Les karsts de l'avant-pays alpin au nord des Alpes occidentales, 1989, Chardon, M.

Karsts of the alpine foreland north to the French Western Alps: glacial origin of the underground systems - Karstic mountains are described between Rhône valley and the border of Northern Alps. The influence of quaternary glaciers is evident for surface landforms and the existence of inactive canyons can be explained only by glacial outflows. Large underground caves and systems such as La Balme, Les Echelles, contain numerous blocks and pebbles of alpine rocks. Except in some places of the alpine mountains, the pre-quaternary karstic evolution cannot be investigated. Now the rate of karstic corrosion is too low and waters are unable to produce large caves. Only the mechanical action of whirling glacial flows in some pre-determinated places can explain the presence of large caves in these low karstic mountains. The formation of these kind of caves can be correlated with the existence of the actual canyons and “defilés” along this part of the Rhône river.

Le massif de la Chartreuse, Alpes françaises du Nord : paysages karstiques et organisation des réseaux souterrains, 1990, Lismonde B. , Delannoy J. J.

The massif of Chartreuse: karsts features and underground systems (Alps, France) - The Chartreuse massif is the smallest of the subalpine massifs, but it contains the most important underground systems of French Alps. The massif of Chartreuse is characterised by parallel folds directed N020°. The eastern plateau spreads out urgonian limestone (perched syncline); it contains the two largest cave systems: "Alpe-Alpette" (54 km) and "Dent de Crolles" (54 km). To the W, the limestone layers are uplifted by the orogenic strains and thereby, the caves are very deep: "réseau Ded" (- 780m), "puits Francis" (- 723m), "gouffre de Génieux" (- 675m). Two transverse rivers make the hydrologic drainage: the "Guiers Vif" and the "Guiers Mort", which cut up the region into small hydrological basins. The greatest of them is "Guiers Vif" basin, with an area of 9.2 km2.

Le karst du massif Moucherotte / Pic Saint-Michel (Isère, Vercors), 1991, Audra, Ph.

The karst of Moucherotte/Pic Saint-Michel (Vercors, Isère, France) - The massif of Moucherotte-Pic Saint Michel is located in the northeastern corner of the Vercors, in the area of Lans-en-Vercors and Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte. As anywhere in Vercors, this area is strongly marked by a dense karst relief. It harbours underground systems. Recent dye tracings (respectively from Sierre shaft, Choucas shaft, and Ira's Hole) allowed to determinate precisely the boundary of the catchment of the source called Bruyant. This basin spreads out from the Moucherotte to the Pic Saint-Michel, thus including a surface of 12km2. This is confirmed through the water balance. Of the 1600mm of yearly rainfall, 70% is infiltrated toward the source of the Bruyant. The water is conveyed through a main drain, probably mostly vadose, at the base of the recumbent fold. The landscape is due to the Quaternary processes. The two great landslides of "col de l'Arc" and of "Peuil" date back to this time. The glaciers have sculptured huge "combes" where many caves open, ancient places where sub-glacial waters were swallowing. These sub-vertical caves (which can measure up to 300m deep) with shafts and meanders, flow through large horizontal galleries older than the Quaternary (Combe Oursière shaft, Vallier cave…). These galleries, hidden away in this huge limestone mass, are the witnesses of an earlier and very elaborate subterranean drainage. This system is entirely different from our present drainage system.

Le massif du Seuil : organisation des réseaux souterrains (Chartreuse, France), 1994, Loiseleur, B.

The Seuil massif (?13 km2) is located east of the Chartreuse massif North and south of the massif some of the most important cave systems in France are to be found. The two main underground systems of the Seuil which are not connected, are the Mort Rû cave (? 7 km long) and the Guiers-Vif system ( 15 kin long) connected with the trou des Flammes. Over the last few years, the knowledge of these systems has increased signifi-cantly and some junctions have been made with the plateau (Masques - Mort Ru; Tasurinchi -Guiers-Vif; Trou des Flammes – Guiers-Vif). But the Malissard river, the main branch of the Guiers-Vif, is located under the Lances de Malissard, on the western end of the massif This location can be explai-ned by the typical order of the synclinal axis. The local cavers hope to find a system, comparable to that of Dent de Crolles and Alpe. The main collector seems to be in the axis of the massif along the GR9 fault. A comparison between the Chartreuse systems therefore shows that there seems to be reasonable hope in the years to come.

The carbonated palaeosurface of the ''Arbailles'' massif (Pyrennes-Atlantiques): An example of Neogene hydrographic network dried up by uplift and karstification, 1997, Vanara N. , Maire R. , Lacroix J. ,

The ''Arbailles'' massif constitutes a folded area of Jurassic and lower Cretaceous limestones, which belongs to the north-Pyrenean zone. The top karst surface was dug by a palaeofluviatile system from the Albian marlous limestone cover and dried up by uplift (infiltration). This hydrographic network recorded the main events of uplift by staged valley levels (950, 850, 730 and 380 m). Some old endokarstic infillings can be seen on the residual cone karst showing the erosion of a thick limestone layer. The alterite pockets contain elements of former cuirasses which originated in former hydromorphic depressions. These polygenic deposits contain two kinds of mineral families coming from alterations of both Albian marlous limestones and Triassic Mendibelza conglomerates. During the Upper Oligocene and Miocene (after the Middle Lutetian orogenesis), the ''Arbailles'' massif was a chemical weathering surface in a wet and tropical climate in relation upstream with Mendibelza conglomerates and downstream with Cenomanian flyschs. The Plio-Quaternary uplift, of 1000 m, caused the alterite and cuirasse erosion, the drying up of the fluviatile system (Lower Pleistocene), the genesis of a cone karst and the formation of underground systems

The genesis of the Tennengebirge karst and caves (Salzburg, Austria), 2002, Audra, Ph. , Quinif, Y. , Rochette, P.

Research has been carried out in the Tennengebirge Massif (Salzburg, Austria) with specific attention to karst morphology, cave systems, and sediments. This study reveals the genesis of the karst and the underground systems of the Tennengebirge, since the Oligocene. Large horizontal systems, which date back to the Miocene, were studied through the example of the caves Hornhöhle and Eisriesenwelt, which respectively represent Ruinenhöhlen (“cave ruins”) and Riesenhöhlen (“giant caves”). The Cosa-Nostra - Bergerhöhle System is typical of a mostly vertical, large, high-relief, alpine cave. The main characteristic of this network is major development in the vadose zone. Shaft morphology is in “stairs beneath a faulted roof.” At greater depth, they connect to a perched epiphreatic zone, which is typical of a dammed karst. The main underground sediments are of paleoclimatic and hydrodynamic significance, corresponding to hot, stable, or unstable environments (flowstones, reworked weathered rocks) and cold environments (carbonate varves, glacial pebbles). A preliminary study of the Tennengebirge sediments reveals significant information about its evolution throughout Pliocene-Quaternary time. Höhlen- und Karstgenese im Tennengebirge (Salzburg, Österreich) Es handelt sich um Erforschungen des unterirdischen Höhlensystems im Tennengebirge mit Hilfe der Erforschung der Karstsedimente. Durch die Beobachtung der Morphologie und der Ausfüllungen kann die Geschichte der verschiedenen Höhlenorganisationen nachgezeichnet werden. Wir haben die großen horizontalen Höhlensysteme des Miozäns anhand der Hornhöhle und der Eisriesenwelt studiert, die wiederum ein Beispiel für Ruinen- und Riesenhöhlen sind. Das Cosa-Nostra - Bergerhöhle System ist ein Beispiel für die großen vertikalen Alpenschächten, das an seiner ausgeprägten Entwicklung der vadosen Zone erkenntlichist. Die Schächte haben die Morphologie von “Treppen unter einem Kluftdach”. Sie sind tief unten mit einer gestuften phreatischen Zone verbunden, die einen abgedämmter Karst enthüllen. Die wichtigsten unterirdischen Sedimente haben eine Bedeutung auf dem Gebiet der Paläoklimatologie und der hydrodynamik. Sie entsprechen entweder warmen und beständigen oder kalten Umgebungen oder einer Umbegung in der das natürliche Gleichgewicht unterbrochen wurde (Sinterformation, veränderte Sedimente aus Alteriten, Karbonatwarven, glazial Schotter). Die Erforschung der Sedimenten in der Bergerhöhle bringt wichtige Informationen über die Entwicklung der Höhlensysteme im Plio-Quartär. Durch die gesamte Erforschung kann die Entstehung der Höhlen- und Karstgenese im Tennengebirge seit dem Oligozän nachgezeichnet werden.

Diversité morpho-climatique et intérêt des karsts japonais, 2003, Salomon, Jeannoël

Morpho-climatic features of Japanese karst areas - The Japanese karsts are practically unknown in Europe because few karstologists from this continent have visited Japan, and the studies completed there have been written in Japanese. Still, Japan has numerous karstifiable terrains of various locations and ages (from the Primary era to Holocene) that are subject to significant climatic ranges. For this reason many caves exist and many have been sheltered through the ages (archeological) up until recent times (World War II). Some are sufficiently large and well decorated to have consequently generated tourist activities, added by mystic and religious aspects. The understanding of karsts has also allowed remarkable management of underground systems for surface irrigation. Finally, due to their recording abilities, karsts developed in uplifted marine terraces offer better prospects for understanding the local tectonic patterns which concern the Japanese. These reasons make the Japanese karsts interesting.

The genesis of the Tennengebirge karst and caves (Salzburg, Austria), 2003, Audra Ph, Quinif Y. , Rochette P.

Research has been carried out in the Tennengebirge Massif (Salzburg, Austria) with specific attention to karst morphology, cave systems, and sediments. This study reveals the genesis of the karst and the underground systems of the Tennengebirge, since the Oligocene. Large horizontal systems, which date back to the Miocene, were studied through the example of the caves Hornhohle and Eisriesenwelt, which respectively represent Ruinenhohlen (“cave ruins”) and Riesenhohlen (“giant caves”). The Cosa-Nostra - Bergerhohle System is typical of a mostly vertical large high-relief, alpine cave. The main characteristic of this network is major development in the vadose zone. The shafts' morphology is in “stairs beneath a faulted roof.” At greater depth, they connect to a perched epiphreatic zone, which is typical of a dammed karst. The main underground sediments are of paleoclimatic and hydrodynamic significance, corresponding to hot, stable, or unstable environments (flowstones, reworked weathered rocks) and cold environments (carbonate varves, glacial pebbles). A preliminary study of the Tennengebirge sediments reveals significant information about its evolution throughout Pliocene-Quaternary time.

Clouds in caves, 2004, Badino, G.

This paper considers the different processes that can create vapour pressure above the equilibrium in the cave atmosphere: ascending air parcels, pressure drop behind bottlenecks, mixing of saturated air parcels at different temperatures and water flow fragmentation. These processes are essentially the same as those leading to clouds forming in the open atmosphere, always connected with air movements.
The difference of adiabatic lapse rates of water and moist air creates temperature imbalance between the flowing fluids in deep underground systems, leading to thermal and water exchanges, in which water flow globally subtracts energy from the system.
The high purity of caves atmospheres tends to delay condensation. Condensation is concentrated where airflows are in close contact to the cave wall. The rate of aggressive water condensation on the walls is comparable to the external rain and can play a leading role in Speleogenesis.

Hydrodynamic aspect of caves, 2008, Prelovšek M. , Turk J. And Gabrovšek F.

From a hydrological point of view, active caves are a series of connected conduits which drain water through an aquifer. Water tends to choose the easiest way through the system but different geological and morphological barriers act as flow restrictions. The number and characteristics of restrictions depends on the particular speleogenetic environment, which is a function of geological, geomorphological, climatological and hydrological settings. Such a variety and heterogeneity of underground systems has presented a challenge for human understanding for many centuries. Access to many underground passages, theoretical knowledge and recent methods (modeling, water pressure-resistant dataloggers, precise sensors etc.) give us the opportunity to get better insight into the hydrodynamic aspect of caves. In our work we tried to approach underground hydrodynamics from both theoretical and practical points of view. We present some theoretical background of open surface and pressurized flow in underground rivers and present results of some possible scenarios. Moreover, two case studies from the Ljubljanica river basin are presented in more detail: the cave system between Planinsko polje and Ljubljansko barje, and the cave system between Bloško polje and Cerkniško polje. The approach and methodology in each case is somewhat different, as the aims were different at the beginning of exploration. However, they both deal with temporal and spatial hydrodynamics of underground waters. In the case of Bloško polje-Cerkniško polje system we also explain the feedback loop between hydrodynamics and Holocene speleogenesis.

Hydrodynamic aspect of caves, 2008, Prelovšek M. , Turk J. , Gabrovšek F.

From a hydrological point of view, active caves are a series of connected conduits which drain water through an aquifer. Water tends to choose the easiest way through the system but different geological and morphological barriers act as flow restrictions. The number and characteristics of restrictions depends on the particular speleogenetic environment, which is a function of geological, geomorphological, climatological and hydrological settings. Such a variety and heterogeneity of underground systems has presented a challenge for human understanding for many centuries. Access to many underground passages, theoretical knowledge and recent methods (modeling, water pressure-resistant dataloggers, precise sensors etc.) give us the opportunity to get better insight into the hydrodynamic aspect of caves. In our work we tried to approach underground hydrodynamics from both theoretical and practical points of view. We present some theoretical background of open surface and pressurized flow in underground rivers and present results of some possible scenarios. Moreover, two case studies from the Ljubljanica river basin are presented in more detail: the cave system between Planinsko polje and Ljubljansko barje, and the cave system between Bloško polje and Cerkniško polje. The approach and methodology in each case is somewhat different, as the aims were different at the beginning of exploration. However, they both deal with temporal and spatial hydrodynamics of underground waters. In the case of Bloško polje-Cerkniško polje system we also explain the feedback loop between hydrodynamics and Holocene speleogenesis.