Caves: Processes, Development, and Management

by David Shaw Gillieson

Overview

People have been interested in caves for a very long time. Our distant ancestors used them for shelter, as sources of water, and as places in which to conduct essential rituals. They adorned their walls with quite sophisticated artwork depicting both their existential and spiritual concerns. Caves feature in our mythology, they are used as places of worship in many cultures, and they are used throughout the world as places in which to store prized foodstuffs and wine. For at least two hundred years they have attracted scientists, artists, photographers, and recreational cavers. This book aims examines how caves form, the light they shed on past environments and climates, and the values, both environmental and cultural, that they provide to humanity.

This second edition of Caves: Processes, Development, and Management is a welcome revision of the author's earlier treatment released over twenty years ago. It has been updated, significantly expanded, and largely rewritten. The intervening years have seen a dramatic increase in karst and cave research globally, with significant advances in our understanding of fundamental processes, in our ability to extract proxy climatic and environmental data from cave deposits, and in our understanding of the breadth of cave values and as a result the complexity of their management needs. This new edition adopts a broad international perspective in the research examples used and the cited literature, and has actively sought out material from the tropical world and the southern continents, thus avoiding the European and North American bias frequently found in speleological publications.

Caves: Processes, Development, and Management, Second Edition, is organised into four sections. In the first section, contemporary processes of cave formation are examined. The second section of the book deals with past processes and their physical manifestation. In the third section, the use of caves by various organisms from bacteria to humans is explored. The final section of the book reviews our changing approaches to cave management and to catchment management on karst terrains. The book will be of use to anyone who is interested in caves and karst, or who wants to understand about cave formation, development, values and management.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781119455578
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	06/14/2021
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements xiii

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Some Basic Propositions 1

1.2 Now the Details… 3

2 Caves and Karst 6

2.1 What Is a Cave? 6

2.2 What Is Karst? 7

2.3 Caves as Systems 9

2.4 Where Are the Deepest and Longest Caves? 14

3 Cave Hydrology 18

3.1 Basic Concepts in Karst Drainage Systems 18

3.2 Porosity and Permeability 20

3.4 Defining the Catchment of a Cave 30

3.5 Analysis of Karst Drainage Systems 32

3.6 Structure and Function of Karst Drainage Systems 41

3.7 Karst Hydrology of the Mammoth Cave Plateau, Kentucky 47

4 Processes of Rock Dissolution 55

4.1 Introduction 55

4.2 Karst Rocks 55

4.3 Processes of Dissolution of Karst Rocks 66

4.4 Hydrothermal Solution of Limestone 73

4.5 Solution of Evaporites 74

4.6 Solution of Silicates in MeteoricWaters 75

4.7 Caves in Quaternary Limestone in Southern Australia 77

5 Speleogenesis 86

5.1 Classifying Cave Systems 86

5.2 Controls of Rock Structure on Cave Development 89

5.3 Meteoric Speleogenesis, Unconfined and Confined 96

5.4 Hypogene Speleogenesis 115

5.5 Flank Margin Speleogenesis 120

5.6 Caves Formed in Gypsum 122

5.7 Lava Tubes, Weathering Caves, and Pseudokarst 123

5.8 Life History and Antiquity of Caves 126

5.9 Geological Control and theWorld’s Longest Cave 127

6 Cave Interior Deposits 138

6.1 Introduction 138

6.2 Carbonates 144

6.3 Controls over Carbonate Mineralogy 148

6.4 Other Cave Deposits Formed by Carbonate Minerals 149

6.5 Growth Rates of Speleothems 151

6.6 Important Non-carbonate Minerals 153

6.7 Ice in Caves 157

6.8 Other Minerals 158

6.9 Cave Deposits of the Nullarbor Plain, Australia 158

7 Cave Sediments 171

7.1 Introduction 171

7.2 Clastic Sediment Types 171

7.3 Processes of Sedimentation 172

7.4 Sediment Transport and Particle Size 185

7.5 Diagenesis of Cave Sediments 188

7.6 Stratigraphy and its Interpretation 189

7.7 Provenance Studies 190

7.8 Cave Sediments and Environmental History at Zhoukoudian, China 191

8 Dating Cave Deposits 198

8.1 The Importance of Dating Cave Deposits 198

8.2 Dating Techniques and the Quaternary Timescale 199

8.3 Palaeomagnetism 200

8.4 Uranium Series; Uranium-Thorium, Uranium-Lead 203

8.5 Radiocarbon 211

8.6 Other Dating Methods: Cosmogenic Radionuclides, and Tephrochronology 213

8.7 Timing Glacial and Interglacial Events in New Zealand 215

9 Cave Deposits and Past Climates 225

9.1 Introduction 225

9.2 Oxygen Isotope Analysis 226

9.3 The Last Glacial-Interglacial Temperature Record 228

9.4 Carbon Isotopes and Environmental Changes 234

9.5 Cyclone History in the Indo-Pacific Region 235

9.6 Other Proxy Records (Trace Elements, Annual Laminae, Pollen, Lipid iomarkers) 239

9.7 The Long Environmental History of the Nullarbor Plain, Australia 240

9.8 Some Speculations on the Future 245

10 Cave Ecology 248

10.1 Introduction 248

10.2 Classification of Cave Life and its Function 248

10.3 Adaptations and Modifications to Life in Darkness 249

10.4 Life Zones within Caves 252

10.5 The Cave as a Habitat 255

10.6 Energy Flows in Cave Ecosystems 261

10.7 Cave Microbiology 264

10.8 Origin and Dispersal of Cave-Dwelling Animals 267

10.9 Threats to Cave Fauna 270

10.10 Conservation of Biological Diversity in Caves 275

10.11 Caves and Ecosystem Services 277

10.12 White Nose Syndrome 280

10.13 Unravelling the Secrets of the Carrai Bat Cave 283

11 Cave Archaeology 292

11.1 Introduction 292

11.2 Prehistoric Uses of Caves 293

11.3 Cave Faunas and Hominids 294

11.4 Cave Art in Context 300

11.5 Depositional Environments in Caves 304

11.6 Cave Deposits and Biological Conservation 305

11.7 Taphonomy of Cave Deposits 306

11.8 Archaeology of Liang Bua Cave, Flores (the Hobbit Cave) 309

12 Historic Uses of Caves 318

12.1 Introduction 318

12.2 Caves as Shelter 318

12.3 Caves as Sacred Spaces 321

12.4 Caves as Sources of Raw Materials 324

12.5 Cave Tourism 333

12.6 Cave Dwellings in Turkey 335

13 Cave Management 342

13.1 Introduction — Caves as Contested Spaces 344

13.2 Interpretation and Guide Training 345

13.3 Cave Lighting 348

13.4 Some Engineering Issues in Caves 349

13.5 Impacts of Visitors and Infrastructure on Show Caves 352

13.6 Radon Risk in Caves 358

13.7 Cave Cleaning and its Impacts 362

13.8 Impacts of Recreational Caving on Caves 362

13.9 Cave Rescue 367

13.10 Cave Inventories and Alternative Management Concepts 371

13.11 Rehabilitation and Restoration of Caves 374

13.12 Cave Classification and Management 376

13.13 Policy Approaches to Cave and Karst Protection 378

13.14 Management of the Gunung MuluWorld Heritage Area, Sarawak, Malaysia 379

14 Catchment Management in Karst 393

14.1 Introduction 393

14.2 Basic Concepts in Karst Management 393

14.3 Defining Karst Catchments 395

14.4 Vegetation and Caves 398

14.5 Accelerated Soil Loss in Karst 400

14.6 Agricultural Impacts 402

14.7 Fire Management in Karst 412

14.8 Conservation Issues in Karst 414

14.9 Assessing Vulnerability in Karst Management 415

14.10 Understanding Disputes Over Cave and Karst Resources 421

14.11 The IUCN Guidelines for Cave and Karst Protection 423

15 Documentation of Caves 432

15.1 Geoheritage Assessment 432

15.2 Cave Mapping 436

15.3 Cave Photography 442

15.4 3D Scanning of Caves 449

15.5 Drones 453

15.6 MappingWorld Heritage Caves in Gunung Mulu National Park, Malaysia 454

References 457

Glossary of Cave and Karst Terminology 461

Further Reading 474

Index 475