Cave & Karst Science (ISSN 1356-191X)

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Contents of Cave & Karst Science 51(3)

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Cave and Karst Science (iv + 52pp) (PDF 17.6MB)        Individual articles may be available below

GUNN, John and David LOWE (eds.). (2024). Cave and Karst Science 51(3). Buxton: British Cave Research Association. ISSN 1356-191X. iv + 52pp, A4, with photos, maps and diagrams.
This issue has a cover date of 2024 (December) and was published in January 2025.

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 quality, suitable for screen-reading.

Front cover photo (page i) (PDF 1.9MB)     

by Bartek BIELA.
Captured by Bartek Biela, this spectacular image presents a view of the Clearwater Three streamway, in Clearwater Cave, Gunung Mulu, Sarawak. The steep dip of the Eocene Melinau Limestone Formation, here cut by a minor fault, is clearly apparent. In Mulu, such dips exert a strong influence on the movement of underground water, and many cave passages have developed along the strike of the beds. The far wall reflects the presence of a major west–east-trending joint, which guides the streamway, allowing water to pass up-sequence through the limestone stratigraphy. Towards the left, downstream, the passage turns sharply northwestwards along strike, following the prominent bedding surface into Sump 2.

 

Notes for contributors (page ii) (PDF 275KB)     

 

Contents (p89) (PDF 424KB)     

 

Editorial (p90) (PDF 239KB)     

by John GUNN and David LOWE.

 

Seasonal temperature and ventilation changes govern proxy-signal transfer into caves in northern Mongolia (pp91-100) (PDF 8.8MB)     

by Maria BOX, Aleksandr KONONOV, Narangerel SERDYANJIV, Avirmed DASHTSEREN, Khadbaatar SANDAG, Oxana GUTAREVA, Alexander OSINTSEV, Dmitri SOKOL'NIKOV, Jade MARGERUM, Ola KWIECIEN and Sebastian F M BREITENBACH.
Cave monitoring is essential for the accurate interpretation of speleothem-based environmental proxies and is a necessary first step for caves of interest in palaeoenvironmental studies. Cave temperature and humidity data collected during two years from three caves in the karst region south-southwest of lake Khuvsgul in northern Mongolia are presented, with the aim of aiding understanding of ventilation patterns and providing context for future speleothem-based environmental reconstructions. The results show that local topography and cave geometry play important roles in cave temperature regimes and ventilation dynamics, with sub-vertical caves ventilating most strongly in winter. Such seasonal ventilation change indicates that airborne proxies, such as dust or pollen, are more likely to reach speleothems in winter, whereas dripwater-derived proxies such as isotopic composition, trace element composition and soil-derived biomarkers are biased towards the active infiltration season during summer.
Classification: Paper.
Date: Received: 30 October 2024; Accepted: 28 November 2024.
Keywords: Mongolia; cave monitoring; cave ventilation; ice caves; permafrost.

Bibliograph: BOX, Maria; Aleksandr KONONOV, Narangerel SERDYANJIV, Avirmed DASHTSEREN, Khadbaatar SANDAG, Oxana GUTAREVA, Alexander OSINTSEV, Dmitri SOKOL'NIKOV, Jade MARGERUM, Ola KWIECIEN and Sebastian F M BREITENBACH. (2024). Seasonal temperature and ventilation changes govern proxy-signal transfer into caves in northern Mongolia. Cave and Karst Science 51(3), pp91-100.

 

Studying flood pulse transit from sinks to the resurgence in Dan yr Ogof, South Wales, UK (pp101-114) (PDF 9.7MB)     

by David EASON, Paul CRADDY, Phil KNIGHT and Jem ROWLAND.
The hydrology of the Dan yr Ogof (DYO) cave system in South Wales is understood at a relatively high level, but no detailed analysis has been done for more than a decade. A fresh attempt to understand some aspects of the hydrology was made by comparing the stream water depth and temperature in the DYO resurgence with the two streams feeding the largest surface stream sinks, Sinc y Giedd (SYG) and Waun Fignen Felen (WFF). This produced hydrographs that allow a comparison between flood pulses entering the sinks and appearing in the resurgence, and observation of how the temperature varies in the resurgence as the water depth peaks.
Results indicate that the minimum transit time of a flood pulse between both the SYG and WFF monitoring stations to the DYO resurgence (generally referred to from now on as DYO) was 2.9 and 3 hours respectively, despite SYG itself being 1.68 km farther away than WFF in straight-line distance from the resurgence. The celerity (i.e., the speed of a pressure wave through water) of the system ranges from 0.54–1.58 km/h, based on the time between a flood pulse being observed travelling down the Giedd and WFF streams and a corresponding flood pulse appearing at DYO. The Giedd to DYO celerity is usually 2–3 times that of the WFF to DYO celerity. The velocity of the water travelling ranges from 0.07–1.4 km/h, with an overlap in the velocities from each sink to DYO, the slowest being from WFF (average of 0.1457 km/h) and the fastest from SYG (average of 0.8031 km/h). This implies that the cave passage between the Giedd to DYO resurgence may be more phreatic than between WFF and the resurgence.%X This research indicates that there is more to understand about the hydrology of DYO and confirms previous experiments undertaken to estimate the flooding and water transit times. This work could contribute better to inform cavers of the conditions in the cave during rainfall events, given the rapid and flood-prone nature of the DYO resurgence.
Classification: Paper.
Date: Received: 22 July 2024; Accepted: 01 December 2024.
Keywords: celerity; dye-tracing; flood pulse; flow velocity; hydrographs.

Bibliograph: EASON, David; Paul CRADDY, Phil KNIGHT and Jem ROWLAND. (2024). Studying flood pulse transit from sinks to the resurgence in Dan yr Ogof, South Wales, UK. Cave and Karst Science 51(3), pp101-114.

 

Evaluation, potential and actual threats to the Outstanding Universal Values of the World Heritage Gunung Mulu and Gunung Buda National Parks, Sarawak, Malaysia (pp115-122) (PDF 579KB)     

by David William GILL.
All Totally Protected Areas especially in the Tropics are under threat, some serious and some minor. This includes threats to the biodiversity and to geoscientific values. The potential and actual threats to the Gunung Mulu and Buda National Parks are examined, along with potential ways of threat elimination and mitigation, considering the aspirations of the local community. Potential and actual threats are defined. Some threats relate to areas outside of the National Park boundaries that are not designated as parts of areas of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) within the terms of the World Heritage documentation. Nevertheless, such threats retain a high relevance because they are within the immediate vicinity and potentially their influence can affect the OUVs of the Parks directly. A means of evaluation of specifications to protect the Outstanding Universal Values is examined.
Classification: Report.
Date: Received: 31 January 2023; Accepted: 26 August 2024.
Keywords: Management plans; Totally Protected Areas; Partially Protected Areas; human threats; natural threats; mitigation strategies.

Bibliograph: GILL, David William. (2024). Evaluation, potential and actual threats to the Outstanding Universal Values of the World Heritage Gunung Mulu and Gunung Buda National Parks, Sarawak, Malaysia. Cave and Karst Science 51(3), pp115-122.

 

New high-precision U–Th dates for speleothems from the Assynt caves and their significance for past environmental change (pp123-128) (PDF 2.2MB)     

by Sebastian F M BREITENBACH, Tim J LAWSON, Tim C ATKINSON, Bethany R S FOX, Ola KWIECIEN and Gideon M HENDERSON.
The Late Quaternary climatic history of substantial parts of Scotland remains poorly understood because much of the sedimentological record that might have provided evidence has been erased by glacial and post-glacial erosion. Here we report 19 U/Th dates obtained from archived speleothem samples from Assynt, NW Scotland. We used state-of-the-art MC-ICP-MS U-series dating and find that speleothem deposition in Assynt was restricted to warm periods when the surface was ice-free and continuous permafrost absent. Our dataset reveals significant speleothem deposition during the Ipswichian (Marine Isotope Stage 5e) and the Holocene (MIS 1), and the formation of thin flowstone sheets during Greenland Interstadials 14 and 12 during the last glacial period. These dates highlight the potential for the use of speleothems to constrain the timings of regional glacial and periglacial conditions, and for the reconstruction of interglacial and interstadial environmental dynamics in Scotland.
Classification: Paper.
Date: Received: 30 October 2024; Accepted: 04 November 2024.
Keywords: Assynt karst; U-series dating; Ipswichian interglacial; Holocene; last glacial period.

Bibliograph: BREITENBACH, Sebastian F M; Tim J LAWSON, Tim C ATKINSON, Bethany R S FOX, Ola KWIECIEN and Gideon M HENDERSON. (2024). New high-precision U–Th dates for speleothems from the Assynt caves and their significance for past environmental change. Cave and Karst Science 51(3), pp123-128.

 

Notes and observations relating to sediments containing ferro-manganese spherules found in Hallowe'en Rift, Mendip Hills, Somerset, UK (pp129-133) (PDF 4.4MB)     

by Vince SIMMONDS.
During 2024 excavations in the area known as Can of Worms in Hallowe'en Rift, an interesting sediment deposit was exposed and later sampled. A sub-sample was washed to remove the silt and clay fractions and revealed an abundance of ferro-manganese spherules. On closer examination, the spherules exhibited a concentric layered internal structure with several having a central, angular mineral grain around which the layers were formed, analogous to the growth of pearls in oysters or the formation of ooids, which are a type of carbonate or iron-coated grain, commonly with a cortex of fine laminae lacking biogenic features, and with a nucleus, such as a shell fragment or sand grain. Permafrost conditions on Mendip during the Pleistocene Epoch are thought to have penetrated to significant depth, with subsequent periods of thaw reaching lesser depths resulting in a deep impervious ice plug causing meltwater to be trapped and ponded. The ponded meltwater was topped up by the ingress of surface-derived water, probably reflecting seasonal changes. The rise and fall of water created currents within the flooded cave, leading to agitation of particles and precipitation of minerals that coated particulates by a process analogous to that which creates ooids. The pulsing of water also led to the deposition of rhythmites, which are observed in sediments throughout the cave.
Classification: Report.
Date: Received: 11 October 2024; Accepted: 11 November 2024.
Keywords: Calcite, Holocene, muscovite, pisoliths, quartz, XRD, XRF.

Bibliograph: SIMMONDS, Vince. (2024). Notes and observations relating to sediments containing ferro-manganese spherules found in Hallowe'en Rift, Mendip Hills, Somerset, UK. Cave and Karst Science 51(3), pp129-133.

 

Meeting Report: 35th BCRA Cave Science Symposium Abstracts (pp134-138) (PDF 1.3MB)     

Classification: Forum.

 

Correspondence: History of the BCRA Conference (p138) (PDF 342KB)     

by Peter COUSINS and John GUNN.
Classification: Forum.

 

New Publication: MULU CAVES API 2023 (p139) (PDF 1.6MB)     

by Andy EAVIS.
An Anglo-Malaysian Speleological Expedition to the Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, Malaysia.
Classification: Forum.

 

Epsomite in Smallcleugh Mine, Nenthead, Cumbria, UK (p140) (PDF 2.5MB)     

by Clive WESTLAKE and Noel WORLEY.
Classification: Photo Feature.

Bibliograph: WESTLAKE, Clive and Noel WORLEY. (2024). Epsomite in Smallcleugh Mine, Nenthead, Cumbria, UK. Cave and Karst Science 51(3), p140.

 

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

 

Back cover photos (page iv) (PDF 382KB)     

by Maria BOX and Seb BREITENBACH.
The back cover collage comprises five images from northern Mongolia, provided by Maria Box and Seb Breitenbach, showing various aspects of the research carried out during several expeditions (2022, 2023, and 2024), and reported in a Paper presented in this Issue (pp.91–100).