BCRA > Publications > Cave & Karst Science> Contents
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 |
Cover photo by Tony
Waltham |
Papers
| Evolution of caves in response to base-level lowering. Stephen R H WORTHINGTON |
3 |
| Possible fossil cenotes or blue holes in the Carboniferous
Limestone of the Derbyshire Peak District, UK. Trevor D FORD |
13 |
| Geological and morphological observations in the eastern part of
the Gran Caverna de Santo Tomas,Cuba (results of the "Santo Tomas 2003" speleological expedition). Mario PARESE, Manuel V VALDES SUAREZ, Rosa POTENZA, Umberto DEL VECCHIO, Aurelio MARANGELLA, Francesco MAURANO and Luis D TORREZ MIRABAL |
19 |
| Investigating the nature and origins of Gaping Gill Main Chamber,
North Yorkshire, UK, using ground penetrating radar and lidar. Phillip J MURPHY, Alisa PARR, Kate STRANGE, Graham HUNTER, Sam ALLSHORN, Ric A HALLIWELL, John HELM and A RObin WESTERMAN |
25 |
| Report Hydrology of the Oronte - Sin rivers karst, northwestern Syria. Robert F MAHMOUD |
39 |
| Forum | 43 |
To start on a positive note, we are very pleased to report that our Editorial in Volume 31, No.3 was unduly pessimistic in that the whole of this Volume of Cave and Karst Science will be produced in the "traditional" paper format. BCRA Council have confirmed that there are no immediate plans to end paper production, although a new electronic format will also be introduced at some point. After this positive start we regret that once again we have to apologize to our readers and institutional subscribers for the ongoing delays in the publication of Cave and Karst Science. Though the lag against target dates had its beginnings several years ago and was related to events and actions that are no longer relevant, the after-effects of that initial problem are still being felt. Since the original setback it has occasionally seemed that we were beginning to make good the situation, but on each occasion new sets of factors have conspired to move us back to where we were. One issue underlying the ongoing delays is the relative scarcity and unpredictability of flow of publishable material both into our offices and then through the review and editorial systems. During the past two years we have suffered two unprecedented "lean" periods, during which those few authors who did submit manuscripts have seen their work held back as we waited for submission of additional material to complete the content of the planned publication. Added to this, the review process, which necessarily operates on a good-will basis as and when appropriate reviewers can make time available, can also stall on occasions. When there is already a shortage of material within the system, even small delays in the turn-around of manuscripts can cause hold-ups and frustration that seem out of proportion to the initial problem. This is not unlike the situation where one car driver in a stream of traffic travelling at 70 miles an hour touches the brake pedal - whereas that car will barely decelerate, there is a cumulative "knock-on" effect along the stream and, in the worst cases, the stream may stop and/or collisions might happen at the rear of the queue.
This situation that faces us is, in a way, self-perpetuating. Authors who have seen their potentially groundbreaking results and ideas stagnate for several months will, quite rightly, think twice before committing future manuscripts to the same system. But that's not all. Following recent widespread increases in the potential speed of communications, publishing efficiency and output quality, together with increased accessibility to a number of journals that are raising their international profiles (see below), it is now routine for authors of cave and karst science papers to shop around for advantageous routes towards quick, well-reviewed and well-produced inclusion in respected publications. Hopefully this expansion is a sign of good health in the world of cave and karst science research but, inevitably, it also means that many changes to past practice will need to be made.
Along with the editors and editorial boards of several other leading cave and karst journals we hope that we can move forward within an atmosphere of mutual awareness, respect and cooperation, inevitably flavoured with the necessity to compete within this bustling market in order to survive. Many of our readers will be aware of a long-standing interchange of abstracts between Karstologia and Cave and Karst Science. This mutually beneficial exchange of information will continue in future when the feedstock is available and when page space allows. Additionally, however, and also when page space allows, we have agreed to exchange title information between ourselves and several other leading journals (including the International Journal of Speleology and the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies). Additionally, title and abstract details from Cave and Karst Science and other leading journals will in future be accessible via the Speleogenesis and Evolution of Karst Aquifers website [http://www.speleogenesis.info]. These are new initiatives, and the procedures that will make them happen routinely are still being developed and emplaced, but we hope to play our part in upcoming issues of Cave and Karst Science.
All being well we will be able to feature such title information in
the next issue (32/2) of Cave and Karst Science, which is planned to be
a thematic issue with papers deriving from the 2005 Tiankeng Investigation
Project in China. Tiankeng are giant collapse dolines that have only recently
been recognised as a specific landform type and the Tiankeng Investigation
Project provided an opportunity for an international group of leading karst
scientists to see the finest of the Chinese tiankengs and to discuss their
geomorphology in a wider context. Their papers will form the bulk of the Issue,
while hopefully leaving a few pages available for inclusion of a Forum section
and the reciprocal publicity outlined above. The Tiankeng issue is planned for
publication in May 2006 and we currently have papers submitted that will fill
at least half of Volume 32 No.3, which we hope to publish in August 2006.
However, we are now seeking submission of papers to appear in the issues of
Volume 33, at least one of which should be published during 2006.
Readers are invited to offer thesis abstracts, review articles, scientific notes, comments on previously published papers and discussions of general interest for publication in the Forum of Cave and Karst Science.
All views expressed are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Association unless this is expressly stated. Contributions to the Cave and Karst Science Forum are not subject to the normal refereeing process, but the Editors reserve the right to revise or shorten text. Such changes will only be shown to the authors if they affect scientific content. Opinions expressed by authors are their responsibility and will not be edited, although remarks that are considered derogatory or libellous will be removed, at the Editors' discretion.
ABSTRACTS OF THE 16TH
BCRA CAVE SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM
SCHOOL OF
GEOGRAPHY, EARTH AND
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
THE UNIVERSITY OF
BIRMINGHAM
5 MARCH 2005
Re-assessment of solutional erosion rates
derived from erratic-pedestals and implications for interpretation of karst
landscapes in Northern England.
Helen S Goldie
Dept. of Geography,
University of Durham, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
h.s.goldie@durham.ac.uk
Interpreting certain surface limestone landforms in Northern England presents problems when using conventionally accepted solutional lowering rates derived from landform relationships between glacial erratics and pedestals in the limestone beneath. These rates are as high as 50 cm of solutional lowering in the past 15k years since the last glaciation, equivalent to 33mm/ka, and suggesting that forms of c. 1m dimensions could be post-glacial. These are mostly in the Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria, at relatively high altitudes, on interfluves, or in sheltered locations with respect to likely ice-flow, or around edges of large surface karst depressions. They include rounded rock outcrops and boulders, wide grikes and grike holes, and tor-like forms, all in circumstances suggesting mature karstification, and problematic to interpret using conventional 'high' solution rates. This is emphasized by their proximity to apparently less 'mature' forms, but other locational characteristics play a part.
The problems prompted re-examination of erratic-pedestal sites. In the literature erratic-pedestal sites include: Farleton Knott, Cunswick Tarn, Norber, Scar Close, Scales Moor. Burren, Leitrim, South Wales, and Marenberg, Switzerland. Of these, Norber is probably the best-known. Its established interpretation is that the pedestals result from protection by erratics of the limestone beneath from rainwater solution.
Norber's field characteristics provide a challenge to this interpretation. It is an interfluve sloping gently to the east. The bedrock is weak, well-bedded limestone inclining at a gentler angle, also to the east. The result is a stepped surface. This supports a new interpretation of Norber. The erratics are on steps, and the so-called pedestals are steps or outliers of steps. This is clear on sideways viewing, where the angular differences are visible. Other landform sites indicating high solution rates have also been reinterpreted: at Scar Close lower parts of pedestals are explained by solution under damp peaty soil. Boulder can only have protected the upper parts, an effect limited here to c. 12 to 18 cm. Other field sites have been re-assessed and data from all sites are summarized. Conclusions and implications are that there is no evidence for the high solution rates at any re-assessed site. The Norber 'pedestals' do not even give solution rates. 'Real' pedestals on stronger, less-fractured limestones such as at Gaitbarrows, do not exceed c. 20 cm in height, several are much less. Weak limestones are not useful for solution rate assessment due to the effects of mechanical processes. Solution rates on dry interfluve areas are LOW: of the order of 5 to 20 cm in 15 ka, equivalent to 3 to 13 mm/ka.
The implications of lower solution rates for landscape development are that more and smaller karst landforms than previously thought must have, at least partially, survived the last glaciation. This is a more comparable situation to other rock types elsewhere, for example, Cairngorm granites, with similar erosion rates, of a few mm per ka. Larger scale landscape development discussions need modification with lower rates of solutional lowering. The well-established concept of 'karst immunity' needs to be addressed.
There are many lessons here: if old material feels wrong, re-assess it,
it might be wrong; never underestimate geological structures; never ignore
mechanical processes in limestone areas - on weak limestones they are more
important than solution; and consider karstic immunity when thinking about the
age and development of any karstified massif.
Historic and Prehistoric hydrological changes in Gaping Gill Main
Chamber, North Yorkshire, U.K.
Murphy, P.J.', Parr, A.', Allshorn, S 1 and
Westerman, A.R. 2
1 School of Earth Sciences, Leeds University, Leeds, LS2
9JT, UK
2 Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University,
Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK
The 98m-deep shaft of Gaping Gill is Britain's best known pothole. Since
the first descent by the eminent French speleologist E. A. Martel in 1895
changes in the sediment distribution on the floor of the Main Chamber can be
charted along with the occurrence of active collapse and subsidence of collapse
debris into the main Chamber floor. Evidence of ponding of flood water has been
recorded on a number of occasions though has rarely been directly observed.
Archaeological evidence suggests the Main Chamber may have flooded to greater
depths in Prehistoric times. In order to image the sediment fill below the
present floor of the Main Chamber a ground penetrating radar survey was
undertaken. This showed the fill is at least 30m deep and has a complex
depositional history.
Can stalagmites capture a record of S pollution in the atmosphere?
Ian Fairchild 1, Silvia Frisia 2, Andrea Borsato 2 and Jean Susini3
1
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science, University of Birmingham,
Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
2 Museo Tridentino, Trento, Italy
3
ESF, Grenoble, France
There has been increasing interest in recent years in the wide variety of different chemical species which are preserved within stalagmites. Many of them vary on an annual basis reflecting the seasonal rhythm of changing cave air composition, or water inflow.
Sulphur is a particularly difficult element on which to conduct microanalysis at low concentration, but our recent work at the European Synchrotron Facility at Grenoble has enabled the variation of S with time in two stalagmites to be determined. At one site where there is little vegetation cover, a spiky S record of an interval about 5 thousand years old resembles the volcanic S records found from ice cores. At a forested site, a record covering the last 140 years displays an overall increase reflecting the rise of atmospheric pollution in the 20th century, but in this case there may be modifications because of ecosystem S storage.
Up to now there hasn’t been a generally applicable way to examine
sulphur pollution records in inhabited regions, but the extension of this
approach, coupled with isotopic techniques, should prove fruitful.
Known Nullarbor caves – just scratching the surface? Quantifying
unexplored cave volume using microgravity and draught measurements
Doerr S
H, Davies R R, Lewis A, Lewis I and Pilkington G
Department of Geography,
University of Wales Swansea, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK
The Nullarbor Plain is one of the world’s most extensive limestone areas (>200,000km2) and its subdued topography ranks it also amongst the largest homogeneous land units. Many blowholes exist in the area, which display strong barometric draughts, but generally connect to voids too small for direct exploration. In contrast, only few, but spectacularly large cave systems, accessible through collapse dolines, have been discovered here. The number and size of these caves is at odds with the relative abundance of blowholes and extent of limestone, and the question of their origin and true extent is highly contentious. Since conventional cave exploration approaches have failed to establish the specific origin of the specific origin of the draughts, a land surface-based microgravity surveying and draught monitoring programme was carried out at three blowholes. This approach allowed remote detection of the presence and shape of accessible cave passage, evaluation whether the strong barometric draughts from blowholes are generated by vast unexplored cave systems or arise from air contained within the porosity of the limestone itself as previously suggested.
All blowholes investigated were associated with large gravity anomalies
and blowhole draught volumes measured generated by changes in atmospheric
pressure were in accordance with the cavity volumes determined by microgravity.
The results suggest that blowholes may typically be linked to substantial
underground passages, which provide the air reservoirs responsible for
draughts. Combined with additional microgravity surveys carried out over
potential extensions of several known cave systems, we were able to produce a
considerable body of geophysical evidence suggesting that known deep Nullarbor
caves are relatively small parts of much larger systems. Since the number of
blowholes on the Nullarbor Plain vastly exceeds known caves (by more than 1000
to 1) it is inferred that the karstification of the Nullarbor has produced much
more extensive cave passage than previously thought. Given the nature of local
karstification processes and age of the Nullarbor Plain, these findings have
considerable implications for our understanding of karst processes in low-lying
carbonate platforms, and also climate and sea level history in the region.
A High-Resolution Climate Record for the Last Millennium from a Scottish
Stalagmite
Fuller, L 1, Baker A 1, Fairchild, I J 1,Mattey, D 2, Rowe, P J
3, Marca, A D 3 and Spoetl, C 4
1 School of Geography, Earth and
Environmental Science, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15
2TT, UK
2 Department of Geology, Royal Holloway, University of London,
Egham, Surrey, TW20 OEX, UK
3 School of Environmental Sciences, University
of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
4 University of Innsbruck, University
of Innsbruck, Department of Geology, Innrain 52, Innsbruck, 6020 Austria
Stalagmites are recognised as important continental archives of
palaeoenvironmental information, they can be accurately dated and their
subterranean location means that they can accumulate undisturbed for thousands
of years. This work takes advantage of the recent developments in the
High-Resolution analysis technique of Laser Ablation Gas Chromatography Isotope
Ratio Mass Spectrometry (LA-GC-IRMS) to produce High-Resolution stable isotope
records and hence a climate record for Northwest Scotland. NW Scotland is a
site located on the North Atlantic Seaboard and an area that is thought to be
climatically sensitive, particularly in the relationships between precipitation
and the NAO and temperature and ocean circulation via the North Atlantic Drift.
Initial laser ablation ?18O results on a 1000 year old annually laminated
stalagmite show oxygen isotope variations in the stalagmite calcite which is
greater than can be attributed to temperature change alone. This suggests that
the stalagmite is recording a combination of environmental factors and
highlights the need for detailed calibration of the modern cave system. An
understanding of how these surface climate signals are transmitted through an
18O proxy to a stalagmite via the soil and groundwater system is essential. The
cave system from which the stalagmite was sampled was monitored over a 12-month
period. Surface and cave drip waters were collected and analysed for a variety
of isotopic and geochemical parameters including ?18O, ?D, ?13C. Cave
climatology was monitored for temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide
concentration. Drip rates were monitored in order to understand the hydrology
of the overlying karst system. Initial monitoring results indicate a seasonally
variable cave temperature (4-9 degrees C), high relative humidity (100 %); cave
air CO2 concentration also follows a seasonal pattern. Waters collected from
the surface show seasonal variation in ?18O and ?2H composition with more
positive values in summer. Drip waters show little isotopic variation
indicating a substantial degree of mixing in the epikarst. Monitoring suggests
that the cave is sensitive to a number of parameters whose dominance may change
through time. The role of ventilation and hence kinetic effects upon isotopic
fractionation may also play a part.
Symmetry and asymmetry in mean dimensions of cave passages on each side
of ridges aligned N-S in central Scandinavia
Trevor Faulkner
Limestone
Research Group, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH,
UK
tfaulkner@globalnet.co.uk
The mean lengths, vertical ranges, cross-sections and volumes of ‘relict' caves in the metalimestones of central Scandinavia that are on the western sides of major N-S ridges and that are above marine limits (below which cave enlargement by marine erosion at the onset and culmination of glaciation can complicate the picture) are greater than those on the eastern sides, whereas the mean dimensions of the active 'mainly vadose' caves are similar on each side. The mean dimensional differences of the 'combination' caves, which contain relict passages above active streamways, are commonly intermediate between the two extremes. However, there are far fewer caves of all three hydrological classes on the western sides of major ridges, despite similar occurrences of limestone outcrops.
The likely explanation is that cave inception started from the tectonic
creation of relatively large fractures by a pulse of local isostatic rebound
earthquakes that followed the eastward recession of the ice margin at the end
of each major glaciation. The seismic effects were more muffled by the weight
of the continuing ice sheet on eastern sides, resulting in the creation of
shorter, shallower, narrower but more numerous fractures there than on the
western sides. The relict passages, which are independent of present catchment
areas, enlarged phreatically under deep ice-dammed lakes, primarily during
Weichselian deglaciation, with asymmetrical occurrence frequencies and mean
dimensions that follow those fractures created during previous deglaciations.
The active passages primarily developed in the Holocene after the disappearance
of the ice, in quite different interglacial, mainly vadose, conditions (after a
phreatic 'kick start'), with maximum dimensions related to present catchment
areas. They utilised the subset of fractures that provided a suitable hydraulic
gradient within the local topography, which therefore had more-symmetrical W
and E distributions, and also utilised fractures created by the later
postglacial neotectonic seismicity of the decaying regional isostatic uplift,
which were probably completely symmetrical relative to western and eastern
slopes.
A mid Holocene high resolution 180 stalagmite record from Ethiopia
Jennifer Moss 1, Andy Baker 2, Melanie Leng 3, Mohammed Umer Asfawossen Asrat
4, Mabs Gilmour 5, Claire Smith 2
1 Department of Geography, Politics and
Sociology, University of Newcastle, Daysh Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, NEI
7RU, UK
2 School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science, University
of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
3 NERC Isotope
Geosciences Lab. British Geological Survey, Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth,
Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK
4 Department of Geology, PO Box 11761, Addis Ababa
University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 5 Earth Sciences, The Open University, Walton
Hall, Milton Keynes, UK
Ach-1, a 24 cm length stalagmite from the Mechara region of Ethiopia has been dated by lamina-tuned TIMS U-Th dating to 4760±60 BP until 4275+25 BP. The sample is visibly laminated, with 451 annual laminations. Lamina width varies between 1.66 - 0.12mm, averaging at 0.53 mm. The lamina widths are in agreement with those expected from the modern drip water temperature of the cave (21 °C) and measured drip water calcium ion concentrations (~200 ppm).
Oxygen isotopes from within speleothems can potentially record paleoenvironmental signals. Previous studies from Oman have shown oxygen isotopes reflect the moisture availability when the speleothem was deposited, with negative values signifying increasing moisture, and with a strong correlation between lamina width and 180. The ?18O isotopes from Ach-1 fluctuate between -2.4 to -4.5 (?18O), with no correlation with annual lamina width (R2 = 0.01) due to the significant within lamina thickness variability due to fluctuating stalagmite shape. Variations along individual growth layers demonstrate greater lateral variation in 13C and 18O than temporal variations, suggesting that the sample was deposited out of isotopic equilibrium. However spectral analysis shows that for both 180 and 13C, there are statistically significant periodicities of 65-81 years and 20-22 years.
Ach-1 18O is isotopically lighter than modern straw stalactites
(0.4 to -1.2 0/00), and than that predicted (-2.8 to -1.5 0/00) to form
from modern day precipitation in Ethiopia (from Addis Ababa, 175 km to the W,
IAEA monthly dataset). Modem drip data and straws all fall on the MWL,
suggesting there is no evaporative effect, which agrees with humidity
measurements made within the modem cave environment (RH > 85%). The
isotopically lighter 18O observed in Ach-1 than predicted from waters or
observed in modern straws can be explained by lighter drip water 18O,
deposition of calcite that was closer to isotope equilibrium, or less
evaporation in the cave or overlying soil, Given the lack of observed
evaporative effects in the cave today, we interpret the ?18O record as one of
wetter conditions in the mid Holocene, possibly due to a stronger ITCZ forced
by solar variations.
Rapid speleothem growth in New St Michaels Cave, Gibraltar
Dave
Mattey, Chris Poole, Dave Lowry and Rebecca Fisher
Geology Department,
Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 OEX, UK
mattey@gl.rhul.ac.uk
New St. Michaels Cave was discovered in 1942 when an access tunnel driven into the lowest part of the well known St Michaels Show Cave exposed a new rift system that led to a series of highly decorated chambers containing a lake. Approximately 150m from the entrance rift is a wet area with active flowstone and straw formation with small stalagmites overgrowing broken debris. A specimen of an actively growing stalagmite approximately 10cm tall representing growth post-1942 was collected for dating, high resolution oxygen isotope profiling by laser ablation and trace element analysis.
The specimen consists of 45mm of pale amber laminated calcite overgrowing what is thought to be a broken stump that was damaged during early exploration of the system. U-Th dating of the base of the new growth gives an age of 90±20 years and this, coupled with an estimated 70 annual growth bands counted from the top of the specimen, is reasonably consistent with growth commencing around 1942. The lower portion of the specimen has a complex growth history with U-Th dates obtained so far giving Pleistocene ages around 180ka.
As historic weather records and monthly rainfall oxygen isotope data
have been monitored within 3km of the cave entrance this site may provide an
opportunity for calibration with the instrumental climate record at a
sub-annual resolution. The annual variation of Gibraltar monthly rainfall
oxygen isotope data from 1960-2000 shows decadal variations of around 1 0/00
but systematic variations of up to 4 0/00 are seen from the wet winter season
to the dry summer season. In order to better understand the seasonal timing and
speleothem growth forcing mechanisms, a monthly monitoring and sampling program
was established in June 2004 in collaboration with members of the Caves section
of the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society (GOHNS). Samples of
external air, soil gas and a transect of air samples into the cave have been
collected for CO2 and CH4 isotope analysis; drip and lake water samples are
collected for oxygen isotope, anion and trace element analysis. A novel aspect
of this monitoring is the analysis of methane whose behaviour strongly
contrasts with that of CO2. CH4 concentrations in cave air are expected to be
controlled by open ventilation since soil is a methane sink and methane is not
transported into the cave via solution in water. There is concern that calcite
deposition may be enhanced by elevated Ca concentrations derived from man-made
sources related to leaching of lime cement in the surrounding area. If this is
the case then isotope records must be treated with caution. However trace
element and stable isotope compositions of post 1942 calcite are not unusual
and fall within the range of variation observed in Pleistocene calcite from the
same site. Oxygen isotope compositions of young calcite vary from -3 0/00 to -5
0/00 and individual growth laminae possess less 0.3 0/00 variation in oxygen
isotopes suggesting that isotopic equilibrium has not been strongly affected by
degassing or evaporation. Although is no evidence yet for anthropogenic effects
related to building and change of land use contributing to the rapid deposition
of calcite at the site, this issue continues to be carefully investigated.
Oxygen isotope composition of calcite has been obtained by laser ablation at
500 micron intervals providing an isotope record of calcite growth at a
sub-annual resolution. Work is in progress to investigate how these data relate
to the local rainfall record.
A microclimatology study of two caves: Shatter Cave, SW England and Uamh
an Tartair, NW Scotland
Gina E Moseley
School of Geography, Earth and
Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15
2TT, UK
Microclimate data were collected in two contrasting caves with the objectives of (1) establishing temperature and humidity change with distance into the caves (2) establishing if a time lag between changes in surface temperature and cave air temperature is in operation and (3) establishing cave air temperature response to changes in external weather parameters.
Using a Kestrel 3000 multi-parameter, observations were collected at progressive distance into Shatter Cave (OS Grid ST657475) and Uamh an Tartair (OS Grid NC276206) at selected points such as change in passage shape or major decorative features. Gemini Tinytag Plus data loggers were set to record every five minutes for two weeks at Shatter Cave and four days at Uamh an Tartair during July 2004. The loggers were placed outside, in the first chamber, last reachable chamber and approximately midway within the caves. Surface temperature was collected on site and wind direction, wind speed, wind gust and barometric pressure data were provided by weather stations at Curry Rivel in Somerset and Stornoway, NW Scotland.
The results show that air temperature in both caves generally behaves similarly to the profile created by Wigley and Brown (Wigley, T M L and Brown, M C, 1971, Geophysical applications of heat and mass transfer in turbulent pipe flow, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 1, 300-320). However, the profiles for Shatter Cave and Uamh an Tartair do not include a slight increase in temperature near the entrance of the cave as does Wigley and Brown's (1971) model. The profile for Uamh an Tartair shows two increases in air temperature. This does not fit the exponential decline in air temperature that is occurring with distance into the cave. These selected points are in close proximity to the stream that runs throughout the cave. This suggests the stream has a regulating influence upon air temperature within the cave. Shatter Cave does not have a stream and thus is not subject to this air temperature regulation, but temperature logger data suggest a mid cave (currently unknown) surface climate connection exists.
In conclusion for a cave with simple morphology such as Shatter Cave
then Wigley and Brown's (1971) air temperature and relative humidity profile
can be applied. For Uamh an Tartair, which is a much more complex cave, then
the models do not apply quite so well. The stream has a regulating influence on
air temperature, and relative humidity reaches 100% at a short distance into
the cave. Lag times between change in surface and cave air temperature do not
operate within either of the caves studied. Another entrance to the free
atmosphere is present within the middle section of Shatter Cave where air
temperature frequently correlates strongly with external weather
parameters.
Statistical Processing of Speleothem Time Series
Claire Smith, Ian
Fairchild and Andy Baker
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental
Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
Since the initial discovery that stalagmites are capable of providing an archive of past climatic conditions, there has been a significant advance in both the quantity and quality of the data collected. However, the utilisation of rigorous statistics to assist in the evaluation of results and to communicate with the climate modelling community has lagged behind. Frequently, the data are not conducive to the application of common statistical techniques due to the non-uniform nature of the series over time. However, this does not qualify as a reason to neglect the statistical processing of data from stalagmites and the rigorous evaluation of speleothem time series remains an important goal for researchers.
Presented here are the results of modelling and statistical analysis of two stalagmite climate proxies, annual growth rate and subannual trace element series. The Northern Hemisphere temperature series for the past 500 years has been successfully modelled using annual stalagmite growth rate as a proxy, with respect to the instrumental record and a number of previously published paleeoclimate reconstructions.
Annuality in speleothem records can be displayed by both laminae and
trace element variations. Spectral analyses for unevenly spaced time series
reveal a significant annual signal in Mg, Sr and P series. Further processing
of trace element series using wavelet analysis show the annual signal to be
temporally unstable and also display evidence of some low frequency behaviour.
The presence of annual cycles in the trace element series offers a potential
chronology building tool, enabling automated cycle counting.
Evidence for drought in southern Europe 1100-1200 yr. BP from annually
layered cave precipitates
Emily McMillan ', Ian Fairchild 2, Bartolome
Andreo 3 and Siobhan McGarry 4
1 School of Earth Sciences and Geography,
Keele University, Staffs, ST5 5BG, UK
e.a.mcmillan@esci.keele.ac.uk
2 School of Geography. Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of
Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
3 Dept. of Geology, Faculty
of Science, University of Malaga, Spain.
4 Dept. of Earth Sciences,
University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, Bristol, BS8 1RJ,
UK
Annually resolved trace element records from speleothems are quickly becoming established as useful and reliable palaeoenvironmental proxy indicators, in particular with reference to palaeoprecipitation records. This study uses high resolution chemical analyses to examine the behaviour of selected trace elements over a known climatic event during the Holocene in speleothems from hydrologically sensitive regions in southern Europe - Grotte de Clamouse, southern France and El Refugio, Malaga, southern Spain.
The stalagmite samples from Clamouse contain discrete layers of aragonite dated at 1100-1200 years BP. These layers are unique as they occur within calcitic speleothems and have been suggested as representing a period of aridity in the region lasting ~100 years. U-Th dating of samples from Refugio in southern Spain revealed an apparent growth hiatus at a similar time to the growth of aragonite at Clamouse. Lamina counts combined with U-Th dates from Refugio samples show the date of the apparent hiatus layer is 1104 yr. BP.
Ion microprobe work was carried out across this time interval in both
sets of samples to investigate trace element behaviour, which can allow an
insight into the behaviour of the karst system overlying the cave. In addition
trace element analyses are used to infer possible similarities between the two
sites in terms of palaeoprecipitation patterns and the timing of maximum
aridity. This period in time 1100-1200 years BP also correlates with a severe
and prolonged drought in central America which has been linked to the demise of
the Mayan civilisation.
Suspended sediment dynamics in the Castleton karst, Derbyshire, U.K.
John Gunn and Helen Lamb
Limestone Research Group, Geographical Sciences,
University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH, UK
It is well known that carbonate dissolution is the dominant process in the earliest stages of speleogenesis in limestone aquifers and that flow is laminar and therefore unable to transport suspended elastic sediment. However, after breakthrough is achieved and flow becomes turbulent sediment can be transported through the dissolutionally enlarged conduits. Newson (1970) was one of the first to undertake detailed studies of sediment transport and mechanical erosion by streams in limestone areas but the focus of most subsequent process studies was firmly on solute dynamics and the flux of elastic sediments in carbonate aquifers was identified by White (2002) as an area that had been largely overlooked. More recently a small number of studies have been published which add to this knowledge but none in the UK. Water quality is profoundly influenced by mobile particulates, and particulate matter, especially colloidal, has a high capacity of transporting bacteria. Hence the study of suspended sediment in karst aquifers has both a theoretical and an applied dimension. In this paper we report the initial stage of a study of suspended sediment dynamics in the Castleton karst.
Earlier studies in the Castleton karst, including a paper with a similar title (Bottrell et al., 1999), have established that modern stream sediments in the Castleton caves have a similar mineralogy to the solifluction deposits in the Rushup Vale allogenic catchment but the mineralogy of the loessic soils in the autogenic catchment is substantially different. Erosion in the allogenic catchment is therefore considered to be the primary source of modern sediments. Hardwick (1995) provided initial estimates of erosion rates in two of the allogenic catchments P6 (improved pasture, 16.1 - 29.5 t km-2 a I) and P10 (unimproved pasture, 1.5 t km-2 a-1 ) and our study aims to quantify sediment outputs from the three Castleton Springs: Peak Cavern Rising (PCR), Slop Moll (SM) and Russet Well (RW). On the basis of a preliminary rating curve the total outputs for the 2004 calendar year are estimated at ~232 t. Potential sources of error are the rating curve, which does not cover the highest flows, and the anomalous discharge pattern that is thought to result from flow switching (Bottrell & Gunn, 1991). However, even if the errors are in the order of ±25% the erosion rate in the 5 km2 allogenic catchment must be at least 35 t km -2 a1, substantially higher than estimated by Hardwick. Alternatively, sediment stored within the conduit system is being eroded and removed from the system, i.e. output is presently greater than input.
A more detailed analysis was undertaken of an individual storm event from 21 to 22 January 2005. The total yield over a 15.5 hour period was ~5.9 t of which ~52% was discharged from Slop Moll, ~31% from Russet Well and ~17% from Peak Cavern Rising. The average minimum, median and maximum particle sizes for samples from Slop Moll were greater than for samples from Russet Well and from Peak Cavern Rising.
Bottrell, S and Gunn, J. 1991. Flow switching in the Castleton karst
aquifer. Cave Science, 18, 47-49.
Bottrell, S, Hardwick, P and Gunn, J.
1999. Sediment dynamics in the Castleton karst, Derbyshire, UK. Earth Surface
Processes and Landforms, 24, 745-759.
Hardwick, P. 1995. The impact of
agriculture on limestone caves. Unpubl PhD thesis, University of
Huddersfield.
Newson, M D. 1970. Studies in chemical and mechanical erosion
by streams in limestone terrains. Unpubl PhD thesis, University of Bristol.
White, W B. 2002. Karst hydrology: recent developments and open questions.
Engineering Geology, 65, 85-105.
Preliminary evidence for the 8.2 ka
cold event in a stalagmite from Pippikin Pot, Yorkshire Dales Hopley, P J
',Marshall, J D 2, Richards, D A1, Atkinson, T C 3, Hoffmann, D L' and Latham,
A C 4. 1 School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University
Road, Bristol, BS8 1SS, UK. 2 Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences,
University of Liverpool, Brownlow Street, Liverpool, L69 3GP, UK. 3 Department
of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT,
UK. 4 Department of Archaeology, University of Liverpool, Brownlow Street,
Liverpool, L69 3GS, UK. A 59cm-long stalagmite was collected in October 2001
from Pippikin Pot in the Yorkshire Dales to study Holocene palaeoclimate
variability. Stable isotope samples were taken at 3-4mm intervals over the full
length of the speleothem. Carbon isotope values were high and highly variable
indicating that the calcite was not deposited in equilibrium with soil CO2. The
oxygen isotope record was largely invariant with a mean ?18O value of -4.75
0/00, similar to modern-day rainfall in this area. The only significant oxygen
isotope excursion occurs at 37.7cm from the top of the stalagmite and reaches a
maximum of -5.55 0/00 (a negative excursion of up to 1 0/00). This event was
further investigated using ICP-MS U-series dating. Three preliminary U-series
ages for the initiation, peak and close of the isotopic excursion (a 5 cm long
section) enabled this event to be confidently assigned to the 8.2 ka event
(dating errors are less than 0.1 ka). This event lasted for approximately 200
years and is comparable in magnitude and duration to other circum-Atlantic
climate records of the 8.2 ka event, including the Greenland ice cores and the
Hawes Water lake record (approx. 30km west of Pippikin Pot). The Pippikin Pot
record is significantly different in magnitude and duration from the 37 year
and 8 0/00 ?18O excursion recorded at 8.2 ka in the Crag Cave record from South
West Ireland. Further work is planned to obtain a high-resolution stable
isotope and trace element record over the entire 8.2 ka excursion in order to
resolve the structure and magnitude of the event. We also plan to take
radiocarbon measurements across the excursion with the possibility of tying the
isotopic record to the absolute ages of the tree-ring chronology. Ongoing
monitoring of oxygen isotope variation of rainwater and cave drip water in the
vicinity of Pippikin Pot is aiding our interpretation of the Holocene oxygen
isotope record.
Cave science in Great Britain: past successes and future prospects
John Gunn and Trevor Faulkner
Limestone Research Group, Geographical
Sciences, The University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, HD1 3DH,
UK
The year 2005 will be a very important one for the BCRA as the organisation seeks to establish a new identity following the establishment of the British Caving Association (BCA) by merger of the NCA with the 'old' BCRA. Inevitably there has been some concern over the support that cave science will receive under the new arrangements and the purpose of this paper is to encourage debate amongst those attending the annual cave science meeting. There is no intention to provide a history of cave science in Britain but rather to remind attendees of some past highlights that show the importance of maintaining a link between `recreational/sporting' and `scientific' cavers. To that effect we reproduce below the first three sentences from the Introduction to one of the most seminal works "Caving is the most absolute of sports: It matches the thrill of exploring the unknown and defying physical obstacles with the intellectual challenge to explain how the unfamiliar shapes and beauties of underground scenery have evolved. Most speleologists have started caving for sport, and have found fuller and richer experiences because so many scientific questions called out for an answer" (Cullingford, 1953, p.1).
Cullingford, C.H.D. (editor). 1953. British Caving: An introduction to
speleology. Routledge and Keegan Paul, London.
An investigation into the controlling factors of cave formation in the
Cnoc Nan Uamh cave system, Inchnadamph, northwest Scotland
Antony
Chadfield
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University
of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT
The caves of northwest Scotland are unique in that they occur within a localised outcrop of the Durness Group close to Assynt. Cnoc Nan Uamh is the largest cave in the Traligill Basin and is currently one of a few caves in the world that is used for palaeoclimate research using speleothem laminae. Theories on cave formation have been superseded through time and it is a credit to the continued interest in cave speleogenesis that these theories are constantly modified. These theories have never been applied in any great detail to this cave and with an increasing interest from a palaeoclimate point of view in this cave, it would prove useful to consider formation of the Cnoc Nan Uamh cave.
Nine chambers were studied including 'the grotto' which is the main site
of palaeoclimate research. Predominantly the chambers appeared to be strongly
controlled by bedding and jointing however there was a localised example of
tectonic activity overriding these features. Tectonic activity has largely been
demoted to purely localised impacts on cave formation according to Jennings
(1971, p.147) but identified as a superior factor in controlling cave
development by Sweeting (1972) against that posed by bedding planes. When
considering all the chambers together to form an opinion on cave formation on
the large scale in this area, the influence of bedding and jointing remained
but shallow phreatic flow appeared to become a dominant feature as illustrated
by Jennings (1971, p.202). The influence of collapse has greatly altered the
cave, which in itself is viewed as an important control on cave formation
(Ford, 1989, p.309). Another possibility is the development of Inception
Horizons (Gunn, 2004, p.438) which seems like it can be applied to this part of
the cave in conjunction with the theories put forward by Jennings (1971, p.
202) on shallow dipping limestones and the role of shallow phreatic flow.
ERRATUM
Apologies from Tony Waltham to members and readers, for an error that
crept into the table comparing Encyclopaedias in the book review pages of the
last Issue (Vol.31(3), p.141). In fact, the Speleogenesis volume by Klimchouk
et al. sells at just $60 direct from the National Speleological Society (plus
$8 shipping, which could be more outside the USA). With the dollar at recent
levels with respect to sterling this puts the price at around £40, which
makes the book excellent value compared to the two encyclopaedias from
mainstream publishers.
BOOK REVIEW
Carbonate Sediments and Rocks.
By Colin Braithwaite. Published by
Whittles (Caithness) and Orsa (Texas). 2005. ISBN 1-870325-397
(0-9710427-5-6 in USA). 184pp. £40.
Everything you ever wanted to know about limestone as a rock (but you never knew quite where to look it up). This is it (or nearly so). Written by a geologist, it covers all aspects of limestone origins. The core chapters on marine carbonate environments and on the diagenesis from sediment to rock are comprehensive and informative, covering just about all the types and distinctive features of carbonates that may somewhere develop karst terrains. Another chapter explains the classifications of carbonates, and defines the various terms that appear in the geological literature. Then there are competent overview chapters on carbonate mineralogy, dolomites (and the processes of dolomitisation) and calcretes. Another on land-based carbonate environments makes the clear distinction between tufas (deposited from normal karst waters) and travertines (deposited from geothermal waters); let us hope that this terminology continues to permeate through the karst literature.
These early chapters combine to offer a very accessible overview of limestone geology. They originated as a section of a mighty project on engineering conditions on carbonate ground, which never reached publication. The remaining third of the book was therefore added by the author to cover all the related aspects (that were planned for elsewhere in the original volume). Sadly, this shows, in that much of it makes a good read, but offers only less exhaustive glimpses that lack the authority of the earlier chapters.
The two chapters on karst are rather minimal, and are noticeably dated. A chapter on conservation is little more than a set of personal notes that just prompt a few thoughts. The chapter on engineering properties tends to list features for the various British limestones, but is a little lost without tighter correlation to the earlier chapters and lacks any worldwide context. The chapter on hydrocarbons includes mention of the Ekofisk oilfield, but without reference to the remarkable compaction of its chalk (which had such expensive consequences to its North Sea platform). A chapter of case histories is subtitled "the hazards of karst"; the examples are taken from the well-documented classics, and they do provide an interesting read for a cave scientist. Sadly though, the Vaiont and St Francis disasters are included, whereas they were due to landslides unrelated to karst; references to both are very out of date. Brief mention of geophysical detection of caves is so dated that it is misleading.
Illustrations include just 36 line drawings distributed through the 141 pages of text. They are mostly clear and concise, but the reader could have wished for more. In addition, 101 colour photographs, all quite small, are bunched into a central colour section of 20 pages. This is due to economies in printing costs, but the colour is welcome, and it does enhance many of the photos of limestone textures and structures. There is a set of very good microphotographs of limestones, but the karst photographs are notably weak and include three that have incorrect locations.
Most readers of Cave and Karst Science would not refer to this book for
its chapter on karst, as they will have ready access to far more extensive and
informative material. However, they will find it a valuable reference for data
on limestone geology, where only professional geologists might wish to delve
deeper. Shortcomings in the later chapters should not obscure the values of the
authoritative earlier chapters. Covering a rather specialist subject, the book
is not in the bargain basement, but its price is reasonable by scientific book
standards, and no obvious recent competitor comes to mind. It merits a place on
the bookshelf.
Tony Waltham
Nottingham
tony@geophotos.co.uk
January
2006
THESIS ABSTRACT
Cave inception and development in Caledonide metacarbonate rocks
Trevor Laurence Faulkner
PhD, 2005
University of Huddersfield
Abstract: This is the first comprehensive study of cave inception and
development in metacarbonate rocks. The main study area is a 40000km2 region in
central Scandinavia that contains over 1000 individual metacarbonate outcrops,
and has nearly 1000 recorded karst caves (with passage lengths up to 5.6km).
The area, which was repeatedly glaciated in the late Cenozoic, comprises a
suite of nappes in the Cambro-Silurian Caledonides, a paleic range of mountains
with terranes presently occurring on both sides of the northern Atlantic.
Information about the stripe karst and non-stripe karst outcrops and their
contained caves was assembled into computer-based databases, enabling
relationships between the internal attributes of the caves and their external
geological and geomorphological environments to be analysed. A rather
consistent pattern emerged. For example, karst hydrological system distances
are invariably shorter than 3.5km, and cave passages are positioned randomly in
a vertical dimension, whilst commonly remaining within 50m of the overlying
surface. This consistency is suggestive that the relevant cave inception,
development and removal processes operated at a regional scale, and over long
timescales. A consequence of the epigean association of caves with the
landscape is that cave development can only be understood in the context of the
geomorphological evolution of the host region. A review of the latest knowledge
of the inception and development of caves in sedimentary limestones concluded
that the speleogenesis of the central Scandinavian caves cannot be explained by
these ideas. Five new inter-related conceptual models are constructed to
explain cave development in metacarbonate rocks in the various Caledonide
terranes. These are:
1. The tectonic inception model - this shows that it
is only open fracture routes, primarily created by the seismic shocks that
accompany deglaciation, which can provide the opportunity for dissolution of
metalimestone rocks that have negligible primary porosity.
2. The external
model of cave development - this black-box approach reveals how the formation,
development and destruction of the karst caves are related to the evolution of
their local landscape. During the Pleistocene, these processes were dominated
by the cycle of glaciation, leading to cyclic speleogenesis, and the
development of ever-longer and deeper systems, where the maximum distance to
the surface commonly remains within one-eighth of the extent of change in local
relief.
3. The hydrogeological model - this demonstrates that the caves
developed to their mapped dimensions in timescales compatible with the first
two models, within the constraints imposed by the physics and chemistry of
calcite dissolution and erosion, primarily in almost pure water. Relict caves
were predominantly formed in phreatic conditions beneath active deglacial
ice-dammed lakes, with asymmetric distributions on east- and west-facing
slopes. Mainly vadose caves developed during the present interglacial,
primarily vadose, conditions, with maximum dimensions determined by catchment
area. Combination caves developed during both deglacial and interglacial
stages. The cross-sections of phreatic passages obey a non-fractal
distribution, because they enlarged at maximum rates in similar timescales.
Phreatic cave entrances could be enlarged at high altitudes by freeze / thaw
processes at the surface of ice-dammed lakes, and at low altitudes by marine
activity during isostatic uplift.
4. The internal static and dynamic model
of cave development - this white-box approach demonstrates that many caves have
'upside-down' morphology, with relict phreatic passages overlying a single,
primarily vadose, streamway. Both types of passage are guided along inception
surfaces that follow the structural geology and fractures of the carbonate
outcrops. Dynamically, the caves developed in a 'Top-Down, Middle-Outwards'
(TDMO) sequence that may have extended over several glacial cycles, and
passages in the older multi-cycle caves were removed downwards and inwards by
glacial erosion.
5. The Caledonide model - this shows that the same
processes (with some refinements) applied to cave development in most of the
other (non-central Scandinavian) Caledonide areas. The prime influences on cave
dimensions were the thicknesses of the successive northern Atlantic glacial
icesheets and the positions of the caves relative to deglacial ice-dammed lakes
and to local topography. Other influences included contact metamorphism,
proximity to major thrusts, and marine incursions. With knowledge of these
influences for each area, mean cave dimensions can be predicted.
The thesis
provides the opportunity for the five models to be extended, so that cave
development in other glaciated metamorphic and sedimentary limestones can be
better understood, and to be inverted, so that landscape evolution can be
derived from cave data.
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