International Journal of Speleology (IJS) | Vol 48

Volume 48, Issue 3 (2019)

Petrography and provenance of floor sediments from the Loutra Almopias Cave (Pella, Macedonia, Greece)
Ioannis Georgiadis, Katerina Chatzopoulou, Nikolaos Kantiranis, Ioakeim Ioakeimidis, and Ananias Tsirambides

Channel facies make up the bulk whereas slackwater facies the final layer of the cave sediments.
First description of kutnohorite, isomorphous with dolomite, in a Greek cave.
Lepus timidus fossils found in the cave represent the southernmost record of this species in Europe

The lampenflora in show caves and its treatment: an emerging ecological problem
Carlos Baquedano Estévez, Luis Moreno Merino, Almudena de la Losa Román, and Juan J. Durán Valsero

Artificial lighting causes deterioration of Show Caves due to Lampenflora grow
It is not known how to eliminate Lampenflora permanently
Chemicals used in cleaning lampenflora can pollute groundwater
It is essential to investigate the doses of chemicals used in cleaning lampenflora
It appears that an excess of chemicals are used to remove lampenflora

Drivers of ant composition, richness, and trophic guilds in Neotropical iron ore cavities
Rodrigo A. Castro-Souza, Thais G. Pellegrini, Marconi Souza-Silva, and Rodrigo L. Ferreira

Ant species richness is higher in the epigean than in the hypogean ferruginous environments
Ant species composition is different between epigean and hypogean ferruginous environments
The cavity historical use did not influence the ant species richness or composition
Subterranean environment traits were not able to explain ant species richness
Ant assemblages in the cave communities were mostly composed by generalist species

We evaluated antibiotic resistance to 22 antibiotics in 69 isolates of cave bacteria
Majority (89%) of isolates were resistant to 1-17 antibiotics
We screened 78 cave isolates for production of antimicrobials against 10 indicator strains
Up to 20.5% of cave isolates inhibited the growth of indicator strains
Isolates most frequently inhibited growth of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus spp.

Barite boxwork replacing the spar veins of limestone in the cave environment
Replacement process related to sulfide oxidation in a sulphuric acid cave
Replacement process related to corrosional rills produced by rising fluids in the groundwater
Co-existence of corrosional and encrusting processes in the groundwater