation Priorities Of Caves And Karst Areas Using The Frequency Of Endemic Cave-Dwelling Species” By Nitzu Et Al. (2018), Int. J. Speleol., 47 (1): 43-52, Eugen I. Nitzu, Ioana N. Meleg, Andrei Giurginca

International Journal of Speleology

No abstract provided.

Sulfur (34S/32S) Isotope Composition Of Gypsum And Implications For Deep Cave Formation On The Nullarbor Plain, Australia, Matej Lipar, Mateja Ferk, Sonja Lojen, Milo Barham

International Journal of Speleology

Large deep caves with little relation to surface topography are distinctive karst features on the Nullarbor Plain of Australia. The presence of gypsum deposits and chemoautotrophic bacteria within the caves have been suggested as evidence for cave formation and (or) enlargement via sulfuric acid speleogenesis. To test this hypothesis, the stable sulfur isotope compositions (δ³⁴S) of both cave gypsum and surface gypsum were measured. Analyses yielded relatively high, positive δ³⁴S values from both cave gypsum and surface gypsum, arguing against gypsum genesis via microbial chemoautotrophy, and more broadly, sulfuric acid speleogenesis. Instead, the gypsum is interpreted …

Unconfined Hypogene Evaporite Karst: West Texas And Southeastern New Mexico, Usa, Kevin W. Stafford, Jon T. Ehrhart, Adam F. Majzoub, Jessica M. Shields, Wesley A. Brown

International Journal of Speleology

Diverse karst phenomena occur throughout the Gypsum Plain where the Castile Formation crops out over ~1800 km² in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Hypergene karst is extensive and widespread, while traditional hypogene karst manifestations (both caves and intrastratal dissolution) occur in high frequency in the western outcrop region where surface denudation has been the greatest so as to induce surficial breaching. Unconfined hypogene karst occurrences have been recently identified, including two general variations: 1) artesian-like discharge features; and 2) venting structures. Artesian-like discharge features arise at surficially-breached hypogene caves and through high permeability regions on the margins of …

Anthropogenic Infilling Of A Bermudian Sinkhole And Its Impact On Sedimentation And Benthic Foraminifera In The Adjacent Anchialine Cave Environment, Jacquelyn N. Cresswell, Peter J. Van Hengstum, Thomas M. Iliffe, Bruce E. Williams, Gil Nolan

International Journal of Speleology

In the mid-20^th century, an inland brackish pond from Bermuda, known as Eve’s Pond, was filled with marine sediment from an adjacent coastal lagoon. At this time, an eyewitness reported “…sediment billowing out of the Green Bay Cave for days…”, which is a marine-dominated anchialine cave located proximal to the former location of Eve’s Pond (~200 m). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential impact of this infilling event on cave sedimentation and benthic meiofaunal communities, as proxied by the unicellular protists foraminifera that remain preserved in the sediment record. Eight sediment cores were collected from …

Gypsum Speleogenesis: A Hydrogeological Classification Of Gypsum Caves, José-María Calaforra, Fernando Gázquez

International Journal of Speleology

This article reviews the state of the art of speleogenetic investigations in gypsum karsts from numerous studies carried out over the past 50 years in Spain. A classification of gypsum karsts is proposed based on the hydrogeological, tectonic and stratigraphic criteria that decisively control the evolution of gypsum karsts. In this respect, lithological aspects of Messinian and Triassic-Permian gypsum series in south-eastern Spain are considered, such as the alternation of rhythmic levels of marl and gypsum, as well as geodynamic aspects. The influence of the hydrogeological characteristics of evaporite aquifers on gypsum cave speleogenesis is discussed; this includes speleogenetic processes …

Integrated Approach For Sinkhole Evaluation And Evolution Prediction In The Central Ebro Basin (Ne Spain), Oscar Pueyo Anchuela, Andrés Pocoví Juan, Antonio M. Casas Sainz, Javier Gracia Abadias, Carlos L. Liesa Carrera

International Journal of Speleology

Evaluation of karst hazards benefits from the integration of different techniques, methodologies and approaches. Each one presents a different signature and is sensitive to certain indicators related to karst hazards. In some cases, detailed analysis permits the evaluation of representativeness either from isolated approaches or by means of integrated analyses. In this study, we present the evaluation of an area with high density of karstic collapses at different evolutionary stages through the integration of surficial, historical, geomorphological and geophysical data in order to finally define the evolutionary model for karst activity development. The obtained dataset permits to identify different steps …

Possible Evaporite Karst In An Interior Layered Deposit In Juventae Chasma, Mars, Davide Baioni, Mario Tramontana

International Journal of Speleology

This paper describes karst landforms observed in an interior layered deposit (ILD) located within Juventae Chasma a trough of the Valles Marineris, a rift system that belongs to the Tharsis region of Mars. The ILD investigated is characterized by spectral signatures of kieserite, an evaporitic mineral present on Earth. A morphologic and morphometric survey of the ILD surface performed on data of the Orbiter High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) highlighted the presence of depressions of various shapes and sizes. These landforms interpreted as dolines resemble similar karst landforms on Earth and in other regions of Mars. The observed karst …

Genetic Analyses Determine Connectivity Among Cave And Surface Populations Of The Jamaican Endemic Freshwater Crab Sesarma Fossarum In The Cockpit Country, Manuel Stemmer, Christoph D. Schubart

International Journal of Speleology

The Jamaican freshwater crab Sesarma fossarum (Decapoda: Brachyura: Sesarmidae) is endemic to western central Jamaica where it occurs in cave and surface streams of karst regions. In the present study, we examine the population genetic structure of the species, providing evidence for intraspecific differentiation and genetic substructure among twelve sampled populations. Interestingly, crabs from caves appear genetically undistinguishable from representatives of nearby surface waters, despite previously observed and described morphometric differentiation. In contrast, genetic isolation takes place among populations from rivers and caves belonging to different watersheds. In one case, even populations from different tributaries of the same river were …

Longitudinal Profile And Sediment Mobility As Geomorphic Tools To Interpret The History Of A Fluviokarst Stream System, John Woodside, Eric Wade Peterson, Toby Dogwiler

International Journal of Speleology

The complex drainage systems within karst settings can result in atypical longitudinal profiles. Features, such as cave entrances, can be expressed as anomalous ‘bumps’ in the longitudinal profile of a stream if downcutting has continued upstream of the area in which the water is pirated to the subsurface. Horn Hollow, a fluviokarst valley located in Carter Caves State Park Resort in northeastern Kentucky, was examined for these types of features. The objectives of this study were to determine if sediment mobility can be used as a proxy for anomalous areas along the profile of the valley and if detailed cross-sections …

Groundwater Lowering And Stream Incision Rates In The Central Appalachian Mountains Of West Virginia, Usa, Gregory S. Springer, Holly A. Poston, Ben Hardt, Harold D. Rowe

International Journal of Speleology

Surface channel incision rates are of broad geomorphological interest because they set the boundary conditions for landscape change by affecting changes in local relief and hillslope angles. We report groundwater table lowering rates associated with subsurface Buckeye Creek and the surface channel of Spring Creek in southeastern West Virginia, USA. The mountainous watersheds have drainage areas of 14 km² and 171 km², respectively. The lowering rates are derived from U/Th-dating of stalagmites and the paleomagnetostratigraphy of clastic sediments in Buckeye Creek Cave. The oldest stalagmites have a minimum age of 0.54 Ma and we use a minimum …

Concentration And Stable Carbon Isotopic Composition Of Co2 In Cave Air Of Postojnska Jama, Slovenia, Magda Mandić, Andrej Mihevc, Albrecht Leis, Ines Krajcar Bronić

International Journal of Speleology

Partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂) and its isotopic composition (δ¹³C_airCO2) were measured in Postojnska jama, Slovenia, at 10 locations inside the cave and outside the cave during a one-year period. At all interior locations the pCO₂ was higher and δ¹³C_airCO2 lower than in the outside atmosphere. Strong seasonal fluctuations in both parameters were observed at locations deeper in the cave, which are isolated from the cave air circulation. By using a binary mixing model of two sources of CO₂, one of them being the atmospheric CO_{2 …}

Baseline Physicochemical Investigations On Waters From Three Blue Holes, San Salvador Island, Bahamas, Jacqueline Sampson, Ken Guilbeault

Studia UBB Geologia

Physicochemical parameters have been studied in the water column of Inkwell, Church, and Watling’s Blue Holes (San Salvador Island, Bahamas). Water samples were collected from multiple depths at the three blue holes to identify and characterize changes of physical and chemical parameters. The values were compared to the average ocean concentrations in order to assess how connectivity to the ocean, evaporation, freshwater input, and bacterial activity influence water rock interactions. The salinity concentrations vary between the surface and ~ -4 m in each blue hole before stabilizing to rather similar values (~19.6‰). Mixing processes in the water column at Inkwell …

Preliminary Data On The Mineralogy Of Limestone And Skarn-Hosted Caves From Baita (Bihor County, Romania), Bogdan P. Onac, Paul Damm

Studia UBB Geologia

This paper presents the mineralization of five medium-size limestone-caves and eleven skarn-hosted caves from the upper part of Cri¿ul B¾ißei River (Bihor Mountains). Apart from berlinite – AlPO4, the other minerals reported from the limestone caves are common carbonates, phosphates or oxy-hydroxides. In turn, the skarn-hosted caves contain a diversity of minerals, including wittichenite, luzonite, natrolite, norsethite, rosasite, glaukosphaerite, aurichalcite, azurite, malachite and chalcanthite. Five of these minerals have never before been identified in a cave environment and moreover, three are new occurrences in Romania. Some of these minerals are hydrothermal in origin, whereas alteration and/or hydration of primary hydrothermal …

Hydrologic And Microclimate Characterizations Of Thornton’S Cave, West-Central Florida (Usa), Dorien K. Mcgee

Studia UBB Geologia

A cave’s environment is controlled by a suite of factors unique to the environments in which they formed, including, but not limited to, regional geologic and climate settings. These factors collectively owe to wide variations in cave biology, geomorphology and overall speleogenesis. This report combines local climate, hydrologic, and CO₂ data collected over the course of a two-year study at Thornton’s Cave, a partially-flooded cave in the West-Central Florida karst belt, to characterize its current environment and yield insight regarding how changes in regional climate and hydrology impact its past and future speleogenesis. Data loggers continuously monitoring cave and …

2d And 3d Imaging Of The Metamorphic Carbonates At Omalos Plateau/Polje, Crete, Greece By Employing Independent And Joint Inversion On Resistivity And Seismic Data, Hamdan Ali Hamdan Dr, Nikos Economou, Giorgos Kritikakis, Nikos Andronikidis, Emmanuil Manoutsoglou, Antonis Vafidis, Pangratis Pangratis, Georgina Apostolidou

International Journal of Speleology

A geophysical survey carried out at Omalos plateau in Chania, Western Crete, Greece employed seismic as well as electrical tomography methods in order to image karstic structures and the metamorphic carbonates (Tripali unit and Plattenkalk group) which are covered by post-Mesozoic deposits (terra rossa, clays, sands and gravels). The geoelectrical sections image the metamorphic carbonates which exhibit a highly irregular relief. At the central part of the plateau the thickness of post-Mesozoic deposits (terra rossa, clays, sands and gravels) ranges from 40-130 m. A 3D resistivity image was generated by inverting resistivity data collected on a grid to the south …

Spatially Dense Drip Hydrological Monitoring And Infiltration Behaviour At The Wellington Caves, South East Australia, Catherine N. Jex, Gregoire Mariethoz, Andy Baker, Peter Graham, Martin S. Andersen, Ian Acworth, Nerilee Edwards, Cecilia Azcurra

International Journal of Speleology

Despite the fact that karst regions are recognised as significant groundwater resources, the nature of groundwater flow paths in the unsaturated zone of such fractured rock is at present poorly understood. Many traditional methods for constraining groundwater flow regimes in karst aquifers are focussed on the faster drainage components and are unable to inform on the smaller fracture or matrix-flow components of the system. Caves however, offer a natural inception point to observe both the long term storage and the preferential movement of water through the unsaturated zone of such fractured carbonate rock by monitoring of drip rates of stalactites, …

A New Karren Feature: Hummocky Karren, Lukas Plan, Christa Renetzeder, Rudolf Pavuza, Wilfried Körner

International Journal of Speleology

Karren are small-scale landforms on karst surfaces and many types have been described so far. Here we present an apparently new feature which was found on the Hochschwab karst massive in the Northern Calcareous Alps of Austria. So far only few outcrops each having less than 1 m² within a very restricted area have been found. Morphometric analysis reveals that the karren consist of a randomly distributed, dispersed assemblage of small hummocks and depressions in between. The mean distance between neighbouring hummocks is 4 to 5 cm and the mean height is 0.85 cm. Longitudinal sections are gently sinuous. The …

Minerogenetic Mechanisms Occurring In The Cave Environment: An Overview, Bogdan P. Onac, Paolo Forti

International Journal of Speleology

Perhaps man’s first motivation to explore caves, beyond using them as shelter, was the search for substances that were not available elsewhere: most of them were minerals. However, for a long time it was believed that the cave environment was not very interesting from the mineralogical point of view. This was due to the fact that most cave deposits are normally composed of a single compound: calcium carbonate. Therefore, the systematic study of cave mineralogy is of only recent origin. However, although only a limited number of natural cavities have been investigated in detail, about 350 cave minerals have already …

The Subterranean Fauna Of A Biodiversity Hotspot Region - Portugal: An Overview And Its Conservation, Ana Sofia P.S. Reboleira, Paulo A.V. Borges, Fernando Gonçalves, Artur R.M. Serrano, Pedro Oromí

International Journal of Speleology

An overview of the obligate hypogean fauna in Portugal (including Azores and Madeira archipelagos) is provided, with a list of obligated cave-dwelling species and subspecies, and a general perspective about its conservation. All the available literature on subterranean Biology of Portugal since the first written record in 1870 until today has been revised. A total of 43 troglobiont and 67 stygobiont species and subspecies from 12 orders have been described so far in these areas, included in the so-called Mediterranean hotspot of biodiversity. The subterranean fauna in Portugal has been considered moderately poor with some endemic relicts and it remains …

A Comparative Integrated Geophysical Study Of Horseshoe Chimney Cave, Colorado Bend State Park, Texas, Wesley A. Brown, Kevin W. Stafford, Mindy Shaw-Faulkner, Andy Grubbs

International Journal of Speleology

An integrated geophysical study was performed over a known cave in Colorado Bend State Park (CBSP), Texas, where shallow karst features are common within the Ellenberger Limestone. Geophysical survey such as microgravity, ground penetrating radar (GPR), direct current (DC) resistivity, capacitively coupled (CC) resistivity, induced polarization (IP) and ground conductivity (GC) measurements were performed in an effort to distinguish which geophysical method worked most effectively and efficiently in detecting the presence of subsurface voids, caves and collapsed features. Horseshoe Chimney Cave (HCC), which is part of a larger network of cave systems, provides a good control environment for this research. …

Teaching Resources In Speleology And Karst: A Valuable Educational Tool, Jo De Waele

International Journal of Speleology

There is a growing need in the speleological community of tools that make teaching of speleology and karst much easier. Despite the existence of a wide range of major academic textbooks, often the caver community has a difficult access to such material. Therefore, to fill this gap, the Italian Speleological Society, under the umbrella of the Union International de Spéléologie, has prepared a set of lectures, in a presentation format, on several topics including geology, physics, chemistry, hydrogeology, mineralogy, palaeontology, biology, microbiology, history, archaeology, artificial caves, documentation, etc. These lectures constitute the “Teaching Resources in Speleology and Karst”, available online. …

Spatial Distribution Of Soda Straws Growth Rates Of The Coufin Cave (Vercors, France), Yves Perrette, Stéphane Jaillet

International Journal of Speleology

The Choranche Cave system (Vercors, France) is an excellent locality for measuring the growth rates of large numbers soda straws. This is especially the case for the Coufin Cave, as enlargement of the cave entrance in 1875 led to a change in stalactite color from brown to white, thus providing a reliable chronomarker. The date of this brown-to-white calcite transition has been confirmed by lamina counting. We measured and georeferenced the growth-lengths of 306 soda straws in a 1m² area of the roof of the Coufin Cave entrance chamber. Because of the very slow and sometimes inexistent water feeding …

Karst Geology And Cave Fauna Of Austria: A Concise Review, Erhard Christian, Christoph Spötl

International Journal of Speleology

The state of cave research in Austria is outlined from the geological and zoological perspective. Geologic sections include the setting of karst regions, tectonic and palaeoclimatic control on karst, modern cave environments, and karst hydrology. A chapter on the development of Austrian biospeleology in the 20th century is followed by a survey of terrestrial underground habitats, biogeographic remarks, and an annotated selection of subterranean invertebrates.

Gpr Detection Of Karst And Archaeological Targets Below The Historical Centre Of Merida, Yucatán, Mexico., Luis Barba, Jorge Blancas, Agustin Ortiz, Josep Ligorred

Studia UBB Geologia

The Historical Center of Merida has been classified as a “zone of high patrimonial value” based on the study of topography and the historical documents that show a long-term occupation, non-interrupted since pre-Columbian times when T’Hó was the great capital of the northern region of the Maya area.

For the local government, rehabilitation of the Historical Center of Merida has been a great priority. Among others, this project includes preservation of archaeological remains (pre-Columbian or colonial) and detection of karstic zones under the city. In order to prevent damage to the patrimony, ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys were carried out …

Annual And Transient Signatures Of Gas Exchange And Transport In The Castañar De Ibor Cave (Spain), Angel Fernandez-Cortes, Sergio Sanchez-Moral, Soledad Cuezva, Juan Carlos Cañaveras, Rafael Abella

International Journal of Speleology

The large microclimatic stability is a basic characteristic of the subterranean karst systems and causes a high sensitivity to changes in environmental conditions. High-accuracy monitoring of Castañar de Ibor cave (Spain) determined the temporal evolution of the aerodynamic processes and ventilation rate by tracking CO₂ and ²²²Rn levels over a twelve-month period. This cave is characterized by a very stable microclimate, with high and relatively constant radon content (the mean value is 32200 Bq/m³, roughly, and the standard deviation is 7600 Bq/m³) and a moderate and quite stable CO2 concentration (the mean value is …