Cave & Karst Science (ISSN 1356-191X)

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Contents of Cave & Karst Science 44(1)

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Cave and Karst Science (iv + 48pp) (PDF 6.6MB)        Individual articles may be available below

GUNN, John and David LOWE (eds.). (2017). Cave and Karst Science 44(1). Buxton: British Cave Research Association. ISSN 1356-191X. iv + 48pp, A4, with photos, maps and diagrams.
This issue has a cover date of 2017 (April) and was published in April 2017.

The Transactions of the British Cave Research Association

Front cover photo (page i) (PDF 366KB)     

by Jerry WOOLDRIDGE.
Part of the Main Streamway passage in Ogof Ffynnon Ddu 1, close to the Maypole Chain. (Photo: Jerry Wooldridge).

 

Notes for Contributors (page ii) (PDF 264KB)     

 

Contents (p1) (PDF 402KB)     

 

Editorial (p2) (PDF 268KB)     

by David LOWE and John GUNN.

 

Trevor Ford – Obituary (pp2-3)  For download see previous item

by John GUNN and Tony WALTHAM.
1) Trevor Ford: 1925–2017 (Tony Waltham). 2) Vale: Trevor David Ford, BSc, PhD, FGS and OBE (John Gunn).

 

Vale: Dr Robert G Picknett (23 June 1931 – 31 January 2017) (p4) (PDF 253KB)     

by John WILCOCK.

 

Underground flow-paths in the Malham karst, England: Part 1, artificial tracer experiments (pp5-16) (PDF 1.9MB)     

by John GUNN and Thomas KELLY.
Malham Tarn lies largely on an inlier of impermeable rock north of the North Craven Fault, and its outlet stream sinks underground at various points, known collectively as the Water Sinks, shortly after crossing the fault. There are several small springs in the area and two large risings, one at the foot of the 70m-high cliff of Malham Cove and a double-rising at Aire Head about 1900m to the south. The karst around Malham was one of the first in Britain to be subject to systematic water tracing, with artificial flood-pulse experiments in 1879, 1899, 1972, 1973 and 1992, and artificial tracer experiments using fluorescent dyes and Lycopodium spores. Despite this work, several questions remained regarding the area's hydrogeology and, in May 2016, the British Cave Research Association (BCRA) organized a Field Meeting during which a flood-pulse was released from Malham Tarn and fluorescent dye was injected at three locations: the downstream limit of the pulse, Smelt Mill Sink and the Gorbeck Cave sink. In addition to the artificial floodpulse, data were collected from three natural (rain-generated) flood-pulses. The present paper provides details of the dye-tracing experiments, and the results from the pulse tracing are discussed in a subsequent paper.
Sodium fluorescein dye from the Tarn Water Sinks arrived at the Aire Head risings 153.5 hours after injection and peaked 21.25 hours after breakthrough. The event lasted 232.5 hours and approximately 94% of the fluorescein was recovered. In contrast, at Malham Cove Rising fluorescein breakthrough was 168.5 hours after injection and there were two peaks, both with low concentrations. Rhodamine WT dye from Smelt Mill was recovered only from Malham Cove Rising, first arrival being approximately 151 hours after injection with a peak 29 hours later. Optical brightening agent injected at Gorbeck Cave was also recovered only from Malham Cove Rising. The tracer from the Tarn Water Sinks and from Smelt Mill Sink entered the Malham Cove Rising Cave upstream of the point where a phreatic conduit bifurcates, one branch being the upstream Aire River Passage and the other the 550m Inlet Passage. However, the conduit from Gorbeck Cave, and probably also from other sinks and areas of dispersed autogenic recharge to the west, joins the Aire River Passage upstream of the presently explored cave, and no tracer from Gorbeck Cave was detected in the 550m Inlet.
Classification: paper.
Date: Received: 06 February 2017; Accepted: 11 March 2017.

Bibliograph: GUNN, John and Thomas KELLY. (2017). Underground flow-paths in the Malham karst, England: Part 1, artificial tracer experiments. Cave and Karst Science 44(1), pp5-16.

 

Ancient bones at Cango Cave, South Africa: a missed opportunity for palaeontological research in September 1888 (pp17-18) (PDF 562KB)     

by Stephen A CRAVEN.
An account is given of some prehistoric bones found in Cango Cave during 1888.
Classification: report.
Date: Received: 13 January 2017; Accepted: 24 February 2017.
Keywords: Cango, Derbyshire, Oudtshoorn, Rains Cave, Rudd.

Bibliograph: CRAVEN, Stephen A. (2017). Ancient bones at Cango Cave, South Africa: a missed opportunity for palaeontological research in September 1888. Cave and Karst Science 44(1), pp17-18.

 

The invertebrate community of the Pen Park Hole SSSI, Bristol, UK (pp19-30) (PDF 1.4MB)     

by Lee R F D KNIGHT.
On 04 August 2016 Pen Park Hole became the latest cave site to be notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by Natural England. It was notified both for its 'cave geology' and its 'community of cave invertebrates'. This is the first example in Britain in which detailed information on its invertebrate community helped to inform its designation as a SSSI. This paper describes the invertebrate community of the cave based on a survey commissioned by Natural England in December 2013, as part of a series of investigations into the scientific interest of the cave, and earlier work carried out by members of the Cave Research Group of Great Britain in 1957 and 1958.
Classification: paper.
Date: Received: 24 January 2017; Accepted: 01 March 2017.
Keywords: Pen Park Hole; Bristol; SSSI notification; cave invertebrate communities; subterranean invertebrate habitats; Niphargus kochianus; Niphargus fontanus; Collembola; Copepoda; lake; pools.

Bibliograph: KNIGHT, Lee R F D. (2017). The invertebrate community of the Pen Park Hole SSSI, Bristol, UK. Cave and Karst Science 44(1), pp19-30.

 

Underground flow-paths in the Malham karst, England: Part 2: flood-pulse analyses (pp31-42) (PDF 1.6MB)     

by John GUNN and Thomas KELLY.
In May 2016 the British Cave Research Association (BCRA) organized a field meeting in the Malham karst during which an artificial flood-pulse was released from Malham Tarn. Fluorescent dye was injected at the downstream limit of the pulse and at two other locations: Smelt Mill Sink and the Gorbeck Cave sink. In addition to the artificial flood-pulse, data were collected from the passage of three natural (rain-generated) flood-pulses through Malham Cove Rising Cave (MCRC). The dyetracing experiments have been discussed in a previous paper and the present paper gives the results from the pulse tracing.
The artificial flood-pulse was observed at the Aire Head South rising (AHS) 1 hour 17 minutes after reaching the first sink point and at Aire Head North (AHN) 16 minutes later, showing that AHS is an underflow and AHN an overflow spring. The pulse was not detected in MCRC but it is possible that a small (1mm) rise in the Malham Beck water depth might have been caused by the pulse. About 97 hours after the artificial pulse a rainfall event generated natural flood-pulses at the Aire Head and Malham Cove risings as well as flushing the injected dye through the system. Water temperature and conductance changes in MCRC during the passage of this and two other natural flood events suggest that the 550m Inlet passage (550I) receives more allogenic recharge than the upstream Aire River Passage (ARP).
The experiments suggest that the existing model of the conduit system needs some modification. There are major conduits between the Tarn Water Sinks and the Aire Head risings and between Smelt Mill Sink and MCRC. A branch conduit from the Tarn Water Sinks to Aire Head conduit connects with the Smelt Mill Sink to MCRC conduit north of the point where that conduit divides into two, one branch draining to the upstream Aire River Passage in MCRC and the other to the 550m Inlet passage in MCRC. One or more restrictions in the branch conduit dampen flood-pulses from the Tarn Water Sinks significantly but allow some water (and hence tracer) through. A conduit from Gorbeck Cave, and probably also other sinks and areas of dispersed autogenic recharge to the west, joins the ARP conduit downstream of the divide but upstream of the presently explored cave. After the ARP and 550I passages join, the majority of the water flows direct to the rising with a smaller amount flowing via Eva's Passage (an outlet on the eastern side of Aire River Passage) to Don's Way and then to the rising.
Classification: paper.
Date: Received: 06 February 2017; Accepted: 19 March 2017.

Bibliograph: GUNN, John and Thomas KELLY. (2017). Underground flow-paths in the Malham karst, England: Part 2: flood-pulse analyses. Cave and Karst Science 44(1), pp31-42.

 

Revisiting the "reefs" of Black Reef Cave, Ribblehead, North Yorkshire (UK), with some observations on cave-divers' "chert (pp43-44) (PDF 822KB)     

by Phillip J MURPHY and David G HODGSON.
A re-study of black materials encountered in Black Reef Cave as sheets cutting across the main passage has shown that they have influenced the passage morphology. Upstream of the reefs the passages have a typical phreatic tube-like cross-section, whereas downstream the passage cross-section is that of a vadose canyon, suggesting that the reefs have ponded water, resulting in the development of small, perched, phreatic loops. The reefs consist of a core of crystalline calcite surrounded by black manganese/iron material. It is proposed that calcite vein-mineralization along joints caused the ponding of water and the manganese/iron material is secondary, and either deposited preferentially on, or preserved on, the calcite veins. Other similar occurrences and possible occurrences in the region are discussed.
Classification: report.
Date: Received: 24 February 2017; Accepted: 05 March 2017.
Keywords: Keywords: Black Reef Cave; phreatic tube; vadose canyon; calcite; manganese; iron.

Bibliograph: MURPHY, Phillip J and David G HODGSON. (2017). Revisiting the "reefs" of Black Reef Cave, Ribblehead, North Yorkshire (UK), with some observations on cave-divers' "chert. Cave and Karst Science 44(1), pp43-44.

 

Extended Correspondence. C Lewis Railton (1907–1971): an appreciation (pp46-47) (PDF 699KB)     

by David JUDSON.
Classification: Forum.

 

Book Review (p48) (PDF 350KB)     

Holley Moyes (editor), 2012. Sacred Darkness: a global perspective on the ritual use of caves. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.
Classification: Forum.

 

Research Fund and Grants (page iii) (PDF 237KB)     

 

Back cover photos (page iv) (PDF 376KB)     

by Jerry WOOLDRIDGE and Paul DEAKIN.
A selection of photographs from various parts of the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu (OFD) cave system, near Penwyllt in Brecknockshire, southern Wales. (See contents page for photo captions).