Chronology of the Black Sea over the last 25,000 years, 1972, Degens Et, Ross Da,

Deep-water sediments of the Black Sea deposited during Late Pleistocene and Holocene time are distinguished by three sedimentary units: (1) a microlaminated coccolith ooze mainly consisting of Emiliania huxleyi; (2) a sapropel; and (3) a banded lutite. The base of the first unit lies at 3,000 years B.P., that of the second at 7,000 years B.P., and that of the third at least at about 25,000 years B.P. Fossils and geochemical criteria are used to decipher the environmental events of this time period. Beginning with the base of the section dated at about 25,000 years B.P. we witness the final stage of metamorphosis from anoxic marine to oxic freshwater conditions. By the time this stage ended, about 22,000 years B.P., the Black Sea had become a truly freshwater habitat. The lake phase lasted about 12,000 to 13,000 years. Sedimentation rates were in the order of 1 m/103 years, but began to decrease as sea level rose during the last 5,000 years of this phase (9,000-15,000 years B.P.). Starting at about 9,000 years B.P. and continuing to 7,000 years B.P., Mediterranean waters occasionally spilled over the Bosporus as a consequence of ice retreat and sea level rise. This marked the beginning of a gradual shift from freshwater to marine, and from well aerated to stagnant conditions. At about 7,000 years B.P. when deposition of unit 2 started, the H2S zone was well established. Sedimentation rates dropped to 10 cm/103 years. Environmental conditions similar to those of today finally became established around 3,000 years B.P., almost exactly the time when Jason and the Argonauts sailed through the Bosporus in search of the Golden Fleece

Sedimentary and Morphological Development of the Borenore Caves, New South Wales, Part I, 1973, Frank, R. M.

(of parts I and II) The Borenore Caves, west of Orange, occur in a partly metamorphosed Silurian limestone outcrop of about 5.5km2 which forms an impounded karst. Both of the main caves, the Arch Cave and the Tunnel Cave, contain large quantities of clastic sediments. Evidence from the position and kind of sediments and from the bedrock features show that both caves have undergone a predominantly fluvial development by a sequence of stream captures. The same type of evidence indicates a dry climatic phase for the Borenore area about 28,000 BP.

Evolution of the Wellington Caves Landscape, 1973, Francis, G.

Wellington Caves, New South Wales (figure 1), have attracted scientific attention for more than a century, largely through discoveries in the cave sediments of bones from extinct animals. These bone discoveries provided impetus for a number of early speculations about the geomorphology of the caves area and its relationship to the caves. Notable among these was the conjecture of Mitchell (1839) that the valley floor sediments of the Bell River and the cave fills had been deposited during a marine transgression about one million years ago. The first systematic geomorphological work was carried out by Colditz (1943), who argued for two distinct relict erosion levels in the Bell Valley; the older level was assigned to the Lower Pliocene and the younger to the Upper Pliocene. Colditz considered that these levels provided evidence for two phases of uplift in late Tertiary times. More recently Frank (1971) made detailed studies of the cave sediments, and devoted some attention to landscape evolution. He believed that the Bell River had been captured by Catombal Creek, during the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene.

Continental Pleistocene Climatic Variations from Speleothem Age and Isotopic Data, 1974, Thompson Peter, Schwarcz Henry P. , Ford Derek C. ,

Speleothems from continental North American caves have been dated by means of the 230Th/234U method. Oxygen isotopic variations in the dated samples and phases of speleothem deposition can be interpreted in terms of climatic change. A glacial chronology constructed from the age and isotopic data lends support to the astronomical theory of climatic change

Sedimentary Development of the Walli Caves, New South Wales, 1974, Frank, R.

The sedimentary history of the Walli Caves began with the deposition of finely laminated clay during the latter part of bedrock development in the phreatic zone. After aeration and entrance development, entrance facies accumulated, and this was followed by the deposition of large amounts of fluvial and lacustrine deposits. Episodic fluvial erosion of these deposits then took place, and flowstone was formed extensively during periods between each active erosion phase to produce a striking sequence of suspended flowstone sheets.

Developmental chronology and evolution of calcium storage and urate containing cells in Niphargus schellenbergi Karaman., 1975, Graf François, Michaut Philippe.

The intra-marsupial development of Niphargus schellenbergi is divided into three phases: within the chorion, embryonic intermoult and juvenile intermoult. The disappearance of the chorion divides the first phase from the second. A double exuviation exists between the last two. The chronology of the embryonic development and of the beginning of post-embryonic development is established. On hatching the juvenile N. schellenbergi has one pair of hepatopancreatic caeca. During the first post-embryonic intermoults the ventral hepatopancreatic caeca, posterior caeca and anterior caecum are formed. The relation between posterior caeca and the aorta is described. The study of calcium storage before moulting showed that calcareous concretions located in posterior caeca and midgut have the typical form, volume, quantity and distribution of the species. This calcium accumulation process occurs in the midgut following the first posternbryonic exuviation. It is only when the sixth exuviation is attained that storage in the posterior caeca is similar to the one in adults. The urate containing cells located at the lower face of the pericardial septum begin to accumulate urate spherules 15 days before hatching. They vary in form, volume, localization and composition, and so may be considered as storage sites for urate, pigments and various ions (P, K, Ca, S, Cl, Na, Mg) which are returned to circulation.

Frustration and New Year Caves and Their Neighbourhood, Cooleman Plain, N.S.W., 1977, Rieder L. G. , Jennings J. N. , Francis G.

Frustration and New Year Caves are active between-caves, paralleling in plan and profile the ephemeral stream bed of the V-shaped valley in which their entrances are found. The main streamsink in this valley system feeds their stream, which in turn supplies Zed Cave, a short outflow cave just outside the mouth of this valley. This modest derangement of surface drainage pattern is in keeping with the caves which show slight vadose modification of epiphreatic cave development. Although these active caves are young, they probably formed prior to a Late Pleistocene cold period (30,000 to 10,000 BP) on the basis of soils evidence. Clown Cave on the brow of the valley, a dry cave with indications of sluggish phreatic development, is related to a planation phase of Middle or Lower Tertiary age before valley incision. Bow and Keyslot Caves are abandoned in and out and outflow caves respectively, formed when the surface stream channel was a few metres above the present valley bottom so they antedate the active river caves a little. This hydrologically independent part of the Cooleman Plain mirrors in most respects the major parts draining to the Blue Waterholes, differing chiefly in the greater proportion of between-caves discovered so far.

The genesis and the age of Rudice layers in the Moravian Karst (Czechoslovakia). [in Polish], 1978, Bosak, Pavel

Fracturation and Karstification of a Massif: the example of the Azerou El Kebir (Northern Algeria)., 1978, Coiffait P. E. , Quinif Yves

The fracturation of the sub-autochthonous massif of the Azerou el Kebir is not fundamentally different from that of the adjoining allochthonous massif; where the structures are due to an Alpine phase, known as the Atlas phase. As with all fractures, karstification only exploits certain of them, without having any linkage to their statistical importance, caves have developed following fractures which are qualitatively important, but are poorly represented quantitatively. The study of the karstification therefore, confirms his complementary to the structural analysis in order to elucidate the technical problems of fracturation in the region.

Contribution to the study of Karstic caves of Djurdjura (Algeria). Morpho-hydrogeological description and evolutive synthesis., 1978, Quinif Yves

In North-Africa, the karst of Djurdjura Mountains is important because it shows high-alpine characters. In others papers, we have studied shallow morphology and speleological explorations. Here, we describe the caves: morphology, qualitative hydrology and fillings. These cavities are replaced in their morpho-structural context. We make distinctions between kinds of cavities. Gulfs and resurgences characterize high-alpine karst which is actual. Other caves that have their opening at the middle of slopes are dry, disconnected of actual morphological context. They belong to past karstification phases. From the synthesis of those elements, we show that it is possible to use karstic data in the reconstruction of morpho-structural evolution of a country.

Messinian event in the black sea, 1979, Hsu Kenneth J. , Giovanoli Federico,

Three holes were drilled during the 1975 DSDP Leg 42B drilling the Black Sea. A section from Hole 380, at 2107 m water depth on the western edge of the abyssal plain, is 1074 m thick, and provides the most complete stratigraphic section. Dating of the sediments is based upon (1) fossil evidence from pollen, crustaceans, benthic foraminifera, and diatoms, (2) correlation with climatic changes and with unusual isochronous events that have been dated elsewhere, (3) paleomagnetic data, and (4) estimates of sedimentation rate.The history of Black Sea sedimentation recorded by the DSDP cores includes black shale sedimentation during the Late Miocene, followed by periodic chemical sedimentation from Late Miocene to Early Quaternary, and a change to dominantly terrigenous sedimentation from the Middle Quaternary. These hemipelagic and turbiditic sediments were deposited in lacustrine and brackish marine environments. The Messinian sediments, however, consist of stromatolitic dolomite, oolitic sands, and coarse gravels, deposited in supratidal and intertidal environments. The intercalation of the shallow-water sediments in a deep-water sequence suggests a drastic lowering of the water-level within the Black Sea basin during the Messinian so that the edge of the present abyssal plain was then the edge of a shallow lake.The Messinian draw-down phase of the Black Sea was in existence for about 100,000 years during the Lago-Mare stage of the salinity crisis. The evaporated waters formed an alkaline lake before it was drowned by a brackish marine transgression correlative to the Trubi transgression of the Mediterranean

Development of a Subterranean Meander Cutoff: The Abercrombie Caves, New South Wales, 1979, Frank R. , Jennings J. N.

The Abercrombie Caves are exemplary of a subterranean meander cutoff. The bedrock morphology, especially flat solution ceilings, permits reconstruction of an evolution from slow phreatic initiation to epiphreatic establishment of a substantial throughway, followed by progressive succession to vadose flow and phased channel incision. At two separate stages, there was twofold streamsink entry and underground junction of flow. Five 14C dates from alluvial sediments show that capture of the surface stream was certainly complete before c.15,000 BP and that by c.5,000 BP the stream had almost cut down to its present level.

Cave and Landscape Evolution At Isaacs Creek, New South Wales, 1979, Connolly M. , Francis G.

Isaacs Creek Caves are situated in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales and form a distinct unit within the Timor karst region. The larger caves such as Man, Helictite and Belfry all show evidence of early development under sluggish phreatic conditions. Nevertheless later phases of dynamic phreatic and vadose development occurred in Belfry and Helictite caves. In the case of Helictite Cave sluggish phreatic, dynamic phreatic and vadose action may have operated simultaneously in different parts of the same cave. After each cave was drained through further valley incision by Isaacs Creek, extensive clay fills derived from surface soil were deposited in it. There has been considerable re-excavation of the fills; in Main Cave younger clay loams have partially filled the resulting cavities and thus underlie the older clays. The earliest speleogenesis took place in Main Cave which pre-dates the valley of Isaacs Creek. This cave now lies in the summit of Caves Ridge about 100m above the modern valley floor. Helictite and Shaft Caves formed when the valley had been cut down to within 30m of its present level and some early phreatic development also took place in the Belfry Cave at this time. Later phases of dynamic phreatic and vadose development in Belfry Cave occurred when the valley floor lay about 12m above its present level and can be correlated with river terraces at this height. Evidence from cave morphology, isotopic basalt dates and surfaces geomorphology indicates that Main Cave formed in the Cretaceous and that Helictite Cave, Shaft Cave and the early development in Belfry Cave date from the Palaeogene. Although the dynamic phreatic and vadose action in Belfry Cave is more recent, it may still range back into the Miocene. This is a much more ancient and extended chronology than has hitherto been proposed for limestone caves and is in conflict with widely accepted ideas about cave longevity. Nevertheless evidence from Isaacs Creek and other parts of the Hunter Valley indicates that the caves and landforms are ancient features and thus notions of cave longevity developed in younger geological environments of the northern hemisphere do not apply in the present context.

Equilibrium Versus Events in River Behaviour and Blind Valleys at Yarrangobilly, New South Wales, 1980, Jennings J. N. , Haosheng Bao, Spate A. P.

Seventeen blind valleys of the Yarrangobilly karst are describes especially with reference to shifting streamsink location and phases of downward incision. A series of measures of them, based partly on ground traverses and partly on contoured maps, is presented and discussed. Standard morphometry of the basins ending in the blind valleys is presented also. These truncated basins are shown to have normal morphometric relationships. Whether a stream sinks or not in the limestone appears generally to relate to the length of limestone to be crossed in relation to full stream or basin length, though basin relief ratio may intervene. The hypothesis that there will be dynamic equilibrium between the dimensions of blind valleys and sinking stream catchments finds only limited support in the data. This is because underground stream capture represents an abnormal event in drainage basin development liable to upset equilibrium relationships and its timing may be adventitious in that development. With a larger population of blind valleys to be analysed, this factor of timing might become subordinate, and a batter predictive model of blind valley volume be derived.

Damawewe Cave, Alotau, Papua New Guinea, 1981, Pain C. F. , Ollier C. D.

Damawewe Cave is a cave formed in Quaternary limestone near Alotau, Papua New Guinea. It consists of three sets of passages: the uppermost (and oldest) are the largest and the lowermost (active) are the smallest. Although the cave is mainly vadose, there is evidence of enlargement by corrosion and by collapse (in the uppermost level), and the sequence of cave formation has been interrupted by at least one phase of cave fill by clay and gravels.