•  
  •  
 

Volume 49, Issue 3 (2020)

Cover and Front Matter

Articles

PDF

Bubble trail and folia in cenote Zapote, Mexico: petrographic evidence for abiotic precipitation driven by CO2 degassing below the water table
Rafael López-Martínez, Fernando Gázquez, José M. Calaforra, Philippe Audra, Jean Y. Bigot, Teresa Pi Puig, Rocío J. Alcántara-Hernández, Ángel Navarro, Philippe Crochet, Liliana Corona Martínez, and Raquel Daza Brunet

  • The origin of folia is still controversial
  • In the Cenote Zapote occurs the biggest reported folia
  • Folia are the result of subaqueous calcite precipitation around CO2 bubbles

PDF

Stratigraphical influence on chalk cave development in Upper Normandy, France: implications for chalk hydrogeology
Daniel Ballesteros, Andrew Farrant, Carole Nehme, Mark Woods, Dominique Todisco, and Damase Mouralis

  • The role of stratigraphic discontinuities on chalk speleogenesis has been analyzed
  • The analyses combine cave geometry, karst geomorphology and stratigraphical sections
  • Chalk caves and karst springs are related to hardgrounds, sheet-flints and marl beds
  • Hardgrounds, sheet-flints and marl beds concentrated groundwater flow forming caves
  • The results reinforce the visualization of the Chalk as a karst aquifer

PDF

The impact of sample processing and media chemistry on the culturable diversity of bacteria isolated from a cave
Katey E. Bender, Katelyn Glover, Alexander Archey, and Hazel A. Barton

  • A “culturomics” cultivation study was performed in a cave for the first time
  • Cultivation strategies were assessed for their performance with cave microbes
  • Sample suspension buffer had no effect on culturability
  • Including antibiotics in culture media decreased apparent culturability, diversity
  • Antibiotics enriched rarer slow-growing species that are more difficult to isolate

PDF

Distribution of crickets (Subfamily: Phalangopsinae) in caves of Baratang Island, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India
Amruta Dhamorikar, Dhanusha Kawalkar, and Shirish Manchi

  • Cricket occupancy in the caves is seasonal and zonal with detectability ≤1
  • Relative density and relative abundance does not vary between the caves zones
  • Morphology of the caves influence the abundance and density of crickets
  • Cave with plausible source population with no extinction probability is identified
  • Further studies recommended for the conservation of caves and cave fauna

PDF

Urine volume reduction during long-duration cave exploration by a light-weight and portable forward osmosis system
Sebastian Engelhardt, Katey E. Bender, Jörg Vogel, Stephen E. Duirk, Francisco B. Moore, and Hazel A. Barton

  • Forward osmosis (FO) was tested as a strategy for urine mitigation during cave exploration
  • Urea rejection was determined for a novel aquaporin-based membrane (ABM) module
  • A light-weight and portable FO prototype was introduced and tested
  • Urine volume could be reduced by over 80% using the proposed system
  • Draw solution recovery without nitrogen loss could be achieved by evaporation

PDF

Influence of some climatic elements on radon concentration in Saeva Dupka Cave, Bulgaria
Peter Nojarov, Petar Stefanov, and Karel Turek

  • Radon concentration depends on downward penetration from soil and rocks above cave
  • Rn concentration depends on thermodynamic air exchange between cave and atmosphere
  • Air temperature and precipitation are main factors affecting cave Rn concentration
  • Statistical projections show that by 2070 cave Rn concentration will increase

PDF

Hydrometeorological factors determining the development of water table cave patterns in high alpine zones. The Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park, NE Spain
Antonio González-Ramón, Jorge Jódar, José M. Samsó, Sergio Martos-Rosillo, Javier Heredia, Ane Zabaleta, Iñaki Antigüedad, Emilio Custodio, and Luis J. Lambán

  • The recharge of karst aquifers in high mountain may be controlled by snowmelt
  • Water-table caves exist in permeable carbonates with irregular recharge and no developed epikarst
  • Diffuse recharge caused by snow in cold areas may explain the unusual water-table caves patterns
  • Repetition of structures by faults and thrusts can generate repetitive patterns in karst networks
  • Conduit set connects consecutive perched saturated zones in the inner part of syncline structures

Announcement