Cave & Karst Science (ISSN 1356-191X)

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Contents of Cave & Karst Science 42(3)

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Cave and Karst Science (iv + 48pp) (PDF 9.8MB)        Individual articles may be available below

GUNN, John and David LOWE (eds.). (2015). Cave and Karst Science 42(3). Buxton: British Cave Research Association. ISSN 1356-191X. iv + 48pp, A4, with photos, maps and diagrams.
This issue has a cover date of 2015 (December) and was published in December 2015.

The Transactions of the British Cave Research Association

Front cover photo (page i) (PDF 299KB)     

by Paul DEAKIN.
Drips falling onto one of the rapidly growing 'poached egg' stalagmites in Poole's Cavern, Buxton, England. See paper by Newton et al. in this Issue. (Photograph by Paul Deakin, FRPS).

 

Notes for Contributors (page ii) (PDF 248KB)     

 

Contents (p105) (PDF 716KB)     

 

Editorial (p106) (PDF 164KB)     

by John GUNN and David LOWE.

 

Margaret Eleanor Marker (1932-2015) (p107) (PDF 208KB)     

by Helen GOLDIE.
A personal appreciation and commentary on her life and contributions to physical geography and karst geomorphology.

 

"Hidden Recesses of Nature" – the science and aesthetics of subterranean space and the identity of the cave explorer: 1680–1800 (pp108-115) (PDF 2.3MB)     

by Frank PEARSON.
Geologists have argued that from the close of the seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth century, a period commonly defined as the Enlightenment, little, if any, progress was made in the development of the earth sciences in Britain and, more widely, in Europe. This was due largely to religious dogma and the requirement for extensive fieldwork when the facilities needed in remote areas were lacking. Counter to some perspectives, this period saw the beginning of cave exploration beyond mining, and the transformation of the way cave space was perceived. Geographer, Doreen Massey, presents three propositions for how space can be defined: firstly, as a process generated through interrelations; secondly, as a process encompassing a variety of distinct trajectories; thirdly, as a process that is continually under construction. Massey's propositions reconcile the range of interested groups in cave exploration and the variety of theories, both scientific and aesthetic, developed during this period. These groups variously defined a cave space as distinct from its earlier mythic roots and constructed a new space ripe with scientific and aesthetic potential. Out of this defining process emerged a recognizable 'caver' identity that helped lay the foundations for the speleological discoveries of the nineteenth century.
Classification: paper.
Date: Received: 04 August 2014; Accepted: 09 September 2015.
Keywords: space, reason, measurement, configuration, imagination, aesthetics, sublime, representation.

Bibliograph: PEARSON, Frank. (2015). "Hidden Recesses of Nature" – the science and aesthetics of subterranean space and the identity of the cave explorer: 1680–1800. Cave and Karst Science 42(3), pp108-115.

 

Rates of calcite precipitation from hyperalkaline waters, Poole's Cavern, Derbyshire, UK (pp116-124) (PDF 3.0MB)     

by Kate E NEWTON, Ian J FAIRCHILD and John GUNN.
The mechanisms and controls of calcite precipitation from normal pH waters are relatively well researched and understood. However, more recently, hyperalkaline waters (pH > 10) have been seen to give rise to calcite deposits forming through a completely different mechanism, with abnormal properties. Poole's Cavern is host to some of these unusual calcite deposits, formed as a result of lime waste altering the chemistry of some of the water flowing into the cave. Their occurrence within a natural cave system, alongside normal speleothems, makes it an excellent natural laboratory in which they can be studied. Here, calcite samples were collected from selected normal pH and hyperalkaline drips, and calcite precipitation rates determined. Drip rates and dripwater pH values were measured, as well as partial pressure of cave air CO2 (pCO2). δ18O and δ13C values of selected samples were also analysed.
A clear difference in calcite precipitation rates from normal or high pH waters is demonstrated; the latter being significantly greater, by a factor of 25–30. Isotopic signatures of these fast-growing speleothems show strong depletions in 18O and 13C compared to those formed from normal pH dripwaters, as a result of kinetic fractionation. Changes in cave air pCO2 are observed to have a clear control where drip rates are stable, on a seasonal timescale. For a hyperalkaline drip, this means greater precipitation rates where cave air pCO2 is high, whilst the opposite is true for a normal pH drip. Where drip rate is slow and variable, it becomes an important control on precipitation rate, in addition to pCO2. The rapid growth rate allowed the opportunity for precipitation rates to be analysed on a diurnal timescale for the first time.
Classification: paper.
Date: Received: 05 May 2015; Accepted: 23 September 2015. Corrected online on 21 April 2016, see Forum in vol 43(1).

Bibliograph: NEWTON, Kate E; Ian J FAIRCHILD and John GUNN. (2015). Rates of calcite precipitation from hyperalkaline waters, Poole's Cavern, Derbyshire, UK. Cave and Karst Science 42(3), pp116-124.

 

Large collapse sinkholes, old and new, in the Obruk Plateau, Turkey (pp125-130) (PDF 1.8MB)     

by Tony WALTHAM.
Obruks are large collapse sinkholes in a low limestone plateau within the Konya Basin of central Turkey. There are numerous old obruks, in various states of degradation, and also 21 that have formed within the last 40 years. They appear to have hypogenic origins, with the new obruks induced by drainage changes.
Classification: report.
Date: Received: 21 August 2015; Accepted: 09 September 2015.

Bibliograph: WALTHAM, Tony. (2015). Large collapse sinkholes, old and new, in the Obruk Plateau, Turkey. Cave and Karst Science 42(3), pp125-130.

 

Cave and karst development in the Craven Basin, UK (pp131-132) (PDF 427KB)     

by Phillip J MURPHY, Simon H BOTTRELL, Kay PARKER and Paul KABRNA.
The Craven Basin, which was an area of crustal subsidence during much of the Carboniferous, contains carbonate strata that pre-date the deposition of the better known carbonates of the Askrigg Block to the north. Later basin-fill deposits consist mainly of clastic sedimentary rocks. However, interbedded carbonate horizons and Waulsortian mud-mounds are also present. Karst development has taken place locally on the exposed carbonate strata. including establishment of the only example of a sulphurous cave stream currently known in the British Isles. The caves so far examined in the area are described, alongside an account of their geological setting.
Classification: report.
Date: Received: 04 August 2014; Accepted: 09 September 2015.

Bibliograph: MURPHY, Phillip J; Simon H BOTTRELL, Kay PARKER and Paul KABRNA. (2015). Cave and karst development in the Craven Basin, UK. Cave and Karst Science 42(3), pp131-132.

 

Graffiti in Peak District (England) caves and mines: historic record or mindless vandalism (pp133-143) (PDF 1.8MB)     

by John BARNATT, Geoff PEPPIT and Dave WEBB.
Adding graffiti to the walls of caves and mines is a long-standing tradition. Today, where it is not obviously ancient, it is often cleaned from walls of caves and mines by conservation-minded explorers but are they right to do so? In some cases graffiti can have significant but not always obvious meaning and Peak District examples are used to illustrate this. Graffiti in Speedwell Cavern range from that of the 1780s made by miners, to later speleologists' visits from the late 19th century onwards, documenting a long history of exploration and new discovery. At another example, inscriptions in Cumberland Cavern tell of 19th century visitors to this former show cave and of inhabitation by a counter-culture group after it closed to the public. Rookery Black Marble Mine had graffiti added by teenage boys in a 'den' during the decades around 1900, many years after the mine closed; one of them returned during the 1914–18 War to add a poignant inscription for those local boys who had died. Miners' graffiti, at a variety of workings, provide valuable records, which add a social dimension to ore extraction from the 16th century onwards. With such examples in mind, various conservation issues related to adding and removing graffiti are reviewed.
Classification: paper.
Date: Received: 17 March 2015; Accepted: 05 October 2015.
Keywords: graffiti, conservation, caving history, miners' inscriptions, Speedwell Cavern, Cumberland Cavern, Rookery Black Marble Mine.

Bibliograph: BARNATT, John; Geoff PEPPIT and Dave WEBB. (2015). Graffiti in Peak District (England) caves and mines: historic record or mindless vandalism. Cave and Karst Science 42(3), pp133-143.

 

Graffiti in Peak District (England). Appendix 2 (pp S1-S8) (PDF 3.6MB)     

by John BARNATT, Geoff PEPPIT and Dave WEBB.
Online supplement to above paper.

 

Sediment-filled cavities in the Morecambe Bay karst (UK): examples from the Warton and Silverdale area (pp144-147) (PDF 573KB)     

by Phillip J MURPHY and Max MOSELEY.
Various types of sediment-filled natural cavities are exposed in abandoned haematite and copper mines in Carboniferous limestones around Morecambe Bay, northwest England. They range in age from pre-mineralization through to Pleistocene though, because the date of the mineralization is disputed, it has been impossible to propose a confident chronology for many of them. Re-examination of two sites in the eastern part of the district, together with recently published results that point to a Mid Triassic age for the mineralization episode, now make it possible to propose a Neogene age for at least one example. Other, pre-mineralization, cavities and infill sediments probably date from the period of denudation that removed Carboniferous strata in this area prior to deposition of Permo-Triassic red beds. Some unconsolidated sediments are assigned on lithological evidence to being Pleistocene glacial deposits.
Classification: report.
Date: Received: 28 April 2015; Accepted: 26 September 2015.
Keywords: Morecambe Bay, palaeokarst, chronology, Carboniferous, Permo-Triassic, Neogene, Pleistocene.

Bibliograph: MURPHY, Phillip J and Max MOSELEY. (2015). Sediment-filled cavities in the Morecambe Bay karst (UK): examples from the Warton and Silverdale area. Cave and Karst Science 42(3), pp144-147.

 

Scientific note: The height of Malham Cove (p148) (PDF 462KB)     

by John CORDINGLEY, David LOWE and Tony WALTHAM.
Classification: Forum.

 

Correspondence: Deglacial speleogenesis in the British Isles (p149) (PDF 271KB)     

by Charlie SELF.
Classification: Forum.

 

Book Reviews (pp149-150)  For download see previous item

(1) Cave: Nature and Culture by Ralph Crane and Lisa Fletcher.
(2) Underwater Potholer by Duncan Price.
(3) Northern Sump Index 2015 by Elaine Hill and Adrian Hall.
(4) Slovene Karst and Caves in the Past by Trevor Shaw and Alenca Čuk.
Classification: Forum.

 

Conference Report: Karst Groundwater at Birmingham 2015 (KG@B2015) (pp151-152) (PDF 657KB)     

Classification: Forum.

 

Research Fund and Grants (page iii) (PDF 223KB)     

 

Back cover photos (page iv) (PDF 265KB)     

by Jerry WOOLDRIDGE.
As well as being deposited by means of different chemical processes (see, for example, the paper by Newton et al. in this Issue), calcite speleothem deposits occur in many shapes and sizes, some common and familiar, others rare or unusual, ranging from minute to monolithic. This Issue's back cover shows just a small selection of speleothems photographed by Jerry Wooldridge FRPS, some of them in unusual contexts. (Photographs by Jerry Wooldridge).