Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /home/isthin5/public_html/addon-domains/speleogenesis.info/template/toolbar_left.php on line 5
Hello everyone!
I pleased to invite you to the official site of Central Asian Karstic-Speleological commission ("Kaspeko")
There, we regularly publish reports about our expeditions, articles and reports on speleotopics, lecture course for instructors, photos etc. ...
Dear Colleagues, This is to draw your attention to several recent publications added to KarstBase, relevant to hypogenic karst/speleogenesis: Corrosion of limestone tablets in sulfidic ground-water: measurements and speleogenetic implications Galdenzi,
A recent publication of Spanish researchers describes the biology of Krubera Cave, including the deepest terrestrial animal ever found:
Jordana, Rafael; Baquero, Enrique; Reboleira, Sofía and Sendra, Alberto. ...
Exhibition dedicated to caves is taking place in the Vienna Natural History Museum
The exhibition at the Natural History Museum presents the surprising variety of caves and cave formations such as stalactites and various crystals. ...
Did you know?
That run dry, to is the cessation of flow from a well or spring [16].?
Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /home/isthin5/public_html/addon-domains/speleogenesis.info/template/toolbar_right.php on line 7
Search KARSTBASE:
KarstBase a bibliography database in karst and cave science.
Featured articles from Cave & Karst Science Journals
An analysis of the population in the hyporheic medium of the Drava river shows that Proasellus slavus ssp. n. is one of the smallest known Asellids. It is living in an interstitial biotope as a permanent population in which density varies in space and time. Our observations show that reproduction takes place throughout the year, however with a maximum rate at the beginning of summer. Females may produce a relatively great number of offspring, notwithstanding the smallness of the species.
If we sum up the data and observations derived from our researches on the Drava river, we conclude after consideration of surface water fauna and after comparison of chemical parameters that it influences the hyporheic water of a rough gravel-sandy alluvium more than 2 m deep, while in the compact sandy substratum it has less influence. The next conclusion is that the horizontal and vertical distribution of Proasellus slavus ssp.n. in the alluvium of the Drava river, depends upon the granulation of substratum, with reference so the largeness of interstices; that the populations vary in density and structure according to the nature of water which irrigates these alluviums; and finally upon the quantity of detritus which this water contains. Concerning the influence of the sewage waters the effect of a sudden action of very polluted water is not known but it is certain that the increasing of decaying material to the alfa-meso saprobial level of the river water does not threaten either the existence or the development of the populations of Proasellus slavus ssp.n.
The Mettma, a mountain stream in the Black Forest, W. Germany, was investigated for effects of input of nutrients and energy by domestic waste water and effluent from a brewery introduced at one specific point. The investigation time ranged from May 1970 to February 1971. Initially, there is an impoverishment and structural changes of the biocoenosis in the hyporheic interstitial. There is an almost complete O2-depletion immediately after the waste water has been added. In winter, temperatures in the interstitial were higher than those in the current. No direct correlation between population densities and amount of organic matter were observed where allochthonous nutrients had been added. Population densities of multicellular animals were from 0 to 1.2 X 105 per 0.1 m3 of sediment. 4.1 km further downstream the fauna is similar to that above the waste water inlet, while at 7.35 km downstream of it is slightly less dense.
Twenty-two localities, where unpigmented and mostly blind tricladid turbellarians (Dendrocoelidae and Fonticola) were discovered by the author, are described in more or less detail. These animals are particularly well represented in Romania; the explanation is that they are expansive offshoots of a fauna formerly inhabiting the huge brackish or freshwater lakes which covered most of this country during the Neogene (and especially the Sarmatian). Different species are inhabitants of different particular habitats of the underground water realm, and the author distinguishes between species inhabiting cave waters, typical phreatobionts, hyporheic species and species living in springs or springbrooks. These species are sensitive indicators of even small changes affecting the abiotic or biotic conditions prevailing in their habitats (several examples are offered, especially of competitive exclusion).
This new, anophthalmous and unpigmented species lives in the underflow of Jalon River, Province of Alicante, Southeastern Spain. It belongs to the phyletic line of Proasellus meridianus (Racovitza, 1919).
Because of the fundamental biological investigations and also of the practical importance, the authors investigated interstitial subterranean water (hyporheic) near a polluted river Sava in the plain where the underground waters are considered as potable. With the comparison of the physical, chemical, bacteriological, saprobiological and faunistic characteristics of the river and its hyporheic zone in different seasons their mutual relation is detected. The results show the influence of polluted river water on the hyporheic water within the river bed to at least 2 m depth.
We have been working since 1975 on phreatic stations providing two old meanders of the French river Rhone with interstitial water. The hydrological characteristics are quite different (see diagrams in the text):; The one (station 2) is a particular under-flow circulating laterally to the river ("paraécoulement"), which is closely subordinate with the varying level of the Rhone.; The other (station 8) is the confluence of continental phreatic water proceeding from a Northeastern plateau (the "Dombes") with the hyporheic of the river Ain (eastern tributary of the Rhone). The Rhone has no influence on the characteristics of this second interstitial flow. The physico-chemical disparity of these stations clearly appeared during two extremely opposite climatic periods; the inferences on resident populations are considered.
Subterranean amphipods have been collected from 35 locations on the eastern and western slopes of the Continental Divide in Colorado. All belong to the exclusively subterranean genus Stygobromus. Five species have been identified, two of which are undescribed. Specimens have been collected from (a) the hyporheic zone of rivers, (b) interrupted streams, (c) springs, and (d) seeps at elevations from 1597-2134 m a.s.l. Stygobromus occurs in several habitat types in interrupted drainage basins including sources, seeps, and isolated pools containing leaf detritus. All habitats contained waters which were cool to cold with dissolved oxygen values ranging from 4.3 ppm to fully saturated. Most waters exhibited soft or medium hardness, although one spring containing an undescribed species of Stygobromus had very hard waters (203 ppm bound CO2) and was mildly saline (913 mg/l TDS). There is evidence that the subterranean amphipods are phreatobites which, only under special conditions, establish relatively permanent populations in epigean habitats. Although little is known regarding ecology, zoogeography, or even taxonomy of the subterranean fauna of this region, stygobromid amphipods from the Cordilleran of western North America are apparently represented by fewer well differentiated species per unit area than their congeners from the geobiologicably older Appalachian region of eastern North America where numerous species are found in caves.
This paper describes investigations of fundamental biological and pratical importance. Interstitial subterranean water (hyporheic) which is near a polluted river in a plain is the subject of the study. The water is becoming increasingly important as a source of drinking water. The relation of the hyporheic water to the physical, chemical, bacteriological and faunistic characteristics of the river is discussed.
Three new species of harpacticoid copepods are described and discussed. Nitocrella beatricis n. sp. has been collected in different hyporheic sites in Sardinia and in two caves (Bue Marino cave in Sardinia and St. Barthélémy cave in Corsica); Elaphoidella janas n. sp. and Parastenocaris triphyda n. sp. have been collected only in Bue Marino cave. Some considerations concerning the ecology and biogeography of the three species are also presented.
The genus Parastenocaris, new for Greece, has been discovered in the hyporheic habitat of Kos and Kythira Island with two new species, that are described and discussed in this work. Parastenocaris aesculapii n. sp. shares some characters with P. nolli from Germany and P. italica from Italy, Macedonia and Turkey. Parastenocaris aphroditis n. sp. belongs, according to the Authors, to a group of species living exclusively in estuarine interstitial habitats, which are all characterised by peculiar morphology and ecology, that are as well considered and interpreted.
This investigation quantifies how temperatures fluctuate in relation to discharge, seasonal, and diurnal temperature variations. Furthermore, the linkages between meteorological processes and temperature variation in the hyporheic zone are delineated. Examination of a high-resolution, three dimensional record of temperature variation in a karst stream substrate provides insight into thermal disturbances in the hyporheic zone. Temperatures in the upper portion of the hyporheic zone are strongly linked to air temperatures via the surface water. The variation is considerably less as depth increases. The annual temperature variation in the lower portion of the shallow hyporheic zone is reduced by one-third, relative to the variation observed in the surface water and upper substrate. During storm events, the upper portion (0-5 cm) of the shallow hyporheic zone is subject to a thermal regime very similar to surface stream water. However, below these depths the sharpest temperature fluctuations are effectively muted within the stream substrate. More frequent diurnal variations, particularly those associated with baseflow conditions, are also dampened within the substrate.
This investigation quantifies how temperatures in the streambed sediments of a karst stream fluctuate in relation to discharge, seasonal, and diurnal temperature variations as the stream passes through a karst window. Furthermore, the linkages between meteorological processes and temperature variation in the hyporheic zone are delineated. Examination of a high-resolution, three dimensional record of temperature variation in a karst stream substrate provides insight into thermal disturbances in the hyporheic zone. Temperatures in the upper portion of the hyporheic zone are strongly linked to air temperatures via the surface water. The variation is considerably less as depth increases. The annual temperature variation in the lower portion of the shallow hyporheic zone is reduced by one-third, relative to the variation observed in the surface water and upper substrate. During storm events, the upper portion (0-5 cm) of the shallow hyporheic zone is subject to a thermal regime very similar to surface stream water. However, below these depths the sharpest temperature fluctuations are effectively muted within the stream substrate. More frequent diurnal variations, particularly those associated with baseflow conditions, are also dampened within the substrate.
We investigated the distribution patterns of particulate organic matter (POM) on travertine barriers in respect to flow velocity. Research was conducted on the barrage-lake system of the Plitvice Lakes, Croatia. Four layers were distinguished within the substrate (moss mat three travertine layers) in three hydraulic habitats at three sites. Substrate samples were collected monthly with a core sampler. The aim of the study was to explore the ability of moss mats and travertine substrate to accumulate POM; to ascertain the role of flow velocity and to produce a model of POM distribution pattern. The average of POM deposited in the 10 cm deep zone decreased significantly in the three sites along longitudinal profile of the system. Most POM was deposited in the moss mats, and the amounts decreased exponentially with depth. This was observed for coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM), ultra-fine particulate organic matter (UPOM) and total organic matter (TPOM) while fine organic matter (FPOM) deposition appeared unaffected by depth. More POM was accumulated in hydraulic habitats of low flow velocity. Correlation between flow velocity and POM accumulation was generally negative. Positive correlations between flow velocity and deposition rates were noted for CPOM in moss mats and top travertine layers; the deposition of other POM fractions was negatively influenced by the flow velocity. The influence of flow velocity decreased with increasing depth. In the deepest layers (7-10 cm) flow velocity influenced only the deposition of the smallest particles (UPOM)
The copepod crustacean fauna collected from subterranean habitats, including caves, wells, and the hyporheos of streams in and near the Interior Low Plateaus of the United States is dominated by Cyclopoida, with 39 species, followed by Harpacticoida with 9, and Calanoida with 2. Nearly all of the harpacticoid and calanoid species are widespread, primarily surface-dwelling generalists. Fourteen of the cyclopoids, members of the genera Diacyclops, Itocyclops, Megacyclops, and Rheocyclops, are apparently obligate stygobionts or hyporheic. Several of the species that are more strongly modified for subterranean existence occur only in the more southern, unglaciated areas. Our sampling data support the hypothesis that the more specialized, groundwater-interstitial species have been unable to disperse into previously glaciated regions; whereas some, less-specialized species may have invaded groundwaters from surface habitats as the glaciers receded.