Cave & Karst Science (ISSN 1356-191X)

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Contents of Cave & Karst Science 49(3)

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Cave and Karst Science (iv + 52pp) (PDF 8.1MB)        Individual articles may be available below

GUNN, John and David LOWE (eds.). (2022). Cave and Karst Science 49(3). Buxton: British Cave Research Association. ISSN 1356-191X. iv + 52pp, A4, with photos, maps and diagrams.
This issue has a cover date of 2022 (December) and was published in January 2023.

The Transactions of the British Cave Research Association

Front cover photo (page i) (PDF 396KB)     

by Jerry WOOLDRIDGE.
In the Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak, the image shows The Snow Slopes in Clearwater Cave. At now nearly 260km long, Clearwater Cave is currently the 8th longest cave system in the World and almost certainly the largest by volume. (Photo: Jerry Wooldridge).

 

Notes for Contributors (page ii) (PDF 266KB)     

 

Contents (p85) (PDF 388KB)     

 

Editorial (p86) (PDF 308KB)     

by John GUNN and David LOWE.

 

The evolution of Masson Cavern (Matlock, Derbyshire, UK) from the Carboniferous to the Anthropocene (pp87-106) (PDF 3.9MB)     

by John GUNN, Richard SHAW and Noel WORLEY.
The Masson Cavern complex (Matlock, Derbyshire, UK) includes a maze-like void-conduit system of chambers that merge into one another both vertically and laterally. Largely of natural origin, the voids have been heavily modified by mining, initially for lead, which was first extracted over 600 years ago, and then, largely in the 20th century, for fluorspar.
Host rocks comprise part of the thickly-bedded Early Carboniferous (Mississippian) Monsal Dale Limestone Formation, which is underlain and overlain by olivine basalt lavas and contains low-permeability clay horizons (wayboards). Following their deposition and lithification the rocks were buried under a steadily increasing weight of clastic sediment but during the Late Carboniferous the limestone at Masson was subject to hypogenic speleogenesis as fluids were expelled from adjacent deep sedimentary basins. Rising flow paths developed by enlargement of major fractures in a confined hydrodynamic setting and anticlinal features formed the locus for hypogenic karstification by hydrothermal waters. This was followed by a period when some of the limestones were converted to dolostones by fluids enriched in magnesium.
Later in the Carboniferous there were several distinct and separate periods during which mineralizing fluids flowed through the hypogenic karst conduits forming the pipe deposits that are particularly well-developed at Masson. The most extensive mineralization, comprising fluorite, was accompanied by a further phase of limestone (but not dolostone) dissolution and the development / enlargement of conduits. Erosion of some of the overlying rocks during the Late Carboniferous to the Early Permian brought the limestones closer to the surface and there might have been some passage development by epigenic waters. These went through a period of fossilization when the rocks in which they were formed were deeply buried.
A combination of uplift and erosional removal of the cover rocks slowly brought the ancient caves closer to the surface and between about 5 million and 2 million years ago they are likely to have entered a zone in which there was slow circulation of groundwater derived from rainfall. The paleo-caves provided easier flow-paths for water than the surrounding rock and the circulating water dissolved limestone, gradually reactivating the old system and forming new conduits. It is thought that by the early Pleistocene, around 1.7 million years ago, part of the limestone was exposed at the surface. Direct recharge from rain, together with runoff from streams rising on the remnants of the cover rocks, would have increased the volume of circulating groundwater, modifying ancient passages, and forming new conduits and caves.
Almost all of the extant passages have circular to elliptic shapes that are typical of formation under phreatic conditions and as there is little evidence of vadose downcutting the passages must have been abandoned over a geologically-short period of time. The most recent phase in speleogenesis commenced around 600 years ago when miners began to remove ore-bearing sediments and vein-minerals. Passages were enlarged, shafts were sunk through the basalt and clay-wayboards above the cave allowing groundwater to enter and to deposit speleothem, and drainage levels (soughs) were excavated, providing lower elevation outlets for groundwater.
Classification: Paper.
Date: Received: 13 November 2022; Accepted: 06 December 2022.

Bibliograph: GUNN, John; Richard SHAW and Noel WORLEY. (2022). The evolution of Masson Cavern (Matlock, Derbyshire, UK) from the Carboniferous to the Anthropocene. Cave and Karst Science 49(3), pp87-106.

 

Siliceous speleothems from a cave in Agion Oros (Greece) (pp107-112) (PDF 1.1MB)     

by Georgios LAZARIDIS, Lambrini PAPADOPOULOU, Aikaterini PANORA, Ilya AGAPOV, Sergey KAMINSKI and Alexey ZHALOV.
A cave containing siliceous speleothem is described. The speleothem displays two morphologies: a laminar deposit in part, with conical formations developed upon its surface. For convenience these are described as flowstone and coralloids respectively. The latter, which were studied using scanning electron microscopy, were found to consist of layers built from an aluminosilicate mineral with inclusions of detrital minerals. This is the first known record of such a speleothem recorded in Greece.
Classification: Paper.
Date: Received: 27 June 2022; Accepted: 07 November 2022.

Bibliograph: LAZARIDIS, Georgios; Lambrini PAPADOPOULOU, Aikaterini PANORA, Ilya AGAPOV, Sergey KAMINSKI and Alexey ZHALOV. (2022). Siliceous speleothems from a cave in Agion Oros (Greece). Cave and Karst Science 49(3), pp107-112.

 

World Heritage Outstanding Universal Values of the Gunung Mulu and Buda National Parks, Sarawak, Malaysia (pp113-124) (PDF 2.5MB)     

by David William GILL.
Gunung Mulu National Park and Gunung Buda National Park are two of the finest examples of world protected tropical karst areas, for which World Heritage status is entirely justified. Since the original World Heritage document listed the Outstanding Universal Values of Gunung Mulu National Park in 1999, 22 years have elapsed, with science and cave exploration continuing. The current article brings the list of justifications, referred to as OUVs, up to date (to 2022), including consideration of work that has been carried out in the Gunung Buda National Park. The boundary extensions indicate the possibility that the World Heritage Area could be expanded to include Gunung Buda following its nomination in 2000.
Classification: Paper.
Date: Received: 22 September 2022; Accepted: 18 November 2022.

Bibliograph: GILL, David William. (2022). World Heritage Outstanding Universal Values of the Gunung Mulu and Buda National Parks, Sarawak, Malaysia. Cave and Karst Science 49(3), pp113-124.

 

Radiocarbon dating of the Scoska Cave Lady – Anglo-Saxon human remains from Littondale, North Yorkshire, UK (pp125-127) (PDF 603KB)     

by Anthony BROWN, Phillip MURPHY and David J LOWE.
Disarticulated bones of an adult woman that were discovered in Scoska Cave in Yorkshire during 1905–1906 were considered at the time to represent an individual of Celtic affinity who died in the cave during the Bronze Age. Whether the original bones still survive unlabelled in museum storage remains unknown but following the more recent finding of a single finger bone, presumed to be from the same individual, a 14C date obtained from the material revealed an age of 1255 ± 31 years BP (before 1950 AD), allowing speculation that she lived during the first half of the Anglo-Saxon period.
Classification: Report.
Date: Received: 16 October 2022; Accepted: 07 November 2022.

Bibliograph: BROWN, Anthony; Phillip MURPHY and David J LOWE. (2022). Radiocarbon dating of the Scoska Cave Lady – Anglo-Saxon human remains from Littondale, North Yorkshire, UK. Cave and Karst Science 49(3), pp125-127.

 

Symposium Abstracts: 33rd BCRA Cave Science Symposium (pp128-131) (PDF 586KB)     

Classification: Forum.
Date: Saturday 08 October, 2022.

 

Dissertation Abstract: Exploring cave air temperature and ventilation regimes at Poole's Cavern, Buxton, 2019–2021 (p132) (PDF 559KB)     

by Simon MORRIS.
Classification: Forum.

 

Book Review: Caves of Assynt (3rd edition); (pp132-133)  For download see previous item

Classification: Forum.

 

Notes for Authors: What, if anything, is the purpose of the keywords (p134) (PDF 380KB)     

by Stephen K DONOVAN.
The title, abstract and keywords are the three 'hooks' that will attract readers to your latest research paper and draw them in. Keywords may be wasted by unimaginative authors who fail to appreciate their importance and repeat words from the title. Use your keywords as an adjunct to the title, expanding the list of terms relevant to your study. Of particular significance are references to discipline, method, data source, location and topic.
Classification: Forum.

 

Short Communication: Gordale Cave No.8 – another hominid-bearing archaeological cave site within the Yorkshire Dales (p135) (PDF 492KB)     

by Phillip J MURPHY.
Classification: Forum.

 

A 15th century inscription at Dead Man's Cave, Giggleswick in the Yorkshire Dales (p136) (PDF 583KB)     

by Vince SIMMONDS.
Classification: Photo Feature.

Bibliograph: SIMMONDS, Vince. (2022). A 15th century inscription at Dead Man's Cave, Giggleswick in the Yorkshire Dales. Cave and Karst Science 49(3), p136.

 

Research Fund and Grants (page iii) (PDF 277KB)     

 

Back cover photos (page iv) (PDF 412KB)     

by John GUNN.
A selection of images from Masson Cavern (Derbyshire, UK), which complement those used in the Paper by Gunn, Shaw and Worley to illustrate specific points. For details see Contents page. (All photos: John Gunn).