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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. ...
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Featured articles from Cave & Karst Science Journals
Caves can be divided into three distinct regions - the twilight zone, the transitional zone and the troglic zone. The main physical characters of caves - light, air currents, temperature and humidity - are discussed in relation to their effect on cave fauna. Various classifications of cave animals are mentioned, and those of Schiner and Jeannel discussed in detail. The paucity of food in caves, and its effect on the animal population is considered. Mention is made of the loss of secondary sexual characters and seasonal periodicity of breeding among true troglobites. Cave animals have undergone many adaptations to their environment, the most interesting of these being blindness and loss of pigment. Hyper-development of tactile, gustatory, olfactory and auditory organs and general slenderness of body, are correlated with eye degeneration. Several theories on the origin of cave fauna are discussed, and the importance of isolation on the development of cave fauna considered.
The Nullarbor Plain, Australia's most extensive limestone region, consists of about 65,000 square miles of almost horizontal beds of Tertiary limestone. The Plain extends from near Fowlers Bay, South Australia, approximately 600 miles west across the head of the Great Australian Bight into Western Australia. However, for its size, the Nullarbor appears to be deficient in caves compared with other Australian cavernous limestones. The vastness of the area, isolation, and complete lack of surface water, makes speleological investigation difficult. Some of the most important caves are more than 100 miles apart. The 1963-4 Nullarbor Expedition was organised by members of the Sydney University Speleological Society (SUSS). Two major caves, as well as a number of smaller features were discovered in the western part of the Plain. One cave contains what is believed to be the longest single cave passage in Australia.
Studying several Bogidiella individuals collected from the phreatic biotope of Cerna Valley (Oltenia region) using Karaman-Chappuis method, authors announce the presence of Bogidiella albertimagni Hertzog in Romania. After a description of the studied individuals, the authors talk about some problems concerning the taxonomic value of B. albertimagni and B. skopljensis Karaman (this second species being formerly known in Romania) and the validity of B. denticulata Mestrov described from Yugoslavia.
Although Hungary does not belong to the large Karst countries, extensive speleologic and karst-hydrologic investigations are carried out. On the one hand, Hungary owns one of the largest stalactite caves in the world, on the other hand the majority of raw materials and the connected industries are linked with Karst regions which pose particular water supply problems. The largest water supplying caves are in the North of Hungary. The best known cave is the Aggtelek cave with a length of 22 km, but there are numerous other, recently disclosed caves of a length of 1-5 km, which were discovered by way of artificial means and on the basis of many years of hydrologic observations. Of particular interest are the active thermal caves with waters of 30°C. In one of these latter a diver discovered and measured a siphon of a length of 300 m. By way of experiment, speleotherapic treatments were applied in some of these caves. By calculation of decades of series of measures an applicable formula was established for the calculation of the percent of seepage in the Karst regions. In several of these caves the influence of precipitation on the intensity of stalactite formation was measured. The indication of the so-called ,,year-rings" in the stalactites furnishes data concerning precipitation of bygone millenaries, which are also valuable for the investigation of periods. In several caves the changes in ion concentration of the water currents was measured and the correlation with the cross section of the caves was determined. On the basis of complex measurements in Karst sources the possibility of disclosing hitherto unknown cave systems arises. In this manner, recently several caves were artificially discovered.
The present note calls into question the opinion of different authors concerning the presence or lack of adult Niphargus near the phreatic table (superior layer of phreatic water) in zones prospected by Karaman-Chappuis method. Our investigations have proved the reason for which Niphargus adults were less frequent in the superior layer of the phreatic water is rather concerned with our investigation means; which are very approximate -, than with the ecological or ethological requirements of these animals. The assertion that the phreatic fauna performs downward migrations during the floods must be considered as doubtful. During floods it is impossible to dig into the alluvial deposits immediately near the stream, these being completely flooded; so, we are obliged to dig in regions more distant from the riverside, which are not flooded. It is well known that in this zone the biocoenosis contains always a greater number of phreatobius elements. One of the authors (C. Motas) introduce the terms: rithrobios; for the fauna inhabiting the epigean streams, phreatobios; for that inhabiting the phreatic water, and geobios; for the terrestrial world.
Foiba (plural, foibe) is a term derived from the northeastern Italian karst region. The word is here suggested for use in preference to other terms referring to vertical cavities in soluble rocks. Foiba is defined as a cavity in relatively soluble rock which is natural, solutional, tends toward a cylindrical shape, and possesses walls which normally approach verticality. In laboratory experiments, limestone blocks were treated with dilute hydrochloric acid, and cavities resembling foibe were produced. Vertical walls developed only when a less soluble layer capped the limestone block or when the acid source was stationary, allowing acid to drip to the area directly below. Water analyses from foibe in central Kentucky and Missouri indicate that the water has had less residence time in the zone of aeration than other waters percolating through the rocks and entering the caves. In central Kentucky, foibe seem to be developed by migrating underground waterfalls held up by less soluble layers or by water moving directly down joints below less soluble layers. In Missouri, foibe are formed by joint enlargement below chert layers. Those foibe in the ceilings of caves are complicated by the enlargement of the lower part of the joints by cave streams during fluctuating water table conditions. In limestone caves of Kansas, foibe are formed in a similar manner as in Missouri. The foibe of the gypsum caves of Kansas are formed mainly on the sides of steep collapse sinkholes and lack joint control although they form beneath less soluble layers in the gypsum. Dripping water is necessary for the development of vertical walls by solution. Less soluble layers seem to be the unique feature which allows water to drip and pour into foibe. The floors of foibe are formed by less soluble layers or near the water table. If foibe intersect previously formed cave passages, no floors may develop.
Beetles form an important element of life in caves, where they provide some of the most spectacular examples of adaptation to the environment. The troglobic forms are of greatest interest from the zoogeographical point of view and their present distributions, which are largely limited to the temperate regions of the world, appear to have been determined by the glaciations and later climatic changes of the Quaternary. Troglophiles, which are much more widespread, show little adaptation and are almost certainly recently evolved cavernicoles.
The acquatic cave Isopod Sphaeromides bureschi Strouhal was discovered by I. Buresch in the underground water of two caves in western Stara-Planina. In this paper the author describes a new station, a spring, in the same region and then exposes the results of ecological and biological observations on this species (biotope, temperature, sex-ratio, feeding regime, locomotion).
Of the 56 species of bats currently recorded from Australia, 22 are known to occur in caves. The geographical distribution of each of these species is detailed, and from this data, the species are divided into four groups according to their pattern of distribution. Group I comprises those species found only North of 18°S latitude, all of which either also occur in New Guinea or are closely related to New Guinea species. Group II, including both endemic Australian genera, occurs over that area North of 28°S latitude. This area largely comprises desert or semi-desert terrain, with its characteristics of low humidity and a wide range between extremes of temperature. Group III occurs in the Eastern Coastal Region, with one species extending to a limited degree along both Northern and Southern Coasts. Although temperature is extremely varied over this range, there are common environmental factors of moderate to high humidity and a moderate to low range of temperature variation. Group IV species are all widespread, in many cases over the whole continent, are all members of the Vespertilionidae, and occur in caves only occasionally or only in certain parts of their range. These species are more commonly found in trees or buildings. The possible factors contributing to the origin of these distributional patterns are discussed, and some areas for future investigation suggested.
The three cave systems are developed along the course of a seasonal stream that has been superposed on a range of Devonian Limestone in north-western Australia. The cave system furthest upstream has the greatest known development of cave passages in the region (more than 2,300 yards) and is controlled by two sets of vertical joints approximately at right angles to each other.
The new data from the Big Hole and its vicinity give some further support to the view maintained previously as to its origin, though an approach through water chemistry proved non-committal. Difficulties attaching to an origin by true phreatic solution of underlying limestone through circulations of groundwater of meteoric provenance remain however. Nevertheless, the possibility, not considered previously, that the Big Hole is due to hydrothermal solution in the manner of many collapse structures associated with uranium ore bodies in southwestern U.S.A. finds no support in the regional geology of the Shoalhaven valley, though it could produce features of the right dimensions. Previous lack of a complete parallel to the Big Hole has been removed by reference to the furnas of southern Brazil where a similar origin to the one proposed here is also inferred.
