Wonderwerk Cave Yields Earliest Evidence Of Our Cave-Dwelling Ancestors

A research team led by Professor Michael Chazan, director of the University of Toronto's Archaeology Centre, has discovered the earliest evidence of our cave-dwelling human ancestors at the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa.

Stone tools found at the bottom level of the cave — believed to be 2 million years old — show that human ancestors were in the cave earlier than ever thought before. Geological evidence indicates that these tools were left in the cave and not washed into the site from the outside world.

Archaeological investigations of the Wonderwerk cave — a South African National Heritage site due to its role in discovering the human and environmental history of the area — began in the 1940s and research continues to this day.

The cave is 139m deep and so big it is said that a wagon and team of oxen could turn around in the entrance. (if you intend to go, there is an information center near the entrance, and you can even get a guide).

From the McGregor Museum description:

"Wonderwerk Cave is an ancient solution cavity, exposed at one end byhillside erosion, and running horizontally for 139 m into the base of a low conical foothill on the eastern flank of the Kuruman Hills. Its geological context is stratified dolomitic limestone of the 2.3 billion year-old Ghaap Plateau Dolomite Formation. Permanent water sources in the area are presently limited to a seep some 5 km to the south on Gakorosa Hill and a large sinkhole now known as Boesmans Gat (meaning "Bushman's waterhole"), about 12 km away.

"Research has shown that bedrock in the front portion of the cave is overlain by 4 m of deposits consisting of almost horizontal layers of wind-blown dust with a variable admixture of roof-slabs. Initial radiocarbon, Uranium-series and palaeomagnetic readings indicate that the uppermost metre of sediments, 45 m in from the cave mouth, spans the past 300 000 years, while extrapolation, based on that result, suggests that the lower levels range back very much further. Palaeomagnetic evidence recently indicated that the base of the sequence may reach back as far as 1.77 to 1.95 million years. If this dating is correct.) The small irregular stone cores and flakes in those lowest levels could be Oldowan. There is archaeological evidence of human occupation in all layers, making this one of the longest inhabited caves on earth."

Source: Science20

Verano Azul set to film in Nerja again

A still from the 1981 series of Verano Azul

A second series of the popular eighties children's series is set to be shot in the town next year.

Verano Azul 2 – the follow up to the children’s television programme which put Nerja on the map in 1981 is set to be filmed in the town next year.

The Nerja Toan Hall has confirmed that shooting for the new series begins in March, and will continue until October despite the problems in finding the 700,000 € funding. The local town hall had budgeted only 150,000 €.

Nerja businessmen are well aware of the publicity for the town the programme will bring, and tourism councillor, José Miguel García, has said locations for the series have already been chosen by the producers. He also said he was disappointed by the managers of the Nerja Caves who had promised to help with the funding but who have now changed their mind.

Alicante and Málaga cities have both said they would like to take part in the filming of the series if possible.

Source: Typically Spanish

Unusual Microbial Ropes Grow Slowly In Cave Lake

A microbial rope in the bottom half of the cave lake.
Credit: Penn State

Deep inside the Frasassi cave system in Italy and more than 1,600 feet below the Earth's surface, divers found filamentous ropes of microbes growing in the cold water, according to a team of Penn State researchers.

"Sulfur caves are a microbiology paradise. Many different types of organisms live in the caves and use the sulfur," says Jennifer L. Macalady, assistant professor of geosciences. "We are trying to map which organisms live where in the caves and how they correspond to the geochemical environment."

In this process, Macalady and her team discovered a previously unknown form of biofilm growing in the oxygen-deficient portion of the lake.

"The cave explorers had seen these strange biofilms," says Macalady. "So we asked them if they could get us a sample."

The Frasassi cave system is located north of Rome and south of Venice in the Marche region. These limestone caves are like New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns and Lechuguilla Cave, but in those caves, sulfur entered the caves from oil and gas reserves, while in Italy, the sulfur source is a thick gypsum layer below. Having sulfur in the environment allows sulfur-using organisms to grow.

Decline Of Roman And Byzantine Empires 1,400 Years Ago May Have Been Driven By Climate Change

The decline of the Roman and Byzantine Empires in the Eastern Mediterranean more than 1,400 years ago may have been driven by unfavorable climate changes.

Based on chemical signatures in a piece of calcite from a cave near Jerusalem, a team of American and Israeli geologists pieced together a detailed record of the area's climate from roughly 200 B.C. to 1100 A.D. Their analysis, to be reported in an upcoming issue of the journal Quaternary Research, reveals increasingly dry weather from 100 A.D. to 700 A.D. that coincided with the fall of both Roman and Byzantine rule in the region.

The researchers, led by University of Wisconsin-Madison geology graduate student Ian Orland and professor John Valley, reconstructed the high-resolution climate record based on geochemical analysis of a stalagmite from Soreq Cave, located in the Stalactite Cave Nature Reserve near Jerusalem.

"It looks sort of like tree rings in cross-section. You have many concentric rings and you can analyze across these rings, but instead of looking at the ring widths, we're looking at the geochemical composition of each ring," says Orland.

Using oxygen isotope signatures and impurities — such as organic matter flushed into the cave by surface rain — trapped in the layered mineral deposits, Orland determined annual rainfall levels for the years the stalagmite was growing, from approximately 200 B.C. to 1100 A.D.

Rock painting reveals unknown bat

The Bradshaw rock art is sophisticated for its age

An ancient cave painting from northern Australia depicts a previously unknown species of large bat, researchers say.

The team thinks the rock art from Australia's Kimberley region could date to the height of the last Ice Age - about 20-25,000 years ago.

The painting depicts eight roosting fruit bats - also called flying foxes.

They have features that do not match any Australian bats alive today, suggesting the art depicts a species that is now extinct.

Jack Pettigrew, University of Queensland
The findings have been published online in the scholarly journal Antiquity.

The bats would not have lived in the same cave as the painting; they are depicted hanging on a vine, which indicates a lowland forest habitat.

Climate Change Wiped Out Cave Bears 13 Millennia Earlier Than Thought

Enormous cave bears, Ursus spelaeus, that once inhabited a large swathe of Europe, from Spain to the Urals, died out 27,800 years ago, around 13 millennia earlier than was previously believed, scientists have reported.

The new date coincides with a period of significant climate change, known as the Last Glacial Maximum, when a marked cooling in temperature resulted in the reduction or loss of vegetation forming the main component of the cave bears' diet.

In a study published in Boreas, researchers suggest it was this deterioration in food supply that led to the extinction of the cave bear, one of a group of 'megafauna' – including woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, giant deer and cave lion – to disappear during the last Ice Age.

They found no convincing evidence of human involvement in the disappearance of these bears. The team used both new data and existing records of radiocarbon dating on cave bear remains to construct their chronology for cave bear extinction.

Big Underground Thermal Lake Unveiled In Hungary

Speleologists explore Malom Lake inside Janos Molnar,
one of the world's biggest thermal water caves, during
a media visit to the newly discovered galleries of the
cavern under Budapest earlier this week

The lake, discovered earlier this year, lies in a subterranean hall 86 m (282 ft) long, 27 (89 ft) m wide and 15 m (49 ft) high.

An underground thermal lake Hungarian officials say is one of the biggest in the world was unvelied on Tuesday after its discovery below a Turkish bath in the capital Budapest.

"This is the biggest active, water-filled thermal water cave and hall in the world," speleologist Sandor Kalinovits, one of the lake's discoverers, said during a tour of the cave below one of Budapest's more affluent residential districts.

The lake, discovered earlier this year, lies in a subterranean hall 86 m (282 ft) long, 27 (89 ft) m wide and 15 m (49 ft) high and belongs to the Janos Molnar cave.

Budapest is built above a labyrinth of caves filled with warm thermal water and many have only partially been explored. Environment Minister Imre Szabo told reporters the cave might be opened to the public. City officials plan to apply to UNESCO to declare the cave system a World Heritage Site.

The Ottoman Empire, which governed Hungary in the 17th century, left a legacy of Turkish baths which remain extremely popular with local residents as well as tourists.

Cave Rescue in Lechuguilla Cave

Injured caver in stable condition

Injured caver Jane Furket is in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital after a gruelling 10-hour rescue operation to extract her from Waitomo Caves.

The 38-year-old was with two companions when she fell into a stream inside the Luckie Strike Cave at about 2.35pm, suffering a broken hip and losing three teeth.

Her companion managed to pull her from the water and covered her with a survival blanket before seeking help. Furket was conscious at the time her companion left her.

The incident occurred about 1100 metres into the cave which is 15 kilometres from the Waitomo Township. It appears that Furket unhitched herself from a traverse line on a slippery ledge just prior to the fall.

The cave has been described by a police spokesman as a moderate scramble, which required climbing, crawling, abseiling, and squeezing through wet and dry passages and up waterfalls. Another says there's crawling room only in some parts.

About 25 caving experts, police, search and rescue and St John Ambulance staff worked for up to 10 hours to successfully rescue her from the cave.

Ancient China: Lack Of Rainfall Could Have Contributed To Social Upheaval And Fall Of Dynasties

Asian monsoons, Northern Hemisphere temperatures
and alpine glacier data across 1,800 years are compared.
Credit: Zina Deretsky

Chinese history is replete with the rise and fall of dynasties, but researchers now have identified a natural phenomenon that may have been the last straw for some of them: a weakening of the summer Asian Monsoons.

Such weakening accompanied the fall of three dynasties and now could be lessening precipitation in northern China.

Results of the study, led by researchers from the University of Minnesota and Lanzhou University in China, appear in the journal Science.

The work rests on climate records preserved in the layers of stone in a 118-millimeter-long stalagmite found in Wanxiang Cave in Gansu Province, China.

By measuring amounts of the elements uranium and thorium throughout the stalagmite, the researchers could tell the date each layer was formed. And by analyzing the "signatures" of two forms of oxygen in the stalagmite, they could match amounts of rainfall--a measure of summer monsoon strength--to those dates.

Caves flogged on eBay

Comfy? ... caves for sale

Ebayers are going underground – with a cluster of caves up for grabs on the online auction site.

Bidding for the 28-acre Mystic Caverns in the hills of the Ozark Mountains starts at $899,900 – slashed down from the initial asking price of $1.2million.

The package includes three caves – two of which are safe to go into, and a gift shop for visitors.

Current owner Steve Rush bought the property in 1988, giving tours of Mystic cavern and Crystal Dome cavern.

The third cave – Not Much Sink cavern – is too dangerous to enter.

Source: The Sun

Mysterious Bat Disease Decimates Colonies: Newly Identified Fungus Implicated In White-Nose Syndrome

Little brown bat with fungus on muzzle.
Credit: Al Hicks

A previously undescribed, cold-loving fungus has been linked to white-nose syndrome, a condition associated with the deaths of over 100,000 hibernating bats in the northeastern United States. The findings are published in this week's issue of Science.

The probable cause of these bat deaths has puzzled researchers and resource managers urgently trying to understand why the bats were dying in such unprecedented numbers. Since the winter of 2006-07, bat declines at many surveyed hibernation caves exceeded 75 percent.

The fungus – a white, powdery-looking organism – is commonly found on the muzzles, ears and wings of afflicted dead and dying bats, though researchers have not yet determined that it is the only factor causing bats to die. Most of the bats are also emaciated, and some of them leave their hibernacula – winter caves where they hibernate – to seek food that they will not find in winter.

USGS microbiologist and lead author David Blehert isolated the fungus in April 2008, and identified it as a member of the group Geomyces. The research was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey scientists in collaboration with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York State Department of Health, and others.

Brits find 1km cave in China

Is this the world's deepest cave?

In China's mountainous village of Tian Xing, a team of British cave explorers say they have discovered the world's deepest underground shaft.

Connected by two cave systems, Qikeng and Dong Ba, their combined depth measures an astonishing 1026m.

Photographer Robert Shone spent two months with the climbers charting their discovery beneath Tian Xing.

"I was invited to join an international caving expedition last September by a friend of mine, Richard Gerrish, who lives and works out in Hong Kong," said the 28-year-old from Manchester.

"Along with a team of international climbers, we started our journey on the surface at the entrance of the Miao Keng underground caves.

Turkish Authorities Say: Let Sleeping Bats Lie

Hibernating bats in Havran, near Turkey's Aegean coast, can rest easy this winter, thanks to a decision by local authorities to hold off on pumping water into a nearby dam reservoir, an action that would have flooded their cave.

One cave near newly completed Havran Dam is thought to hold 15,000 to 20,000 bats of eight or nine different species, the second largest colony in Turkey. According to a 2005 paper in the journal Zoology in the Middle East,"the species richness and the colony sizes qualify the site as an Important Mammal Area and would qualify it as a Special Area for Conservation, according to the Habitats Directive of the European Union."

Both cave and dam are in the heavily agricultural province of Balıkesir, where the dam, once operational, will provide water to 3,330 hectares of farmland. But the bats are important to local farmers too, hunting enough bugs to eliminate the need for chemical pesticides.

Pumping will be delayed for six months, until the bats wake up in April. They typically hibernate from mid-fall to mid-spring, when the insects they eat are scarce. Once they leave the cave, authorities will seal the entrance to prevent their return. An artificial cave the same size will be dug in the nearby hills and stocked with guano (droppings) to draw the bats to their new home. Via: "Taps to stay off until bats wake up," 

Source: Turkish Daily News

Ancient cave draws MSU archaeologists to southeast Montana

Seth Alt, an MSU student from Bozeman, screens sediment
from Horseshoe Cave. (Photo by Jack Fisher).

Eryka Thorley had already excavated ancient fire hearths and stone flakes, but a severe thunderstorm on the final day of field work added a new dimension to the archaeology dig in southeast Montana.

As rain careened through gullies and lightning sliced the sky, the recent Montana State University graduate from Michigan and three MSU undergraduates took refuge in the rock shelter they had been excavating the past two weeks. Thorley imagined prehistoric Native Americans experiencing the same kind of weather thousands of years ago. MSU archaeologist Jack Fisher worried that they'd be unable to drive out the next day.

"I was sweating," he said. "It was a tremendous storm right on top of us."

The MSU team, which made it out after all, started excavating Horseshoe Cave in July after federal archaeologists and local ranchers asked Fisher to continue a project that University of Montana archaeologists had conducted in 1976, Fisher said. On the last day of the 1976 dig, the UM team had found a spear point believed to be more than 7,500 years old.

The August and Mary Sobotka Trust Fund, administered by the Montana State Historic Preservation Office, allowed MSU to pick up the project, Fisher said. Others on the MSU team were Seth Alt of Bozeman, Clint Garrett of Texas, and Dallas Timms of New Mexico. Halcyon La Point and Michael Bergstrom, archaeologists with the U.S. Forest Service in Billings, provided supplemental funds and logistical support.

Stalagmites May Predict Next Big One Along The New Madrid Seismic Zone

Small white stalagmites.
Insert: one stalagmite cut vertically in half, showing
generations of growth with the white one on top.
Credit: Courtesy of K. Hackley

Small white stalagmites lining caves in the Midwest may help scientists chronicle the history of the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) – and even predict when the next big earthquake may strike, say researchers at the Illinois State Geological Survey and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

While the 1811-12, magnitude 8 New Madrid earthquake altered the course of the Mississippi River and rung church bells in major cities along the East Coast, records of the seismic zone’s previous movements are scarce. Thick layers of sediment have buried the trace of the NMSZ and scientists must search for rare sand blows and liquefaction features, small mounds of liquefied sand that squirt to the surface through fractures during earthquakes, to record past events. That’s where the stalagmites come in.

The sand blows are few and far between, said Keith Hackley, an isotope geochemist with the Illinois State Geological Survey. In contrast, caves throughout the region are lined with abundant stalagmites, which could provide a better record of past quakes. “We’re trying to see if the initiation of these stalagmites might be fault-induced, recording very large earthquakes that have occurred along the NMSZ,” he said.

Hackley and co-workers used U-Th dating techniques to determine the age of stalagmites from Illinois Caverns and Fogelpole Cave in southwestern Illinois. They discovered that some of the young stalagmites began to form at the time of the 1811-12 earthquake.

The Descent Adopt-a-Cave Scheme

In 1977 Descent began a scheme to recognise and encourage the work of clubs and individuals in helping to preserve our underground environment. Today the Descent Adopt-a-Cave Scheme is more important than ever – without cavers maintaining our caves, our subterranean heritage would truly suffer. Joining the scheme does not confer any rights, it doesn’t help with access, but it does show that you care.

To participate, drop a line to Descent – and, of course, let us know if your club is unable to continue its involvement. In the Peak District, Conservation Officer Dave Webb acts as our agent to encourage cavers to join in and is happy to talk to people about their participation.

http://www.wildplaces.co.uk/adoptacave.html

Caves offer variety of challenge

Caver Mike Wiles is sh0wn at Jewel Cave National Monument,
S.D., in October of last year. He and other volunteers
helped map the cave past 142 miles, making it the second
longest cave in the world.

Perceptions aside, caving can be safer than many other activities

Caver Mike Wiles has helped document the far reaches of this cave that's a favorite Black Hills tourist attraction, but tours are available here year-round and elsewhere for the more casual explorer.

Wiles and other volunteers mapped Jewel Cave's passageways past 142 miles, making it the second-longest cave in the world. Nearby Wind Cave National Park is the eighth longest.

Some people have made caving out to be an extreme adventure, but it's really safer than a lot of activities on the surface, he said. The challenge and thrill come from discovering corridors that have never been reached — sometimes after days underground.

"I don't go for the rush. But instead of a rush I just have this long-term, continuous enjoyment with it. That way I don't get burned out," Wiles said.

68-year-old man from Styria tried to kill cave explorers

Hate and anger about cave explorers was the motivation for an attempted murder by a 68-year old man from the North Styrian town of Liezen.

The 68-year-old environmentalist wanted to protect “his mountain” from explorers and adventurers, he told the police after his detention.

He put up a stone trap on a sea level of 2.600 metres, close to the certain cave. The stones were stacked up and connected with a rope. If someone would use the rope, he would be killed by the fallen stones.

It was not the first time that the angry 68-year-old man displayed behavioural problems in this case. He also made telephon terror against police and the potholers, and there is also a suspicion that he has scratched two cars of the cave explorers.

At the moment the suspect is sitting in the prison of Leoben. The evidence is overwhelming.

Source: Austrianews

Hidden cave house is found

Open house ... rescuer finds home in cave

Lifeboat crews today revealed they found a house built into a cliff face while searching a stretch of coastline.

The surprise find was made by Arbroath RNLI lifeboat crew while responding to reports of cries for help coming from the caves.

They discovered the house, within a cave, complete with wooden floor, seats, painted walls and tea tree lights.

No one was found within the house, and the coastguard is currently investigating further.

The lifeboat team was sent out at the request of the coastguard following the emergency call on Tuesday afternoon.

During their coastline search to the north east of Arbroath, in Angus, Scotland, they came across a rope ladder bolted to a cliff face.

A crew member discovered the ladder led to a wooden wall and a locked door – complete with porthole window – sealing off a cave.

Allan Russell, mechanic for the Arbroath RNLI lifeboat, said: "This is certainly the most unusual thing I have come across during my ten years as a lifeboat man.

"There was a well-laid wooden floor, tea tree lights and parts of the walls have been painted.

"We are all wondering who has gone to such time and effort to build this."


He added that he could not divulge the exact location of the cliff house "to prevent the curious from seeking it out and potentially putting themselves at risk".

Source: The Sun

New Climate Record Shows Century-Long Droughts In Eastern North America

A stalagmite in a West Virginia cave has yielded the most detailed geological record to date on climate cycles in eastern North America over the past 7,000 years. The new study confirms that during periods when Earth received less solar radiation, the Atlantic Ocean cooled, icebergs increased and precipitation fell, creating a series of century-long droughts.

A research team led by Ohio University geologist Gregory Springer examined the trace metal strontium and carbon and oxygen isotopes in the stalagmite, which preserved climate conditions averaged over periods as brief as a few years. The scientists found evidence of at least seven major drought periods during the Holocene era, according to an article published online in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

“This really nails down the idea of solar influence on continental drought,” said Springer, an assistant professor of geological sciences.

Geologist Gerald Bond suggested that every 1,500 years, weak solar activity caused by fluctuations in the sun’s magnetic fields cools the North Atlantic Ocean and creates more icebergs and ice rafting, or the movement of sediment to ocean floors. Other scientists have sought more evidence of these so-called “Bond events” and have studied their possible impact on droughts and precipitation. But studies to date have been hampered by incomplete, less detailed records, Springer said.

The stalagmites from the Buckeye Creek Cave provide an excellent record of climate cycles, he said, because West Virginia is affected by the jet streams and moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.

The stalagmite, which is 7.9 inches long,
was collected from a site in
Buckeye Creek Cave, West Virginia.
It is 7,000 years old.
Credit: Greg Springer

Other studies have gleaned climate cycle data from lakes, but fish and other critters tend to churn the sediment, muddying the geological record there, said study co-author Harold Rowe, an assistant professor of geological sciences at the University of Texas at Arlington.

“(The caves) haven’t been disturbed by anything. We can see what happened on the scale of a few decades. In lakes of the Appalachian region, you’re looking more at the scale of a millennium,” Rowe said.

Strontium occurs naturally in the soil, and rain washes the element through the limestone. During dry periods, it is concentrated in stalagmites, making them good markers of drought, Rowe explained. Carbon isotopes also record drought, Springer added, because drier soils slow biological activity. This causes the soil to “breathe less, changing the mix of light and heavy carbon atoms in it,” he said.

In the recent study, the scientists cut and polished the stalagmite, examined the growth layers and then used a drill to take 200 samples along the growth axis. They weighed and analyzed the metals and isotopes to determine their concentrations over time.

The data are consistent with the Bond events, which showed the connection between weak solar activity and ice rafting, the researchers said. But the study also confirmed that this climate cycle triggers droughts, including some that were particularly pronounced during the mid-Holocene period, about 6,300 to 4,200 years ago. These droughts lasted for decades or even entire centuries.

Caver had filmed his final farewell

A caver who sparked a massive rescue effort at Wombeyen Caves earlier this year filmed himself saying goodbye to family and friends because he was convinced he would die trapped.

Jeffrey John McDonnell, 47, lived, but the ordeal cost him $15,000 in fines and compensation as well as the respect of the caving community.

McDonnell, 47, a technical officer, of St Marys, pleaded guilty in Goulburn Local Court on Wednesday to entering a cave without authority and risking the safety of others in a park.

In a story that reads like a "what not to do when caving", the court heard that McDonnell got trapped in a locked cave at Wombeyan Caves in May sparking a rescue effort involving 100 people over 40 hours.

For the full story, please see Friday's Goulburn Post, available from our front office in Auburn St, or at all leading newsagencies across the Goulburn area

Source: Goulburn Post

Cave explorer plumbs new depths in Mayo

An Irish-based Polish cave explorer has navigated the deepest underwater cave in Ireland or Britain.

Artur Kozlowski reached 103 metres (338ft) below ground in the Pollatoomary cave in south Mayo last month. This surpasses the previous British/Irish record of 90 metres attributed to Britain's deepest cave, Wookey Hole, in the Mendip hill in Somerset.

Leading British cave explorer, or speleologist, Martyn Farr has paid tribute to Mr Kozlowski's "very exciting achievement", which was undertaken with the support of fellow speleologist Tom Malone.

The Pollatoomary discovery establishes once again that Ireland has some of the finest subterranean caves in western Europe, Mr Farr said. Pollatoomary had been located initially by Mr Farr in 1978 close to the Aille river, which rises in Mayo's Partry mountains.

The river runs underground some 10km southeast of Westport, and reappears three kilometres further on at Bellaburke where the underground cavern is located.

Mr Farr reached a depth of 33 metres at that stage, and believed this to be the cave floor. "Obviously it was just a ledge," he said yesterday .

Largest collection of amber in Spain found in Cantabria

The El Soplao Cave in Cantabria

The El Soplao cave in Cantabria is being described as a geological treasure.

The largest find of amber in Spain has been found in the El Soplao cave in Cantabria, which has been described as a world geological treasure.

Much of the amber which has come to light contains insects in its interior and dates from some 110 million years ago.

Researchers from the Spanish Geological and Mining Institute, which is part of the Ministry for Science and Innovation, think the new find could be the most important in Europe.

Although there have been similar finds of amber in other parts of Spain, none are said to have as much amber nor as many trapped insects.

Source: Typically Spanish

UNESCO protects Spanish cave art

Painting in the Altamira cave

17 new caves have been declared Heritage of Mankind

UNESCO has declared Spanish Palaeolithic cave art found in Cantabria, Asturias and the Basque Country to be Heritage of Humanity. The dramatic Altamira cave was previously given the distinction in 1985.

The World Heritage committee of UNESCO took the decision in their 31st annual meeting held on the 2nd of this month, with the Spanish candidacy chosen last month.

There are 17 caves now protected because of the cave art they contain – they are - Tito Bustillo, la Peña de Candamo, Llonín, el Pindal, and Covaciella in Asturias; Chufín, Hornos de la Peña, El Castillo, La Pasiega, Las Monedas, el Pendo, La Garma, Covalanas, and Las Cimeneas in Cantabria; and Santimamiñe, Ekain, and Altxerri in the Basque Country.

Source: Typically Spanish

New Zealand's Deepest Cave video

Exploring the Nettlebed Caves. They are located in the Mt Arthur tablelands behind Nelson, contain 26KM of tunnels, and are of 420 million year old marble. They contain many rare bird fossils and ancient pollen records and are pretty dangerous to navigate so they are not advertised to the public as a destination. So very high scientific value indeed. There is information on them on the NZSS website and the Canterbury Cavers website.

Rescued caver charged by police

Police have charged a man who was stuck in a cave in the New South Wales Southern Highlands for two days.

Forty-seven-year-old Geoff McDonnell was caving by himself in the Wombeyan Caves last month when a rockfall trapped him in a standing position.

Authorities were contacted the next day when other cavers noticed him missing, but it took until Sunday night for him to be freed.

The rescue effort involved about 200 people from various emergency services.

Police have charged Mr McDonnell with entering or remaining in a cave without authority, risking the safety of a person in a national park and entering a closed park.

Inspector Doug Pilkington from Goulburn Police says most people who enter a cave in a national park without permission are fined, but charges were appropriate in this case.

"It was an isolated cave, well away from the main tracks," he said.

"There was always the potential for it to go seriously wrong and he took those risks regardless, so it was not appropriate to just issue him with some small infringement notices.

"It was much more appropriate to put him before a court."

He will appear in Goulburn Local Court on July 23.

Source: ABC

Speleologists and Nature Lovers Rendez-vous in Greece

Environmentally aware speleologists and nature lovers seeking adventure will have a unique rendezvous in the beautiful landscape of the northern prefecture of Drama from June 13 to 22 to attend the 2nd Balkan Speleological Reunion Camp “Balkan 2008.” 

Speleologists from 11 Balkan countries will have the opportunity to explore a number of caves in the region. 

The meeting is jointly organised by the Drama Prefecture, the Culture Ministry’s Paleo-Anthropology – Speleology Division in Northern Greece and the Hellenic Speleological Federation of Speleology with the support of the Balkan Speleological Union.

Ecotourism In Belize Is Damaging Environmentally Sensitive Sites

Mayan Ruin in Belize.
Credit: Peter Kumble

Belize is an unforgettable mix of tropical waterfalls, ancient Mayan ruins and deep limestone caves, making it one of the world’s most popular destinations for ecotourists. Peter Kumble of the University of Massachusetts Amherst is working with the government of Belize to limit the environmental impact of ecotourism on these sensitive natural wonders.

According to Kumble, one of the main things that ecotourists need to remember is how fragile these lush, tropical sites can be. “On a recent trek through underground caverns, which required swimming into the entrance, my students and I were asked to wear socks when we came out of the water,” says Kumble.

“Just the oils on our feet would have been enough to coat the rocks and prevent stalagmites and stalactites from growing on their surface.”

While this tour was led by licensed guides, many caves that are not as well managed have suffered damage to natural rock features, such as stalagmites and stalactites, as well as the theft of ancient Mayan artifacts. “The Mayans viewed the caves as a connection to the underworld, and left offerings of pottery, food and human sacrifice,” says Kumble. “In some locations it is fairly easy for a tourist to pick up a shard of pottery and take it home, not realizing that they are disturbing an important archaeological site.”

Rio-On Pools, a network of cascades and pools in the Mountain Pine Ridge region listed in the Rough Guide to Belize, has also suffered damage from overuse and minimal site maintenance. Water quality is becoming degraded as heavy rains wash sediments from dirt paths and parking lots. Poorly maintained pit toilets can also be a source of pollution. During field research over a 30 month period, Kumble observed significant erosion on trails, trash and debris left behind at many sites, and the displacement of wildlife and plants.

Like Bats, People 'Hear' Silent Objects

The song "The Sound of Silence" might hold more truth than ever imagined, suggests a new study that determined people can hear silent objects based on reflected and ambient sound.

Since blind individuals may be particularly tuned in to such sounds, the research helps explain how they can often find doorways, windows and objects without seeing or touching them. It may also lead to a better understanding of echolocation, the technique used by certain animals, like bats and dolphins, to detect reflected sound.

The study also suggests that true silence, except in artificially created environments like soundproof booths, does not exist.

"In the real world there is always some type of ambient noise," said Lawrence Rosenblum, who conducted the study with co-authors Ryan Robart and Ethan Chamberlain.

Extreme Life Found a Mile Below Seafloor

Scientists have found life about twice as far below the seafloor as has ever been documented before. A coring sample off the coast of Newfoundland turned up single-celled microbes living in searing temperatures about a mile (1,626 meters) below the seafloor.

"These are probably not only the deepest, but the hottest organisms found in deep marine sediments," said R. John Parkes, a geobiologist at Cardiff University in Wales. "I was hoping we would find them this deep, so we were very excited that we actually did confirm they were present. It's fascinating to know what proportion of our planet actually has living organisms in it."

While life has been known to exist at even greater depths beneath land — such as bacteria found nearly two miles underground in a gold mine in South Africa — life under the sea had previously only been detected to depths of about half a mile (842 meters) below the seafloor.

Parkes and his colleagues analyzed core samples returned from the Ocean Drilling Program. They found evidence for prokaryotic cells, which lack a central nucleus, that appear to be from the archaea family, a sister domain to bacteria.

The newly-discovered life likely gets its energy from methane. It thrives in 111 million–year-old rocks, enduring temperatures between 140 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit (60 to 100 degrees Celsius). In this extreme environment, life is relatively sparse.

"There's no light around, there's no oxygen around," Parkes told LiveScience. "It's basically just rocks, but there is still some space for water, which the organisms need."

This discovery of living creatures in some of Earth's most extreme hideouts may shed light on the search for extraterrestrial life.

"Until we know what's there on Earth, we're not going to have a clue what's possible on other planets," Parkes said. "I think people have taken the message from this type of work that it's no longer sufficient to take a scoop of Martian soil from the surface and say there's no life. If life on Earth can go as deep as several kilometers, there's no reason why that wouldn't be true under similar conditions on another planet."

The team detailed their findings in the May 23 issue of the journal Science.

Source: Live Science

Bodies rot and world doesn't end, so cult exits Russia cave

A handful of Russian doomsday-cult members Friday crawled out of the damp cave where they had holed up for months awaiting the end of the world after authorities removed two rotting corpses from the underground lair. The nine were the last of the 35 men, women and children who had dug into a hillside near the town of Penza in November and threatened to blow themselves up with gas canisters if officials tried to forcibly remove them. The last quit the hide-out after officials found the bodies of two cult members who died in the cave and warned survivors they could be poisoned by fumes from the decomposing bodies.

Source: Orlando Sentinel

From the Depths of Caves to the Film World

How does a single person combine his two favorite hobbies of caving and videography into one successful marketing career?

Dave Socky of the Blue Ridge Southwest Film Office is a talented professional who knows how. He began caving seriously in 1974 and started filming his caving expeditions in 1986. Luckily for Socky, he was able to find a way to unite his two favorite passions in the world and to do it successfully. Not only does he explore and survey caves; he documents them and manages his own video production unit with help from his wife.

Socky works out of Roanoke and each year helps the Blue Ridge Southwest Film Office host its annual film festival. He also is an active member in the International Speleological Society Convention. The videos he has created are both fascinating and educational. Some of his videos are often sold at particular cave gift shops, such as The Grand Caverns, and some of them have been sold for use to mega-companies, such as National Geographic and The Weather Channel.

Socky sat down recently with Planet Blacksburg to share his life experiences and techniques in film making and cave exploring.

Oregon cave yields evidence of the earliest Americans yet

Human DNA dated to 14,300 years ago

Fossilized excrement found in an Oregon cave has given scientists the clearest evidence to date that humans roamed the New World at least 1,000 years earlier than previously believed.



The prehistoric feces, deposited in a cave some 14,300 years ago, contain DNA from the forebears of modern-day Native Americans, according to the research.

The discovery reported yesterday by the journal Science added fresh weight to emerging theories that Stone Age people from Asia somehow bypassed ice sheets sealing off North America before 11,000 BC.

Nearly all scholars agree that humans were present by then, but until recently few archeologists accepted that an earlier arrival was even possible because of the formidable ice barriers. So the Oregon discovery and work at other sites may help solve one of archeology's most enduring mysteries - how and when did humans reach the Americas?

The new timeline comes from 14 pieces of fossilized excrement, called coprolites, found within the Paisley Caves complex by University of Oregon archeologist Dennis L. Jenkins and painstakingly analyzed by genetic anthropologists in Denmark.

Tiny Bug Found In Grand Canyon Region Cave Suggests Big Biodiversity

This tiny arthropod, measuring only 1.3 mm,
has hardened forewings similar to that of the outer
hardwing cover of beetles.
Credit: Ed Mockford, Illinois State University

The discovery of a new genus of a tiny booklouse from a northern Arizona cave may lead to further protection for cave ecosystems.

J. Judson Wynne, a Northern Arizona University doctoral student and cave research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Southwest Biological Science Center, and Kyle Voyles, a cave researcher from Parashant National Monument, recently discovered a new genus of psocopteran (booklouse) from a cave on the western edge of the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.

This discovery represents only the third known living genera in the Family Sphaeropsocopsis. There are two other genera, which are known from fossils in amber dating back to early Cretaceous Period around 125 million years ago. Whether this finding represents a relict species researchers cannot yet say. It will require further investigation to discover if this is a species that has survived while other related ones have become extinct.

Jupiter Scouts, leader rescue young caver in Georgia

Scoutmaster Jeff Vorpagel, left, with Troop 173 Boy Scouts
who went caving last weekend but ended up saving a teen who
got stuck 50 feet down in one of the caves. From left, they
are Ricky Berlin, Chance Vorpagel and Robert Fox. Jeff Vorpagel,
Fox and Chance Vorpagel helped with the rescue and brought
the teen to the surface.

It was the end of a long weekend, crawling through caves as part of a Florida cavers field trip in north Florida and south Georgia.

Several Jupiter Boy Scouts from Troop 173 of Jupiter First Methodist Church, including Robert Fox, 13, a candidate for Eagle Scout, and Chance Vorpagel, 15, were accompanied by Chance’s dad, Jeff, an Assistant Scoutmaster and instructor in climbing and caving.

Daylight was fading Sunday evening as the Jupiter group prepared to depart for home from Cairo, Ga., when the father of a teen unassociated with the Jupiter Scouts came running up.

His teenage son was unable to make his final ascent up from a ledge 50 feet below the entrance of a waterfall cave.

“The teen was exhausted and becoming delirious, and he couldn’t help himself at all, ” said Calvin David Fox on Wednesday, as he related Robert Fox's and Chance Vorpagel's actions to help rescue a teen they did not know from injury.

“Ironically, Robert had just finished a Red Cross class in wilderness first aid, and he told me that because of the class he realized that if they didn’t get the kid out of the cave he could have hypothermia and go into shock,” the elder Fox said.

Partially Mummified Corpse Found In Glenwood Canyon Cave

A partially mummified body has been discovered in a cave west of No Name, Colo.

According to a newspaper report, the body is believed to be that of a transient.

The body was found by a man and his two sons inside the cave, east of Glenwood Springs, on Saturday afternoon.

The deputy coroner of Garfield County told the Glenwood Springs Independent that the hands of the corpse were starting to mummify, indicating that death had occurred weeks before the trio made the grisly discovery.

Thomas Walton was conducting an autopsy to determine and the cause and time of death for the unidentified man.

For years, cavers trying to visit Cave of the Clouds have been confronted by a wild-eyed transient who sometimes threw rocks at them as they climbed the walls of Glenwood Canyon to access the cave.

The man told cavers that he considered the cave his home and he stayed there year round.

A spokeswoman for the Garfield County Sheriff's Office said the man found dead had been living in the cave.

The man and his sons planned to revisit the cave to erect a cross in his memory.

Source: The Denver Channel

End-of-world cult members emerging from Russian cave

Seven female members of a Russian cult that has been holed up in a cave for months awaiting the end of the world have emerged and are being treated by emergency workers, regional officials said Friday. More than two dozen members who remain inside the cave could come out as early as today, said the official in the governor's office of the Penza region, about 400 miles southeast of Moscow. He said four children were among those remaining. Penza Vice Governor Oleg Melnichenko said the group's leader, self-declared prophet Pyotr Kuznetsov, was brought from a psychiatric hospital to help persuade the women to come out.

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Glimmer of hope as bats succumb to disease

There are hopes this is an early sign that bats can adapt
to a disease that has spread to 19 states and Canada.

Researchers found substantially more bats in several New York caves that were the first ones struck by white-nose syndrome, giving them a glimmer of hope amid a scourge that has killed millions of bats in North America.

Figures released by the state Department of Environmental Conservation showed notable increases in the number of little brown bats in three out of five upstate New York hibernation caves where scientists first noticed white nose decimating winter bat populations six years ago. The largest cave saw an increase from 1,496 little browns last year to 2,402 this winter.

There are hopes this is an early sign that bats can adapt to a disease that has spread to 19 states and Canada. But scientists caution it's far too early to tell if it is the start of a trend or a statistical blip.

“While we remain cautiously optimistic of encouraging trends for some species seen more recently, it will likely take several years before we fully know how to interpret this,” said Kathleen Moser, the agency's assistant commissioner of natural resources.

White-nose, named for the sugary smudges found on affected bats' snouts, prompts bats to wake from their winter hibernation and die when they fly into the winter landscape in a futile search for food. First detected in 2006, the fungal infection has killed more than 5.7 million bats as it spread from the Northeast. In recent weeks, the disease has shown up in Alabama and Missouri, marking its advance west of the Mississippi River.

III International Workshop on Cave Art

The "Antonio Núñez Jiménez" Foundation for Nature and Humanity, the Cuban Society for Speleology and the Montané Museum of Anthropology are pleased to invite you to the III INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON CAVE ART, to be held on November 17 to 22, 2008, in the Conference Hall of the "Antonio Núñez Jiménez" Foundation, located at: 5ta. B No. 6611 entre 66 y 70, Miramar, in the beautiful city of Havana, Cuba, on November 17 to 22, 2008.

This year the Workshop will be dedicated to researchers José Maria Cruxent, Carlos Ponce Sangines and Fernando Morban Laucer.

As in previous years, the purpose of this meeting is to provide a framework for theoretical discussion among cave art professionals and scholars from all over the world, and the Americas in particular, who will be able to exchange experiences and get an update on the state of the art in ongoing research into this field.

Businessmen urged to go caving

A muscular dystrophy sufferer from Weston is urging businessmen to take on the challenge of caving to help raise money for a good cause.

I'm a Company Director... Get Me Out of Here is being organised by members of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and will involve people exploring the caves of Burrington Coombe.

Steve Ledbrook, of Willow Road, Weston, suffers from the condition that causes muscles to weaken and waste away.

The 34-year-old supports the campaign's quest for better services for sufferers in the South West.

His 30-year-old brother, James, also suffers from Becker's Muscular Dystrophy and both have been waiting to see a specialist for more than two years.

Steve said: "I have lived in Weston for six years. I moved here because there was an adult clinic in Bristol for people with the condition.

"However, this has since shut down and I haven't been able to see a specialist for a long time. I would have to travel to Oxford to get the treatment I need.

"I really do think people in the South West are getting a bad deal in terms of the services they have available to them."

The campaign's regional fund-raising manager, Lynne Hodgson, said: "We have met with the South West Strategic Health Authority to discuss the situation and they have agreed to work with us to improve the services."

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign members have organised the caving event for April 25 and they are hoping company directors and businessmen will take part and gather up some sponsorship money, which will be used to help fund the group's activities.

These include investing in research, resources and providing information.

To sign up or to find out more details about the campaign contact Lynne Hodgson on 01752 228128 or email l.hodgson@muscular-dystrophy.org

Source: EDP24

Karst Resources Should Stay in Public Hands Say Conservation Groups

A bill that would enable the Sealaska Corporation to fulfill their land selections under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANSCA) has attracted interest from several Southeast conservation groups who say the proposed land selections by the Sealaska Corporation lie outside of the areas designated by ANSCA for purposes of settling the corporation's land claims. Representative Don Young introduced HR 3560, the proposed Southeast Alaska Native Land Entitlement Finalization Act in the fall of 2007.

According to information provided by the Sitka Conservation Society, the bill would authorize Sealaska to select up to 95,000 acres for economic development lands allowing for extraction of timber from these lands. Because the legislation would remove federal protections from these lands, Alaska law would govern logging on the economic development lands. Alaska law provides only minimal standards and does not protect some of the fragile resources contained in the selected areas. In the past, Sealaska has devastated many important areas in Southeast Alaska due to poor logging practices and low accountability as a private landowner according to Natalie Sattler, Sitka Conservation Society's Community Outreach Coordinator.

Many of the economic development lands selected by Sealaska are located on unique karst landscapes that overlie hidden features such as caves said Sattler. These caves are important to humans for scientific, educational and recreational purposes and are an important resource that merits protection she said.

Cave life forms could give clues to sea

Dr. Thomas Iliffe of Texas A&M at Galveston, who specializes in cave biology, has discovered more than 250 new species of marine cave-dwelling animals in his years exploring underwater caves around the world. Because he is a pioneer in his field, most papers in his discipline are either authored by him or cite his work.

Of special interest to him are inland, anchialine (from Greek, literally “near the sea”) and offshore, marine caves. Anchialine caves, called blue holes in the Bahamas and cenotes in Mexico, are on land near the coast, but still have fully marine waters at depth.

Some, like those he explored on the Yucatán Peninsula, contain creatures that date back to before the meteor impact that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Originating in the sea, ancestors of today’s cave species colonized subterranean systems and were then cut off from their parent populations.

Brought to light by Iliffe and his team after spending millions of years evolving in darkness and isolation, they represent many lost primitive forms that persisted only in the deep interior of saltwater caves. Like the coelacanth, these “living fossils” can give us key insights into the evolution of the modern forms that inhabit the sea today and possibly represent missing links in our knowledge base of life on Earth.

Now, researchers are involved in a race against human development and pollution to explore these caves and document their unique life before they are lost. Several sponges in these caves have shown potential in developing pharmaceuticals that are resistant to cancer and aging. Since many of these new and unique species are found only in a single cave, pollution or destruction of the cave habitat would result in their complete extinction.

Teams bid to reach trapped cavers

Rescuers are in phone contact with the trapped cavers

An operation is under way to rescue two experienced cavers cut off by flood waters underground at the Dan-yr-Ogof caves in the Swansea Valley.

The men, in their 30s from south Wales and Gloucestershire, are in a dry area two miles from the end of the National Showcaves Centre for Wales.

Divers, who are now kitted up to go back into the flooded area, are hoping water levels will now have fallen.

The cavers have been trapped in the complex since Saturday.

Rescuers who are in touch with the men said they were not in any danger.

The two trapped men made contact with the outside world at 0615 GMT on Sunday and divers have been trying to get through a series of lakes to reach them since.

Video: Cave Fauna

Ebook: World heritage caves and karst

World Heritage Caves & Karst

A global review of karst World Heritage properties: present situation, future prospects and management requirements

Free Ebook: Download here

Content
PART 1: REVIEW OF KARST LANDSCAPES AND CAVES IN RELATION TO THE WORLD
HERITAGE LIST

1. Introduction 
• Nominations of Karst Properties to the World Heritage List 
2. Purpose and Scope of this Review 
3.  Definitions 
• Karst Landscapes 
• Karst-like Landscapes 
4. Conceptual Framework 
5. Karst Landscapes and Caves on the World Heritage List 
6. Karst Landscapes and Caves on the Tentative Lists of States Parties 
7. Recommendations for Filling the Principal Remaining Gaps 
8. Conclusions on Karst and the World Heritage List 

PART 2: THE REQUIREMENTS FOR INTEGRITY AND MANAGEMENT THAT SHOULD APPLY
TO KARST ON THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST

1. Conditions of Integrity 
2. Requirements for Integrity that Apply to Karst 
• The Unusual Characteristics of Karst 
• Requirements for Integrity 
3. Requirements for Management that Apply to Karst 
• Responsibility of the State Party
• Management Structure
• Management Issues in Karst 
• Management of Caves
4. Monitoring 
5.  Conclusions on Integrity

http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/2008-037.pdf

Video: Biking inside cave

Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs to feature Horse Cave

Mike Rowe and the Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs crew will explore Hidden River Cave in Horse Cave in search of exotic cave animals on Tuesday, January 22, 8:00pmCT.

During September 2007, Mike Rowe and crew went "down and dirty" to experience the challenges and rewards of travel along an underground river.

Partnering with American Cave Conservation Association staff and volunteers, the Dirty Jobs crew followed in the muddy footsteps of a cave biologist, a karsthydrologist and a cave survey team.

The week culminated with the cleanup of a local sinkhole that had become a dumping site for household appliances, discarded building materials and household trash.

Watch as Mike Rowe goes "on rope" at Hidden River Cave to welcome viewers to the amazing world of Kentucky's caves. Meet scientists and educators whose professions take them where they are often "down and dirty".

Scheduled air times for the Dirty Jobs Hidden River Cave story are January 22, 2008, at 8:00pm, January 23, 2008, at noon; and January 26, 2008 at 11:00amCT.

For more information, contact the American Cave Conservation Association at (270) 786-1466.

Explorer’s legacy to caving community

An experienced caver who drowned while on an expedition in North Yorkshire had helped save countless colleagues.

Stuart Goodwill died in the Alum Pot cave system, near Selside, in the Yorkshire Dales, on December 27.

But Mr Goodwill, 33, of Darlington, will leave a legacy to the caving community, after helping to develop a piece of safety equipment.

His close friend and caving colleague, Les Sykes, said Mr Goodwill had improved the safety of one of his favourite pursuits.

He said during the Eighties as many as 50 cavers every year were falling during expeditions because of their equipment.

Cavers decided to build a stronger form of "anchor" to put up in caves. The piece of equipment helps cavers hang safely from walls.