Cave & Karst Science (ISSN 1356-191X)

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Contents of Cave & Karst Science 51(2)

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Cave and Karst Science (iv + 48pp) (PDF 27.8MB)        Individual articles may be available below

GUNN, John and David LOWE (eds.). (2024). Cave and Karst Science 51(2). Buxton: British Cave Research Association. ISSN 1356-191X. iv + 48pp, A4, with photos, maps and diagrams.
This issue has a cover date of 2024 (August) and was published in September 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 2.7MB)     

by Robbie SHONE.
Deep beneath the Gornergletscher, in Switzerland, where ice meets rock, an engineer from the team Flyability tests a drone modified for surveying glacier caves. This drone can fly along passages inside glacier caves that humans cannot explore – because they are too narrow, too fragile, or pose too many risks. A cage protects the drone from collisions, while a laser scanner creates 3D maps that – over years – might help in calculating changes to the ice mass underground and in detecting danger zones. (Photo: Robbie Shone).

 

Notes for Contributors (page ii) (PDF 261KB)     

 

Contents (p49) (PDF 474KB)     

 

Editorial (p50) (PDF 193KB)     

by John GUNN and David LOWE.

 

A pilot study of the biota of percolating cave waters in Britain: a proxy for the epikarst aquifer (pp51-62) (PDF 24.3MB)     

by Lee R F D KNIGHT, Nataša MORI and Anton BRANCELJ.
Dripping water habitats within caves (drips or adjacent drip-fed pools) were investigated as a surrogate for sampling the epikarst aquifer. This was conducted in three geographically dispersed caves in Britain – Ogof Draenen in South Wales, Swildon's Hole in the Mendips and Baker's Pit in Devon. Trays were placed at four locations in each cave to collect and filter water dripping from above over a period of six years (2016–2022), as well as periodic sampling of nearby drip-fed pools. Glacial scouring of the land surface is likely to have resulted in relatively poor development of the epikarst above Ogof Draenen, in comparison to the unglaciated regions in which Swildon's Hole and Baker's Pit are located, enabling some comparisons to be made. Swildon's Hole and Ogof Draenen had previously been the subject of systematic surveys of their aquatic fauna in vadose streams and pools, whereas ephemeral streams in Baker's Pit were sampled for the first time during the course of this study.
A variety of Ostracoda, Copepoda, Isopoda and Amphipoda species, some of which can be classified as either stygophilic (occur in groundwater habitats but also known from surface aquatic habitats) or stygobitic (obligate groundwater inhabitants), were found in the water drips and drip-fed pools. There was significant overlap in species composition of the biota collected in trays filtering dripping water, nearby drip-fed pools and vadose streams in the three caves. However, several species found exclusively in the trays and pools do not appear to occur regularly in vadose aquatic habitats within the three caves, suggesting they are potential epikarst inhabitants. These include the cyclopoid copepods Graeteriella unisetigera (E. Grater, 1908), Diacyclops languidoides (Lilljeborg, 1901) and D. bisetosus (Rehberg, 1880); the harpacticoid copepods Bryocamptus echinatus (Mrázek, 1893), B. zschokkei (Schmeil, 1893), B. pygmaeus (G.O. Sars, 1863), B. typhlops (Mrázek, 1893), Altheyella crassa (G.O. Sars, 1863) and Parastenocaris sp. and the ostracods Fabaeformiscandona breuili (Paris, 1920) and F. wegelini (Petkovski, 1962).
Two stygobitic Ostracoda species Fabaeformiscandona breuili and F. wegelini, connected with the epikarst environment, were for the first time confirmed from Britain in this study. A potentially exclusive new inhabitant of the epikarst is a not yet determined representative of the genus Parastenocaris (Copepoda) from Baker's Pit.
This study demonstrates that wider investigations would have great potential for making new discoveries and developing a better understanding of the British epikarst biota.
Classification: Paper.
Date: Received: 20 May 2024; Accepted: 02 July 2024.

Bibliograph: KNIGHT, Lee R F D; Nataša MORI and Anton BRANCELJ. (2024). A pilot study of the biota of percolating cave waters in Britain: a proxy for the epikarst aquifer. Cave and Karst Science 51(2), pp51-62.

 

A pilot study of the biota of percolating cave waters in Britain: a proxy for the epikarst aquifer (pp S1-S13) (PDF 490KB)     

Online supplement to above item.

 

Erato Angelopoulou: one of the first Greek female speleologists (pp63-66) (PDF 3.5MB)     

by Konstantinos P TRIMMIS.
Erato Angelopoulou (or Aggelopoulou) was an extraordinary woman, remembered by many for her skill with the traditional Greek horizontal loom and her knowledge of the related techniques of creating loom-made textiles. Less well-known is that Erato, who spent most of her adult life living in France, was one of the pioneers of Greek speleology. In the early 1930s, long before Ioannis Petrocheilos and Anna Petrocheilou established the Hellenic Speleological Society, Erato discovered, visited, and explored numerous caves in mainland Greece, and on the island of Euboea. This paper presents an introduction to Erato's speleological achievements, which began years before the 1950s and the formative age of Greek speleology.
Classification: Report.
Date: Received: 19 December 2023; Accepted: 11 June 2024.
Keywords: athletics; horizontal loom; Kythera.

Bibliograph: TRIMMIS, Konstantinos P. (2024). Erato Angelopoulou: one of the first Greek female speleologists. Cave and Karst Science 51(2), pp63-66.

 

Caves of Inhaminga: the speleological heritage of the Cheringoma Plateau, Mozambique (pp67-80) (PDF 46.1MB)     

by Frederico Tátá REGALA, Maria José PINTO, Luís Meira PAULO, René BOBE, Mussa RAJA, Vera ALDEIAS, Will ARCHER, David R BRAUN, Tina LÜDECKE, João D'OLIVEIRA COELHO, Jacinto MATHE, Solange MACAMO, Marion BAMFORD, Felipe I MARTINEZ, Thomas A PÜSCHEL, Cristian CAPELLI, Maria Joana Ferreira da SILVA, Robert L ANEMONE and Susana CARVALHO.
Speleological expeditions have been conducted in Gorongosa National Park (GNP), Mozambique, under the Paleo-Primate Project Gorongosa (PPPG) since 2016. The main purpose of this work is to inventory, explore and characterize the karstic caves in the limestone formations, and to assess their archaeological and palaeontological potential.
In 2022 and 2023, expeditions were held to the northern region of the Cheringoma plateau, covering an area located in Inhaminga, Sofala Province (outside the GNP). Following previous bibliographical and documentary research, this karstic area was inspected with the help of local guides, who pointed out the locations of thirteen caves, eight of which were previously undocumented. These caves were explored and described with regard to their general and specific features, including appraisals of sedimentary deposits and related heritage.
Classification: Paper.
Date: Received: 24 March 2024; Accepted: 03 July 2024.
Keywords: Stone Age, Africa, pottery, mammal bones.

Bibliograph: REGALA, Frederico Tátá; Maria José PINTO, Luís Meira PAULO, René BOBE, Mussa RAJA, Vera ALDEIAS, Will ARCHER, David R BRAUN, Tina LÜDECKE, João D'OLIVEIRA COELHO, Jacinto MATHE, Solange MACAMO, Marion BAMFORD, Felipe I MARTINEZ, Thomas A PÜSCHEL, Cristian CAPELLI, Maria Joana Ferreira da SILVA, Robert L ANEMONE and Susana CARVALHO. (2024). Caves of Inhaminga: the speleological heritage of the Cheringoma Plateau, Mozambique. Cave and Karst Science 51(2), pp67-80.

 

New radiocarbon dates from Fishmonger's Swallet, Alveston, South Gloucestershire, UK (pp81-83) (PDF 3.0MB)     

by Adelle BRICKING and Graham MULLAN.
This report presents six new radiocarbon dates from disarticulated human (3) and dog (3) bones from Fishmonger's Swallet, Alveston, South Gloucestershire, increasing the total to 17 dated specimens from the site. The findings suggest a relatively concentrated period of use as a mortuary site during the Late Iron Age, with overlapping deposition episodes for humans and dogs, and evidence that might indicate an earlier onset of dog remains interment.
Classification: Report.
Date: Received: 11 March 2024; Accepted: 01 May 2024.
Keywords: AMS, Bayesian modelling, burial archaeology, funerary archaeology, Late Iron Age, Early Roman.

Bibliograph: BRICKING, Adelle and Graham MULLAN. (2024). New radiocarbon dates from Fishmonger's Swallet, Alveston, South Gloucestershire, UK. Cave and Karst Science 51(2), pp81-83.

 

Notes for Authors: The Importance of Notebooks (p84) (PDF 332KB)     

by Stephen K DONOVAN.
Classification: Forum.

 

Correspondence: The use of Chinese terms in cave and karst science (p85) (PDF 358KB)     

by Tony WALTHAM, Bill QUINTON and Chris HOWES.
Classification: Forum.

 

Correspondence: Essex deneholes (p86) (PDF 4.1MB)     

by Trevor FAULKNER.
Classification: Forum.

 

Correspondence: More about the Essex deneholes – and loosely related Editorial retrospection (pp86-87)  For download see previous item

by Harry LONG and David LOWE.
Classification: Forum.

 

Block Hall, Speedwell Cavern (p88) (PDF 4.8MB)     

by John GUNN.
Classification: Photo Feature.

Bibliograph: GUNN, John. (2024). Block Hall, Speedwell Cavern. Cave and Karst Science 51(2), p88.

 

Research Fund and Grants (page iii) (PDF 232KB)     

 

Back cover photos (page iv) (PDF 1.3MB)     

by Robbie SHONE.
A collage comprising eight images captured in Austrian and Italian ice caves by Robbie Shone. As well as presenting scenes of astonishing colours and beauty, ice caves provide accessible sites for collecting measurements and samples used in a wide variety of scientific investigations, including many facets of palaeoclimatology and related topics, together with contemporary changes related to ongoing climatic warming. For individual credits see contents page.