Cave Research Foundation Database Manager, Missouri Speleological Survey
Stephen F Austin State University
The Role Of Mites In The Construction And Weathering Of Siliceous Biospeleothems,
2018
University of Coruña
The Role Of Mites In The Construction And Weathering Of Siliceous Biospeleothems, María José López-Galindo
International Journal of Speleology
Acarines are well-documented as formative elements in the biocenosis of soils. However, their role in the construction and weathering of siliceous speleothems has received very little attention in previous research. The present study describes different groups of cavities (nesting/molting sites) excavated by these organisms in the surface of siliceous speleothems that are deposited in the fissures between various granite boulders in Southern Spain. There is evidence that there are immature stages that would survive the heat and drought of summer in the form of small larvae, or euedaphic nymphs, in the soil. This study provides the first description of ...
The Cyrilka Cave—The Longest Crevice-Type Cave In Czechia: Structural Controls, Genesis, And Age,
2018
University of Ostrava
The Cyrilka Cave—The Longest Crevice-Type Cave In Czechia: Structural Controls, Genesis, And Age, Jan Lenart, Martin Kašing, Petr Tábořík, Natalia Piotrowska, Jacek Pawlyta
International Journal of Speleology
The Cyrilka Cave is the second longest pseudokarst cave and the longest crevice-type cave in Czechia. Developed within the headscarp area of a deep-seated landslide, the cave became a focus of scientific research in recent years when new passages were discovered. Structural analysis provided a general tectonic plan of the cave, as well as more detailed data on geometry and kinematics of the relaxed rock massif. The primary structure of NNE- to ENE-striking bedding is broken by a system of NNE-striking fissures interconnected by two continuous ENE-striking dextral fracture zones. Abundant signs of recent sinistral strike-slips within the rock massif ...
On Biospeleothems From A Venezuelan Tepui Cave: U-Th Dating, Growth Rates, And Morphology,
2018
Carleton University
On Biospeleothems From A Venezuelan Tepui Cave: U-Th Dating, Growth Rates, And Morphology, Joyce Lundberg, Charles Brewer-Carías, Donald A. Mcfarlane
International Journal of Speleology
Seven silica biospeleothems from Cueva Charles Brewer, Chimantá Plateau, Venezuela have been successfully U-Th dated despite very low U and high detrital Th concentrations. Growth rates are low, between ~100 to ~800 µm/ka, and are greater closer to water level. Dates in unaltered material are in good stratigraphic order, but secondary silicification may compromise the U-Th system, yielding unreliable sequences of ages. Detritally-enriched layers correlate with global climate cycles of the Late Quaternary, in particular the cooler, drier phases of MIS 5d, 5a, and 4. SEM studies indicate that the peloidal material is made up of silica nano-particles assembled ...
Monitoring And Evaluating The Influences Of Class V Injection Wells On Urban Karst Hydrology,
2018
Western Kentucky University
Monitoring And Evaluating The Influences Of Class V Injection Wells On Urban Karst Hydrology, James Adam Shelley
Masters Theses & Specialist Projects
The response of a karst aquifer to storm events is often faster and more severe than that of a non-karst aquifer. This distinction is often problematic for planners and municipalities, because karst flooding does not typically occur along perennial water courses; thus, traditional flood management strategies are usually ineffective. The City of Bowling Green (CoBG), Kentucky is a representative example of an area plagued by karst flooding. The CoBG, is an urban karst area (UKA), that uses Class V Injection Wells to lessen the severity of flooding. The overall effectiveness, siting, and flooding impact of Injection Wells in UKA’s ...
Controls On Speleogenesis In The Upper-Mississippian Pennington Formation On The Western Cumberland Plateau Escarpment,
2018
Western Kentucky University
Controls On Speleogenesis In The Upper-Mississippian Pennington Formation On The Western Cumberland Plateau Escarpment, Hali Steinmann
Masters Theses & Specialist Projects
Much of the pioneering work on caves of the Cumberland Plateau (province spanning Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Georgia) has been stratigraphically located within the Mississippian Bangor and Monteagle Limestones, wherein some of the region’s largest and most spectacular caves occur. Of interest to the understanding of this karst landscape, but severely underrepresented in the literature thereof, are caves and karst features in a heterogeneous sequence of clastics and carbonates known collectively as the Pennington Formation (Upper Mississippian). This work consisted of a regional study of Pennington caves on the western Cumberland Plateau escarpment (Alabama and Tennessee), and a case ...
Sulfur (34S/32S) Isotope Composition Of Gypsum And Implications For Deep Cave Formation On The Nullarbor Plain, Australia,
2018
Anton Melik Geographical Institute
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 ...
Evidence For Subsurface Origin Of Boulder Caves, Roofed Slots And Boulder-Filled Canyons (Broumov Highland, Czechia),
2018
University of Wrocław
Evidence For Subsurface Origin Of Boulder Caves, Roofed Slots And Boulder-Filled Canyons (Broumov Highland, Czechia), Filip Duszyński, Kacper Jancewicz, Piotr Migoń
International Journal of Speleology
The backslope of a sandstone cuesta in the Broumov Highland (Czechia) is cut by a complex network of canyons. Long sections of canyons have thick boulder fills which are difficult to reconcile with simple rock fall and talus development scenario. Boulder caves occur within these fills and their lowermost parts are drained by streams that evacuate fine loose sandy material produced by weathering and mechanical erosion. These boulder fills are explained as largely in situ, residual features, left after subsurface selective disintegration of rock mass, mainly joint-guided, and removal of grains by underground water. Evacuation of fines leaves voids into ...
Old And Recent Processes In A Warm And Humid Desert Hypogene Cave: ‘A’Rak Na‘Asane, Israel,
2018
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Old And Recent Processes In A Warm And Humid Desert Hypogene Cave: ‘A’Rak Na‘Asane, Israel, Amos Frumkin, Shlomi Aharon, Uri Davidovich, Boaz Langford, Yoav Negev, Micka Ullman, Anton Vaks, Shemesh Ya‘Aran, Boaz Zissu
International Journal of Speleology
Recent environmental processes are studied in ʻA’rak Naʻasane Cave at the northern Judean Desert, Israel. The outer zone of the cave is heavily influenced by the outside environment through a large entrance, facilitating entry of air flow, fauna and humans, with minor cave-forming modifications. Conversely, the inner cave sustains humid and warm conditions, favoring modifications by condensation corrosion of convective air flow, associated with deposition of popcorn speleothems at the lower parts of dissolution pockets. The warm humid air of the inner cave may be associated with an underlying thermal water table. Active condensation corrosion is decreasing, possibly because ...
Unconfined Hypogene Evaporite Karst: West Texas And Southeastern New Mexico, Usa,
2018
Stephen F. Austin State University
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 ...
New Insights On Secondary Minerals From Italian Sulfuric Acid Caves,
2018
University of Bologna
New Insights On Secondary Minerals From Italian Sulfuric Acid Caves, Ilenia M. D'Angeli, Cristina Carbone, Maria Nagostinis, Mario Parise, Marco Vattano, Giuliana Madonia, Jo De Waele
International Journal of Speleology
Sulfuric acid minerals are important clues to identify the speleogenetic phases of hypogene caves. Italy hosts ~25% of the known worldwide sulfuric acid speleogenetic (SAS) systems, including the famous well-studied Frasassi, Monte Cucco, and Acquasanta Terme caves. Nevertheless, other underground environments have been analyzed, and interesting mineralogical assemblages were found associated with peculiar geomorphological features such as cupolas, replacement pockets, feeders, sulfuric notches, and sub-horizontal levels. In this paper, we focused on 15 cave systems located along the Apennine Chain, in Apulia, in Sicily, and in Sardinia, where copious SAS minerals were observed. Some of the studied systems (e.g ...
Extremely High Diversity Of Sulfate Minerals In Caves Of The Irazú Volcano (Costa Rica) Related To Crater Lake And Fumarolic Activity,
2018
Universidad de Costa Rica
Extremely High Diversity Of Sulfate Minerals In Caves Of The Irazú Volcano (Costa Rica) Related To Crater Lake And Fumarolic Activity, Andrés Ulloa, Fernando Gázquez, Aurelio Sanz-Arranz, Jesús Medina, Fernando Rull, José María Calaforra, Guillermo E. Alvarado, María Martínez, Geoffroy Avard, J. Maarten De Moor, Jo De Waele
International Journal of Speleology
The caves of the Irazú volcano (Costa Rica), became accessible after the partial collapse of the NW sector of the Irazú volcano in 1994, offering the opportunity to investigate active minerogenetic processes in volcanic cave environments. We performed a detailed mineralogical and geochemical study of speleothems in the caves Cueva los Minerales and Cueva Los Mucolitos, both located in the northwest foothills of the main crater. Mineralogical analyses included X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy, while geochemical characterization used Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) coupled to Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). In addition, measurements of environmental parameters in the caves, cave ...
Full Issue 47(2),
2018
University of South Florida
Table Of Contents,
2018
University of South Florida
Spar Caves As Fossil Hydrothermal Systems: Timing And Origin Of Ore Deposits In The Delaware Basin And Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico And Texas, Usa,
2018
University of New Mexico
Spar Caves As Fossil Hydrothermal Systems: Timing And Origin Of Ore Deposits In The Delaware Basin And Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico And Texas, Usa, David D. Decker, Victor J. Polyak, Yemane Asmerom
International Journal of Speleology
Studies of sulfuric acid hypogene speleogenesis have contributed significantly to understanding the history of the Guadalupe Mountains of southeast New Mexico and west Texas for at least the past 12 Ma. A recently published hypothesis of supercritical CO2 spar cave genesis provides information that constrains the timing of the start of uplift to between 27 and 16 Ma, and helps to explain landscape evolution of this region for the last 185 Ma. This new speleogenetic model is summarized here and shows that U-Pb dating of crystals from different spar caves reveal different ages, and that a majority of the ...
Full Issue 47(1),
2018
University of South Florida
Table Of Contents,
2018
University of South Florida
Speleogenetic Evolution And Geological Remote Sensing Of The Gypsum Plain, Eddy County, New Mexico,
2018
Stephen F. Austin State University
Speleogenetic Evolution And Geological Remote Sensing Of The Gypsum Plain, Eddy County, New Mexico, Jessica Shields
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Permian evaporites of the Gypsum Plain region of the Delaware Basin host extensive karst phenomena, as well as unique diagenetic alterations of host strata. Because of the complex, poorly understood hydrogeologic system, little has been established concerning the relation and evolution of the overprinted, modern and ancient karst manifestations within the Gypsum Plain, as a whole. Through a combination of traditional field studies and the development of improved remote sensing methodologies, this study established the speleogenetic evolution of the Gypsum Plain in relation to the greater tectonic, stratigraphic, hydrogeologic and climatic history of the Delaware Basin. Emphasis was focused on ...
Chemical And Statistical Analysis Of Karst Groundwater Basin Signatures - Springfield, Mo,
2018
Missouri State University
Chemical And Statistical Analysis Of Karst Groundwater Basin Signatures - Springfield, Mo, Benjamin E. Lockwood
MSU Graduate Theses
Springfield, MO is located on the Springfield Plateau physiographic province. The Springfield plateau contains a number of Mississippian aged units and is mainly capped by the Burlington-Keokuk Formation. The Burlington-Keokuk is a highly fossiliferous limestone with nodular and interbedded chert. Beneath the Burlington-Keokuk lies the Elsey, Reeds Spring, and Pierson Formations respectively which comprise the Springfield Plateau aquifer hydrostratigraphic unit. Within the Springfield Plateau aquifer, a well-developed karst system includes springs, sinkholes, and caves. The Springfield Plateau aquifer is the predominant source for springs and seeps in the Springfield area. The purpose of this study was to understand the differences ...
Co-Authorship Analysis Of The Speleothem Proxy-Climate Community: Working Together To Tackle The Big Problems,
2018
University of Western Australia
Co-Authorship Analysis Of The Speleothem Proxy-Climate Community: Working Together To Tackle The Big Problems, Micheline L. Campbell, John N. Callow, Gavan S. Mcgrath, Hamish A. Mcgowan
International Journal of Speleology
Understanding the environmental context of speleothem palaeo-climate proxies is fundamental to their interpretation. We analyse four methodological approaches to accomplish this: stalactite discharge analysis, proxy/process tracer studies, discharge modelling, and geophysics. Datamining produced citation data sets that reflected these methodological sub-disciplines. Social network analysis is used to examine co-authorship within and between these sub-disciplines, and between the joint methodological community and the broader speleothem proxy climate community. Members of the sub-disciplines have become more connected to one another over time, and to members of the other sub-disciplines. High degrees of connectivity between and within communities allows for the rapid ...
Unusual Internal Structure Of Cm-Sized Coldwater Calcite: Weichselian Spars In Former Pools Of The Zinnbergschacht Cave (Franconian Alb/Se Germany),
2018
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Unusual Internal Structure Of Cm-Sized Coldwater Calcite: Weichselian Spars In Former Pools Of The Zinnbergschacht Cave (Franconian Alb/Se Germany), Detlev K. Richter, Rolf D. Neuser, Martin Harder, Hardy Schabdach, Denis Scholz
International Journal of Speleology
The investigation of the internal structure of calcite crystals is a new focus in speleothem science, especially in the range of crystallization temperatures close to 0°C. Recently found calcite spars from Zinnbergschacht Cave of the Franconian Alb (SE Germany) are ideal for multi-method investigation. The elongated calcites (up to 6 cm in length) with three to six lateral faces and basal triangular faces at the ends are observed in collapse-zones in the cave. 230Th/U-ages of 38.9 ka suggest formation during the periglacial Weichselian, between the Scandinavian and Alpine Glaciations. The δ18O and δ13 ...
