Description

About the Author David Shaw Gillieson is an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria, Australia. He has held academic appointments at the Australian National University, University of New South Wales and James Cook University. Over the last fifty years he has explored and studied caves in Australasia, Europe, North America, Oceania and Southeast Asia. He is currently Treasurer of the Australasian Cave and Karst Management Association, and is a former Chair of the International Geographical Union Commission on Karst. He has been involved in the evaluation and writing of World Heritage nominations, and cave and karst management plans across the globe. Preface and Acknowledgements Figure Permissions Plate Permissions Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Some Basic Propositions 1.2 Now the Details… Chapter 2: Caves and Karst 2.1 What is a Cave? 2.2 What is Karst? 2.3 Caves as Systems 2.4 Caves as Geomorphic Systems 2.5 Caves as Biological Systems 2.6 Where are the Deepest and Longest Caves? Chapter 3: Cave Hydrology 3.1 Basic Concepts in Karst Drainage Systems 3.2 Porosity and Permeability 3.2.1 Diffuse flow 3.2.2 Fissure flow 3.2.3 Conduit flow 3.2.4 Understanding the karst drainage system 3.3 Zonation of the Karst Drainage System 3.4 Defining the Catchment of a Cave 3.5 Analysis of Karst Drainage Systems 3.5.1 Water tracing techniques 3.5.2 Spring hydrograph analysis 3.5.3 Spring chemograph analysis 3.6 Structure and Function of Karst Drainage Systems 3.6.1 Storage and transfers in the karst system 3.6.2 The role of extreme events 3.7 Karst Hydrology of the Mammoth Cave Plateau, Kentucky Chapter 4: Processes of Rock Dissolution 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Karst Rocks 4.2.1 Limestone 4.2.2 Dolomite 4.2.3 Evaporite rocks – Gypsum and Halite 4.2.4 Sandstone 4.2.5 Granite 4.3 Processes of Dissolution of Karst Rocks 4.3.1 The solution of limestone in meteoric waters 4.3.2 Soil and vegetation in the limestone solution process 4.3.3 The zoning of solution in the unsaturated zone 4.3.4 Limestone solution in seawater 4.4 Hydrothermal Solution of Limestone 4.5 Solution of Evaporites 4.6 Solution of Silicates in Meteoric Waters 4.7 Caves in Quaternary Limestone in Southern Australia Chapter 5: Speleogenesis 5.1 Classifying Cave Systems 5.2 Controls of Rock Structure on Cave Development 5.2.1 Role of lithology 5.2.2 Role of joints, fractures, and faults 5.2.3 Cave breakdown and evaporite weathering 5.3 Meteoric Speleogenesis, Unconfined and Confined 5.3.1 Formation of caves in plan 5.3.2 Formation of caves in length and depth 5.3.3 The formation of maze caves 5.4 Tectonic and Eustatic Controls on Cave Development 5.5 Deep Shafts of the World 5.6 Hypogene Speleogenesis 5.6.1 Solutional mesoforms as indicators of hypogene origin 5.6.2 Condensation and corrosion in passage enlargement 5.7 Flank Margin Speleogenesis 5.8 Caves Formed in Gypsum 5.9 Lava Tubes, Weathering Caves, and Pseudokarst 5.9.1 The formation of lava tubes 5.9.2 Weathering caves and pseudokarst 5.10 Life History and Antiquity of Caves 5.11 Geological Control and the World’s Longest Cave Chapter 6: Cave Interior Deposits 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Carbonates 6.3 Controls over Carbonate Mineralogy 6.4 Other Cave Deposits Formed by Carbonate Minerals 6.5 Growth Rates of Speleothems 6.6 Important Non-Carbonate Minerals 6.7 Evaporites (Sulphates and Halides) 6.8 Phosphates and Nitrates 6.9 Oxides, Silicates, and Hydroxides 6.10 Ice in Caves 6.11 Other Minerals 6.12 Cave Deposits of the Nullarbor Plain, Australia Chapter 7: Cave Sediments 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Clastic Sediment Types 7.3 Processes of Sedimentation 7.3.1 Gravity-fall processes 7.3.2 Waterlain clastic sediments 7.3.3 Cave and rockshelter entrance deposits 7.4 Sediment Transport and Particle Size 7.5 Diagenesis of Cave Sediments 7.6 Stratigraphy and its Interpretation 7.7 Provenance Studies 7.8 Cave Sediments and Environmental History at Zhoukoudian, China Chapter 8: Dating Cave Deposits 8.1 The Importance of Dating Cave Deposits 8.2 Dating Techniques and the Quaternary Timescale 8.3 Palaeomagnetism 8.4 Uranium Series; Uranium-Thorium, Uranium-Lead 8.5 Radiocarbon 8.6 Other Dating Methods: Cosmogenic Radionuclides, and Tephrochronology 8.7 Timing Glacial and Interglacial Events in New Zealand Chapter 9: Cave Deposits and Past Climates 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Oxygen Isotope Analysis 9.3 The Last Glacial-Interglacial Temperature Record 9.4 Carbon Isotopes and Environmental Changes 9.5 Cyclone History in the Indo-Pacific Region 9.6 Other Proxy Records (Trace Elements, Annual Laminae, Pollen, Lipid Biomarkers) 9.7 The Long Environmental History of the Nullarbor Plain, Australia 9.8 Some Speculations on the Future Chapter 10: Cave Ecology 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Classification of Cave Life and its Function 10.3 Adaptations and Modifications to Life in Darkness 10.4 Life Zones within Caves 10.5 The Cave as a Habitat 10.6 Energy Flows in Cave Ecosystems 10.7 Cave Microbiology 10.8 Origin and Dispersal of Cave-Dwelling Animals 10.9 Threats to Cave Fauna 10.10 Conservation of Biological Diversity in Caves 10.11 Caves and Ecosystem Services 10.12 White Nose Syndrome 10.13 Unravelling the Secrets of the Carrai Bat Cave Chapter 11: Cave Archaeology 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Prehistoric uses of caves 11.3 Cave faunas and hominids 11.4 Cave art in context 11.5 Depositional environments in caves 11.6 Cave deposits and biological conservation 11.7 Taphonomy of cave deposits 11.8 Archaeology of Liang Bua Cave, Flores (the Hobbit Cave) Chapter 12: Historic Uses of Caves 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Caves as Shelter 12.3 Caves as Sacred Spaces 12.4 Caves as Sources of Raw Materials 12.5 Cave Tourism 12.6 Cave Dwellings in Turkey Chapter 13: Cave Management 13.1 Introduction – Caves as Contested Spaces 13.2 Interpretation and Guide Training 13.3 Cave Lighting 13.4 Some Engineering Issues in Caves 13.5 Impacts of Visitors and Infrastructure on Show Caves 13.6 Radon Risk in Caves 13.7 Cave Cleaning and its Impacts 13.8 Impacts of Recreational Caving on Caves 13.9 Cave Rescue 13.10 Cave Inventories and Alternative Management Concepts 13.11 Rehabilitation and Restoration of Caves 13.12 Cave Classification and Management 13.13 Policy Approaches to Cave and Karst Protection 13.14 Management of the Gunung Mulu World Heritage Area, Sarawak, Malaysia Chapter 14: Catchment Management in Karst 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Basic Concepts in Karst Management 14.3 Defining Karst Catchments 14.4 Vegetation and Caves 14.5 Accelerated Soil Loss in Karst 14.6 Agricultural Impacts 14.6.1 Rocky desertification 14.6.2 Infilling of dolines 14.6.3 Altered drainage 14.6.4 Groundwater lowering 14.6.5 Fertiliser and herbicides 14.6.6 Pesticides 14.6.7 Microbial contamination of groundwater 14.6.8 Golf courses on karst 14.7 Fire Management in Karst 14.8 Conservation Issues in Karst 14.9 Assessing Vulnerability in Karst Management 14.9.1 Karst Disturbance Index 14.9.2 Karst Groundwater Vulnerability 14.10 Data Availability 14.10.1 Understanding disputes over cave and karst resources 14.11 The IUCN Guidelines for Cave and Karst Protection Chapter 15: Documentation of Caves 15.1 Cave Use Classification 15.2 Geoheritage Assessment 15.3 Cave Mapping 15.4 Cave Photography 15.5 3D Scanning of Caves 15.5.1 Processing 15.5.2 Use in scientific studies 15.5.3 Drones 15.6 Mapping World Heritage Caves in Gunung Mulu National Park, Malaysia Further Reading Electronic Media Sources Glossary Index