International Journal of Speleology

A new sub-type of folia has been described

Their genesis and evolution occur just at the air-water interface

Feeding water supersaturation degree extremely low

Slow and progressive lowering of the water level

Genesis: precipitation of minerals by rapid degassing of CO₂ from water and/or evaporation.

• We monitored air temperature, dripwater stable isotopes and modern carbonate, deposited on glass plates at Caumont
• Dripwater δ¹⁸O values reflect thorough mixing in the epikarst and some bias towards the winter season
• Modern calcite δ¹³C indicate that prior carbonate precipitation might occur during summer
• Modern carbonate deposition analysis showed the isotope system is at/very near isotope equilibrium
• Our results show that Caumont cave is suitable for the study of climate trends in the past

• Subaqueous speleothems yield reliable clumped isotope temperatures
• Calcite-water oxygen isotope thermometry seems to work for subaqueous speleothems

• In tropical, wet guano, maximum acidity, temperature, and k values occur at depths of ~10-30 cm
• Guano moisture level is the most significant control on k
• Guano k values can have an enormous range – from 0.01 in wet tropical caves, down to 3 x 10^-6 in extremely dry caves
• SEM studies demonstrate that 3 kyr old guano in extremely dry conditions is essentially unaltered
• Chitin survival under favorable conditions can thus be extrapolated to timescales of 10⁵ years

• Artificial CO₂ was injected in ventilated karst conduits (caves and mines), to assess the airflow
• Geometrical conduit parameters, air velocity, and tracer dispersion were also carried out
• The 1-D advection-dispersion model was compared with measured breakthrough curves
• The theory of dispersion is also compared with dipersion inferred from field data
• BTC tailing may stem from dead-flow zones that enhance aerosol deposition

• Low-cost and lightweight digital flowmeter tested for the automated monitoring of air fluxes in caves
• Numerical modelling reveals inhomogeneous velocity distribution in a cave passage
• Recommendation for the positionning of instruments in air streamlines