Cave & Karst Science (ISSN 1356-191X)

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Contents of Cave & Karst Science 51(1)

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Cave and Karst Science (iv + 48pp) (PDF 21.4MB)        Individual articles may be available below

GUNN, John and David LOWE (eds.). (2024). Cave and Karst Science 51(1). Buxton: British Cave Research Association. ISSN 1356-191X. iv + 48pp, A4, with photos, maps and diagrams.
This issue has a cover date of 2024 (April) and was published in April 2024.

The Transactions of the British Cave Research Association.

The PDF files comprising this issue are at a high resolution and have been assembled using an RGB colour space. The single file containing the entire issue (see above) is at a lower resolution, suitable for screen-reading.

Front cover photo (page i) (PDF 5.7MB)     

by Kuniao WEIJIAN.
Guizhou provinces in China. Presumably the original cave system was formed and enlarged when the surrounding land surface was several hundred metres higher than it is at present, long before the creation of the cone-shaped hill that now contains the passage remnant. In its current setting, the surviving short passage fragment could be referred to as a skylight or as a through cave, and the former passages, now-removed from either side of the cone, represent 'cave in the sky'. (Photo: Kuniao Weijian).

 

Notes for Contributors (page ii) (PDF 620KB)     

 

Contents (p1) (PDF 999KB)     

 

Editorial (p2) (PDF 605KB)     

by John GUNN and David LOWE.

 

Tributes and Celebrations: David St. Pierre: 1938–2024 (pp3-4) (PDF 2.7MB)     

by Trevor FAULKNER.

 

Tributes and Celebrations: John Denis Wilcock: 1937–2023 (pp3-4)  For download see previous item

by David Lowe and John GUNN.

 

Tributes and Celebrations: David William Gill: 1941–2024 (pp3-4)  For download see previous item

by David LOWE and Chris HOWES.

 

David St. Pierre (pp S1-S6) (PDF 1.9MB)     

Online supplement to above item.

 

Well-shrimps and well-worms in the British Isles: Collections, Collectors, and Context 1859–1915 (pp5-16) (PDF 2.9MB)     

by Max MOSELEY.
Understanding of British subterranean aquatic fauna hardly advanced in the half century before the First World War. The ecological and physical continuity between groundwaters and caves was only dimly perceived, and they were dealt with separately in practice. In the case of groundwater fauna interest was confined to blind forms from wells and pumps. The mind-set was predominantly local and insular. When an authoritative key work detailing the known occurrence and taxonomy of Britain's native well-shrimps was published in 1862, the British Isles had been the earliest and most prolific source of new species. However, by 1914 little more had been published about them or about other groundwater fauna, whereas the science of phreatobiology had been established firmly in continental Europe. The reasons cannot be ascribed simplistically to the relative impoverishment of Britain's subterranean fauna, which was not yet really apparent, and instead it is argued, they lie elsewhere. The sociology and organization of ‘amateur' and professional natural history of the period were not conducive. Such collecting as was done was driven more by water sanitation concerns that can be traced back to the cholera epidemics in mid-century than to zoological interest. The outbreak of war not only terminated this chapter of Britain's speleobiological history abruptly, but also led to most of what had been recorded being overlooked for decades.
Classification: Paper.
Date: Received: 16 November 2023; Accepted: 31 January 2024.
Keywords: Amphipoda, Bathyonyx, Beddard, Chilton, cholera, Copepoda, Crangonyx, Friend, Gammarus, Harmer, Kane, Kinahan, microdrile Oligochaeta, Nichols, Niphargus, Ostracoda, Parfitt, Pycroft, Spence Bate, Stebbing, Vejdovský, water sanitation, Westwood.

Bibliograph: MOSELEY, Max. (2024). Well-shrimps and well-worms in the British Isles: Collections, Collectors, and Context 1859–1915. Cave and Karst Science 51(1), pp5-16.

 

Interdisciplinary explorations of the Kythera Island caves. Reporting the Cerigo Speleological Project 2009–2012 (pp17-26) (PDF 19.4MB)     

by Konstantinos P TRIMMIS, Georgios LAZARIDIS, Despoina DORA, Panagiotis GEORGIAKAKIS, Iasmi STATHI, Georgia KARADIMOU and Ioannis Ch. PAPAIOANNOU.
Speleological exploration took place on Kythera island (Greece) as part of the Cerigo Speleological Project, which was organized with the aim of recording and studying the many cave-forms on the Island. The approach included elements from the many different fields of cave science. Four expeditions between 2009–2012 recorded 64 cave-forms. During the field research, valuable observations were made within the fields of geology, biology, and local cultural history.
Classification: Report.
Date: Received: 18 May 2023; Accepted: 22 December 2023.
Keywords: Island speleology; speleogenesis in insular environments; cave chapels; cave pens; bats.

Bibliograph: TRIMMIS, Konstantinos P; Georgios LAZARIDIS, Despoina DORA, Panagiotis GEORGIAKAKIS, Iasmi STATHI, Georgia KARADIMOU and Ioannis Ch. PAPAIOANNOU. (2024). Interdisciplinary explorations of the Kythera Island caves. Reporting the Cerigo Speleological Project 2009–2012. Cave and Karst Science 51(1), pp17-26.

 

Preliminary U-series dates from Goyden Pot – towards a chronology for the caves of Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, UK (pp27-30) (PDF 3.1MB)     

by Phillip J MURPHY, Xie KANG, Gina E MOSELEY and Chris FOX.
The Manchester Hole/Goyden Pot/Nidd Heads cave system has developed beneath a cover of clastic strata with only limited limestone at outcrop, occurring as inliers in the valley bottom. U-series dates obtained from speleothem samples collected in Goyden Pot show that cave development occurred prior to Marine Isotope Stage 3. The presence of detrital thorium in the speleothem samples, probably due to the nature of the catchment, limits dating precision. However, this study confirms that there is a long history of karstification in the area.
Classification: Report.
Date: Received: 16 January 2024; Accepted: 21 March 2024.

Bibliograph: MURPHY, Phillip J; Xie KANG, Gina E MOSELEY and Chris FOX. (2024). Preliminary U-series dates from Goyden Pot – towards a chronology for the caves of Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, UK. Cave and Karst Science 51(1), pp27-30.

 

Investigating the formation of quartz speleothems within the karstic Theochari Cave (Greece) (pp31-36) (PDF 8.4MB)     

by Georgios LAZARIDIS, Lambrini PAPADOPOULOU, Vasilios MELFOS, Kantiranis NIKOLAOS and Panagiotis VOUDOURIS.
This study investigates the origin of quartz speleothems within Theochari Cave, Greece, using SEM-EDS and XRPD analyses. The presence of quartz is rarely reported in karstic caves formed in carbonate rocks. Geological and morphological features of the cave were examined, identifying the coexistence of quartz and calcite in speleothems. Analyses of cave morphology and mineralogy, augmented by consideration of previous studies, allow proposal of a sequence of events in the cave's history, suggesting that hydrothermal processes probably contributed to quartz formation. Biosignatures were notably absent. The findings shed light on the development and history of quartz speleothems in Theochari Cave, inviting more-detailed research into the geological processes that are involved.
Date: Received: 24 October 2023; Accepted: 05 February 2024.
Keywords: hypogene speleogenesis, hydrothermal, mineral, speleology.

 

Rapid post-flood disintegration of a tufa waterfall: an example from the Zrmanja River (Croatia) (pp37-47) (PDF 22.3MB)     

by Ivan MARIĆ and Fran DOMAZETOVIĆ and Rina MILOŠEVIĆ.
Calcareous tufa is a porous deposit formed along river channels by interactions between ambient precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and organisms. The Zrmanja River is recognized as one of the most beautiful in Croatia, flowing through a rough karst landscape with many waterfalls. In this paper, the recent post-flood disintegration of the tufa waterfall known as Visoki buk has been analysed. With an average height of 9m and width of about 50m, Visoki buk is the largest and highest tufa waterfall on the Zrmanja River. The cause of the tufa waterfall collapse and retreat was recognized to be linked to extremely high discharges during a torrential flood event in May 2023. The quantification was carried out using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) survey (2023), Google Earth historical imagery (2013) and a handheld Artec Eva 3D scanner. Based on a comparison of pre-flood and post-flood data, it was calculated that the areal surface of the collapsed waterfall amounts to 330m2. The maximum retreat distance of the tufa barrier was 10.2m, while the average retreat was 6.3m. Tufa formation dynamics and changes in the flow-rate fluctuation in the Zrmanja should be viewed as a natural process, where the large remnant blocks and enormous boulders of collapsed tufa will become nuclei on which tufa-forming organisms will establish and, eventually, tufa will emerge.
Date: Received: 26 October 2023; Accepted: 06 February 2024.

 

Fungal mycelium in Swan Mine, Bath and Northeast Somerset, UK (p48) (PDF 3.6MB)     

by Vince SIMMONDS.
Classification: Photo Feature.

Bibliograph: SIMMONDS, Vince. (2024). Fungal mycelium in Swan Mine, Bath and Northeast Somerset, UK. Cave and Karst Science 51(1), p48.

 

Research Fund and Grants (page iii) (PDF 643KB)     

 

Back cover photos (page iv) (PDF 7.0MB)     

A collage comprising nine images captured in some of the caves in Upper Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, UK, by Nick Bairstow, Russ Brooks, and Andy Jackson, who are all members of the Black Sheep Diggers. For individual credits see contents page.