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The International Journal of Speleology is the official journal of the Union Internationale de Spéléologie since 1978 and was founded in 1964. It is a double-blind, peer-reviewed, international scientific journal that publishes research and review articles concerning all sciences involved in karst and caves, such as geology, geomorphology, hydrology, archeology, paleontology, (paleo)climatology, cave meteorology, (geo)microbiology, environmental sciences, physics, chemistry, mineralogy, etc. IJS is published three times per year.

Articles are open access at http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/ijs. The journal is abstracted and indexed in the following services: Directory of Open Access Journals, ISI Thomson Services (Science Citation Index-Expanded including the Web of Science, ISI Alerting Service, Current Contents/Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences), Bibliography & Index of Geology (GeoRef, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, EarthScienceWISE (Oxmill Publishing), EBSCO publishing, Geobase, Speleological Abstracts (UIS), Ulrich’s Periodical Directory ™, BIOSIS Zoological record, SCOPUS (Elsevier), and SCImago Journal and Country Rank.

LATEST IMPACT FACTOR 2024: 1.3
In Journal of Citation Reports®, Thomson Reuters 2024

SPECIAL ISSUE IN PROGRESS: Volume 54, issue 3 (2025)

Guest Editors: Drs N. Buzjak, A. Persoiu, and C. Pennos

Current Issue: Volume 55, Issue 1 (2026)

Articles

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Non-destructive characterization of variously colored gypsum and aragonite/calcite speleothems from the Cigalère Cave (Ariège, France)
Martin Vlieghe, Johan Wouters, Gérald Fanuel, Jean-François Drion du Chapois, Anne Gallez, Stéphane Pire-Stevenne, Gaëtan Rochez, and Johan Yans

  • Portable X-ray fluorescence allows non-destructive elemental analysis in the field
  • Designated calibration greatly increases accuracy and reproducibility
  • Detection of Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb, and Cu, responsible for the various colorations
  • Metals and sulphate ions likely originate from the overlying Pb-Zn sulfide ores

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A cave in Miocene conglomerate: the Törökpince-Abaliget cave system, Hungary
Krisztina Sebe, Piroska Pazonyi, Márton Bauer, Bálint Szappanos, Márton Szabó, Zoltán Szentesi, Mihály Gasparik, Ákos Juhász, Luca Pandolfi, Máté Gregorits, József Haász, Ágnes Novothny, and Zsófia Ruszkiczay-Rüdiger

  • A 536 m-long through cave segment developed in Miocene conglomerates
  • Cave development through dissolution, collapse, and granular disintegration
  • Rich Miocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene vertebrate fossil assemblage
  • A cave minimum age of 0.8-0.7 Ma, potentially reaching several Ma
  • A rich archive of – partly syn-sedimentary – tectonic features