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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 …

Kirkland D.W., 2014 - Role Of Hydrogen Sulfide In The Formation Of Cave And Karst Phenomena In The Guadalupe Mountains And Western Delaware Basin, New Mexico And Texas, Leslie A. Melim

International Journal of Speleology

No abstract provided.

Radiaxial-Fibrous And Fascicular-Optic Mg-Calcitic Cave Cements: A Characterization Using Electron Backscattered Diffraction (Ebsd), Detlev K. Richter, Adrian Immenhauser, Rolf Dieter Neuser, Augusto Mangini

International Journal of Speleology

Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) applied to crystal fabric research in speleothems aids in our understanding of the origin of those fabrics. A significant advantage of this approach is the three dimensional data set of crystal c-axes. Here, we show a rare case of both convergent (radiaxial-fibrous) and divergent (fascicular-optic) orientations of the c-axes in pool calcites. The seemingly defective structure of the calcite lattice resulting in radiaxial-fibrous crystal orientations is probably caused by differential incorporation of Mg during crystal growth. The observation that radiaxial-fibrous and fascicular-optic fabrics co-exist in the same pool environment is remarkable and documents the complexity of …

Structural And Hydrological Controls On The Development Of A River Cave In Marble (Tapagem Cave - Se Brazil), William Sallun Filho, Bruna Medeiros Cordeiro, Ivo Karmann

International Journal of Speleology

Tapagem Cave (or Devil’s Cave) is a river cave developed in the dolomite marble karst of the Serra do André Lopes (State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil). Although this region is a plateau with significant variation in elevation and a humid subtropical climate, the cave is an anomalous feature in the André Lopes karst because there are few other caves. The marble, which is in a synclinal structure with subjacent phyllites, is a karst aquifer perched above the regional base level (Ribeira River) and has little allogenic recharge. The cave developed on a secondary anticline on the northwest flank of …

Speleoclimate Dynamics In Santana Cave (Petar, São Paulo State, Brazil): General Characterization And Implications For Tourist Management, Heros Augusto Santos Lobo, Paulo Cesar Boggiani, José Alexandre De Jesus Perinotto

International Journal of Speleology

Show caves provide tourists with the opportunity to have close contact with natural underground spaces. However, visitation to these places also creates a need for management measures, mainly the definition of tourist carrying capacity. The present work describes the results of climate monitoring and atmospheric profiling performed in Santana Cave (Alto Ribeira State and Tourist Park – PETAR, Brazil) between 2008 and 2011. Based on the results, distinct preliminary zones with different levels of thermal variation were identified, which classify Santana Cave as a warm trap. Two critical points along the tourist route (Cristo and Encontro Halls) were identified where …

Range Of Horizontal Transport And Residence Time Of Nitrate In A Mature Karst Vadose Zone, Jiri Kamas, Jiri Bruthans, Helena Vysoka, Miroslav Kovařík

International Journal of Speleology

Nitrate concentrations in drips in Amaterska, Spolecnak, and Holstejnska caves situated below a 25 to 120 m thick vadose zone in the Moravian Karst, Central Europe were studied during several periods from 1992. Each cave runs below a land-use boundary between fertilized lands and forest, which enabled study of the range of horizontal components of nitrate transport in the vadose zone. Parts of the fertilized land were turned into grassland in 1998 and 2003, and the cave drips were sampled both prior and after the changes in land use. The mean residence time of nitrate is - 30 m thick …

Hairy Stalagmites, A New Biogenic Root Speleothem From Botswana, Gerhard C. Du Preez, Paolo Forti, Gerhard Jacobs, Anine Jordaan, Louwrens Tiedt

International Journal of Speleology

Ngamiland in northwestern Botswana hosts the Gcwihaba Caves which present unique subterranean environments and host speleothems never before recorded. Cave atmospheric conditions can be extreme with temperatures as high as 28°C and relative humidity nearing 99.9%. Within Dimapo and Diviner’s Caves peculiar root speleothems that we named ‘Hairy Stalagmites’ were found. These stalagmites are closely associated with the roots of Namaqua fig (Ficus cordata) trees that enter the cave environment in search of water. Pieces of broken stalagmites were sampled from Dimapo Cave for further investigations. Stereo and electron microscopy revealed that the Hairy Stalagmites consist of multiple …

High-Resolution Digital 3d Models Of Algar Do Penico Chamber: Limitations, Challenges, And Potential, Ivo Silvestre M.Sc., José I. Rodrigues Phd, Mauro Figueiredo Phd, Cristina Veiga-Pires Phd

International Journal of Speleology

The study of karst and its geomorphological structures is important for understanding the relationships between hydrology and climate over geological time. In that context, we conducted a terrestrial laser-scan survey to map geomorphological structures in the karst cave of Algar do Penico in southern Portugal. The point cloud data set obtained was used to generate 3D meshes with different levels of detail, allowing the limitations of mapping capabilities to be explored.

In addition to cave mapping, the study focuses on 3D-mesh analysis, including the development of two algorithms for determination of stalactite extremities and contour lines, and on the interactive …

Can Xrf Scanning Of Speleothems Be Used As A Non-Destructive Method To Identify Paleoflood Events In Caves?, Martin Finné, Malin Kylander, Meighan Boyd, Hanna S. Sundqvist, Ludvig Löwemark

International Journal of Speleology

We have developed a novel, quick and non-destructive method for tracing flood events in caves through the analysis of a stalagmite thick section with an XRF core scanner. The analyzed stalagmite has multiple horizons of fine sediments from past flood events intercalated with areas of cleaner calcite. Flood events detected from the elemental XRF core scanning data show good agreement with the position of flood horizons identified in petrographic thin sections. The geochemical composition of the individual flood layers shows that in certain cases the clay horizons had a distinct geochemical fingerprint suggesting that it may be possible to distinguish …

Microstratigraphic Logging Of Calcite Fabrics In Speleothems As Tool For Palaeoclimate Studies, Silvia Frisia

International Journal of Speleology

The systematic documentation of calcite fabrics in stalagmites and flowstones provides robustness to palaeoclimate interpretation based on geochemical proxies, but it has been neglected because it is difficult to transform crystal morphologies into numerical values, and construct fabric time series. Here, general criteria that allow for coding fabrics of calcite composing stalagmites and flowstones is provided. Being based on known models of fabric development, the coding ascribes sequential numbers to each fabric, which reflect climate-related parameters, such as changes in drip rate variability, bio-mediation or diagenetic modifications. Acronyms are proposed for Columnar types, Dendritic, Micrite, Microsparite and Mosaic fabrics, whose …

Niche Differentiation In Meta Bourneti And M. Menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) With Notes On The Life History, Stefano Mammola, Marco Isaia

International Journal of Speleology

Meta menardi and M. bourneti are two species of spiders inhabiting caves and other subterranean habitats. The occurrence of both species within the same cave has never been proved convincingly and several authors hypothesized a complete niche differentiation mainly based on microclimatic conditions.In order to study the apparent niche differentiation of the two species, we studied several populations of M. menardi and M. bourneti occurring in six caves in the Western Italian Alps (NW Italy). A series of squared plots were monitored monthly from March 2012 to February 2013. At each survey, we counted individuals and we collected the main …

Front Cover

International Journal of Speleology

No abstract provided.

Speleothem And Biofilm Formation In A Granite/Dolerite Cave, Northern Sweden, Therese Sallstedt, Magnus Ivarsson, Johannes Lundberg, Rabbe Sjöberg, Juan Ramón Vidal Romaní

International Journal of Speleology

Tjuv-Antes grotta (Tjuv-Ante's Cave) located in northern Sweden is a round-abraded sea cave ('tunnel cave'), about 30 m in length, formed by rock-water abrasion in a dolerite dyke in granite gneiss. Abundant speleothems are restricted to the inner, mafic parts of the cave and absent on granite parts. The speleothems are of two types: cylindrical (coralloid, popcorn-like), and flowstone (thin crusts). Coralloids correspond to terrestrial stromatolite speleothems in which layers of light calcite alternate with dark, silica-rich laminae. The dark laminae are also enriched in carbon and contain incorporated remains of microorganisms. Two types of microbial communities can be distinguished …

Caves In Caves: Evolution Of Post-Depositional Macroholes In Stalagmites, Nurit Shtober-Zisu, Henry P. Schwarcz, Tom Chow, Christopher R. Omelon, Gordon Southam

International Journal of Speleology

In a previous paper (Shtober-Zisu et al., 2012) we described millimeter to centime-sized fluid-free holes within the interiors of stalagmites of widely varying origin. We present here further observations of this phenomenon, using X-ray tomography, macroscopic and microscopic observation of sections of twenty-six stalagmites from various sites in North America and the Caribbean region. We can distinguish three types of cavities in speleothems: primary µm-sized fluid inclusions; mm to cm sized holes, aligned along the stalagmite growth axis which are clearly syngenetic; and µm to cm-sized holes away from the growth axis (“off-axis holes or OAHs”) deeply buried inside their …

Full Issue 43(3)

International Journal of Speleology

No abstract provided.

Cold Tolerance In Terrestrial Invertebrates Inhabiting Subterranean Habitats, Tone Novak, Nina Šajna, Estera Antolinc, Saška Lipovšek, Dušan Devetak, Franc Janžekovič

International Journal of Speleology

Most organisms are able to survive shorter or longer exposure to sub-zero temperatures. Hypothetically, trogloxenes characterized as not adapted, and troglophiles as not completely adapted to thermally stable subterranean environment, have retained or partially retained their ability to withstand freezing, while most troglobionts have not. We tested this hypothesis experimentally on 37 species inhabiting caves in Slovenia, analyzing their lower lethal temperatures in summer and winter, or for one season, if the species was not present in caves during both seasons. Specimens were exposed for 12 hrs to 1°C-stepwise descending temperatures with 48 hr breaks. In general, the resistance to …

Diatom Flora In Subterranean Ecosystems: A Review, Elisa Falasco, Luc Ector, Marco Isaia, Carlos E. Wetzel, Lucien Hoffmann, Francesca Bona

International Journal of Speleology

In scarcity of light and primary producers, subterranean ecosystems are generally extremely oligotrophic habitats, receiving poor supplies of degradable organic matter from the surface. Human direct impacts on cave ecosystems mainly derive from intensive tourism and recreational caving, causing important alterations to the whole subterranean environment. In particular, artificial lighting systems in show caves support the growth of autotrophic organisms (the so-called lampenflora), mainly composed of cyanobacteria, diatoms, chlorophytes, mosses and ferns producing exocellular polymeric substances (EPSs) made of polysaccharides, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids. This anionic EPSs matrix mediates to the intercellular communications and participates to the chemical …

Book Review: Van Beynen, Karst Management, Arthur N. Palmer, Margaret V. Palmer

International Journal of Speleology

Not applicable

50th Anniversary Editorial, Bogdan P. Onac

International Journal of Speleology

Editorial.

The Show Cave Of Diros Vs. Wild Caves Of Peloponnese, Greece - Distribution Patterns Of Cyanobacteria, Vasiliki Lamprinou, Daniel B. Danielidis, Adriani Pantazidou, Alexandra Oikonomou, Athena Economou-Amilli

International Journal of Speleology

The karst cave ‘Vlychada’of Diros, one of the oldest show caves in Peloponnese, sustains extended phototrophic biofilms on various substrata – on rocks inside the cave including speleothems, and especially near the artificial lighting installation (‘Lampenflora’). After a survey of the main abiotic parameters (Photosynthetically Active Radiation -PAR, Temperature -T, Relative Humidity -RH, Carbon Dioxide -CO₂) three clusters of sampling sites were revealed according to Principal Component Analysis (PCA): i) the water gallery section predominately influenced by CO₂, ii) the dry passages influenced by RH and PAR, and iii) the area by the cave exit at …

A Conservation Status Index, As An Auxiliary Tool For The Management Of Cave Environments, Christiane Ramos Donato, Adauto De Souza Ribeiro, Leandro De Sousa Souto

International Journal of Speleology

The conservation of the Speleological Heritage involves bioecological, geomorphological and anthropogenic studies, both from inside the caves and from the external environments that surround them. This study presents a method to rank caves according to their priority for conservation and restoration. Nine caves were evaluated: indicators related to the environmental impacts and the vulnerability status presented by those caves (intrinsic features) and the values scored in a ‘Cave Conservation Index’ (CCI) were established. We also used a rapid assessment protocol to measure cave vulnerability for prioritization of conservation/restoration actions (RAP-cr) comparing natural cavities with the same lithology, due …

Airborne Microorganisms In Lascaux Cave (France), Pedro M Martin-Sanchez, Valme Jurado, Estefania Porca, Fabiola Bastian, Delphine Lacanette, Claude Alabouvette, Cesareo Saiz-Jimenez

International Journal of Speleology

Lascaux Cave in France contains valuable Palaeolithic paintings. The importance of the paintings, one of the finest examples of European rock art paintings, was recognized shortly after their discovery in 1940. In the 60’s of the past century the cave received a huge number of visitors and suffered a microbial crisis due to the impact of massive tourism and the previous adaptation works carried out to facilitate visits. In 1963, the cave was closed due to the damage produced by visitors’ breath, lighting and algal growth on the paintings. In 2001, an outbreak of the fungus Fusarium solani covered the …

Volcanism-Induced Karst Landforms And Speleogenesis, In The Ankarana Plateau (Madagascar). Hypothesis And Preliminary Research, Eric Gilli

International Journal of Speleology

The Ankarana is a limestone plateau in the northern part of Madagascar, where a cave system, more than 120 km long, has been explored. The plateau is bordered by volcanoes and is cut across by several canyons. An analysis of surface landforms and caves suggests that the karst genesis was probably initiated by volcanism beneath an impervious cover. Volcanic bulging and magma intrusions may have favored a basalt-limestone assimilation process and metamorphism. The ascent of deep volcanic fluids (CO₂ and SO₂) from magma degassing and from limestone metamorphism, may explain the speleogenesis. Once denuded, the karst evolved …

Bacterial Migration Through Low-Permeability Fault Zones In Compartmentalised Aquifer Systems: A Case Study In Southern Italy, Antonio Bucci, Emma Petrella, Gino Naclerio, Sabrina Gambatese, Fulvio Celico

International Journal of Speleology

The aim of this study was to experimentally verify the significance of microbial transport through low-permeability fault zones in a compartmentalised carbonate aquifer system in Southern Italy.

The temporal variability of microbial communities in two springs fed by the same aquifer system, but discharging up- and down-gradient of two low-permeability fault zones, was analysed using a 16S rDNA polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE)-based approach. At both springs, a remarkable temporal variation in PCR-DGGE profiles was detected throughout the observation period. When comparing the PCR-DGGE profiles of the two springs, a synchronous evolution over time was observed. Moreover, the …

Cova Des Pas De Vallgornera, (Mallorca, Spain): History Of Exploration And Cave Description, Antoni Merino, Antoni Mulet, Guiem Mulet, Antoni Croix, Anders Kristofersson, Francesc Gràcia, Miquel A. Perelló

International Journal of Speleology

The Cova des Pas de Vallgornera lies in the Llucmajor municipality, in southern Mallorca, and is the longest cave in the Balearic Islands. Currently its surveyed length is over 74,000 metres, including more than 17,000 of underwater extensions. The cave was discovered accidentally in 1968, but it was in 2004 when a major breakthrough shed light on its real extension and importance. The cave roughly shows two tiers of passages, apart from the underwater extensions, the first one is between 7 and 11 m above the mean sea level, the second one is about at the water table level. The …

Geologic Constraints And Speleogenesis Of Cova Des Pas De Vallgornera, A Complex Coastal Cave From Mallorca Island (Western Mediterranean), Joaquín Ginés, Joan J. Fornós, Angel Ginés, Antoni Merino, Francesc Gràcia

International Journal of Speleology

The flat areas of eastern and southern Mallorca host a remarkable coastal karst, where Cova des Pas de Vallgornera stands out due to its length (more than 74 km) and its special morphological suite. The pattern of the cave is quite heterogeneous showing sharp differences produced by the architecture of the Upper Miocene reef: spongework mazes and collapse chambers dominate in the reef front facies, whereas joint-guided conduits are the rule in the back reef carbonates. Regarding the speleogenesis of the system, a complex situation is envisaged involving three main agents: coastal mixing dissolution, drainage of meteoric diffuse recharge, and …

Linking Mineral Deposits To Speleogenetic Processes In Cova Des Pas De Vallgornera (Mallorca, Spain), Bogdan P. Onac, Joan J. Fornós, Antoni Merino, Joaquín Ginés, Jacqueline Diehl

International Journal of Speleology

Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (CPV) is the premier cave of the Balearic Archipelago. Over 74 km of passages develop within two carbonate lithofacies (reef front and back reef), which ultimately control the patterns of the cave and to some degree its mineral infilling. The diversity of speleothem-forming minerals is four times greater around or within hypogene-related features (vents, rims, cupolas), compared to any other vadose passages in the cave. The mineralogy of speleothems (crusts, nodules, crystals, earthy masses) associated with hypogene features in the seaward upper maze of Sector F is characterized by the presence of aragonite, ankerite, huntite, …

Cave Deposits And Sedimentary Processes In Cova Des Pas De Vallgornera (Mallorca, Western Mediterranean), Joan J. Fornós, Joaquin Ginés, Francesc Gràcia, Antoni Merino Juncadella, Lluís Gómez-Pujol, Pere Bover

International Journal of Speleology

The Cova des Pas de Vallgornera is an important and protected coastal cave, located in the southern part of the island of Mallorca, that outstands due to its length and the complex processes involved in its speleogenesis. Although sediments are not the main topic of interest, their presence as well as their paleontological contents are valuable evidence for paleoclimatic and chronological reconstructions of the cave morphogenesis. The sedimentary infilling is characterized by a scarce presence of clastic sedimentation, mainly composed of silts and clays, which can only be found at some minor passages in the innermost parts of the cave. …

The Cova Des Pas De Vallgornera (Llucmajor, Mallorca): A Singular Deposit Bearing An Exceptional Well Preserved Early Pleistocene Vertebrate Fauna, Pere Bover, Alex Valenzuela, Carmen Guerra, Juan Rofes, Josep A. Alcover, Joaquin Gines, Joan J. Fornos, Gloria Cuenca-Bescós, Antoni Merino

International Journal of Speleology

The Cova des Pas de Vallgornera is the longest cave of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean) and one of the 30 longest caves in the world. The exploration of one of the galleries allowed the discovery of a fossiliferous deposit of vertebrate remains in a remarkable preservation state. The fossil faunal complex found in this gallery is composed of up to 5 mammalian species (Myotragus aff. kopperi, Hypnomys onicensis, Nesiotites aff. ponsi, Rhinolophus aff. mehelyi and Pipistrellus sp.), at least 14 bird species (among them two Mallorcan endemic taxa: Pica mourerae and Athene vallgornerensis), one …

Molecular Analyses Of Microbial Abundance And Diversity In The Water Column Of Anchialine Caves In Mallorca, Spain, Damian Menning, Liana M. Boop, Elaina D. Graham, James R. Garey

International Journal of Speleology

Water column samples from the island of Mallorca, Spain were collected from one site in Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (Vallgornera) and three sites (Llac Martel, Llac Negre, and Llac de les Delícies) in Coves del Drac (Drac). Vallgornera is located on the southern coast of Mallorca approximately 57 km southwest of Coves del Drac. Drac is Europe's most visited tourist cave, whereas Vallgornera is closed to the public. Water samples were analyzed for water chemistry using spectrophotometric methods, by quantitative PCR for estimated total abundance of microbial communities, and by length heterogeneity PCR for species richness and relative species …