Thursday, August 21, 2008

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

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

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.

Friday, August 15, 2008

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

Thursday, August 7, 2008

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 .

Thursday, August 21, 2008

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

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

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.

Friday, August 15, 2008

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

Thursday, August 7, 2008

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 .