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ave
Science
The Transactions
o
the British Cave
Research ssociation
BCRA
[
Volume
Number July
984
I
Bison pa in t i ng n
l t am i ra
Yorkshire Stalagmite
Dates
Castleton Water tracing
Invertebrates
from Niah
Grea
t
Cave
Altamira Temperatures
Fiji Caves
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BRITISH
C VE
RESE RCH ASSOCIATION
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ISSN
0263-760X
C VE
SCIENCE
TRANSACTIONS OF
THE
BRITISH
CAVE
RESEARCH
ASSOCIATION
Volume
11
Number 2
Ju ly
1984
CONTENTS
Uranium se r i e s da t ing o f speleothems, pa r t
I I :
r e su l t s
from
t he Yorkshire Dales
and Impl icat ions
for Cave
Development
and Quaternary
Cl imates
by M Gascoyne
and
D.C.Ford 65
Fur the r wate r - t rac ing experiments a t Cast l e ton
Derbyshire .
by N.S .J .Chr i s topher
Inve r teb ra te s in Niah Great Cave, Batu Niah
National Park , Sarawak
by P. Chapman
Air
Temperatures
and Air
Interchanges in Altamira
Cave
Spain)
by
E. V i l l a r P.L. Fernandez, L.S.Quindos,
J .R.Solana and
J .
Soto
Ambient Temperature Var ia t ions in t he
Hal l
o f Pain t ings
of
Altamira
Cave due to t he presence of v i s i t o r s .
by
E. V i l l a r
A.
Bonet ,
B. Diaz-Caneja,
P.L.
Fernandez,
I . Gut ie r rez
L.S.Quindos,
J .R.Solana
86
89
92
J . Soto 99
Limestone and Volcanic
Caves o f
the F i j i
I s l ands
by
T. G i lb e r t 105
Cover
photo:
Bison pa in t ing in Altamira Cave
y
Eleanor Dominguez
©
Published by and
ob ta inab le from:
The
Br i t i sh Cave
Research
Associa t ion
30 Main Road,
westonzoyland,
Br idgwater ,
Somerset
TA7
OEB
Copyright
t he Br i t i sh
Cave
Research
Associa t ion 1984. No
p a r t o f
t h i s pub l ica t ion may be reproduced in
any
o the r pub l ica t ion
used
in
adver t i s ing s to red in an
e lec t ronic r e t r i e v a l system,
o r
otherwise used
for commercial
purposes
except fo r s ing le
cop ies
fo r
r esea rch purposes
without
the pr io r wri t t en
consent of
the
authors and o f
t he
Associa t ion .
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C VE SCIENCE
Transactions o f
the
Bri t i sh
Cave
Re se
arch Associat ion
Vo l
11, No 2
J
uly
1984
URANIUM SERIES DATING
OF
SPELEOTHEMS
PART
II
RESULTS FROM THE YORKSHIRE DALES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CAVE DEVELOPMENT
AND QUATERNARY CLlMATES
M.Gascoyne D.C.Ford
Ab
s t r ac
t
Resu l t s o f d a t
ing
ov e r 80 s t a l agmit es and lo wstones f rom ma j o r Cr a v e n cave sys t
em
s a
re
d esc r i b ed a nd i n t e rp r e t e d in t e rms o f spe l eog e nes i s a nd geomorphic d ev e l opment o f th e Yo rkshi re
Da les . Lo ng t e rm av e r age d owncut t ing r a te s o f 2
to
8 em p e r thous a nd year s have b e en
c a l c
u l
a t ed f r
om
b a s a l ag es .
of
s
pe
l e
o th ems
a
d ja cen
t t o ma j o r dra
in
a g e c ha
nn
e l s .
Ex
tr ap o l a
t ion
to v a l l e y s
ou t
s ide th
e
caves su gge
s t s
th
a t
the
Da l es a r e
between one an
d
tw
o
m il
l i o n y
ea
r s old .
P eri o
ds
o f h igh
sp e l e
o
th
em
growth
frequ e nc y
a r
e co
r r e l a t
ed with Ho l oc e ne a nd Ip s wi c
h i
a n
in t erg l ac i a l s
an
d low growth wi
th
L ate Dev ens i
an
a nd Wolstonia n
g l
ac i a tio ns in the
B r i t
i sh
Quate r na r y r ecord .
INTRODUCTION
Caves in the Craven
d i s t r i c t
of the
Yorkshire Dales
are among the most
var ied
and
extens ive
in the Br i t i s h
I s l e s .
Their r e la t ionsh ip to
one
another , to the
Carbonife rous
l imestone
in
which they a re formed
and to
l andscape
evolu t ion
of the
a rea
has been considered
by
man y
w r i t
e
r s
:
in
loca l
caving
journa ls
and
in
sc i en t i f i c
papers
by
Sweeting
1950) ,
Waltham 1970 , 1971) and seve ra l
authors
in Waltham 1974a) . Poss ib le
e f f ec t s
of pas t
c l ima t i c changes upon
r a t e s
and
types of
cave development have been
s t r essed
by Warwick
1956,
1971),
Eyre and Ashmead 1967) and othe r
authors
in Waltham 1974a) .
These approaches
have
r e l i ed
upon
f i t t i n g events perceived
in
the Craven cases
( e . g .
the dr
a
ining of
a phrea t i c p a
ssage)
to
some
t imescale
obtained
in o the r par t s
of Br i t a in
where more
da ta
are
ava i l ab le . The
Dales lack almost any
sur f ace depos i t
such as d e l t a i c
sands or bog organics
tha t
are
older
than the l a s t g lac i a t i o n .
This
g l ac i a t i o n i s
known
as
the
Late
Devensian and it i s f i rmly cor re la t ed with t he l a s t glac ia t ions elsewhere in the
Northern Hemisphere. I ce reached i t s maximum depth and ex ten t a
bout
18,000 y
ear s
ago,
when
a l l
of
the Dales
were bur ied . I t s r ecess ion from the
area was
complete by
about 14,000
years
B . P.
Many Craven caves a ppear to preserve much more
anc ien t
depos i t s . These inc lude ca lc i t e
s t a l agmi tes , s t a l a c t i t e s ,
f lowstones,
e t c . , co l l ec t i v e ly
known as
' speleothems ' . Many
speleothems
c an be
dated
by Uranium-
s e r i e s or
othe r absolute ( radiome tr ic) methods, and by
r e l a t i v e methods such as
palaeomagnetism and
palynology.
Rat ios
of the s t ab l e
i so topes
of
ox
y
gen and
carbon
in the
ca lc i t e
may
a l so
give pa laeotempera ture
in format ion .
The
pr inc ip les
and
techniques
o f
these
methods were descr ibed in d e t a i l in Par t I of
th i s
paper
Gascoyne,
Schwarcz
and
Ford ,
1978).
Our purpose in
Pa
r t
I I i s to presen t the U-se r ies da tes we have obta ined for the
Craven
caves, and
to
i n t e rp re t
them with p ar t i cu l a r
regard to the h i s to r y
and the an t iq u i t y
of
l oca l
cave development.
THE
CR VEN
DISTRICT
The
pr inc ipa l cave systems in
Craven
l i e towards
the
southern edge of
the ASkrigg
Block,
a
major s t ru c t u ra l fea ture
of
the basement rocks t h a t
i s
bounded to
the
west
and
south
by
the Dent and
Craven Faul t s
respec t ive ly ,
(Fig
.
1 ) .
Steeply-d ipping
s l a t e s of Ordo
v
i c ian
and
Si lu r i an age
outcrop
in
v a l l ey
f loors near
the
Craven
Faul t s
and are over la iln unconformably
by
up
to
200
m
of
Lower
Carbonife rous Grea t Scar l imestone which dips
gen t ly t o the nor theas t
Edwards and
T ro t t e r ,
1968; Waltham, 1974b). The
l imestone i s
a
pale-grey, massively-bedded
calcaren i te
tha t
conta ins severa l prominent f o s s i l i f e r o u s
and
micr i t i c
hor i
z ons and
numerous
shale
par t ings .
In
i t s uppermost
beds,
it grades i n to the Yoredale Ser i e s , a cyc l i c sequence
of
l imestones ,
sha les
and
sandstones ,
unconformably capped
by
the
Upper
Carbonife rous
Mil l s tone
G r i t .
with in the
Askrigg Block,
the
Great Scar l imestone i s r e l a t i v e l y undis turbed except fo r
a few small , discont inuous
fau l t s
and
shal low fo lds .
However,
these o f t e n play
important
ro les in the
ca
v e development.
Phys ica l
ch a rac t e r i s t i c s of the
c a
ves
have
been descr ibed
in
d e t
a il by
Brook
e t
a l 1981),
and
are summarised in Table 1 . Both phrea t i c
and
vadose passage t ypes a re
common.
Sweeting
1950)
suggested t h a t passages
had t ended to
develop
a t t h ree
p a r t i cu l a r
e leva t ions , and
in terpre ted
these
as
anc ien t wa
t e r t ab l e s .
Waltham
1970, 1971) ,
in
co n t r a s t ,
c o r r e l a t e d the
caves with
geologica l cont ro l s
such as frequency
of
shale par t ings ,
l i t h o lo g i ca l
di f fe rences
between
l imestone
beds, and s t ru c t u ra l i n f luences .
More recen t ly , however,
the p o s s i b i l i t y of
a r eg iona l wate r ta ble or ig in fo r many
of
the
caves
has been rev ived
Atkinson
e t a l . 1978) .
Warwick
1956, 1971) ,
Eyre
and Ash
me ad 1967)
and
Waltham 1974c) have
suggested tha t
the
formation and entrenchment of the caves occurred dur ing i n t e rg l ac i a l s , o r a t t imes of
deglacia t ion when abundant mel twaters
were
re leased. Cave co l l apse
or i n f i l l i n g
with sediments
would be
the
predominant
a c t i v i t i e s
during
g lac i a t i o n s .
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Figure
1.
Cave locat ion map of the Craven d is t r i c t of northwest England,
showing geological sequence and major
f ul ts
M
.
Coal
Measures; M G . =
Millstone Gri t ,
Y.S. = Yoredale Series ,
G.Sc.
= Great Scar Limestone, P .R. =
pre
Carboniferous
rocks.
Heights are in metres above sea
level from
Gascoyne e t l . 1983a).
66
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Sev
e ra l
es t imates
of
the age
of the caves
have bee n
made.
Eyre a
nd Ashmead
19 67)
cor re la t ed t h e i r
gene t ic
sequence for the development of
the
Caster ton F e ll c ave s with the
g l ac i a l chronology proposed by Zeuner 1959). They counted phases of ne t erosion or
depos i t i on back from t he presen t t o in fe r t h a t the large
fo s s i l
tunnels were formed
dur ing
the Antepenult imate
In t e rg l ac i a l .
Brook 1974) cons idered each phase in the development of
the
West
Kingsdale system
to be a
response
to 20-50 m
of
lower ing of the Dale f loor by
glac ie r scour . The system was about 250,000
years
old . Glover 1974) was more caut ious
when
i n t e r p r e t i n g
passage l eve l s in
Gaping
G i l l , suggest ing t h a t
some might be
due only to
local perching e f f ec t s . Waltham 1974c) t en t a t i v e ly placed the caves i n to pos tg lac ia l ,
i n t e r g l ac i a l and
pre
-
g lac i a l groups.
In
1977, Gascoyne,
and
Waltham and
Harmon announced
t he f i r s t u - se r i e s speleothem dates
fo r Craven. Atkinson e t a l 19 78) publ ished Craven ages plus other s from the Mendip Hil lS ,
i n t e r p r e t i n g them in
terms of i n t e r s t ad i a l
and i n t e r g l ac i a l
per iods recognised
in the
Br i t i sh
Quaternary
record
.
They
obtained
high
ages
for
s ing le
samples
from
the
Roof
Tunnel ,
Kingsdale ,
and
the streamway
in White
Scar Cave. These r e su l t s were used to suggest tha t
the high- leve l , fo s s i l tunnels
o f
the
region
had developed i n p re -g lac ia l t imes
beneath
a r eg iona l wa te r tab le . The
tunnels
were
drained
by
r ap id
and
cons iderab le downcutting
dur ing
the f i r s t
glac ia t ion t h a t
occurred .
THE
U-SERIES SPELEOTHEM
S MPLE PROGR MME
For the
work
discussed
here ,
87 di f feren t speleothem
samples
were
c o
l l ec t ed
from
11 d i f f e r en t cave sys te ms (Fig.
1)
. Table 1 summarises topogr a
phic
and sample loca t ion
d e t a i l s .
For
reasons
of
conservat ion, most
of the
speleothems t aken
had
a l ready been broken
by
n a t u r a l
processes
or by previous
v i s i t o r s
. Samples were prepared and
analysed a t the
McMaster u n i v e r s i t y l a b o r a t o r i e s , using the t echniques g iven in Gascoyne 1977b).
T BLE 1 DESCRIPTION OF
C VE
SYSTEMS INVESTIGATED IN THIS STUDY SUMM RIZING
SPELEOGENETIC DETAILS ND PPROXIM TE LOCATIONS
OF SPELEOTHEM S MPLES
sources
of
dimensional
da ta :
Brook e t
a l .
1981;
Waltham
1977;Thompson
1981).
C VE
Lancas t e r
Hole -
Ease
G i l l
Caverns
LOCATION
Caster ton
Fe l l
Gavel
Pot
Leck
F e l l
Lost Leek F e l l
John ' s
Cave
Kingsdale
Kingsdale
Master
Cave
Val ley
Entrance)
Ibbe th
Per i l
Cave
I
Dentdale
ELEVATION
OF ENTR NCE
m a . s . l ) LENGTH
km)
315 46
. 3
327
1 . 2
353
4.8
268
4.0
181
0.9
DEPTH
m)
-
100
110
140
23
67
TYPE
large foss i l
phrea t i c upper
ser ies , with
deep
vadose
entrenchment
fo s s i l
phrea t i c
upper s e r i e s ,
wi th
shal low
vadose
entrenchment
mainly vadose ,
some fo s s i l
phrea t ic
sec t ions
phrea t i c
upper
l eve l with
r ecent
vadose
en trenchment
ac t ive
phrea t ic
tube with recent
vadose
ent rench
ment headwards
from l a rge
col lapse
area
DESCRIPTION
ND
SPELEO
THEM
LOCATIONS
complex
system, many
entrances
formed
by vadose
t r i b u t a r i e s
to
main s t ream,
upper l eve l s contain much
c lay
ill with speleothems ,
lower l eve l s are
c l e a n
washed, f r equent ly
f looded
and
contain only
r ecent
speleothems.
main
s t ream
r ap id ly
descends
in
v e r t i ca l drops
to
syphon,
Gl a s f u r d ' s Passage
above
drops i s
fo s s i l
phrea t i c
tube
p a r t l y - f i l l ed
wi th
sediments, contains
many
speleothems .
en t rance s t ream has
developed complex se r i e s
of
routes down to i n t e r s ec t
Main
Drain,
a 1 . 5 kID s t ream
way
with
fo s s i l high- leve l
sec t ion a t upst ream end
Lyle Cavern Ser ies) and
al te rna t ing
r ecent phrea t i c
or
vadose
sec t ion downstream
to
syphon
. Speleothems
found
in Lyle Cavern Ser ies
and in
Main Drain
ups t ream) .
major dra inage route fo r
caves
on both s ides
o f va l l ey ,
ac t ive phrea t i c sec t ion
upst ream
where
t r i b u t a r i e s
en ter , fo s s i l
phrea t i c sec t ion
downstream which
f loods
occas iona l ly , s ide
en t rance
tube
Roof Tunnel) conta ins
eroded speleothems.
tube
i n t e r s ec t s l a rge co l lapse
chamber,
f lowstones over l i e
grave ls
in
d i s t r i b u t a r y
tubes
near
col lapse
chamber .
con td .• . .
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T BLE
1 (continued)
White
Sc
a r
Ca ve
I ng l e
borough
Cave
Gaping
Gi l l
Vic to r i a
Cave
Cha p e l - I e
Dale
Clapham
I ng l e
borough
area
Clapham -
I ng l e
borough
area
Langcl i f fe
Scar ,
S e t t l e
250 6.0
259
3.2
396
11.3
440
0.2
73
~ 2
179
15
act ive
phrea t i c
upst ream
sec t ion , deep
vadose
passage
downstream,
anc ient h igh
l eve l sec t ions
f o s s i l phrea t i c
near
ent rance,
ac t ive ph rea t i c
upst ream) recent
entrenchment
accompanying
s t ream divers ion
several
f o s s i l
phrea t i c l eve l s
wel l
above
modern
phreas , little
vadose develop
ment
exc
e
pt
in
t r i b u t a r i e s
t runca ted
phrea t i c
?)
remanent
long c on t in u o us s t r e a m
w
ay
t o
sy
ph on s
w it
h one
ma j o r
t r i b u t
a r y , now
l a rge l y fo s s i l S l ee p
wa
l ke r
Se r ie s ) , a
nd l a r
ge
high - l e vel f oss il tu
nn
e l s
(Western F ront , Ba t t l e
f ie ld) a bove
s t rea
w a y,
s peleothems throu gh ou t
cave.
f loods occasional l y v ia
ent rance ,
resurgence
cave
for
water from
Gaping
Gi l l
system, speleothems mainly
in ent rance sec t ion
(Show
Cave) and h igher - l eve l
f o s s i l passages Gi an t · s
Hall) near s t ream divers ion .
many ent rances wi th v e r t i c a l
sh a f t s , a l l t r ibu ta ry
s t reams
s ink in sediments
,
or
deep
phreas on
enter ing
main
par t of
system
(water
resurges in
Ingleborough
Cave) , speleothems on
sediments
in l a rge chambers
Mud Hal l , Sta lagmi te
Chamber) and
in
a
nc ien t
tunne l s to eas t E a s t
Passage ,
Far
Eas t
Passage)
.
excavated
ent rance
and
s ide
loop, f lowstones
aga ins t
back
wal l , among bOUlders
in loop and on
cave
wallS ,
others removed from ent rance
c lay deposi t s during
excav a t ions .
Table
2
l i s t s the ana ly t ica l de ta i l s
of
the
182 age determinat ions
th a t were made upon
these
87
speleothems.
The
ages
are
also
disp layed
as
a bar
graph
in
Fig .
2; t h i s b e t t e r
i nd ica t es the con t inu i ty of
growth
between dated poin ts up
a
s t a l agmi te , e tc .
Two or more ana lyses were
made
on 42
of
the
speleothems.
In
33
of t hese , the
ages
decrease in the
di r ec t ion
of
growth, as
they should.
In
the
remaining
nine cases , the
measured
ages
e i t h e r over lap
with in
t h e i r
er ror l imi t s
(wi th in o r t he re waS
U
or
Th
contamination.
Data
of Table
2
show t ha t the 2 3 ~ h / 2 3 4 U dat ing method used
here
gives
re l i ab le re su l t s when appl ied to speleothems
t ha t
are
pure and impervious.
Below, we use
I ka to represent
1,000 years Before
Presen t .
Craven ages range from
as low as
1 ka to
grea te r
than 350
ka.
The ± l ~ e r r o r
l imi t s
general ly
increase
from
5
percent
for
young specimens up
to
15 percent
for
anc ient ones. The l imi t of
350
ka i s
regarded as
the maximum age a t
which the d i s t i nc t i on
between
a f i n i t e and
i n f in i t e age
can
be made with
conf idence .
D TING C VE DEVELOPMENT
Lancas te r Hole -
Ease
Gi l l
Caverns
( I ) Th1S system 1S over
100
m deep and 46 krn in
length .
Most o f the
length
cons i s t s
of
di s t r ibu ta ry
i n l e t s
from
disc re te
s inks
of
the
main
surface
s t ream,
Ease
G i l l . The
system
under l ies
Caster ton F e l l and
resurges a t
Leck Beck
Head (Fig.
1 but
te rmina tes in
a sump
almost
1 krn from t h i s spr ing . The main sec t ion conta ins a high
vadose
s t r e
a m passage below
a r e l i c t phrea t i c
tunnel .
Entry to t h i s sec t ion
is
bes t gained v i a the Lanca s t e r Hole
ent rance sha f t .
Two s i t e s yie lded the
most
i n t e r e s t i ng speleothems. The f i r s t was B i l l Tay lo r ' s Passage
( the
connection
between Lancas te r Hole
ent rance and
Fal l Po t ) ,
about
40 m above the
modern
stream. It conta ins much
silt
c lay and grave l s . The samples were
embedded
in these depos i t s ,
or
washed
out of
them, o r they lay
loose . They
f a l l in to
th ree d i s t i n c t
age
groupings: -
(1)
s talagmites
and f lowstones t h a t
grew a t
t imes during
the per iod
126-70
ka
and have
not
grown s ince . These
a l l
show ~ v i d e n e
of
water eros ion ( r e - so lu t ion) upon
t h e i r
su r faces .
Samples
77126 (126
- 106 ka) and 79124
(126
-
95
ka) appear to have
grown more o r l e s s
cont inuous ly
during
t h e i r measured
t ime
spans of
20,000
and
30,000
years r espec t ive ly . An eroded,
unconformable
overgrowth
on 79124 was dated a t
73
ka. It shows t ha t some eros ion occurred
in the
non-growth in te rva l
(h iatus) between
95
and
73
ka. 76135 was
a f lowstone boss
1
m
high t ha t was once completely bur ied by c l a s t i c
sediments .
It grew from
>
95 ka (a da te upon
the cent re ) to 86 ka ( top) . Sta lagmi te 76122 shown in Pla te
1 is
more compl icated . It grew
68
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TABLE 2 SP ELEOTHEM LOC
ATIONS,
OES
CRI
PT I ONS AND IS OTOP IC DNI A FOR
2
30
Th l
L3 4
U
AG E
DETERMINATIONS
FOR SAMPLES FROM CRAVEN CAV
ES
, NO
RTH.
?EST ENG
LAND
(a f t e r G3scoy ne e t al . 193Bb) .
Cave
"'hi
te
S
car
Cave
Ibbeth
Peri l
Cave
I
La ncaster
Hole - -
r.ase
Gil l Caverns
Spe
l e o
ther"
No.
76100
76102
76106A
761068
76108
76110
76111
76112 .
76121
76122
76124
76125
76126
76127
76128
76129
76130
76131
76133
76135
77120
79005
77121
77122
771238
77126
79003
79120
79121
79124
Descriptio
n
f
s , in s tr eamway
f s , Westll rn
Front
fs ,
Sleep-Walker
Passage
f s ,
near to
76106A
sq
,
Far
Streamwa
y
., fa l s e floo r
near to 7611
0
thin .. br
i
dge
sq,
B i l l
Tayl
o
r s
Pass.
sq, ne ar
to
76121
59,
ne ar
tp
76121
S9, near to 7612
1
sq, Stop Pot
fs , ~ t o p Pot
Easter Grotto
9q
near to
76128
sq, Stake
Pot
scr,
Stop
Pot
f5 ,
Eureka Junction
Large fs ho ss ,
B i l l
fiVlor's Pass
.
2 overlyinq .
samples:
A - lower,
t .
~ l ~ ~ ~ ~ d ~ i ; ; ~ : in
. ...
ov e r l i e s
771 208
. ., Brinqe
Hall
fs , B i l l Taylor's
Pa9s.
5g,
R il l
Taylor's
Pass
.
bos:s, entrance
shaft
s
a:: le
as
79
003
sq on f s , B i l l
Taylor's Pass .
5q
near
Craveyard
A.nalysis: u
ppm)
2) 4
U
2)OTh
23 0
T
I I
No. Lo cAtion
2) 8
U
232
T
I I 234
U
Aqe 10
ley)
E- l
hase
E-2
top
top
-1
top
-2 base
-1
-1
top
hase
-2
top
3 base
-1
-1
top
bulk
-2 top
-3
base
-1
hu lk
1 top
-2
hase
-1
-2
-1
base
top
base
-2 hase
-1
hase
- 4 top
-1 top
-2 h o l ~ e
-1
top
-2
ho'lse
-4 near base
-1
base
-2 top
-1
top
-2 base
-3 hase
-1
base
T-2
top
-1
base
-1 top
- 2 hase
1 .4
6 0
. 976
126
103. B8
0.946
0.06
1 . 096
0 .58 1.01B
36
0.61
0.995 21
0 .80
0.857
)7
1 .39
2.11
1 .17
1.201
1.082
1
.1
92
2 )
25
0 .
72
0 . 996
25
15.30 1. 067
0 .
31
0.947 >200
0.40 1 . 003 13
1.21 . 0.960 >200
2.42
1 .49
2.12
2 .
59
0 .
62
0 .
63
2 . 1
1 .17
13
.7
13.3
13.1
5 . 0
14.5
18 .3
2.7
3.1
1.8
2 . 7
2 .
77
1 .
90
17 . 1
4 .9
9 . 5
1 .
073 110
1.130
129
1.203
1.386
1. 229
1.330
1.628
1.518
54
37
13
24
105
66
0.719
>200
0.713
22
0.878 >200
0.911
>
200
0.848 >200
0.745
0.727
0.789
0.749
0 .
799
1.222
1 .
232
0.760
0.820
43
10
31
72
153
45
0.778 >200
1 upper r.l.irldle 0.97
1 .192
52
-2
top
A-l
hase
top
B-2 >a le
1.32
2
.7
1
1.90
1 .64
B-3
belor.l hiatus
0.43
B-4 ~ o v e
hi atus 0.42
B-S
near
t'?P
B 1 top
-3 b ~ e
-1
top
-1
t o p
-3
top
- 0 .5 7
0 .43
0 .2
2
0 . 2 3
-4 above hiatu s 0 . 5 1
-5 hela..> hiatus 0 59
-6 SAr.'Ie as -5 1 .1 8
-1
base
1 .04
b u l ~
1 .
32
1.240 >200
1 . 242
>200
1.161
124
1 . 417 >200
1.577 >200
1 . 577 11
1 .3 80 4
1 .473 >200
1 .425
1 .4 29
1.198
1. 3104
23
12
24
4 4
1.518
47
1
. 178 >200
1.373
89
1.284
20
1.565
75
-1 base 6.11
1.031
160
-2
top 3 .
93 1.152 >200
top
0 .21
1.117 62
C- 1 near base 0 .4 2 1 .
178
29
-1
top
0 .38
1 .
313
>
200
-3 middle
- 2 hase
-1 fs
hase
-2 s9 top
- 1 bas e
-5 top
-3
oute
r
-.,
. "
0
. 38
1.156
69
0 .44 0 .
993
178
0.83
1.622 103
1 .42
1 . 553 >200
1 .17 1.113
>20 0
1 . 05
0.43
1.131 >200
1.420
49
0.976
» 5 0
0
. 956 » 5 0
1.083
0 . 870
0 .90)
>350
2 8:n
2 5 6 ~ ~ ~
1 .0 )0 » 5 0
0.102
0.053
0.098
0.089
0 . 238
0 .
118
0.05 1
0 . 068
0.656
0.661
0.578
0.49
1
0.116
0.087
0 . 302
0.306
0.007
0 . 005
0 .
843
0.963
0.846
0.100
0 .
008
0.099
0.104
0 . 084
0 .049
0.080
0.054
0.036
0 .5 94
0.558
0.750
0.647
0.640
0.574
0.476
0 . 567
0.468
0.399
0.333
0
.4 1
8
0.389
0.423
0.736
l
6tO.
7
6
O ~ O
3
11
. 1 ±O .4
10 . ' to . S
29. 4t2
2
'3 .7t 1 . 3
5. 7
1
0 .6
7 . 6t O . 7
114
1
7
1141:7
91
1
5
71 :t
, 3
.3 :1.0
9.S±0.5
8
t
l
39 :2
O.StO .1
9 .7 0 .3
2 2 5 ~ ~ ~
>350 *
2 3 7 : ~ ~
,
1
.StO.S
1 . 2± 0 . 2
0 . 9
t
O. l
l
4tO 6
12.0tO.S
9.6: :O.3
5. 5
t
O.2
9 .0
t
O.3
6 .5
1
0 .
2
9 . 8
O. 5
95
t
4
8613
~ ~ 6
109±4
104±4
87
1
4
67
1
2
8715
6615
4 ] ± ]
5S
1
4
52 '2
S8
i
2
137:tS
0 .6 4 0
'
1041"3
0.52
5
0
. 280
0 .69
1
0 . 635
0 . 8 60
0 .
944
0 . 942
0.984
0.928
0.324
0
.2 7
8
0 . 699
0 . 699
0.604
26
t
5
106 ±4'
1 9 9 : g
2 5 7 ~ ~ ~
236+
20
-1 7;
3 1 3 ~ ~ :
2 8 9 ~ ~
4411
35t
126
1
6
6
t
6
95
1
5
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TABLE 2
cont inued
lng lehorouqh
Cave
Victor ia
Cave
e:<cavateti
samples
no in
Piqyard
T " I ,
S" ttl
e .
70
76140
76141
76142
76 143
76144
76145
77143
76151
7 6 1 ~ 2
76 , 53
76154
76,55
77150B
77 , 5,
77,59
77230
7723
77234
77236
71237
7 72388
79150
79151
79153
79,55
79,58
79000
7900
79002
79021
79023
79025
79026
. .2.. Giant 's Hall
aven -1
base
fs ,
Ciant s H a l l
aven -1
base
-2 top
0 .07
0 . , 0
1.270
1.462
1.341
. ,., Ciant's
Hall
aven
-1
below
hiatus 0 .04
,
.306
. .' Giant.5 Hall
5q
Show
Cave
5Q, Sho'" Cave
2 o
ve r ly ing . .
sam
ples
-2
-3
1
1
-2
C l
A I
base 0 .04 .
287
above
hiatus
0 .10
1 . , 32
hase
0 .
07
1 . 26 7
base
0 .37
0.952
top
0.41
, .
078
middle
0 . 95 0.784
hase
0.07
1.480
A
•
upper. B = lo er
A-2
top
0 .
06
0.12
0
.1
4
1.
392
. 92
, . 343
1.337
Gia.nt's Hall aven
f s , from
block
pi le
in loop
{s,
near to
76151
s c,
on hlock pi
Ie
{s,
nE:ar
to 76151
fs veneer
on
a l l ,
-
in t
uhe
B-1 base
R-3 mi ddle
B
-2
top
0.11
-
ha s e
0 .
38
0.974
-,
ha se
0 .
38
1 . 006
-,
<op
0
.1
8 1.301
1
t o p
0 .
52
, .
049
1
top
0
.6 ,
, . 0
28
fs l
ayer-
s in laminated - 1
- clays, ne ar enlrance
hu
lk
0 .39
, .
019
ov e
r lying
. .
1\-1
59
In h.1se
0.36
1 . ,52
s al'\ples ,
- hase, B z :':liddle,
1.-2 bas e
0 .
50 0.984
C -
Top
. Hiatus
near
base
of
C.
B-1 base
0 .43 , . 037
In loop.
B-2
top
0.45
. 0 5 9
C 4 belOlJ hiatus
0
.41
, . 057
C 3 above hiatus 0 .4 6
1 .08
C 5
as C-3 0.45
1 . \ 1 2
6
0
19
4
8
26
22
41
72
24
46
53
81
9
59
26
47
, 30
,28
102
118
C-l
top
0
.4
6
.
08
56
C-2 as
C-1 0 .4 6
1 .020 >200
. , cO;:J
t
ains -1 base
hiatu
ses
, on
"'11
in loop top
f s / f l 1 l
lavers
,
on 1\
-1 base
- hi'l.dt wall
A ..
basal layer . F- l hase
H ...
t
op
ll yer.
H-l bulk
in loop
-1
top
.'
in loop - 1 t o p
f s , overly inq clays -1 hulk
- in
e n
trance
near
to
77236 -1
t op
i s ,
near
to 77
236, -1 middle
-
unne r l i e s
c lays
0
. 39
1. 1 04
0 .32 1 . 4 3
1 .97 1 .03 9
0 . 35 1 .138
0.13 0.872
0 .50 0.982
0:38 0 .
94
7
0.65 0.915
0 .58 , . 00,
1 . 00 1.052
25
21
23
42
12
31
88
43
fs,
in l
oop,
near
- 77151
-4 base
-5 top
0
. 53
0 .46
1.055
>200
1.003 >200
same as 77151 , hut
s i nq l e hloc);'
cut
from
12
boss
f s ,
in loop
..'
near
17230
., over l i es 791S 1
f s , over lying rhino
tooth
fs ,
overlying rhino
jaw bone
fs , coating red deer
antler
fs ,
overlying
rhino
teeth
f s , over ly
in
g giant
dee[" teeth
_1
- 3
1
above
hiatus
0 .4 9
he 10 00 hiatus 0 .50
t-a
se
0 . 72
top
0.49
1.087
1.061
1.047
, . 042
-,
base 1 .8 6 0 . 999
1
base
0 .54
, .076
-3 as-l
-2 top
0 .59
0 .46
-1 ad j . to
tooth
0 .62
-2 near
tooth
0 .63
-1 a:ij .t.o jaw 0
.5
0
- 2 near jaw
0.40
- 3
a s - 2
1
hulk
0 .43
0 .50
-1 near teeth 0.43
, .
072
1 . 0 43
1 .0 00
1 .0 ,9
, . ,00
1 .033
1.022
, . 0 , 2
1.057
-1 near teeth 0 . 50 0 . 99 4
part of larqe
f s
hlock - 1 at
hone
n .RA 1
.1 20
conta inlng rh i no level
ar.c1
hippo oones
on
lower
s ide
-:2 t o p
n .4 3
- 3 near to 0.58
bo
ne Ipvel
1.048
1.037
66
84
47
52
26
80
46
123
44
20
20
,52
34
, 6
3,
7
111
84
47
fs ove r l
ying
r h i
no
t e e th
-,
too
?)
0.
46 1 .
022 >200
0.784
0 . 668
0
.475
0.798
0 6 2 ~
0.728
0 .
85
7
0 .
100
0.185
o. 03
0.621
0 . 617
0 . 702
0.677
0 . 658
0 . 95 4
0 .
869
0.162
0
. 818
68
t
S
, 5 6 : ~ ~
19
1
' 3 6 : ~ ~ •
8 6 ~ ~ ~
11 .S: :l
.2
22
.
21; ,
l ' . 9
i
O.6
9 8 ~ ~ ~
•
98 :10
12 5 8
11S±8
110±1O •
>350
19
.
0± .
6
: ~ ~
, .
009
>
350
, .1 04
0.875
0.925
0 .
935
0.927 ·
0 .
9 4
0.836
0 .
930
0
.8 4
6
0
.8 3
1
0 .9
69
0.627
,. 03
0 .
933
0 .
209
0.889
0 .
848
1 ., 56
0 .
968
1 .
006
0.888
0.815
0 .9 2 2
0.926
0 . 962
0.800
1.087
0.824
0 . 830
0.80 4
0 . 6 0
0.672
0 .
623
0 . 69
0 . 714
0 .7 02
0.690
0.678
0.4A4
0.654
0.672
0 .
668
>
350
2 0 5 : ~ :
2 8 7 : ~ ~
28,
2 6 5 : ~ ~
2 5 0 : ~ ~
1 8 8 ~ ~
2 S 5 : ~ ~
1
5 ~ ~
'91±9
3 0 7 : ~
l 04±7
>350 •
2 S 3 : ~ ~
25 . 5 3 . 6
2 4 3 : ~ ~
l
eached
>
350
>3
50
' S3±,0
2 6 3 : : ~
171
>350
1
81
1e5± 0
173±9
102 ±
11
•
120±7
l 0 4±6
26±9
135 :8
131 ig
114iS
120±6
8/21/2019 BCRA 11-2-1984
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TABLE 2 Con t i n
ued
Lo
s t
John s
Cave
Gavel Pot
Gaping
Gi 11
7
6160
76161
76164
76165
77162
76190
76191
76192
,
76201
76202
76206
76207
76208
76209
76210
76211
77209
76212
76215
76216
77200
77201
77205
fs , Lyle Cavern
high l evel
sg,
Lyle
Cavern
high level
fs ,
Main Drain
.; .,
Main Drain
same as
76165,
large sect ion
- 2
-3
1
1
- 2
-3
- I
1
-4
base (1)
t op
base
top
near
top
base
pieces
top
near top
-6 .
near
top
0.20
0.18
0.25
3.84
4.31
5.68
9.35
6.23
7.16
7.29
-9 upper middle
8.85
-8 middle
7.00
(porous)
-10 upper middle 8.43
sg, Glasfurd s
Passage
sg, Glasfurd s
Passage
sg, near to
76191
sg , Stalagmi te
Chamber
fs ,
l ~ u d Hall
fs
veneer ns ler s
- Upper
Pass.
9g , Nevada
Pass . ,
.
Far
Country
sq,
S ta laqmi
te
Chamber
-7
-3
1
-2
-3
1
-3
-4
-2
1
-3
base
base
base
top
base
base
near base
near
top
near hase
base
base
-2
hase
1
hulk
1 base
-2 top
1 top
-T top
-3
sq, overlying varves,
1
-
Sand Cavern
base
base
sq, Old East Pass. 1
-2
fs on
wall ,
Old
-1
- East Pass.
same as
76211
f s ,
Old East Pass .
sc, on
f i l l ,
West
Chamber
sq, Old East Pass.
-2
-2
-3
1
1
fs , llorth Craven Pass.
1
-2
f s ,
Old East
Pass.
1
-2
sq, Far East
Pass.
1
-2
base
top
hulk
top
base
top
bulk
base
top
(1 )
base
1)
hulk
bulk
base
top
9.33
7.21
0.57
0.50
0.37
0.44
0.37
0.22
0.30
2.07
1.89
0.46
1.81
0.89
0.30
0.42
0.91
0.74
9.38
1.39
2.38
0.39
0.25
2.
10
0.90
3.92
8.93
0.95
1.94
1.47
1.44
1.85
1.84
16
15
0.717
0.702
1.2 95
1.283
1.273 7 1 06
1.003
178
0.598
0.929 >200
0.945
>200
0.938
III
0.944 127
0.898 >200
0.941
>200
0.914
85
0.862 45
0.927 >200
0.947
0.916
1.398
1.368
1.409
1.238
1.235
1
.204
1.326
1.279
1.337
1.056
1.181
1.290
1.233
1.512
1.580
1.542
1.120
1.370
1.200
1.164
1.185
1
.218
1.274
0.972
1.144
1.296
1.239
1.337
1.351
1.842
1.858
37
92
5
5
27
65
29
13
28
16
16
40
48
76
27
3
8
6
6
99
122
28 ,
20
4
7
3
6
181
0.612
0.620
0.649
0.568
0.597
0.584
0.581
0.668
0.628
0.638
0.638
0
.127
0.046
0.089
0.114
0.095
0.082
0.085
0.068
0.063
1.074
0.333
0.672
0.735
0.017
0.007
0.031
0.008
0.303
0.297
0.938
0.995
0.126
0.107
0.012
77210A sg, Far
East
Pass.
1 top 0.44 1.927
69
15
55
95
29
12
0.012
0.994
1.032
0.091
0.09S
0.358
0.379
0.097
Newby Hoss Cave
76220
fs , near
entrance
1 top (1)
1.34 1.
257
Kingsdale
Haster Cave
77240
77241
77242
77243
fs ,
on roof arch,
- Roof
Tunnel
sc, Roof
Tunnel
fs , below
aven,
Roof
Tunnel
fs , Roof Tunnel
• low U or
Th yields
(5 to 1 0 ) ;
sc s t a l ac t i t e )
-2
bulk 0.20
1
below
hiatus
0.41
1
bulk 1.55
1 base (1)
1 .17
sg
=
stal;ogr.rite) in si tu
or
growth posit ion is known, i f underl ined.
fs
- flowstone )
1.145
1.123
1.015
1.053
82
83
35
74
73
1.065
0.989
0.804
0.941
0.891
12 8± 2
, 3 ~ ~ ~ •
1
2
1
t
5 5
99±4
1 5
t
7
106±4
, , 6± ,2
92±4
101±3
96
t
3
96±3
126±5
109±5
112
±3
113±5
14.7
t
O.6
5. 1
t
O.6
10.1
t
O.6
13.1±1.4
10.7±0
. 5
9.3
t
O.9
9.6±0.4
7.6±0.4
7 .0±0.3
>350
44±
114±8
135+
16
-14
1. 9
t
O.2
0.8±0.2
3 .4±0.3
0.8±0.1
39±2
38±1
253+
30
-24
3 1 9 ~ ~ 3
14.6
t
O.7
12.2±0.4
1.4±0.1
1.3±0.1
2 8 9 : ~ g
>350
10.3
i
O.3
10.8±0.4
46±1
50±1
11.0±0.6
>350
1 6 8 ~ n
3 0 0 ~ ~ ~ 0
230+
23
-19
71
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8/21/2019 BCRA 11-2-1984
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between 91
and
71 ka but d i sp lays th ree
in te rna l breaks
in deposi t ion . These are marked
by
th in
layers
of
d e t r i t u s t h a t suggest
possib le
f loods .
2)
s talagmites aged
between 44
and
35 ka. These show
no
evidence
of
r e - so lu t ion . 79121
i s a sec
t io
n, 50 cm
deep,
cut from a t h i ck
stalagmite
in the excavated rubb le of the Passage.
It
grew from 44
to
35 ka. Severa l
th in d e t r i t a l l ayers
wi th in
it
suggest f lood e f fec t s but ,
as
noted ,
there
i s no so lu t ion damage; so , it appears
t ha t
the floods were
minor .
3) recent (pos t -g lac ia l ) depos i t s t ha t are f resh.
76124
waS a disp laced
s talagmite
t ha t
began
growing
13.3
ka
an age
f r
om a contaminated specimen)
or
9.8 ka.
The second
s i t e
was
Colonnade
Passage
and Bridge Hal l where
some
r ecen t ly
col lapsed
f lowstones
and
others
still
in
the
growth
posi t ion
were
taken.
The
s i t e
i s
about
55
m
above
the modern
s t ream.
Samples from Colonnade Passage include the
in te r es t ing sequence
shown in Pla te 2.
Three f lowstone
shee t s
are separa ted by two
layers of clay .
The upper
sheets a lso
have
growth h ia tu ses with in them.
The
basal
shee t , 77120A, perhaps began to grow
about
140 ka but
t h i s
basal age
may be
too
grea t because of suspected leach ing e f f e c t s . Once begun, the
sheet
grew
con t inuously wi thou t
evidence of
eros ion or other f lood damage unt i l 109 ka.
Layers of
mud
were
then l a i d
upon
it Growth began again as a
separa t e
shee t , 77120
B,
around 104
ka.
It
con t inued u n t i l about
87 ka.
The
per iod ,
87-67
ka,
is represented by a h ia tu s in
growth
but wi th no s ign i f i can t f lood damage o r
deposi t ion .
More mud
accumulated
a t some t ime s)
between 66 and 54 ka when the top sheet 79005) began to grow. This
shows
a t l e a s t four
d e t r i t a l hor izons , probably
represent ing
more f loods , before a l l growth f i n a l l y ceased a t
th i s place
about
43 ka.
The Bridge Hal l f lowstone 77121) was a complete sec t ion
f a l l e n
from a f a l se f loo r tha t
i s now 10 m
above
the modern f loor
of
de t r i tus . It f i r s t grew around 110
ka;
there
was
little o r
no depos i t ion
be tween- lOO
ka and
58
ka, and then qui te rap id growth u n t i l
52
ka.
Samples 79003 and 79120 were taken from a
col lapsing
boss in Lancas te r Hole ent rance
sha f t ,
c lose
to
the
Bridge
Hal l
f lowstone
but
a t
higher
e leva t ion .
The
base
of the
boss
gave
a date of -
290
ka, one of the o ldes t in t h i s system. The top age i s ~ 2 2 ka. Ages of 238
base) to 225
ka top)
were
measured on
a loose block of f lowstone
close to the top of
Stop
Pot
ladder .
All
other
speleothems taken from
the
Caverns
are
pos t -g lac ia l
in age
. These include
detached
s talagmites
from Eas te r Grot to , Eas t Montagu Passage and Eureka
Junct ion
and
one
in
the growth pos i t ion on f a l l e n blocks
near
Stop
Pot . Thei r basal
ages
range
from
12 to
9
ka.
There
i s an unusual ly large
var ia t ion
in the concent ra t ion of uranium measured in
d i f f e r e n t speleothems
in
these Caverns. It ranges
from
0.21 to 17.1 ppm.
The
r a t i o of
the
two U i so topes , 234u/23Bu , a t the
t ime of i n i t i a l
depos i t ion var i es from 0 .74 to 1.74 , which
i s a l so
a wide
range
for one
smal l l oca l i ty . Ancient and
recent
samples
in
the neighbourhood
of
Eas te r Grot to ,
Eureka
Junct ion
and
Stop Pot a l l have
r a t i o s
below 0.82 .
I n i t i a l r a t i o s
outs ide
of
it are a l l higher than 1.0 .
e
can
f ind no
unusual
geological ,
hydrologica l or
topographical f ea tu res to
account
for these pa t te rns ; they can be placed in the whole new
c las s
of
in te r es t ing problems being r a i sed by
i so topic
s tud ies of kar s t waters and
t h e i r
deposi t s .
e ar r ive a t the following general conclus ions for Lancas te r Hole-Easegi l l C averns :
a) few speleothems are older than about 140 ka.
This i s probably
because
l a rge
eros ion or
i n f i l l i n g even ts have des t royed or bur ied most
older
deposi t s .
b)
the
ent rance
s ha f t a t
Lancas te r
Hole waS
a t
l e a s t 20 m deep
and
vadose a t 300 ka. It i s
probably
much o lder .
c) the major h igh - l eve l t runk passages such
as
t ha t a t Stop Pot were
drained by
240 ka. One
o r more
floods
or
fill ing events destroyed speleothems in
them
a t
t imes
during the per iod ,
200-140 ka.
d)
t he re
waS
vigorous
speleothem growth over wide areaS of
the
cave during
the l a s t
i n t e r
glac ia l , which extended from 140 ka to 85 ka. It i s l i k e l y t h a t the Colonnade s began to
grow
then .
There
i s good
evidence
of a br ie f per iod of no growth
around
105 ka.
After
85 ka
some
samples ceased a l l growth,
o ther s were eroded by the dr ip
waters t h a t
had
previous ly
depos i ted them and some con t inued to grow spo rad ica l ly but of ten showing flood mud
l ayer s .
These condi t ions continued to about 38
ka
and, t en ta t ive ly , can be t aken to
represent
a
sequence
of co ld phases and
merely
co o l ( in te r s t ad ia l ) phases .
e)
a t
some t ime between 65 and 38
ka B i l l Tay lo r s
Passage and
a l l
below it
were
f looded
( returned
to phrea t ic condi t ions)
for
a lon g per iod .
This
i s
ind icated
y widespread re
so lu t ion of speleothems. Such r e - so lu t ion i s not apparen t in
Bridge
Hal l
and
COlon
n a des
Passage
depos i t s
which
are
a t
higher
e leva t ion .
f) there waS
major
f looding with eros ion or
re-working
of depos i t s a t
some t ime during
the
per iod , 35-12 ka.
This
can
be
considered
to
be
an
e f f e c t of
the
Devensian Last)
Glaciat ion .
Gavel Pot .
Gavel
Pot i s
one
of
severa l
caves
on
Leck Fe l l tha t are gene t ica l ly r e la ted and dra in
to
a common resurgence,
Leck
Beck Head. The Pot
forms
the lower
par t
of the Short Drop Cave
drainage route and conta ins
an
ac t ive
vadose
streamway
which drops
to a
sump
v ia severa l
ver t i ca l pi tches .
Our dates are l imi ted to three
samples
from Glas fu rd s Passage,
a wel l -decora ted ,
r e l i c t
phrea t i c tube above the p i t ches and about
75
m above resurgence
l eve l .
All t h ree are of
pos t -g lac ia l age <:13
ka) .
This was su rp r i s ing
because
76190 was a l a rge s t a l agmi te , 89 cm
long,
t ha t
had
been topp led
and par t ly
bur ied
by
boulders
t ha t
were
cemented by ca l c i t e .
The
s talagmite
was
expected to be older . It seems t ha t t he re has
been
a l o t more eros iona l and
deposi t ional
a c t i v i t y in the Passage during pos t - g l a c i a l t imes than i t s
abandoned
pos i t ion and
r e l i c t
appearance
would sugges t .
S ta lagmi te 76190 yie lded the f a s t e s t speleothem growth
r a te
amongst
our
Craven samples.
It was lengthening a t a mean ra t e of 18 cm,
and gaining
5 .4 kg of
ca l c i t e ,
per
1,000
years .
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Lost
Jo h n s System
This cave,
also
on
Leck
Fe l l ,
has a complex s e r i e s of phreat ic
rift and
act ive
vadose
canyon
passages
in i t s upper l eve l s . These
en te
r a high meandering
streamway ( the
Main
Drain)
about 140 m below entrance l ev e l . Now
known as
the Leck Fel l Master Cave
t h i s
passage or ig ina tes upstream a t Lyle Cavern, close to the
sur face
i n l e t from Lost Pot and
ends in a sump 1 kI
from
the Leck Beck Head
resurgence,
a f t e r
co l lec t ing
i n l e t streams from
two other
Leck
Fe l l caves .
Three
samples t h a t
appeared
to be old were co l l ec t ed from the lower reaches
of
the
system. All grew dur ing
the
l a s t i n t e r g l ac i a l . 76160 waS a flowstone block
in
a boulder
choke
a t
the end of the Lyle Cavern
High
Level
Ser ies .
It grew f rom
128
to 123 ka and
conta ined d e t r i t a l
l ayer s
t ha t suggest occasional f looding. Another
broken
f lows tone
76164)
was
embedded
in
mud
in
a
bedding
plane
in the
Main
Dra in ,
a
shor t
di s t ance
a
bove
Groundsheet
Junct ion . It grew from 106 to 99 ka and conta ins a prominent growth
hia tus
dated on
each
s ide a t
106.3
and
104.5 ka.
It seems l i ke ly tha t th i s is t he 105 ka break
in
depos i t ion no t i ced
in some
Lancaster -Ease Gi l l
samples a
l though
the cause
of
the
break remains
con jec tu ra l .
Samples
76165 and 77162 were co l l ec t ed nearby, from a f lowstone
preserved
in the growth
pos i t ion and
about
2.5 m above the
modern
stream . It appears
to
have
grown from
113 to 92 ka;
there i s no c l ea r break of depos i t ion
in
the
middle,
where a 105 ka h ia tu s would be expected.
However, the c a l c i t e is very porous there , which may be concea l ing
it
This deposi t c l ea r l y
shows
t ha t the
Main
Drain waS vadose and c lose
to
i t s modern dimensions 113,000
years
ago.
The maximum mean r a t e of
channel entrenchment
s ince then
cannot
be more than 2.2
cm/ka.
Kingsda le M aster
Cave
This cave
i s the main drainage route for a l l systems on the west
Kingsda le
slopes and
from some
East
Kin
gsda le
caves.
The ca
ve i s
entered
a
few
metres
above
v a l l ey f loor level via
a
f oss i l p h r ea t i c
tube
known
as
the
R
oof
Tunnel .
This
tube
cont inues
to a 5 m drop
in to
the
Master
Cave, c lose
to the sump
of
the
main s tream.
A
high,
wide, vadose canyon, with
roof
tube ,
cont inues upstream
to
severa l
low
in le t s
from
feeder
caves
fu r ther
up-va l l ey .
Our sampling was l imi ted to four specimens from the
Roof
Tunnel. Two were in s i t u
f lows tone/ s ta lac t i t e depos i t s on upper walls and the other s were detached f ragments .
Sample
77240 gave an ag
e
of 324 ka, but wi th l a rge e r ro r l imi t s due to low
U
concent ra t ions up to
t
100 ka) . It was in s i t u and
close
to the
Master
Cave.
Dr.
R
S.
Harmon (personal
communi
ca t io n from Dr. A. C. Waltham, and reported in Atkinson e t aI
1978)
obta ined an age
of
>400
ka
for
a sample
taken near it
Both had suf fered re -so lu t ion by
waters
flowing
up the Tunnel .
The
youngest
sample taken
77241)
was
also
in s i t u and
displayed s imi la r re -so lu t ion .
It was 168
ka
in
age.
The Roof
Tunnel
r i se s
to about
15
m above
the modern water
t ab le . This
r e su l t shows it
to be
a
su r p r i s in g ly old fea
tu re .
It was ce r t an ly drained and inac t ive before 168 ka and
most
probably
before 320 ka or
even
400 ka. However, it
has been
r eac t iva ted by waters
flowing
up and out of it
in to
Kingsdale , di sso lv ing
f lowstone
in the process.
There have been one
or more
such periods of reac t iva t ion
s ince 168
ka.
Ibbeth Per i l Cave I
This , the most nor ther ly of the
caves
inves t iga ted , i s a cave formed a t or below
val ley
f loor leve l
.
It i s
f r equen t ly
f looded by the River
Dee
and conta ins few f u l ly
r e l i c t sec t ions .
Three
samples
were
taken
from
f lowstones over
l
ying s tream
depos i t s
t h a t l a rge ly
f i l l e d
a s ide
passage. All are
p o s t -g l ac i a l
in age
but began growing
perhaps as
much
as
13,000
years
ago a l though r ep l i c ate
analyses
of 76111
suggest
t h i s
speleothem has suf fered some
a l t e r a t ion) .
The
sediments
beneath them a re poss ib ly of
f luv io -g lac ia l o r ig in . Those
not cemented
by
ca
l c i t e
have been eroded by
f looding
s ince 6 ka.
It seems t ha t the cave must
have
a t t a ined
very
much i t s
presen t
s i ze
and
to have been
dra ined
before t he
Late
Devensian Glacia t ion .
White Scar Cave.
This resurgence cave
i s
the
major
drainage rou te fo r the western s lopes
of
Ingleborough.
The cave i s en te red
a t the
base of the
Great
Scar l imestone and i s
a
show
cave in
i t s lower
reaches.
Large r e l i c t
tunnels ( the Western Front
and Bat t l e f i e ld
ser ies )
over l i e
the main
vadose streamway about 2 km from the
en t rance . Fur the r
upstream, beyond the Sleepwalker Ser i e s
(a smal l e r
f oss i l
netw ork) the streamway becomes a succession of sumps which l i e close to
sur face
i n l e t s .
Sampling was l a r g e ly l imi ted to broken and displaced f lowstones . 76100 was
a
f lowstone
boulder
found in the
s tream
channel
j us t
below the
Pu l p i t . All
par t s
of it are
older
than
35 0
.
ka.
It
probably
grew
in
the
Western
Front ,
20
m
above
the
modern
s tream
and
f e l l
v i a
the
Pulp i t co l lapse
area . 76102
was a smal ler fragment
co l l ec t ed near
the end
of the
Western
Front .
It
confirms t h a t t h i s
area
was
drained
before
350 ka.
76106B i s a r i ch l y complex
fragment
co l l ec t ed from boulders
in
the Yard, a t t he
beg
inn ing
o f
Sleepwalker Ser ies .
It
conta ins
a t
l ea s t four
c lear
breaks of
growth, each
of
which was
succeeded
by c a l c i t e
of
a di f f e r en t
colour
from t ha t below (Pla te 3 ) . All of the sample i s
beyond the dat ing l imi t
so
the
ages
of these breaks
cannot be measured.
However, they do show
t h a t
the
same s o r t of s ta r t - s top growth
tha t
we have measured elsewhere dur ing the l a s t 140,000
year s , was occurr ing here more than
350,000
years ago.
Only the flowstone
boulder
in the
modern
s tream showed evidence
of
r e- so lu t ion by flowing
water s . It appears t h a t
the
high l eve l
passages ,
Western F
ron t
and Sleepwalker Ser i e s , were
drained before 350
ka
probably,
long
before)
and
they have not
been
s ign i f i c an t ly f looded
s ince
t ha t date . Atkinson e t a l 1978) obta ined
an
age
of
225
t
60
ka
for a s ta lagmi te growing
in
the
streamway. This
underscores
the grea t
an t iq u i ty
of
t he
vadose entrenchment
t ha t
comprises the modern t o u r i s t
cave.
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Gaping G i l l .
This system, which d iver s have r ecen t ly connected
Ingleborough
Cave, probably
the
bes t known cave
in Br i ta in . Entered
by
a 110 m
ver t1ca l
drop, the
s t ream 1S
l o s t
immediately in to grave ls , and is not seen
f lowing
again u n t i l i t s resurgence in Terminal
Lake a t the
end
of Ingleborough
Cave.
Severa l
r e l i c t
l ~ v e l s of cave
development can
seen in Gap ing Gi
ll
many of which are
formed
by o ther 1nle t s to
the
system 1ntersec t1ng
f au l t
zones or
r e l a t i v e ly
impervious beds (e .g . the
Porcel lanous
Band).
A
t o t a
l of 16
samples
were
col lec ted from many di f fe ren t pa r t s
of the
cave. Half of
them proved to be pos t -g lac ia l
in
age. This confirms the impress ion
of
o ther s who have
s tud ied the
system,
t h a t
the re waS
widespread
erosion
and/or
deposi t ion
a t
t imes
during
the
l a s t
g l a c i a t i on
.
This des t royed o r
bur ied
most ea r l i e r speleothem
decorat ion .
Two samples
were older than
350 ka.
76202
was a flowstone boulder
found
in Mud Hal l .
77200 was flowstone on a
f a l l e n
block
in
the aven of North
Craven
Passage.
I t s growth
ended
N29 ± 22) ka. 76211 and 77209 are
pieces
of flowstone veneer
found
on t he
wal l
r espec t
ively
near
t o , and beneath ,
the
prominent cemented
cobble
fa l se f loor in Old Eas t Passage
t ha t i s
shown
in Pla te 4 (a ) . They r ~
ka in age,
and scal loped by l a t e r f loods.
Col lec t ive ly , these samples show t ha t high- leve l f o s s i l tunnels such
as
t he Old East
and Far Eas t passages were vadose by 300 ka and probably
before
350 ka. After 300 ka, Old
East Passage f i l l e d
a t
l e a s t
to
the
l eve l
of the fa l se
f loor ,
was s t ab le
for
a whi le ,
then
scoured o w ~ to i t s present debr is
f loor .
Sample 76220
i s a d i sp laced
f lowstone col lec ted by R. R. Glover
in the ent rance passages
of
Newby Moss Cave, almost
1 km southwest of Gaping
G i l l sh a f t .
It too ,
is. .v350
ka and
so
i nd i c a t
es the genera l an t iqu i ty of higher
l eve l caves
on t h i s f l ank of Ingleborough. It i s
a lso very c lo se to
the
con tac t
between
the
Great Scar l imestone and the Yoredale
Ser ies ,
showing
t h a t
the r a t e of r ecess ion of
the
Yoredale
caprock
has
been
very
slow
in t h i s
p a r t i c u l a r area
.
Only one
of
the
Gaping
Gi l l
samples
was
of
l a s t
i n t e r g l a c i a l
age.
76207 was
a
detached,
eroded s t a l agmi te re s t ing
on
clays in Nevada Passage, Far
Country.
It
t e s t i f i e s , f i r s t ,
to
vadose condi t ions
dur ing
the l a s t i n t e r g l ac i a l ,
and
then to powerful, dis rupt ive floodS in
passages t h a t are backwaters today .
Three samples from
d i f f e r e n t
passages
show
t ha t t he re
waS
qui te widespread growth (some
of
it rap id)
between
50 and 35 ka
in
Gaping G i l l , as t he re
was in Lancas ter -Ease
G i l l .
The
fa l se
f loor
in
Hens le r ' s Upper
Passage waS being
cemented about 44,000
years
ago.
Most of
the
under ly ing
sediment
has been
eroded
away s ince then
-
Some
of
the most s t r i k i n g
deposi t s
in Gaping Gi l l are
the varved clays
th a t
are
exposed
in an eros iona l
sec t ion
in
Sand Cavern
(P la t e 4(b) ) . They
ind ica te
a t l ea s t one comparat ively
r ecen t per iod
when the cave was underneath
or
adjo in ing
a
melting glac ie r .
A
smal l s t a l agmi te
growing
on top of them was dated . Unfor tunately , it i s very young indeed (800 yea rs a t i t s
base) , so t h a t it
does
not help to determine whether the
varves
are Late
Devensian
or
older .
Ingleborough Cave.
The lower, ent rance
sec t ion
of t h i s cave i s a
show cave.
The
cave
and i t s cont inuat ion
as fa r as Giant · s
Hal l
are
l a r ge l y
f o s s i l
now and
only
t ake
water in severe
f loods.
In
normal
flow, low wet passages beyond Giant ' s Hal l
dra in via
Beck Head Cave.
Most
samples
here
were
flowstones
(broken
or in
s i t u )
from
the
Giant ' s Hal l
aven. The
ma
j o r i t y have unusual ly low
U concentrat ions
plus
considerable
d e t r i t a l thorium (probably from
f requent
floods)
so
t h a t they cannot be dated
with
great accuracy . However,
77143
conta ined
more uranium and
ne g l i g i b l e
d e t r i t a l
con taminat ion .
It yielded a
se r i e s
of
r e l i a b l e
ages
between
125 and 98 ka. These tend to confirm
the
ages obta ined
on
the low
U
specimens. They
belong
to the
l a s t
i n t e r g l ac i a l .
These flowstones
ranged
from 3 to
13
m above the modern
drought
water t ab le in the cave;
thus , it was vadose to wi th in
3 m or
l e ss
of the
modern water l ine
120,000
years ago. High
l eve l chambers and
phrea t ic r i f t s
such as
Giant ' s
Hal l ,
Second
Gothic Arch and Upper Inaugura t ion
Ser ies must be much older than
t h i s .
Re-rout ing of
Gaping G i l l
water
from Cel la r
Gal lery and the
show
cave, to the
modern
o u t l e t
a t
Beck Head Cave must
have been
wel l es tab l i shed by 125 ka
because
the re
i s
ne g l i g i b l e
f lood
damage to the o l de s t
f lowstones.
Older , t runca ted , o u t l e t
tubes
near
the
beck head ,
such as Foxholes,
are
probab l
y a l o t o lder
than 200
ka.
Thus,
the area
about Ingleborough
seems
to
have
looked much t he same
125,000
o r
200,000
years ago as it
does
tOday
-
but , then
you
might
have met
a
hippopotamus
on your path
-
read
on
Vic tor ia
Cave.
This i s probably one
of
the oldes t caves in Craven. It l i e s near the upthrust southern
l imi t of the
l ime
s tone
between
the North
and
south
Craven
Faul t s . About 140 years ago the cave
ent rance waS a
smal l opening
i n Langc l i f f e Scar . About 1840 A.D.
excavat ion began,
reveal ing
evidence of
Romano-Bri t ish
and Upper Pa laeo l i th i c occupat ion.
These
f inds over lay laminated
clays and bone beds contain ing
remains
of hippopotamus,
hyaena,
rh inoceros ,
deer and l i on
(Tiddeman, 1873).
Fig . 3a shows the sequence of deb r i s f i l l S
as
Tiddeman drew them,
when
he excavated more
than 100 years
ago.
Fig . 3b shows the s t r a t i f i ca t i o n t h a t
we
could recogn ise
when
sampling
from the debr is remnants in the f loor
of the en t rance
passage in
1977.
For tuna te ly ,
many
of
our
samples are flowstones which, though
bur ied ,
remained in t h e i r growth pos i t ions .
Seven
in s i t u
f lowstones (p lus one loose
block) are
o lder than
350 ka and demonstrate
t h a t
much
of Tiddeman's " lower laminated
clays
are a l so of t h i s
grea t
age.
Some
of these f low
s tones
contain ' no growth'
hia tuses
t h a t
may
r ep resen t long t ime in te rValS. Even t h e i r
youngest
par t s are out
of
range
of
the
2 3 ~ h 2 3 4 u dat ing
methods. e
have
made some chemical assumptions
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.: ;
. . .
angular limestone talus
moraine drift (rounded boulders
including
Silurian erratics)
Romano-Celt i
upper cave earth layer
laminated clays
(upper)
lower cave earth
B E D R O C K
o
I
metres
10
I
.. ..
bone bed
(lower)
ye ow -brown
j
:: = : -7-
. . .
. . .7 . .
. .
~ ~ ~
. .
present
cave floor
level
---roof
fall block
yellow-brown
laminated
layS
stalagmite
co ting
Figure
3
a)Diagrammatic
sec t ion of Vic to r ia
Cave
showing
or ig ina l
sediment - cave
ear th sequence,
as descr ibed by Tiddeman
(1873) with
amendments by T_ Lord and A. King pers . COmID
1979) .
b)Sketch
diagram of loca t ion o f
in
s i t u
f lowstones
in
f loor
sediments
of
V ic to r i a Cave
ent rance
passage
(view
looking
i n t o
cave) .
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I
D
P
a
e
5
7
9
5
/
9
2
2
L
u
n
s
o
o
w
o
f
a
o
o
w
s
o
b
o
7
f
o
m
V
i
c
o
a
C
s
h
w
i
n
2
T
2
u
a
n
u
n
a
d
e
m
i
n
o
o
g
n
s
m
p
e
o
s
m
e
d
7
N
o
e
t
h
p
o
m
i
n
h
a
u
n
h
c
e
a
h
s
m
a
s
a
a
m
i
e
e
n
n
a
s
h
p
u
o
o
h
r
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and
resor ted
to s t a t i s t i c a l methods using 234u/238u r a t i o s
of
the samples to suggest t ha t
much
of the
flowstone
was
growing before
500
ka
( see Gascoyne,
Ford
and
Schwarcz, 1983a);
i . e .
the
phrea t ic cave
was a l
re ady
drained
~ n d r e l i c t .
Many of ou r samples grew
a t
i n t e rva l s
dur ing the per iod
3
10
-
180
ka. For example,
77159
is
a f lowstone col lec ted
in
s i t u a t
the
b ack of
the
cave, 5 m above
the
presen t
(excavated) f loor .
t
i s probably a remn
ant
of a once-cont inuous f lowstone cover
in the
back
.
t
cons i s t s of four t h in
c a l c i t e
l ay e r s
each
of d i f fe re n t
colrnlr
separated by
d e t r i t a l
hor izons
.
The
lowest
l
aye
r
iS rv
307
ka
in
age
and the
top
layer ,
V
I04
ka.
Jus t
10
cm
of
c a l c i t e and c l a s t i c
depos i t s
accumulated dur ing a 200,000 Yf ar span a t
t h i s
protected place .
The most impor tant
Victor ia
Cave
speleothem
was
a
sample taken
from a la rge , slumped
and bur i ed f lowstone in a
loop passage
against the cave back wal l . t waS exposed in a
t rench excavated
by Alan
King in
1977, when sample 77151 was col lec ted (Tab
le
2) .
In
1979,
sample 79151
was col lec ted fo r fur ther
s t ra t i g ra ph ic
s tud ie s .
t i s shown
in
Pla te
5 .
The f lowstone grew upon
a
ca lc i t e
- cemented,
f ragmenta l c l ay r e s t ing on
bedrock .
The
clay
has been s tud ied
by Dr
. John
Cat t
. He found
the
sand
s i z e
f r ac t ion to comprise c lay
aggregates cemented
by i ron oxides . When compared
with othe
r
c l a s t i c
sediments
in the
cave ,
t h i s c ha ra c t e r i s t i c suggests
a
f a i r ly
cold
environment before
the ca lc i t e deposi t ion
began
.
Pla te
5
shows how r i ch ly var ied
t h i s
deposi t i s . t d i sp l ays s t rong
colour
banding th a t
ind ica tes va r i a t ions in the a
mount
of organic o r f ine
c lay
contaminants in
the
feed wa t e rs .
t
shows
a f i r s t growth hia tus a t the 281 ka pos i t ion
and
a second , much s t ronger , h ia tus
a t
i t s
cen t r e (263 ka ) . Shat te red s traw s t a l a c t i t e s r es t on th i s cen t r a l break and are
incorpora ted in to the base of the ov e rgrowth . The i r presence may suggest a phase
of
effec t ive
f ros t
sha t t e r he re in the back
of
the cave , though other exp lana t ions are poss ib le .
A
t o t a l
of
12
U-
se r ies
dates
have
been
obta ined
for
77151
/
79151,
as
shown
in the
Pla te
.
One of t hese ,
205
ka,
has been re jec ted as
it was
based
on only a small weight of ca lc i t e
and
was
out of s t ra t i g ra ph ic sequence . There a re th ree add i t iona l
da te s
for
t h i s
deposi t
from a s ta lagmite , 79158 (P la t e 5) , growing on top of the f lowstone nearby . The age record
fo r the
e n t i r e
speleothem appea
r s ve
ry
consis tent
except fo r one anomalous date
of
188 ka in
the cen t re . Two repea t dat ings of the same ca lc i t e l ayers
gave
more acceptable ages
of
255
and
252 ka and so
the 188
ka age
i s
re jec ted .
This
f lowstone beg
an to grow on top of
a cool
or cold
phase deposi t about
320
ka .
Growth
ceased ,
apparent
l y
br i e f ly ,
around 280 ka. There
was
a
longer
ha l t from app
roximately
263 to
255
ka
, when s h a t t e r ed s traws f e l l onto the surface . Growth
was then
renewed and appears to
have cont inued
rath er
s t e a d i ly
to some t ime between 170 and 180 ka .
All
growth then ceased
permanently
a t th i s s i t e .
The
deposi t waS bur i ed by clays a t some l a t e r
t ime
. Because the
e r ro r margins on the dates
are
qu i te l a rge , the per iods of no growth in the sample
(espec ia l ly
,
the cen t r a l h ia tus ) could be much
la rger
than the i n t e rva l suggested ,
perhaps
as long as
30 ,
000
years
.
From ur
co l l e c t ions
in the
cave in
1977 and 1979, only one sample ( the
t h in upper
f lowstone of
77159)
proved
to
be
of
l a s t
i n t e rg l a c i a l
age
.
However,
the archaeologica l
excava tor s
had
recovered many
bones
of
warm
cl imate
animals from
the Lower Cave Earth
(Tiddeman,
1873;
Sutc l i f f e e t
a l
1976). These included hippopotamus
and
rhinoceros
and were considered to be Ipswichian or Last In t e rq l a c i a l f au na. Many of the
bones
were
encased
in cave
c a l c i t e
. We obta ined seven da te s f ~ o m such sample s (donated
by
Tom Lord
of
Set t le ). Their ages
range
from 135 to 114 ka ,
which
complete ly confirms t he suppos i t i on
tha t th i s
i s
a fauna from
the
c l i m a t i c peak
of
the l a s t
i n t e rg l a c i a l
(Gas coyne e t aI , 1981) .
Two spe leothems (76153
and
77230H) are
of
recent
age.
Both were contaminated
with
d e t r i t a l thorium and may be much younge r
than quoted
. Lack of o ther young samples suggests
tha t
e a r l i e r
v is i to r s
had
taken them,
as
they are the most a t t r ac t ive and access ib le .
All
geomorphologica l evidences
suggest t ha t
Victor ia
Cave i s
a
pa r t i c u l a r ly old fea tu re
in the Craven
ka r s t (Sweeting, 1974) .
t is
a phrea t ic r e l i c t t runca ted by c l i f f erosion.
Our
speleothem
dates ind ica te t ha t
it i s
much
o lder than
350
ka
and i t i s l i ke ly t ha t t he
cave
was dra ined before
500 ka . Sta t i s t i ca l i n t e rp r e ta t ions
of the
U i so topic
r a t i o s in cer ta in
samples
sugges t s
t ha t
dra inage
could
even
have
occurred before
1.5 mil l ion
years ag o
.
Deposi ts older than
350
ka,
whatever
t he i r
t rue
age
may be, d isplay pat te rns of growth
and
h ia tuses
s imi la r
t o
younger
ones . This sugges t s
a
l t e rna t i ng warm
,
cool
and
cold
per iods
( i . e .
glac ia l
types of
cl imate) in Yorkshire
before
350'
ka . A grea t
deal of
flowstone waS
deposi ted
between 320
and 180 ka
.
t seems t ha t t h i s
lon g
per iod was more
moder a te
than
l a te r
t imes , w i th no pro t rac ted
g lac ia t ion
occur r ing
in
the Dales
.
GENER L
C VE
CHRONOLOGY
ND
EROSION
R TES
Cave
Chronology
in Craven.
The forego
ing
pages have shown t ha t the m
ajo
r
cave
systems in Craven were
developed
over
350 ,
000
years
ag o
. Waltham
(1970
, 1974) regarded
the
r e l i c t high - l eve l tunnels in these
caves as evidence for p r eg lac ia l
development
up
to
55 m below a common ,
reg iona l
water tab le .
The
a pp a ren t l ack of vadose forms
in the tunnels
waS thought to be
due
to rapid
dra ining
when
val leys
were inc i sed
dur ing
glac ia t ion . Walth am a l so
cons idered most
u r r e n t l y ~ t i v e vadose
caves to be
post
- glac ia l and therefo re younger than 15
ka
. These
ideas
were c r i t i c i s e d by
Brook
(1971) who
pointed out tha t
many caves
a t present
conta in f looded sec t ions which
are
perched
we
ll
above
base l evel ,
due
to damming by sediments
or s t ruc tu ra l
fea tu res . Brook
a l so
noted
t ha t
the
i n t e rva l
between
preg l a c i a l
and
pos t -g lac ia l
cave
format ion
was
consider
able and was
not considered
by I'laltham (197 0) . Based on sequences seen
in
the Leck
Fe l l
caves
,
Waltham
(1974c)
rev i sed
h i s concept of cave development
and
proposed in s tead f ive
s tages of
e ros ion or
sedimenta t ion. These cor re la ted , respec t ive ly , with
i n t e rg l a c i a l s and
g la c i a l s
.
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The
reg iona l wate r t ab l e concept was given new l i f e by
Waltham and Harmon
(1977) and
Atkinson
e t
a l (1978). In a paper
repor t ing
the f i r s t da tes on B r i t i sh speleothems, they
placed
the water tab le a t
265
m
a . s . l .
in
the
west near the Dent
F a u l t , r i s i n g
to over
300 m a s l in the Ingleborough area . They a l s o t i e d it i n w i th e l ev a t io n s of e ros ion
surfaces and re juvena t ion poin ts
seen
in
va l ley
prof i l e s . Dates
on White
Scar and Ringsdale
Master
Cave
speleothems
were evidence t ha t g l a c i a l deepening of major v a l l ey s occur red
before about 400
ka.
Deepening of
up to 75
m and
consequent re juvena t ion
were thought
to
be
rap id and were a t t r ibu ted to the
f i r s t
B r i t i sh glac ia t ion ( th e
Angl ian
Stage) .
Re s u l t s
from the presen t s tudy
g e n e ra l ly agree
with the g rea t an t iqu i ty of Craven
caves
proposed by Atkinson e t
a l
(1978).
We
p re fe r
a
l e s s ca t as t ro p h ic
process o f
va l ley
lowering
and cave development , however, fo r the fol lowing reasons:
(1) t h e c l a s s i c a l
water tab le concept i s not
g e n e ra l ly v a l i d
in
kars t
reg ions ,
except
on
a very loc a l
i sed
sca le .
Many
of the r e l i c t tunne ls may have formed under a perched
phrea
s
.
Glover (1974),
fo r ins tance,
has noted four types
of p h rea t i c
passage a t s imi l a r l eve l s in
the Gaping Gi l l
system,
but each
o f
d i f f e r e n t o r i g i n .
(2)
the f i r s t
g l a c i a l
event in
B r i t a i n
i s u n l ik e ly
to have caused over 80
percen t
of
the
t o t a l va l l e y
entrenchment
in
Craven. The marine pa laeoc l imat ic record c la ims mult ip le
glac ia t ions of s imi la r i n t ens i ty were more cha rac t e r i s t i c of
Pleis tocene
t ime. The 75
m
re juvena t ion i s more l i ke ly a
product
o f th ree o r
more
glac ia t ions spread over several
hundred thousand
years .
The apparent
l ack
of vadose
f ea tu res which ind icated a
rap id down
cu t t ing
may
simply
be due
to
i n f i l l by
sediments
and block ia l l . Severa l anc ien t tunnels , in
fac t ,
do
conta in such fea tu res , e .g .
Gavel
Pot main streamway, the Lancas te r Hole-Ease G i l l
Caverns
main
streamway and
upper
tunnels , the Lyle Cavern Ser i es in Los t Jo h n s and Sand
Caverns in Gaping Gi l l .
The genera l
chronology
of
cave
formation in Craven i s one dominated by
t h e r a t e of
v a l l ey
inc i s ion in to the Grea t Scar l imes tone . Differ ing eros ional condi t ions have
caused
these
ra te s to
vary over Quate rnary
t ime .
Large
tunnel
formation may
well
have
occur red
dur ing
preg lac ia l t imes (more
than
1-2 mil l ion years ago) but a t e l ev a t io n s co n t ro l l ed
by
l o ca l base
l eve l s
of
eros ion ,
ra the r than
a reg ional water tab le . With the onset
of glac ia t ion
in
B r i t a i n ,
more
rap id
downcut t ing
of va l ley f l o o r s
ensued,
tempered
by
l i t ho log ica l and s t ruc tu ra l
var ia t ions
in
the l imes tones .
There
i s ,
as ye t , no d e f i n i t i v e evidence to show t h a t
one
s ing le
g lac ia t ion
in Bri t a in caused most
of the
v a l l ey formation and
cave
development in
th e
Dales .
Vadose
channel
entrenchment r a t e s .
Some
entrenchment
ra t e s
are
quoted in Table 3. These
are
obta ined
by
tak ing the he igh t
of
an
in
s i t u s t a l ag mi t e sample above the
presen t
bedrock channel
f loor ,
and div id ing t h i s by
the basa l V-ser i es age obta ined . Resu l ts a re the mean maximum
ent r enchment ra te s
over the
span
of
t ime
between the b asa l age and the
presen t day. They
vary from
2 .2 to
8.3 cm per
1,000
years .
T BLE 3 PASSAGE ENTRENCHMENT
R TES
FOR C VES
IN
THE
CR VEN DISTRICT
USING
B S L 23 0
Th
/234
GES ND ELEVATION OF SPELEOTHEMS (from Gascoyne e t al 1983a)
Cave
Type
of
depos i t
Los t Jo h n s
Cave
Wall f lowstone
Kingsdale
Master
Resolu t ioned
roof
Cave
f lows tone
Ingleborough Cave
Flowstone
Ease
Gi l l
Caverns
Loose
f lowstone
White
Scar Cave
Loose
f lowstone
Height
above
s t ream
m)
2 5
. - 11
---4
-2 0
,,20
Basa l
age
(ka)
115
300
~ 120
240
~ 3 5 0
Mean
maximum
downcut t ing
r a t e (cro/ka)
2.2
3.7
~ 3 2
8.3
~ 5 7
The measurement from the Main Drain a t
Lost
Jo h n s Cave i s t h e bes t
because
the samples
were
co l lec ted
in the
growth
p o s i t i o n di rec t ly
above
the channel. The Lancas te r Hole and
White Scar samples were
disp laced .
We have assumed
t h a t
they had not moved grea t
dis tances
from
t h e i r
growth
p o s i t i o n s when
co l lec ted
but it i s poss ib le t ha t
they had,
in which case
the va lues
quoted
in
the
Table
are
not
mean maxima
but
something
l e ss
than
t ha t .
The
Ringsda le
and Ingleborough Cave samples were in the growth p o s i t i o n s but
modern
stream
channe ls
have
s h i f t e d l a t e r a l l y so
t ha t they
are
some
metres d i s t a n t .
A
cutdown ra t e , as
in
t h e t ab le , does not
express
t h i s l a t e r a l
eros ion .
It i s
i n t e r e s t i n g
to
compare these ra te s with
those
obta ined
by
di rec t ly measuring
bed
lower ing
in
l ims tone
channe ls
by
means
of micrometers , (High and
Hanna,
1970;
Coward, 1975) .
The
micrometer r a t e s , ca lcu la ted from measur ing
per iods
rang ing
from a
few
months
up to two
years ,
are
about an . order of magnitude grea te r
than
our r a t e s . This i s probably
because
there
i s
always a
t endency
to
place
the
micrometer in
the
most
ac t iv e places
because
the
most
re l i ab le measurements can be obta ined over sh o r t per iods the re . Our V- se r i es -b ased ra te s are
determined
by
averaging
very long
t ime in te rva l s (90,000
years a t Los t Jo h n s ) . It seems
qui te
l i k e l y
t ha t fo r
s u b s t a n t i a l
pa r t s of these
i n t e r v a l s
no
entrenchment was
occurr ing because
channel beds
were
b u r ie d ( armoured )
by a p ro t ec t i v e
d e t r i t a l
l ay e r .
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17
1
8
V l
::: ;
w
r
6
W
...J
W
Q.
V l
4
0
a
w
2
I)
::: ;
:>
z
0
40
Figure
4
eo 120
200
250
GE
(-Ita)
. 230 234
H1stogram of
Th/
U ages for al l speleothems from caves
in
Craven
except
those
showing de t r i ta l
thorium
contamination
(from Gascoyne e t a l ,
1983b).
Top and basal
ages
of
a speleothem
define
the l imi ts
of
growth. Ages
above and below a
hiatus
are
used
instead, when applicable .
Peaks
and troughs
in growth
frequency are
correlated with
warm and cold climates, respectively (see text ) .
The
entrenchment of va l l ey f loors
300
350
In the same fash10n, the e leva t ions o f dated
s ta lagmi tes
above adjoin ing spr ings and
va l l ey
f loo r s may be used to obta in maximum average r a t es of
va l l ey
deepening during
t he
measured t ime spans . We
have
determined r a t es for only two
va l l eys ,
so f a r , and ne i ther
i s
as prec i se as we would wish. Never the less ,
t hey
are i n t e r e s t i n g and
t end
to
con t r ad i c t
e a r l i e r es t i m a t e s .
The speleothems in Kingsdale Master
Cave
a re approximate ly 11 m above the modern
water tab le .
They
are
only about 5 m
above
the
present
f l oo r
of
the
dale ,
because the da le
i s i n f i l l e d with gravelS which bury bedrock to a depth t ha t is perhaps as
grea t
as 25 m.
Assuming t h i s
l
a t t
e r
( l i ke l y
maximum
va lue ,
then
t he
bedrock
f loor
has been
entrenched
no
more than 30 m
s ince
the f i r s t speleothem growth b
egan in
a dra ined and abandoned Roof
Tunnel
about 300,000
years
ag o
.
This
gives a maximum deepening
r a t e of 10
cm per
1,000 years . The
s ta lagmi tes
may wel l be a little
older
and the dale f l oo r was almost
c e r t a i n l y a few metres belOW
t he i r
l eve l
when
t hey
began to
grow. The maximum mean r a te
has , t he re fo re ,
most l i ke l y
been l e s s
t han 10
cm. This
r e s u l t i s
very s imi l a r to ra t es
we have obta ined for
g lac i a t ed
val leys in the Rocky Mountains of
Canada
(Ford e t aI , 1981) .
The
o ldes t speleothems
a t Whitescar Cave
are about 70 m
above the
f loor of Chapel-Ie-Dale,
which i s
inc i sed i n to
basement
rocks . The
speleothems are
older
than 350 ka.
This gives
a
maximum mean r a t e o f < 2 0 cm per 1,000 years for the l a s t 350,000 years .
Most previous authors
have
a t t r i bu t e d
va l l ey
, deepening
in
Craven
to g lac i a l
scour .
Atkinson e t a l , (1978)
suggested
t ha t there may have
been
as much as 75 m o f
deepening
dur ing the
f i r
s t
g lac i a t ion t ha t
is
recognised in the
B r i t i s h
record , the
Angl ian .
Brook
(1974) proposed
20-50 m
of
entrenchment per
g lac i a t ion ,
supposing
t ha t
t he r e have
been
th ree o r more
g lac i a t ions .
More
conserva t ive ly ,
Sweet ing (1974) es t imated 60 m
for
t he
sum
of a l l glac ia l deepening in the Dales.
The f
requency
dis t r ibu t ion
of
speleothem
ages
(d iscussed
below)
sugges ts t ha t t he r e have
been
e i t he r two or three f u l l
g lac i a t ions
of the
D i s t r i c t
dur ing the pas t 350,000 years .
Assuming
the l a t t e r , we obta in a
g l a c i a l / i n t e r g l a c i a l
cycle per iod of
about
120,000 yea r s .
A l o t of
qu i t e
independent evidence for
such per iOdic i ty
has
been
obta ined elsewhere
in
the
wor ld .
Maximum mean r a t es o f < 1 2 to «::24 m per cycle re su l t , for Kingsdale a
nd
Chapel - le -Dale ,
in f a i r agreement with
Sweet ing S
es t imate i f
it
i s assumed t ha t the th ree g lac i a t ions
recognised
in
the B r i t i s h record were,
in
f ac t , a l l t h a t occurred in the Dales .
Nor thern
Hemisphere deep sea core data sugges t
10
g lac i a t ions
dur ing
the pas t one mill ion years
(Shackle ton
and Opdyke, 1973) , so it i s qui te poss ib le t ha t the amount
of
glac ia l deepening
i s
much
gr ea t e r t han 60
m.
I f we assume t ha t t he r e have been many
g lac i a t ions
of the Craven D i s t r i c t , with mean
deepening proceeding a t the
maximum
r a te suggested for the pas t 350 ka, then
the
i nc i s i on of
the
uppermost
beds of the Great Scar l imestone to
form
the
Yorkshi r e
Dales w i l l have begun
between one and
two mil l ion
years ago.
I f
the mean r a t es
are lower ,
then the
dates are
grea te r
t han
two mil l ion years
in or ig in
and the e a r l i e s t surviv ing caves a re t r u l y
p r e g l a c i a l
in the
chronologica l sense .
This
i s
highly specula t ive . t
i s
obvious
t ha t
we need
more
dated
cave /da l e f loor co r re l a t ions , an d new methods to
extend
cave dat ing back beyond 350
ka.
CLIMATIC SIGNIFICANCE
OF
SPELEOTHEM AGES
Frequency of growth
and
r e l a t i on
to
c l imate .
In F1g. 4 we have p lo t t ed uncontam1nated speleothem age
r e s u l t s
as a
f requency
histogram.
Only
growth per iods are
ac tua l ly
used in t h i s p l o t ,
r a ther
t han
ind iv idua l
ages, because th i s
avoids
bias
given
to
speleothems which were dated
severa l
t imes .
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A number of pe r iods of
p len t i f u l
speleothem deposi t ion c an be
seen
in
the age range
o
to 350 ka and beyond. There are many r e s u l t s
fo r
speleothems under 15
ka. This
i s l a rge ly
due
to the
be t t e r
chance
of
prese rva t ion
of the
younger depos i t s . Older samples are more
l ike ly
to
have suf fered
e ros ion o r
b u r i a l during the
l a s t glac i a t ion .
This bias i s o f f s e t to
some
ex ten t
by our de l ibe ra t e co l l ec t ion of • old-looking
speleothems,
so tha t more ancien t
morpholog ica l events could
be
dated.
In
Pa r t
I o f th i s paper Gascoyne e t
a l ,
1978) we showed how the frequency of speleo them
growth may
be
r e l a t ed t o pas t
c l ima tes .
Warm per iods were marked by
many
depos i t s ; increased
C02 product ion in so i l s
and
presence
of free ly-f lowing
groundwater
encouraged the l imestone
diss o lu t ion
-ca l
c i t e prec ip i ta t ion
process .
The l a s t ten
thousand
yea
r s
i s
known to
have
been
such a per iod ( the
Holocene)
and i s wel l - represen ted by high frequency growth
in
F ig . 4.
Other
in te rva l s of
p l en t i fu l growth are a l so l i k e l y to be
of
i n t e rg l ac i
a l
charac te r
al though
f requencies wi l l be
lower because
of
removal
by eros ion
and
bur i a l.
In con t ras t , lower t empera tures prevent
CO
2
product ion and f reeze
groundwater
so
t ha t
per iods of low o r zero age frequency probably correspond
to
cold o r g lac ia l
c l ima tes .
Lack of
deposi ts between
15
and 35 ka i s
such a per iod
and cor re l a t e s with
the Late
Devensi
an
glac i a t ion ,
dated independent ly by 4C analysis o f
sur face depos i t s .
A
s imi l a r
per iod occurred between
140 and 165
ka
and i s l i k e l y
a l so
to have been a very cold event in
t r ~
area . Other per iods
of in te rmi t ten t
growth
, such as
35
to
80 ka
suggest cool to
mild condi t ions .
The
r e s u l t s in
Fig.4 agree wel l with
the
t iming o f g
l a c i a l - i n t e r
g lac ia l s tages seen in
ocean core i so top ic records and
foss i l
ree f t e r race da tes .
De ta i l ed
cor re l a t ion
of the
Craven
speleothem
record with
these global
indica tors
i s
descr ibed by
Gascoyne e t
a l
1983b).
Corre la t ion
with
the B r i t i s h
cl ima t e
record.
By
ana
logy w ~ t the Holocene growth record ,
the
broad peak between 90 and 140 ka
in F ig .4
can
be
cor re l a t ed with the l a s t
i n t e rg lac ia l .
This i s known
as
the
Ipswichian
in the
Br i t i sh
sequence.
In
f ac t ,
the
Ipswichian
i s more
accura te ly
def ined as the
period
between
115 and
135 ka, from
the
Vic to r i a
Cave
mammal-flowstone
dates .
It i s poss ib le t h a t 90
to
115 ka
may
be
a second unnamed) i n t e rg l ac i a l s t age . Al t e rna t ive ly , the same animals as dated a t Victor ia
Cave may
have
inh ab i t ed B r i t a i n dur ing t h i s
i n t e rva l
a l so , t o accoun t
fo r
the many s imi l a r
remains elsewhere in the country.
Carbon-14 dates of organ ic
deposi ts in
so i l s and
bee t l e remains Coope,
1975)
have
shown
t h a t the per iod 35 to 70 ka
was
one o f a l te rna t ing co ld to mild clima t e . This
agrees
with
the sporad ic speleo them growth seen in F ig. 4 . A
shor t
warm event ( the
Upton
Warren i n t e r
s tad ia l ) has
also been
recognised
from bee t l e
data and t h i s can
be
seen in speleothem dates as
a
Sl igh t
increase in growth f requency between 38 and 44 ka. Before t h i s , growth was more
discont inuous ,
probably
due to co ld cl imates with occasional f looding of the caves ,
seen
as
mud
l aye rs
in
many
o f the dated
depos i t s .
This i s the non-g lac i a l , Ear ly
Devensian
s tage in
the B r i t i s h record.
The
r e s u l t s in Fig . 4 allow us to place dates on the penul t imate glac i a t i on
in
B r i t a i n ,
between 140 and 165 ka. This in te rva l of zero growth may
be
cor re l a t ed with
the
Wolstonian
g lac ia t ion . The lack of
accurate ages fo r
e a r l i e r per iods in the B r i t i s h
Ple i s tocene
record
preven ts
us from d i rec t l y cor re l a t ing othe r s t ages with the speleothem record.
The
broad
peak
from 180
to
320
ka
may
r e l a t e
to
the
Hoxnian
i n t e rg l ac i a l
and
perhaps
the
Anglian
g lac ia t ion
i s c lose
to the
da t ing
l imi t about 350
ka) .
Unfor tunate ly ,
t h i s
r
emains specu la t ive because
the Hoxnian and e a r l i e r s tages r e s t on a f loa t ing t ime sca le which i s determined only by the
i n t e r - r e l a t i o n s h i p o f
the type -sec t ions
fo r which these events are def ined .
Corre la t ion o f
dated speleothems
in
the c
ave
to
the
type sec t ion
fo r
a given
s tage
i s seldom
poss ib le , l a rge ly
because kars t regions , because of t he i r e leva t ion , t end to be
cen t res
of e ros ion , no t depos i t ion.
SUMM RY
ND
CONCLUSIONS
Uranium-ser ies
ages
of 87
speleothems from caves in
the
Craven d i s t r i c t have shown the
an t iqu i ty
of
r e l i c t ,
upper
l eve l s
of
these
systems.
Ind iv idua l
ages
have
been used to i n fe r
loca l chronologies of passage development . Maximum average ra tes of cave
passage
entrenchment
of
between 2 and 8 cm/ka
have
been determined from dated speleothems ad jacen t to a l oca l
base
l e v e ~
Ext rapo la t ion
of
these
r e su l t s
al lows ca lcu la t ion
of the r a t e of eros ion during
g l a c ~ a t ~ o n
and
an
age of up to two
mil l ion
years i s es t imated
fo r
the
Yorkshire
Dales. Cave
formation
in the
Dales
i s i n fe r red to be
a gradual process , con t ro l l ed
both by cl imate and
loca l
geological
cha rac t e r i s t i c s .
It
i s
probable
tha t
v a l l e y
entrenchment
in the
Craven
d i s t r i c t
has
been
a
more
gradual
process than t h a t proposed
by
Waltham
1970)
and Atkinson e t a l
1978),
and has occurred
in
s teps
o f< 2 5 m over severa l
i n t e rg lac ia l /g l ac ia l
cycles
fo r
perhaps the l a s t 1 to 2 mil l ion
yea rs . might
t h e r e ~ o r e an t ic ipa te
the
pr
7
sence
of
even
higher - level
fo s s i l tunne l s , da t ing
from
a t ~ m e when the
l ~ m e s t o n e was
only pa r t l a l ly exposed and val leys
were
ent renched i n to the
upper most beds alone. Vic to r i a
Cave
and others in the area may be ev idence o f
t h i s s i tua t ion ,
but few are
known
today, probably because of t runca t ion and extens ive col lapse .
Ages
o f
Craven
speleothems
have a l so been
used to determine the c l imate of the
Dales
over
the
p a s ~
~ O O O O O years . Per iods o f
high
frequency growth are seen in the Holocene . .
a n ~ a
s ~ m ~ l a r abundance between 90 and
135 ka
i s i n t e rp re t ed as the l a s t
i n t e rg l ac i a l
in the
B r ~ t i s h c l imate record. The Ipswichian i n t e rg l ac i a l
forms
a t l e a s t
one par t
o f th i s per iod
from
115 to 135 ka. For the f i r s t t ime, abso lu te dates have been placed on the Wolstonian
s tage
commonly accepted
to
be
the
Penul t imate g lac ia t ion ,
from
140
to 165
ka.
At the moment, dlder events cannot
be
eas i l y reso lved
from the
speleothem r e s u l t s
but
with
care .
and
the r igh t deposi ts (h igher uranium speleothems
and
longer count ing t imes) it may
be
p o s s ~ b l e to b e t t e r define l i m i t s o f c l ima t i c events in B r i t a i n pr io r t o
165 ka.
Other dat ing
~ e t h o d ~ m u s t u l t ~ ~ ~ t e 2 ~ ~ b e ~ s e d however, to . ex tend
the
record back b e y o n ~ 350 ka. The
uranium
~ s o t o p ~ c
r a t ~ ~
ul
- 0 ,
on
7
such
t e c h n ~ q u e
and
has
been
used
t e n t a t ~ v e l y
to es t ima te the
age
of ~ ~ c t o r ~ a
Cave.
T h e ~ m o ~ u m ~ n e s c e n c e
and e lec t ron spin resonance
t echniques
have
po ten t ia l
fo r d a t ~ n g to beyond
one
m ~ l l ~ o n
years ,
but much work
remains to
be done before they
can
be
used conf iden t ly
fo r speleo them
da t ing .
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many
cavers
are
thanked
for
helping the f i r s t
au
thor to col lect samples analyzed
in
this
study,
especial ly Danny Elwood, members
of L.U.S.S.
and
cavers
a t Whernside
Manor.
Dick
Glover i s grateful ly acknowledged
f
or
his help
and enthusiasm, and
for several samples
from
the Gaping Gill area . Dr John
Fa
r rer , Bob
Jarman
and Al f
Hurworth,
and
Julian
Barker
kindly gave
permis sion
to sample
from
par ts of the Gaping
Gil l - Ingleborough
Cavern
and
White
Scar
C
aves
respect ively
. Tom Lord
kindly provided samples
from
the
V
ic
tor ia
Cave
col lect ion
in
the Pigyard Museum Set t le , and Alan
King
is thanked for
his
help and
inte
r es t
in
sampling
Victoria
Cave.
Ada Dixon
Marija Russell and
Nicky
Cesar
provided
analyt ical
support a t various ti m es over
the course of
this
work and
financial
suppor
t
wa
s
obtained
from
the
National Science
and
Engin
eering
Rese
arch
Council
of
Canada.
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85
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CAVE
SCIENCE
Transact ions of
the
Br i t i sh Cave Research Assoc iat ion Vol
11, Ju ly
1984 .
FURTHER
WATER
TRACING
EXPERIMENTS
AT
CASTLETON
DERBYSHIRE
N.
S.J .Chr i s t ophe r
Abs t rac t
Thre
e
s inks
on
Ru s
hup Edge,
Derbyshire ,
were
s imultaneously
marked
with
th ree
sepa ra te
dyes . Using
a
combination o f
charcoa l
and cot ton
de tec tor s
th
e
water
from
a l l th ree s inks
was found
to
ente r Speedwell Cavern
a t
t he Main Ris ing . Observat ions o f f low condi t ions show
t h a t the p r i n c i p a l flow
from
the Rushup
Edge
swa l le t s e i th e r
en ters
a t
Main
Ris ing or
a t
Whirlpool Rising, bu t
not both .
Surveying
shows Wh i r l p o o l Rising to be
B.35m
higher
in
a l t i t u d e
than
Ma
in Ris ing and
therefore
open passage must e x i s t upstream of Main Rising with
a
dive rgence
o f
waters
being caused
by
a temporary b lockage
such as
a sandbank a t
t imes .
INTRODUCTICN
The work car r ied
out
during 1980 a t Cast le ton Chris topher
e t
aI ,
1981) at tempted to
apply modern hydrologica l t echniques , notably quan t i t a t ive dye t r ac ing and f lood
pulse s tud ies
to
the
Cas t l e t on
aqu i fe r . The
r e s u l t s genera l ly conf i rmed
the
pa t t e rn
es t ab l i shed by
Ford
1955 and 19 7
7 )
and supplemented it with
a
cons iderable amoun
t
of d e t a i l .
A
major problem was encountered
with
the use of
de tec to r s
for in-cave
s tud ies where
water
samplers could no t
be
i ns t a l l ed or r egu la r ly serv iced; t h i s problem was a l so assoc ia ted wi th
high
and
var i ab le
background
f luorescence
caused by
organic
mat ter
adsorbed
onto
the
charcoal
with the dye.
To
overcome t h i s a spec ia l
technique has
been
developed
Chr i s topher , in prep . ) .
Towards the
end
of
the 1980 pro jec t it
bec
ame
apparen t
th
a t
flow
condi t ions
in
Speedwel l
were more var i ab le
than
previOUSly thought and
t ha t
the
main
flow
could come
from e i t h e r
Main
Ris ing
or
Whir lpool
Ris ing , but apparent ly not both
.
In view of the
d i f f i c u l t y encountered with i n t e r p r e t a t i on
of
in-cave
de tec to r s
because
of the absence of background readings wi th no
dye
present and the
newly
reve
a led
complexi ty
o f
the
Speedwel l
hydrology, a fur the r
s e r i e s o f
dye t r aces
waS
thouqht e s se n t i a l ,
a f t e r
a
s tudy o f background f luorescences obta ined in
the
absence
of
dye. The r e su l t s
of
the back
ground study w i l l be repor ted l a t e r
Chr i s topher , in
prep .)
.
The geologi
c
a l and
geographica l ou t l ines
of
the
Cas t le ton
area have
a l ready been adequa te ly
descr ibed
by
the
autho
r ,
Chris topher
e t aI , 1981)
and Ford
1977) .
FLOW
CONDITIONS IN
SPE
EDWELL
During the
per iod
1978-1983, Speedwel l Cavern was v i s i t e d
i r r e gu l a r l y
by the
author ,
Dr T.
D.
Ford ,
R .
P. Shaw
and J . D.
Ha r r i son , for the purpose of hydrology, water chemis t ry
and
surveying.
During
these
v i s i t s
the
flow
condi t ions
were
noted
and
they
are
summarised
in
Table 1.
TABLE 1
Flow
Condi t ions
in
Speedwel l
Cavern
1978-1983
Dat
e
Feb.
1978
March, 1980
Sept . 1980
Oct.
1980
March,
1981
J u l y ,
1981
Oct . 1981
Nov. 1982
Feb .
1983
Event
V i s i
t
V i s i t
V i s i t
V is it
Major
Flood
V i s i t
V i s i t
V i s i t
V is it
A
Allogenic type water
P Percolat ion
type wate r
Main Flow
From
Main r i s ing
Whir lpool
r i s ing
Whir lpool r i s ing
Whir lpool r i s i ng
Main r i s i ng
Main r i s ing
Main r i s i ng
Whir lpool r i s i ng
Water
Chemist ry
Main
WhirlpOOl
p
A
A
A
A
A
?
A
P
A A
?
Percolat ion
type
water
based on v i sua l evidence
only
very littl f low) .
From t h i s
t a
b l
e
it can be seen
t h a t the pr inc ipa l flow
only
comes
from Main
Ris ing
a f t e r
a
major f lood. Once low flowl condi t ions preva i l for severa l months the f low r ever t s to
Whirlpool
Ris ing
u n t i l the
next
major
f lood.
Secondly, the Whir lpool
Ris ing
only ebbs
and f lows
when it
i s
r egu la r ly t ak ing the pr inc ipa l flow .
On one
occas ion only the
Main
Ris ing has
been
seen to
ebb and
f low.
In
November
1982
water was
s tanding a t the
Boulder P i l e s downstre
am
of Main
Ris ing
about 10 f ee t 3 m
above
normal .
Dur ing the next
hour
it
f e l l
by 6 f ee t
2
m), thereby dra in ing a l o t of ponded
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water
r i g h t
up to Main
Ris ing , and then
rose
rapidly towards i t s
previous h igh
l eve l .
This was
soon
a f t e r a
mild f lood and
may
occur qui t e
of ten
but v i s i t s
under
such condi t ions
a re
ra re .
(Verbal
informat ion
from
TDF) .
Table
1
also includes
a
summary
of water
chemis t ry a t the two
r i s ings . The
cha rac te r i s t i c chemis t ry of the
two types ,
namely
a l logen ic
swal le t water and autogenic
percola t ion wate r , are i d en t i f i ed by
calcium,
sodium and
potassium
concentra t ions
Chris topher and
Wilcock, 1981) .
Al logenic water i s
low
in
calcium
(60-70 mg/1)
,
but
high in
sodium
(8-12 mg/1)
and potass ium 0 .9
- 1 .2 mg/1). Autogenic water
i s
high in
calcium ~ O mg/1)
,
low in
sodium (3-5
mg/1) and
potass ium
-0 . 5 mg/1)
.
THE DYE
TR CE
The flow condi t ions in November 1982
ind ica ted
t h a t the
pr inc ipa l
flow of
a l l
the
Rushup Edge swa l l e t s went to Main Ris ing, Speedwell and thence to Russe l l
Well
and
Slop
Moll.
t was therefore decided
to repeat the
1980
t r ac ing
p a t t e rn
but us ing f luoresce in in
place o f l i ssamine. The same i n j ec t ion
poin t s
were used,
namely
P1, P8 and Giants Hole
(P12).
Because o f
the
shor t e r f low t ime es t ab l i shed
in
1980 for P8 (40 hours) to Russel l Well
compared to 7-9
days
fo r
P1
and
95
hours fo r
Giants Hole,
it
waS decided
to tag
P8 with
amino G
acid
and Giants Hole with
f luoresce in
as only a l imi t ed
supp ly
of amino G was
ava i l ab le .
As
before ,
rhodamine WT was used
a t
P11
the de ta i l s are se t
out in
Table
2.
T BLE
2
Dye
In jec t ion
Deta i l s on 7th November 1982
Dye
Rhodamine WT
Fluoresce in
Amino G Acid
Quant i ty
150 ml (20 )
460
243
gm
In j ec t ion
S i t e
P1
P12 (Giants Hole)
P8
Time
15.15
12.00
15.00
Cot ton and
charcoal de tec to r s
were
prepared as
previous ly descr ibed. As before ,
detec tors were placed on
a l l pr inc ipa l
i n l e t s in Speedwel l ,
toge the r
with i n t egra t ed flow
s i t e s
in
the
Main
l eve l
and
a t
the
head o f
the
Bunghole.
Two
de tec to rs
of each type were
used a t
each
s i t e and both co t ton and ac t iva t ed charcoal de tec to r s . All de tec to r s i nse r t ed
were
recovered on 14th November 1982.
All de tec to r s
were
i nd iv idua l ly
bagged and
re turned
for
examinat ion
and
then
washed
f ree o f
mud
and sed iment in
a
s t ream o f t ap wate r .
The
co t ton detec tors were then dr ied
and examined
under a UV lamp
fo r the
cha rac te r i s t i c blue
f luorescence
by
th ree
people ,
independent ly , to prevent b ias .
The
charcoal
de tec to rs
were
e lu t ed
with
a
so lu t ion o f
propanol
5
p a r t s ,
10 KOH
so lu t ion
3
p a r t s , d i s t i l l e d water
2
p a r t s . The whole de tec to r
was
e lu t ed
overnight in
50 ml
of
e lu tan t
which
was
subsequent ly
f i l t e re d and
di lu t ed
up
to
100 ml with
c lean so lven t mix. The r e s u l t s
obtained us ing the
method
of Chris topher
in prep)
a re
presented
in
Table
3 .
T BLE 3
Speedwell
Detec to r Resu l t s 7 th -14 th November, 1982
S i t e
c l i f f
Cavern
Whirlpool Ris ing
Bathing
Pool
Main Rising
Main
Passage Pi t Props)
Bunghole
(Top)
negat ive
(+) doubt ful pos i t i ve
+
pos i t i ve
Amino
G
Acid
(P8)
(Cotton)
(+)
+
+
DISCUSSION
Fluorescein (P12)
Rhodamine Wt(P1)
(Charcoal) (Charcoal)
+ +
The
r e su l t s
in
Table 3
conc lus ive ly show
t ha t
a l l the
flow of
the Rushup
Edge
swa l l e t s
went
to Main Rising on 7-14th November 1982.. This con t rad ic t s the ra ther
complex pa t t e rn
obtained dur ing the previous se t o f t e s t s Chris topher e t aI ,
1981).
Due to high background
f luorescence and i ncor rec t
analy t ica l
teChnique, the previous
amino G
acid (P12) and
l i ssamine FF (P8) r e su l t s
repor ted
then
should now be
discounted .
However, the
f luorescence
a t the
rhodamine
wavelength
i s neg l ig ib l e and
t he
negat ive
r e su l t a t Main Rising
in
October 1980 i s high ly s i g n i f i can t as it could not be obtained
othe r
than
by
the absence
of dye. These r e s u l t s , t he re fo re , suggest tha t
in
October
1980
the P1 water flowed to
Whirlpool
Rising
and
Bathing
Pool, a l so it i s high ly
probable
t h a t a l l other s inks f lowed to
these resurgences ,
to be
red ive r t ed to
Main
Rising
by
the
major
f lood
of
March,
1981.
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R. P. Shaw personal communication) has now surveyed both
Main
Passage
and
Whirlpool
Passage,
making a l t i t ude measurements not p rev ious l y av a i l ab l e . Whirlpool Rising i s
8.35 m above Main Rising and approximately 2 m above the Bathing Pool . Therefore , as
the
main
flow from
the
Rushup
Edge swal le t s
goes to
both
Whirlpool
and Main Ris ings ,
there
must be open passage
a f t e r the divergence
to
the two r i s ings . The mechanism of the
diver s ion
i s unclear ,
but t may
be
e i the r a
deep
sed iment - f i l l ed U
tube
with a high
l eve l passage to
Whirlpool
Passage,
or
another down-dip
analogue of Whirlpool Passage beyond
Main
Rising
connect ing Faucet and New
Rake,
conta ining one or more r e s t r i c t e d sumps t ha t become blocked
by
sediment . This
allows flow to proceed to Whirlpool
Ris ing . When a
major f lood f lushes
a l l
the sediment
out ,
the flow rever t s to
Main Ris ing . Whatever
the mechanism, the
prospect
of
fu r t h e r
ex tens ions
by
div ing Main
Rising appear b r i g h t . Diving has
shown t ha t the r i s ing
is 30 m
deep C.D.G. Newslet ters
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would l ike to thank Dr S.Trudgi l l for
supplying
the amino G acid and
rhodamine W
dyes,
Dr T.D.Ford, for arranging access to Speedwell Cavern, and
Richard
Shaw
and
John Harrison for accompanying the author during these t r ips , also .J .Gi l l e t t of Crewe
Caving
Club
for putting
the dye in to Giants
Hole.
REFERENCES
Christopher, N.S.J . ,
Trudgil l ,
S.F. , Crabtree, R. W., Rickles,
A.M.,
Culshaw, S.M. 1981.
A hydrological study of the Cast le ton area, Derbyshire.
Trans Brit Cave Res Assoc vol . 8, no . 4, pp. 189-206.
Christopher,
N.S.J.
Wilcock,
J.M.
1981. Geochemical controls
on the composition
of
limestone
groundwaters
with
specia l
reference
to
Derbyshire.
Trans Brit
Cave Res Assoc
vol .8 , no.3, pp.135-158.
Ford, T.D. 1955. The Speedwell Cavern, Cast le ton, Derbyshire.
Trans ave
Res
Grp G B vol .4 , no.2, pp.129-144.
Ford,
T.D . 1977. Limestones and Caves of the Peak
District
Geobooks, Norwich. 469pp.
M.S.
Received October
1983 .
88
N.S.J.Christopher,
89 Chester
Road,
Poynton, Stockport .
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C VE SCIENCE
Transact ions o f the
Bri t i sh
Cave
Research
Association
. Vol. 11
No.2
July
1984
.
INVERTEBRATES
AT NIAH
GREAT CAVE
BATU NIAH NATIONAL
PARK SARAWAK
Ph i l Chapman
Abst rac t
The
enormous Niah
Great
Cave
conta ins a small but
i n t e r e s t i n g guano
-
assoc ia ted
fauna
which i s
threa tened by
t he
removal
o f
i t s
food
supply
and
des t ruc t ion
o f
i t s hab i t a t
by commercial guano-ga ther ing
and the t ramping f ee t o f
t o u r i s t s .
In
May,
1978
,
the
Spe leo log ica l team
of the
Roya l Geog r aphica l
Soc ie ty
Mu l u
Expedi t ion
was given t he oppo r
t u n i t y to v is
i t
Niah
Gr
ea t
Cave ,
as
gues t s
of
t he Sarawak
Government
s
Dep
a r tment of
Fo r es t s
. The
cave
, a
famous
tou r i s t
a t t
r ac t ion and archaeo l ogica l s i t e , passes
r i g h t
through a n enormous l imestone towe r , the
Batu
Ni ah , s i t u a t ed c l ose t o
Niah
town in the
Gunung
Subis
area of Sarawak 3
0
S8 N , 113
0
46 E) . n account of
the
cave i s given by
Wilford
1964) .
During
our two··day
s tay
a t Niah , I made a sma l l and by no means exhaust ive c o l l e c t i on
of
i n v e r t eb r a te s
in
the Great Cave , This pape r desc r ibes
the r esu
l
t s of
th i s co l l e c t i on .
The on
l y prev i
ous
l
it
e r
a tu
r e
co
n
ce rn in
g
in
ve
r
te
br
a te
s
f r
om
the
Ni
ah
Ca v
es
o f
whic h I
am
awar e
i s t he de
s c r i p t i on by Cho
pard
19 59 ) o f the l a r ge
egg - ea t in g
c r i ck e t
, Rhaph idophora oophaga.
THE
F UN
The
bat and
s w i f t l e t
fauna
of
Niah Great Cave
i s
well known Medway , 1 9S8) .
Nests o f
the
s w i f t l e t Aerodramus
fuc iphagus
T hunberg) a r e harves ted f r om nea r - i n acces s ib l e ledges
a t
roof
l evel
by
l o ca l Ib an men via t e r
r i fy ing
po l e c
l im
bs . Gu an o sweepers co l l ec t bat
and
s w i f t l e t
droppings by
the
sack l oad for use as fe r t ili
ze
r . So e f f i c i en t a r e
they
, th a t I had
di f f iCUl ty in f ind ing any undi s tu rbed patches
of
guano . The l a r g e s ca l e r emova l
of
guano has
se r io u s ly
de
ple t
ed the guanobious fauna which
n ow
numbers
only a
f rac t ion
of
the
spec i es
found
,
fo r example, in Deer
Cave
in Mulu Chapman , 1981) . The
wa
ll dwe
ll ing
pa
r i
e t a l ) fauna
by
compar ison
, i s r i ch , comparing favou r ab l y
with
t ha t of Deer Cave . Apar t f r om bats
and
sw i f t
l e t s
,
the
cave conta ins r ep t
i l e s
I Saw a cave ra c e r s n
ake
,
Elaphe
t a en iu ra grabowski
Fi sch e r ) ,
and
the Niah cave gecko ,
Cyr todac ty lus
cave r n i co lu s I nger) and a
whi t
e f i s h i s
l o ca l l y
repor ted to
l i ve
in
a s tream
ru
n
n ing bene
a
th
the
cave
and
connected
to
it
by
a
deep
v e r t i c a l
s h a f t .
A few i n t e r e s t i n g inver tebra t e spec i
es
i n h ab i t th e cave . Many a r e
de
pe n de n t
on
guan o as
t h e i r
food supply . Three a re cave
- l
imited , and
one
of t hese , the crab Adeleana
chapmani
Hol thu i s , may
be
e n t i r e l y conf ined
to
a
few
poo l s
in the Great
Cave . The
cave f loor
in
the
more
v i s i t e d
pa
r
t s
of
the cave
i s
t ramp
l e d
har
d and f l a t a n d i s
devoid
of l i f e . I t
wou
l d
therefore
seem
d es i r ab l e
t ha t one
o r
two passages
wi th a
var
i e ty
of
microhabi t a t s and r es iden t
b a t or s w i f t l e t
popula t ions
should be pro tec ted from guano sweeping and ba r r
ed to
v i s i t o r s
in
orde r
to
conserve the
few
rema i n ing spec ies of in te r
e s t
.
A br i e f accoun t of the i n v e r t eb r a t e
fauna
i s
presented
be l ow :
PL T
YHEL MIN THE
S
TURBELLARIA :
T ri
c
l ad id
a - an undetermined white t r og l o b i t i c , and a g r ey t rog l ophi l i c
f la tworm inhab i t smal l , guano - f loored pools .
MOLLUSC
G STROPOD
:
Stylommatophora
-
two s n a i l s
,
Ass iminea
sp .
and
Lame l lax i s
c lavu l i nu s
Pot iez and Michaud) l i v e in
wet
guano .
RTHROPOD
CRUST CE :
Amphipoda - The white ,
eyeless t rog
l o b i t e Bo
g id
i e l l a Medig id i e l l a ) sa rawacens i s Stock ,
1983,
i s
found
in sha l low
, guano - f loo r
ed
pOO l S . T
his
anc ien t spec ies
pe
r haps p r e - dat ing
the break up of Pangaea) is a l so found i n the Gunung Mulu
Nat
i onal Pa r k
Chapman
, in press)
Decapoda : Gecarcinucidae - The smal l - eyed
t rog lob i t e
, Adeleana
chapmani
Hol thuis ,
1979
,
i s
found in sha l low , guano - f l oo r
ed
po o l s .
CHILOPODA :
Geophilomorpha - Orphnaeus b r e v i l a b i a t u s
Newpo
r t and il Mec i s tocepha lu s sp . inhab i t guano .
Scut igeromorpha
- A
l a rge undetermined
spec ies
hunts rhaphidopho
r id
c r i ck e t s
on the
cave
wallS and f l o o r .
R CHNID :
Scorp ionida - an undescr ibed spec ies of Lychas is presen t in
s u rp r i s i n g l y
l a rge numbers
on
the
cave
wal l s
.
Pseudoscorpionida
- Oratemnus sa igone n s i s Beier) , common in guano ,
i s
a widely d i s t r i b u t ed
spec ies also found
in
Deer
Cave
in Mulu ,
Araneae - there i s a r i ch sp ider
fauna ,
so
fa r
l a rge ly undetermined .
INSECTA :
O
r thop tera
: Rh a phidophoridae - the
l a rge
,
robust
Rhaphidophora
oophaga
Chopard
i s
common on the c
av
e wal l s .
89
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1
Giant
so lu t ion notches
in
c l i f f c l
ose to
Niah Cave en t rance P.Chapman)
An undescr ibed scu t iger id cent ipede
Niah
Cave
.P .
Chapman)
j
.
90
3 . Cave
scorp i
on, Guano Cave Niah Jane Foste r
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Dic tyopte ra
:
Bl a t t a r i a
-
the guano-burrowing t r o g l o p h i l e
P y
c n o s c e l u s
s t r i a t a
(Kirby)
i s
l o ca l l y cornmon
in the
few
untrampled guano patches .
Hemiptera
Reduvi idae - a
s lender Bagauda sp.
hunts
on the cave wal l s .
L ep id o p te r a : Tineidae
-
i ~ e a
porphyropa
Meyrick i s
common
on guano.
Coleoptera a
Melanoxan thus sp. (E la t e r idae ) and
a H i s t e r
sp.
(Hister idae)
are
common
on guano
.
Dipte ra
- only
Milichi idae
were
a t t r ac t ed to
a
l i g h t t r ap placed
in the
cen t re o f
the
cave.
Hymenoptera
-
the large s t ing ing an t ,
Pachycondy la
t r i d e n t a t a i s
a
guano burrower,
and
seve ra l wasps are
a ls o
found in
guano.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to
thank
the Direc tor
and
s t a f f of the Sarawak Department of Fores ts
a t
Kuching
and
Miri ,
who
made our
v i s i t
to
Niah
poss ible ,
for
t h e i r f r iendship and
hosp i t a l i t y . Thanks a l so to Dave Brook and the
othe r
members o f the
spe l e o log ic a l
team
who
helped with
work a t
Niah.
REFERENCES
Chapman,
P. 1981.
Studies o f the
invertebrat e fauna o f
Gunung
Mulu
National Park,
with
a
discuss ion o f the poss ib le
mechanisms invo
lved
in
the evolu t ion o f t ropical cave
faunas Unpublished
M.Sc. t hes i s .
Univers i ty of
Br i s to l . 212pp
.
Chapman, P. ( in press)
The
inve r te b ra te fauna of the caves o f the Park, in
Jermy,
A.C. Kavanagh
, K.P.
(eds ) . Gunung
M
ulu National
Park , Sarawak, an account.
Sarawak
Museum
Jour.
Suppl .2 .
Chopard,
L.
1959.
Sur l e s
moeurs d u n
Rhaphidophora
cavernicole .
Ann.
de
Speleologie.
t .14,
pp.181-184.
Hol thu i s , L.B. 1979.
Cavernicoles
and t e r r e s t r i a l decapod Crus tacea
from Northern
Sarawak,
Borneo . Zoologische
Verhandl
vol .
17 3 , pp .3 -47 .
Medway,
The
Lord,
1958
.
300,000
ba ts .
Sarawak
Museum
Jour.
vo l . 3 , pp.
667
- 678.
Stock, J .H.
1983. Discovery
of a
Bogid i e l l i d
amphipod crustacean in in land
waters o f
the
East Ind ian archipe lago: Bogid ie l la Medigidiel la) sarawacensis. n.sp.
Crustaceana
vol .44 , pp.
198-204.
Wilford, G.E.
1964.
The
Geology o f Sarawak and Sabah Caves. Bul l
Geol.
Survey, Borneo
Region,
Malaysia.
vo l . 6 , 181pp.
M.S. Received 15 th January , 1984.
Phi l
Chapman,
City
Museum,
Queen s Road, Br i s to l . 8 .
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C VE SCIENCE
Transact ions o f
th e
Bri t i sh Cave Research
Associa t ion .
Vo l
11, No.2 Ju ly
1984.
AIR
TEMPERATURES AND AIR INTERCHANGES
AT
AL TAMIRA
CAVE
SPAIN
)
E. V i l l a r ,
P.
L.
Fernandez,
L.
S.
Quindos, J .
R. Solana
and
J . Soto
Abs t r ac t
Th e a r t empera tu re in a s e r i e s
of chambers
in Al tami ra C
ave
was measured in
na t u ra l
condi t ions
t ha t i s , with
t h e cave c losed
t o v i s i t o r s ) ,
over
a
per iod of
a year
and
a ha l f . The r e s u l t s p rovid e a de ta i l ed de sc r i p t i on o f
th e
t empera ture range to b e
found
with in th e Cave. By
comparing
the va lues found
with
the t empera tu re of the rock sur face , t
i s poss i b l e to pred ic t ce r t a in c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the a i r exchang e s which tak e place .
The a i r
temperatu re wi th in
the
Altamira Cave
i s
th e fundamental v ar i ab l e t h a t governs
n a tu r a l a i r interchanges wi thin the
Cave
i t s e l f
and between the Cave and the ex t e r i o r .
Since
convect ion
i s
the pr inc ipa l mechanism for
the
t r an sp o r t
of mat te r
wi th in a gaseous
mass, t i s a i r temperatures wi th in the Cave t h a t
determine
t he
in te r change
of
the
substances
t r anspor ted , mainly water vapour and CO .
These
substances are
two
of t he main causes of
any deter io ra t ion
processes
tha t may
a t t ack t he pa in t ings
on the
roof of t he Hal l o f Pa in t ings
th rough
t he evapora t ion and
condensa t ion of
water on the sur face o f the rock
and
the
d i s so lu t i o n
and p rec i p i t a t i o n
of ca rbona tes .
No
doubt
t h i s
i s
why
the
f i r s t
a i r
temperature
measurements
in
t he Ha l l
of
Pa in t ings
were car r i ed out
a t
a
very
ea r ly
s t age
Breui l and Obermaier , 1935), s h o r t l y
a f t e r
t he
i n i t i a l
discovery of t he
Cave.
However,
subsequent
a i r
tempera ture measurements Garcia
Lorenzo
e t
aI , 1970)
l ack suf f i c i en t
co n t in u i ty
and were
af fec ted
by the
presence
of v i s i t o r s .
In the l i gh t
of these
circumstances ,
we have ca r r i ed
out
a s e r i e s
of
a i r temperature
measurements wi th in the
Cave
i n o rde r to obta in a suf f i c i en t ly deta i l ed descr ip t ion of i t s
i n t e rn a l
microl imate .
The a i r temperature in each
of
the chambers of t he Altamira Cave must depend b as i ca l l y
on
t he sur face temperature of the
rock in
the
d i f f e r en t chambers
Andrieux, 1977;
Brunet
e t
aI , 1980), because
t i s a
cave
sys tem with
only
one opening
to
the ex te r io r , i . e . a
s t a t i c
cave where
a i r movements a re c lose
to the l imi t s
of pe r cep t ib i l i t y . The
tendency towards a
temperature equi l ib r ium between t he
mass
of
a
i r and the mass of
rock
in
each
chamber w i l l
r e su l t
in
an a i r
temperature
c lose
to the temperature
of the
rock
due
to t he great d i f f erence
of mass
between the two. Because
of
i t s g r ea t
c a l o r i f i c capac i ty , the
rock can
in te r change
a l a rge
amount
of hea t
without apprec iab ly
varying i t s own tempera ture and y e t
producing
v ar i a t i o n s in
the
a i r tempera ture as t does
so.
Consequently,
t he ex i s t ence
of
di f ferences
between
these
two
temperatures
may
be
i n t e r p r e t ed
as
being
due
to
a
f a i lu r e
to
achi
eve
a
thermal
equi l ib r ium owing
to
a i r in te r changes wi th
other chambers.
EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
The a i r
temperatures in the
d i f f e r en t chambers
of
Altamira
Cave
were measured
s imultaneously by two d i f f e r en t methods over a per iod of a year and a ha l f , between May 1980
and October 1981. The f i r s t of these methods used a s e r i e s of p la t inum r e s i s t an ce thermo-
metr ic
probes to supply e l e c t r i c a l s ignals to a char t recorde r . This method provided a
cont inuous
r ecord
of the
temperature a t four poin t s
ins ide
the Cave
and
another one
outs ide
near to the en t rance of the Cave),
but t
has
the doub1e
disadvantage
of
1 w
s e n s i t i v i t y and
a
high
degree of measurement
e r ro r ,
0.20C.
The
second method
used
convent ional thermometers with
an
accuracy
of
O.ICC
s i t e d
a t
ten d i f f e r en t poin t s i n s id e the Cave. In t h i s case , tempera ture meaSurements were ca r r i ed
out
by di r ec t readings taken between
two
and
th ree t imes
per week. Fig . 1 shows t he po in t s
in
the Cave a t which
the
temperature was
measured
by e i the r of
these methods.
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The
r e su l t s obta ined by the cont inuous recording method i nd ica ted no appreciable
v ar i a t i o n s in the a i r temperature a t
any
of
the
poin t s
ins ide
the Cave
measured in t h i s way,
in
response
t o d a i l y
v a r i a t i o n s
in the
ex ternal
temperature a t the en t rance of the Cave,
measured by t he Same method. More accura te ly ,
t
can be sa id t ha t no
var ia t ions
in excess
of
0 .2
o
C were recorded in e i the r the Hal l
of Pa in t ings or
the cor r idor to the Wall Chamber,
g i n s ~ dai ly
var ia t ions
o f some 4
C in t he
ex ternal
temperature . The same cause may l ead
to
some
var ia t ions
in excess of 0 .2
C in t he a i r tempera ture in the Hal l Chamber, but these
a re
Sl igh t . Such s i g n i f i can t v a r i a t i o n s
in the
temperature occur dur ing extremes
of
the
ex ternal
t empera ture ,
such as those to
be
found
on
some winter
n igh t s
o r some summer days .
Under t hese condi t ions ,
sharp
var ia t ions
may
occur
in the a i r temperature i n the Ha l l Chamber.
These
sharp
var ia t ions
in the temperature in
the Ha l l
Chamber
must
be
due
to the in f low o f
a i r from t he outs ide , al though
t h i s
does not lead to tempera ture
var ia t ions
in the deeper
chambers due
to the s lowness of the a i r c i r cu l a t i o n ins ide
the
Cave, which equa l i zes the
a i r
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and
rock temperatu
re s . When the exte rna l temperature
r e turns
to l e s s
extreme
l eve l s , the
temper a tu re in t he Hall Chamber slowly reve r t s to i t s i n i t i a l value, general ly
a f t e r
severa l
hours .
The
resu l t s obtained by the d i r ec t reading method, together with those obtained by
continuous
record ing , are summarized in Figs . 2, 3 and 4 , which show annual
v ar i
at ions in
the montly average , obtained
by averag ing
the a i r temperature values
measured a t
t he
di f feren t poin ts se lec ted with in the
Cave.
This annual
var ia t ion
i s s imi la r a t
a l l
poin t s ,
present ing bas ica l ly a s ine curve
with
a per iod
o f
one yea r . Never the less , both
the
ampl i tude and t he phase
of
t hese
temperature
var ia t ions are
di f feren t
for the var ious poin ts
measured.
The
amplitude
of the
temperature
v a r i a t i o n
i s
grea te r
in the Hal l
Chamber
than
in
any of the o the r
chambers
which l i e deeper
below
the
sur f ace .
Also, t he maximum poin t
in
the
annual tempera t u re var ia t ion occurs ea r l i e r
in
the Hal l Chamber than in any of t he other
chambers . Overa l l , the
general ch a r ac t e r i s t i c s of a i r t empera ture
var ia t ions in
the var ious
chambers
of the
Cave
co inc ide wi th those we f
ound by measuring
the
sur face
tempe ra tu re of the
rock in
the
re spec t i ve
chambers Vi l l a r
e t a l , 1983a). Bearing in mind the fa c t tha t th i s
sur f ace ~ e m p e r t u r e i s in tu rn determined by
the
annual thermal wave , t he a i r temperatu re in
each chamber must be determined by
the
sa me cause .
AIR INTERCH NGES
INSIDE
THE
C VE
The
ex i s t ing
t empera ture d i s t r i b u t io n wi th in Altamira Cave enables
c e r t a i n predic t ions
to be made
with
r espec t to a i r
in terchanges
between t he di f feren t chambers as the r e su l t of
tempera ture di f fe rences .
Air movements
between
the di f feren t
chambers of
the Cave
must
take p lace
by means of
convec t ion cur ren t s , the i n t en s i t y of which w i l l depend on di f f e r ences in
the
a i r
temperature
of these chambers and
t h e i r r e l a t i v e
depth
beneath
the sur f ace Cigna, 1968;
Wigley
and
Brown, 1976). General ly ,
a i r masses
a t some
dis tance from
t he Cave en t rance a re
cons tan t ly
a t a
lower
t empera ture
than
the
a i r to be found in
areas
c lose
to t he ent rance . As the
topography of the Cave Foes t r a , 1975) shows t h a t the
former
l i e deeper
than
the l a t t e r , no
s ig n i f i can t a i r
in terchanges should take place
between them. The Hall
of
Pain t ings and the
cor r idor
to
t he
Wall Chamber have
s imi la r t empera tures and both may exper ience a ce r t a in amount
of convect ive in terchange wi th the Hal l Chamber loca ted a t the en t rance of the
Cave.
These
occur pr inc ipa l l y when the
di f f e r ence
between
t h e i r
temperature and
tha t
of the Hal l Chamber
is a t i t s
peak
an
d consequent ly
are to be found
in
February ,
March
and Apri l
and again
in
August,
September
and October , as can
be deduced from Figs .
2, 3 and
4 . Simi la r ly
,
the
grea te r
t he
di f f e r ence
between the
a i r
t empera tures of the Hal l Chamber
and
the ex te r io r ,
the
grea te r
w i l l
be
the amount of
a i r
in terchanges
between
them. The maximum di f f e r ences between the
Hal l
Chamber and e x t e r na l
t empera tures
occur in J u l y and August and
in January
and
February .
The maximum
di f f e r ences between exte rna l
t empera tures
and
t empera tures wi th in the r e s t of
the
Cave are
to
be found in
August
and September and in January and February .
To compare these pred ic t ions
with the
a i r movements
t h a t
ac tua l ly
t ake place
ins id8 the
Cave, t
i s worth
s tudying the var ia t ions
over
the
per iod of
measurement
s in the temperature
di f f e r ences
between
the sur f ace
of
t he
rock
and
t he
a i r
in
each
chamber.
I f
the
average
monthly
values
for
both
t empera tures are compared in the four more re? resen ta t ive chambers
of
the Cave
the
Hal l Chamber,
the Ha l l
of Pa in t ings ,
the Wall Chamber and the Great Chamber),
t w i l l
be
observed t h a t no g re a t dif ferences are to
be found
in any of t hese chambers f i g s .
5 , 6, 7 and
8) . Air
in terchanges
wi th
the e x t e r i o r are minimal , as i s borne out by
the f ac t
t h a t
t he
re l
a t ive humid i ty
of
the a i r
is
close to
100
Vi l l a r e t
a l ,
1983b). The
t empera ture
di f f e r ences
shown in the
f igures
are
always
grea te r
in
December, January
and
February and
dur ing these months the
exte rna l
temperature i s
lower
than t h a t of the Cave chambers. This
i nd ica tes
the
exis tence
of convect ion
processes
wi th the ex ter io r dur ing
t hese months, a l th
ough
t should be
added
t h a t t h i s does not necessa r i l y
ind ica te
t he
exis tence
of
maximum
i n t e r -
changes during
th i s
per iod s ince the di f feren t temperature of the
in te r cha
nged a i r produces
q u an t i t a t i v e ly d i f f e r en t e f f ec t s .
A comparative s tudy
of
t he
temperature
di f f e r ences between
t he rock
and a i r in
each
chamber reveals d i f f e r i n g
values fo r each
chamber
in the
Cave.
This f ac t may
be
expla ined as a
consequence
of t he di f feren t degrees of a i r in terchange tha t
take p lace
in
each
chamber .
I f t q i s hypothes i s i s accepted, examination of Figs .
5,
6, 7 and
8 al lows one
to
conclude
the ex is tence
of a gradual se r i e s of a i r in terchanges of grea te r to
lower
magnitude
in
the Hal l Chamber, the Hal l o f Pa in t ings , the
Wall
Chamber an d the Great
Chamber,
re spec t ive l
y .
CONCLUSIONS
We
have c a r r i e d out a s tudy of a i r t empera tures in di f feren t
chambers
of the Altamira
Cave over a per iod o f
one
year
and
a
h a l f . The a i r
t empera ture was measured
by two
di f feren t
methods, not
only to
obta in any da i ly va r i a t ions but
a lso to
ensure a su f f i c i en t degree of
accuracy in the
measurements
. The r esu l t s obta ined provide a de ta i l ed
descr ip t ion
of the range
of
a i r t empera tures in the Cave, and reveal t he
absence
in most area s
of
any sharp var ia t ions
in t h i s t empera ture . They a lso reveal the exis tence
of a
b a s i c a l l y s inuso ida l
annual
var ia t ion
in a l l chambers
of
the Cave, al though
the
phase and amplitude are
di f feren t
in each one.
These
r e su l t s
are s imi la r to those
o ~ t i n e d
by s tudying annual
va r i a t i o n s in
the
rock
sur face
t empera ture in
each
chamber.
Taking
th i s
agreement
i n to account ,
predic t ions can be
made
with
r espec t
to a i r in terchanges with in the Cave i t s e l f
and
between the Cave
and
t he outs ide world.
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GREAT a-IAMBER ·
WALL
CHAtvlBER ·
H LL OF
EN RANC
CORRIDOR
T
THE
GREAT
CH MBER
CORRIDOR TO
THE
WALL CHAMBER
, THERMOMETRIC PROBES
X THERMOMETERS
PASSAGE
T THE
H LL OF
P INTINGS
Fig
l
Mea
su r
emen t loc at ions in
Altam i r
a Cave
2
8
2
8
ME N IR
TEMPERATURE rOC
M J
J
A
S
o
N
1 98
ENTRANCE
2 HALL CHAMBER
3 CORRIDOR
T
THE
WALL
CHAMBER
o
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
1
98
Monthly mean
a i r temperatures in ce r
ta
in chambers of Altamira Cave
94
a
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2
18
16
10
8
20
8
16
14
12
10
8
-
MEAN
AIR
TEMPERATURE
OC)
M
J
J
A S o
N
1 980
_
ENTRANCE
2_
PASSAGE
7 THE H LL
_ H LL O P INTINGS
D J
F
M
A M J J
A
S
1981
F ig . 3.
Monthly mean a i r t empera tures in ce r ta in chambers
of Altamira
Cave
.
MEAN AIR
I_ENTRANCE
TEMPERATURE
OC)
2_
WALL CHAMBER
3_
CORRIDOR T THE GREAT CHAMBER
_
GREAT CHAMBER
V
t\
I
\
lJ
V
V
t\
J>
I
V
/
:
. . ,
. .
\
V
V
l .I
M
J J
A
S 0
N
D
J F
M
A M
J J
A
1
980
1.981
Fig
4 Monthly mean a i r
t empera tures in
ce r ta in chambers of Altamira Cave.
95
o
J>3
0
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0 6
1.9=
9.
1
( c)
I
0 2
o
. _
I
I
0 2
-0 4
-0 6
1
198
le81
I
l
J
J
A
5
o
N
o
J F III
A
III
J
MONTH
L ________________________________________________
_________________ ______
0 .
( C)
Q 4
Q 2
o
.
-Q 2
-0 4
J
F i g s Annual var i a t ion o f monthly mean
temperature
di f fe rences
between the a i r and rock sur face
in
the Hall Chamber.
1980
1881
.1.
J
A
5
o
N D
J
F
t1
A
t1
F i ~ 6 Annual
var i a t ion
of monthly
mean
temperature di f fe rences
between the a i r
and
rock sur face in the
Hall
of Pain t ings
96
J
MOMTM
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0.4-
0 J
-C ,2
0
J
J
' ~ 8 . - 8 r
0. . ( C)
0
0 2
4
1981
It s
o
D J F
M
A
F i
g
7
Annual
var i a t ion
of monthly
mean
t empera tu re d i f f e r ences
between t he a i r and rock sur face
in
t he
\ lall
Chamber,
0
H
0.2
0.4
0.1
1MO
1881
J
MON1M
J
J A
s
o
N
D J f It
J
MONTM
Fig a
Annual var i a t ion of monthly mean t empera ture d i f f e r ences
between the
a i r and
rock
sur face
in the Grea t Chamber.
97
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These pred ic t ions
can
be based
on temperature
dif ferences between the d i f f e r e n t chambers
and
the
e x t e r i o r and can
be corrobora ted ,
a t l e a s t p a r t i a l l y , by s tudy ing
the
d i f f e rences
between the
rock
and a i r
tempera tures
in each chamber.
REFERENCES
Andrieux,
C.
1977 .
Etude
de c l ima t des
cavi t es
nature l les
dans
l es roches ca lca i res
(gro t t e de
Niaux)
. Gal l ia
Prehi s tor i e .
tome
20, fa sc .
1 .
Breui l , H Obermaier, P.
1935
.
The cave
o f Al tamira a t Sant i l lana de l
Mar.
Minis te r io de Cultura , Madrd, Spain.
Brunet ,
J . , Marsal ,
J .
Vi da l ,
P .
1980.
Lascaux,
en sont l es t ravaux
de
conservat ion
.
Archeologia.
vol .
149,
pp.36-50.
Cigna, A.A. 1968. Air c i rcu la t ion in caves . Proc . 4th . In t ernat . Congo
Speleology.
Ljubl jana ,
pp.43-49.
FOESTRA.
1975
.
PIanos
de l a
Cueva
de Altamira
Esca1a 1:50) . Patronato
de
l as Cuevas
Preh i s t o r i ca s de la
provincia de
Santander .
Spain
.
Garcfa Lorenzo, R. Ender iz ,
J .
1970. La c onservac ion de l as cuevas prehis tor icas y
l a s
pin tures
ubicadas en
e l I a s .
Proc. Symp. In t ernat .
Ar t
Rupest .
Santander ,
pp.525-557.
Vi l l a r ,
E. , Fernandez, P . L . , Quindos, L.S. , Solana ,
J.R
. Soto ,
J . 1983a.Temperature of
rock su r faces in
Altamira
Cave, Spain) .
Cave Science
Trans. Bri t i sh
Cave Research A s s o c . vol . 10,
no.3.
pp.165-l70 .
Vi l l a r ,
E. , Fernandez , P.L. , Quindos, L.S. , Solana ,
J .R.
Soto,
J . 1983b. Flujos e
mater ia en
la Cueva e Altamira.
Monograffa
No.9
, Minis te r io de
Cul tu ra .. Madrid,
Spain.
pp.45-65.
Wigley, T.M.L. Brown, M.C . 1976.
The Physics
o f Caves
ed
. T .
D.Ford
C.H.D.Cul l ingford.
Academic
in
Science o f
Speleology
Press ,
London.
pp.329-358.
Revised M.S.
Received
March
1984.
98
E.Vi l la r ,
Departamento de F s i ca Fundamental,
Facultad
de Ciencias ,
Univers idad de Santander ,
Spain.
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C VE SCIENCE
Transactions of the
r i t ish ave
Research Association. Vol. 21, No.2 J u 1 ~ 1984.
MBIENT TEMPER TURE V RI TIONS IN
THE I i ~ L __ ~ T l N
GS OF LT MIR C VE
DUE TO
THE PRESENCE OF
VISITORS
E.
V i l l a r ,
A. Bonet ,
B.
Diaz-Caneja , P. L. Fernandez,
I . Gut ie r r ez , L. S. Quindos, J . R. Solana
and J . So to .
Abstra
c t
Measurements were taken over a period of one year of
the
temperatur e var ia t ions
tha t occur
in
the
Hall
of
Paint ings a t
Altamira
Cave due to
the
presence
of
vis i tors .
A
theoret ical model has been developed
. tha t allows
these
temperature var iat ions
to be
determined
regardless of the number of
vis i tors
and the t ime
they remain in
the chamber.
This
model
sa t is fac tor i ly reproduces
the
experimental resul ts .
INTRODUCTION
Although t he Altamira
Cave
has aroused cons iderab le a rchaeo log ica l i n t e r e s t s ince i t s
discovery Breu i l and
Obermaier , 1935),
i n r ecen t years t h i s
i n t e r e s t
has revo lved around the
conserva t ion of i t s famous polychromat ic pa in t ings and t h e i r poss ib l e de te r io ra t ion due to
the
massive
i n f l ux o f
v i s i t o r s
to
the
Cave
Garc ia
and
Ender iz ,
1970;
Cendrero
e t
a I ,
1976;
V i l l a r , 1981;
V i l l a r
e t a I , 1983
a and
b ) .
wi th in
t h i s contex t ,
exhaust ive
s tud ies have
been made
over
the
l a s t few years of
the
microcl imat ic
V i l l a r e t a I , 1982;
V i l l a r e t
a I , 1983 c
and
d;
V i l l a r e t
a I ,
1984
a and b)
and
hydrogeologica l ' Hoyos
e t a I ,
1984)
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the
Cave
when
v i s i t o r s re not
presen t , wi t h t he aim of
irst
f ind ing a
na t u r a l
bas i s of r e fe rence for t he environment
in
which
the
pa in t ings
are
loca ted and then s tudying those var ia t ions in t roduced i n t o t h i s pa t t e r n
by v i s i t o r s .
In t h i s present s tudy , we ana lyse the r e su l t s
obtained
from da ta taken over a measurement
per iod of one yea r wi t h r espec t to
ambient
temperature var ia t ions
in
the Hal l of Pain t ings
produced by
t he presence of
groups
of vary ing numbers
o f persons and
compare
them with those
obtained from a
t h e o r e t i c a l model .
THEORETICAL DESCRIPTION
We
sh a l l
assume
t h a t , due to h i s o r
her
metabolism, a person produces a hea t emiss ion of
about
82 Marion, 1979) to 116 wat t s Bar t l e t t and Braun, 1983), without
including the
approx imately
20
wat t s necessary to
vapor i ze
water in
the
lungs
and the
sk in ,
s ince t h i s
cont r ibu tes to
i nc rease the
water vapour
content
in
the
a i r , but
no t
i t s t empera ture .
In
the
condi t ions t h a t t ake p l ace
in
t he Hal l o f Pain t ings a t Altamira
Cave
moderate t empera ture ,
r e l a t i v e
humid i ty near sa t u r a t i o n , n e g l i g i b le a i r
c u r r e n t s ,
e t c . ) , we may cons ider t h a t about
70
o f t he hea t i s
emit ted by
rad ia t ion and some
30
by convec t ion ,
including in t h i s
l a s t
term t he
he a t
necessary
to
i nc rease the a i r temperature
from
t he ambient
one to about 37
0
C
in
the lungs.
This
ca l o r i f i c
energy i s d i s t r i b u
ed more o r l e s s uniformly th roughout t he Hal l of
Pain t ings , which has a
volume
o f
326
m and which, s ince
the
communicat ing door between it
and
the
access passage has
an
extremely small area in comparison wi th
the
t o t a l su r face a rea
of t he
chamber,
may, for p r ac t i ca l purposes , be taken to
be
an enc losed space
t h a t
i n t e r -
changes
hard ly any matter
or energy
with the
ou t s ide dur ing
the per iods t h a t v i s i t o r s
remain
wi th in the
chamber.
The hea t
t h a t
v i s i t o r s emi t through convec t ion appreciab ly
r a i s e s
the a i r
t empera tuEf
1
wi th in t h i s space s ince the sp e c i f i c hea t of humid a i r
a t
ambient
pressu re
i s 1.71 kJ.Rg °R
a t lS
o
C Raznjevic , 1970),
which
remains p r a c t i c a l l y cons tan t for
t he
temperature i n t e rva l s
of
i n t e r e s t .
However,
due
to
the presence
of
water
vapour
and
carbon
dioxide
in
the
a i r
of
t he chamber
which
absorb hea t and emit it in the
i n f r a r e d
band,
pa r t
of t he hea t emi t ted by
v i s i t o r s
through r a d i a t i on i s a l so used t o ra i se
the a i r
t empera ture ,
whi le t he
r e s t i s
absorbed by
the wal l s of the
chamber , which behave, to a l l i n t en t s
and purposes ,
as
a black
body.
Never the less , given t he high hea t capac i ty o f t he rock , the t empera ture of the l a t t e r
shows
p r ac t i ca l l y
no change when the number o f
people making up a
group o f
' v i s i t o r s
i s not
too
high . Furthermore, t he increase in the
entha lpy
of
the a i r ,
~ h e n the a i r temperature
i s r a i s e d ,
i s d i s s i pa t e d
on the su r face o f the chamber through convec t ion
and
rad ia t ion . Thus, it
fol lows
t h a t
the convec t ion
and r a d i a t i on
phenomena of t he a i r
in
t he chamber
w i l l play an
extremely important
ro le
wi th
respec t
to the
d i s s i pa t i on o f
t he
hea t genera ted by
v i s i t o r s
and the recovery
t ime
a f t e r
v i s i t s and,
for
t h i s
reason, they are s tud ied in somewhat
grea te r
d e ta i l below.
N TUR L CONVECTION
Given the smal l t empera ture gradien ts involved,
na t u r a l
convec t ion convec t ion in i t s
s t r i c t
sense ,
plus
conduct ion) ,
occurs
as
a laminar f low.
99
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The
amount of hea t t r an s f e r r ed between the a i r a
nd
the
wal l s
o f
the chamber
through
n a t u r a l convect ion
and
over a given t ime u n i t i s
suppl ied
by
the
fo l lowing equa t ion Mc Adams,
1964) :
where 60
i s the temperature di f fe rence between the sur face of the rock and the a i r , L i s t he
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c dimension
(he igh t
fo r v e r t i c a l sur faces , l eng th of
one
s ide for square
h o r i zo n ta l su
2
f aces )
and
A i s
the a r ea
of contac t . On
the
o t h e r hand, i f 60 i s expressed
in °C, A
in
m and dq/d t in
w at t s ,
c o e f f i c i e n t K
has
a va lue o f 1.47 wat t s .m-
7
/
4
oC-S/4 fo r
v e r t i c a l
sur faces ,
1.37 wat t s .m-
7
/
40
C-S
/ 4
fo r ce i l i n g
and
0 .610
wat t s .m-7/40c-S /4
f o r
t he
f l o o r .
t
w i l l
be
observed t h a t
equa t ion (1) i s
no t
g r ea t l y a f f e c t e d by the geomet r ica l form, s ince
the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c dimension i s
r a i s ed
to t he power
of
0 .2S, as a
r e s u l t
o f which t he Hal l o f
Pa in t in g s ,
d e sp i t e i t s i r r eg u l a r
shape, may,
fo r p r a c t i c a l purposes , be su b s t i t u t ed by a
p ar a l l e l ep ip ed
with an equiva len t r ec tangula r ly- shaped sur face area and the
same volume.
ABSORPTION ND EMISSION
THROUGH
RADIATION
We
have a l r eady
poin ted
out
t h a t
the
presence of water vapour
and
carbon d iox ide in
the
a i r means t h a t t he l a t t e r absorbs
he a t
and emits it in the
i n f r a r e d
band.
The h e a t
emiss ion
through r ad i a t i o n of a gas per t ime u n i t i s suppl ied by
t he
fo l lowing equa t ion Mc Adams,
1964) :
d
o
4 4
A
a
=
0 [
£G
(4
+
a
+ b -
C) / 4
(T
G
-
Tp)
2
where a
i s t h e
Stefan -Bo l t zmann s cons tan t ,
£G
i s
the
emissive
power of
t he
gas ,
TG i t s
abso lu te temperature and
Tp
t he average
absolu te
t empera tu re of t he w al l s .
Likewise , a , b and c
are
parameters t h a t depend on
t he
type of emi t t ing gas and
the
ch a rac t e r i s t i c s of
the system;
in
the case
t h a t concerns us here , they should be
obta ined
as a weighted
average
of
the
va lues corresponding to the
two
emi t t ing gases involved.
In
the
p a r t i cu l a r
case of
the
Hal l of Pa in t ings of Al t ami ra Cave, t he va lue
o f
c , obta ined
as a weighted average of t he va lues corresponding to water
vapour
and
carbon d iox ide i s
O.SO.
Simi lar ly ,
the
va lues of a and b
were
ob t a i ne d
f rom
t he
graphs
conta ined
in
Mc Adams
b i b l i og r a phy
(1964).
This
procedure i s
r a th e r imprecise but t h i s i s not too impor tan t s ince
express ion (2) i s not too s e n s i t i v e to v ar i a t i o n s in a and b , even when t hese have r e l a t i v e l y
high va lues . Thus, the
average
weighted va lues of a and b prove to be 0.42 and - 0.31
r e sp ec t iv e ly .
Equa l ly , the va lues of £G can a l so
be
obta ined from the graphs ,
in accordance
with the
temperature
and pressure of
gas
and the geometr ical
ch a rac t e r i s t i c s
of the
chamber.
The
va lue ob ta ined in t h i s
way
f o r the mixture
of
water vapour and
carbon
dioxide
to
be found in the Ha l l o f Pa in t ings
proved to be 0 .22 .
In
f ac t ,
the va lues for £G
depend,
as noted above,
on t he pa r t i a l pressure of the gas and
i t s temperature;
however,
w ~ t i n
the
f l u c tu a t i o n s
o f
t hese two v ar i ab l e s normal ly observed
i ns ide the Ha l l o f
Pa in t in g s , t hese
v a r i a t i o n s of £G
are
ext remely
smal l ,
ranging between 0
.21
and 0.23 .
Onthe
othe r hand, s ince
these gases a re s imul taneous ly presen t
in the
a i r
of t he
chamber,
t he
t o t a l
emiss ive
power
drops s l i g h t l y s ince
each gas
p a r t i a l l y absorbs some of
the
r ad i a t i o n
e m i t t e d
by
the
o th e r .
Never the les s ,
in the t empera tu re and pressure
c ond i t i ons
t h a t concern
us here , the necessa ry
c o r r e c t i o n i s abso lu te ly n eg l ig ib l e s i n c e i t a f f ec t s only the t h i rd dec imal place . We have
t h e r e f o r e t aken
t he
average va lue to
be
as
fo l lows:
£G = 0.22 , Which,
fo r p rac t i ca l
purposes ,
we
can
assume
to
be cons tan t .
TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS
We have
a l r eady
mentioned t h a t some
of
t he
hea t emi t ted by v i s i t o r s
i s used to i nc rease
the entha lpy
of
t he a i r , whi le some i s
r ad i a t ed d i r ec t l y onto
the wa l l s
of
the chamber. At
t he
same
t ime , the
excess
entha lpy of the a i r i s
d i s s ip a t ed
on t he
wal l s th rough
both
convec t ion
and
r ad i a t i o n . I n i t i a l l y ,
the
ba lance
between the
produc t ion
and
l o s s
of c a l o r i f i c
energy dur ing v i s i t i n g per iods favours produc t ion , as a r e s u l t
o f
which a r i s e in t empera tu re
occur s ,
al though i f t he v i s i t i s s u f f i c i e n t l y prolonged ,
an
equi l ib r ium
must
f i n a l l y be
reached between product ion
and
l o s s , t he average t empera tu re then remaining c o n s t a n t .
At
each
moment,
the equa t ion
fo r
the energy balance may
be
exp ressed
as
fo l lows:
mc
dT
P d t
= n
dH
d t
KA
LO .
2S
+
A
o £G . 4 + a + b -
c
T3
(T
- T )
P G P
3
where
m
i s the a i r
mass and c
i s t he s p e c i f i c hea t ,
n
the number of v i s i t o r s
and
dH/d t
t he
inc rease in
the en tha lpy of tRe
a i r per t ime u n i t
due
to
the
presence
o f
one
4
v i s i t o r ;
the
remaining
q u a n t i t i e s have b
3
en def ined
above.
On the othe r hand, the
t e rm
TG -
~ has been
has been su b s t i t u t ed by 4Tp (T
G
- Tp) due
to
the smal l temperature grad ien t involved .
To
determine
the
equi l ib r ium
temperature , it i s SUff ic ien t to s e t the
l e f t - h an d
s i d e of
equa t ion (3) to zero and determine the corresponding va lue
of
TG In p r ac t i ce , the dura t ion
of v i s i t s i s
not ,
as a
ru l e ,
SUff ic i en t to
al low
t h i s e qu i l i b r i um to be r eached . To
determine
t h e
a i r
t empera tu re
a t
any
moment
dur ing the
course of
a
v i s i t ,
equa t ion (3)
has to
be so lved
numerical lY·
Simia r ly , to
e va l ua t e
t he
t empera tu re
a t
any
t ime
a f t e r
a v i s i t has
t aken
place ,
one
has
10C
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0
.
4
f
1
T
0
3
0
2
'
,
'
.
0
1
•
•
•
0
5
G
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0
4
0
3
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F
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7
2
2
8
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5
1
0
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5
2
0
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2
5
.
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m
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b
w
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to make t he
f i r s t te rm
o f
the
second member of equat ion (3) equal
to
zero and i n t eg ra te .
The r e su l t
i s as fol lowsi
t = 4 m C P ) ~ n ~ )0 .25 _ I n B ( t>T)O.25 + CTp )]
CT
3
[
t
T B (t>T
)O.25+
T
3
p max max p
4
where
B = K.A/ LO.
25
, C = A (4 + a + b - c ) ; t i s the
t ime
e lapsed s i n ce the end of the
v i s i t , T i s the increase 1n temperature a t the end of t he v i s i t and T i s the remaining
increase ~ X t e m p e r a t u r e a t
moment
t
The
remaining
magnitudes have a l ready been
def ined
above.
The
t ime requ i red
fo r the a i r
temperature t o r e tu rn to i t s former l eve l
pr io r
to
a
v i s i t
i s
obta ined
from
equa t ion
(4)
by
merely making T O.
However,
i f t h i s
cond i t ion
i s
app l i ed ,
the t ime would be
i n f i n i t e
and, fo r t h i s reason, we make T = O .l
o
C s ince th i s i s the
exper imenta l measurement e r
ro r .
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
AND
DISCUSSION
Temperature
v a r i a t i o n s in the Hall o f Pain t ings.
due
to the
presence
o f v i s i t o r s were
measured
by means of a
s e r i e s
of thermocouples loca ted a t d i f fe re n t po in t s and l eve ls .
Measurements were taken every two minutes us ing a data logger
dur ing
and af te r
v i s i t s
un t i l
the tempera tures
r e tu rned to
t h e i r m i t i a l
l eve l s
p r io r
to
the en t rance o f v i s i t o r s . These
da ta
were
used
to
d et
ermine
the average
temperature
as a func t ion o f t ime from the commencement
of a v i s i t u n t i l such t ime a s the
temperature
re tu rned to i t s
i n i t i a l
l eve l af te r the end of the
v i s i t , th i s moment being def ined as the po in t when
a l l
the probes
beg in
to sys temat ica l ly record
the
t empera tu re
t h a t prevai led before
the
v i s i t .
The measurements were taken throughout the course of one
year ,
with
many
groups o f
v i s i t o r s ,
cons i s t ing
o f a
va r i ab le
number
of
persons, of
which the most
i n t e r e s t i n g are l
groups
of
5
v i s i t o r s (between one and
four consecut ive
groups) . groups
o f
10
(one o r two
consecut ive groups) ,
groups
o f 15 and groups o f
20.
in add i t ion ,
each
group was accompanied
by
a
guide .
Figs .
1
to
8 show
the curves
fo r
va r i a t ions in
the
average tempera ture of the a i r
in the
Hal l o f Pain t ings during v i s i t s (ascending
curve)
and a f t e r v i s i t s (descending curve) , fo r the
d i f fe re n t types of
groups and
it w i l l be observed tha t ,
as
a
ru l e ,
the agreement between the
t he o re t i c a l
and
exper imenta l r esu l t s is very sa t i s fa c to ry . On the ascending curve , the
exper imenta l po in t s genera l ly co inc ide ve ry we l l wi th the curve
cor responding
to
an emiss ion
of 116
wat t s
per person. Never the l e ss on the downward curve ,
the
exper imenta l po in t s f requen t ly
l i e
below th i s t he o re t i c a l curve . This i s because the v i s i t o r s have a
tendency
to concen t ra te
in c e r t a in places o f
spec ia l
i n t e r e s t to t o u r i s t s , thereby producing l oca l
t empera tu re
i n c rea s e s wel l above the average . Consequent ly , the hea t i s not d i s t r i bu t e d uniformly as
p red i c t ed by t he theory and, a t the end of the
v i s i t s ,
the warm areas lo se the i r h ea t th rough
convec t ion
and r ad ia t ion
more
q u i ~ l y
with the r esu l t tha t , ove ra l l , the average
t empera tu re
f a l l s
more
r ap id ly
than
forecas t
by the theory. This f a c t i s pa r t i c u l a r ly notab le in the case
of small
groups ,
as i s
na tu ra l ,
s ince ,
when l a rg e
groups
o f persons a re
concerned ,
t h e i r
i nc reased s i z e causes the hea t
to
be d i s t r i bu t e d
more
uniformly.
It w i l l
a l so be noted
t ha t consecut ive
groups
wi th a small number
of
v i s i t o r s Figs . 5 to
8)
cause
an
increase in the
a i r t empera tu re cons ide rab ly l e s s than a
s ing le group
wi th
the
same number of v i s i t o r s Figs . 2
to 4) .
Notable v a r i a t i o n s
in
ambient temperature may cause
apprec i ab le v a r i a t i o n s
in
rock t empera tu re as
has
been expe r imenta l ly v e r i f i e d by
meanS
o f
r ad ia t ion thermometer measurements). These , toge ther
wi th
su rface
mois ture va r i a t i ons ,
may
l ead
t o co n t r ac t i o n and
expansion
o f
pain ted
surfaces wi th r e su l t a n t
loosening
o f
t he
s u r face
layers and consequent
r i s k o f damage to
the
pa in t ings
(Cendrero e t
a l ,
1976) . Thus
fo r a
given
number
of v i s i t o r s , consecut ive groups
wi th
smal l numbers should be
p re fe r r ed i n s t ead
o f l a rge r
groups
more
spaced in
t ime,
in
orde r
to ensure
a b e t t e r conse rva t ion o f polychromed
su r f ace s .
In summary,
the tempera ture v a r i a t i o n s
t ha t t ake p l ace in t he Ha l l
o f Pain t ings
o f
Al tamira Cave
due
to the
presence
of
v i s i t o r s
can be accura te ly descr ibed
by
means
of
the
t he o re t i c a l model
used,
which
can
be app l i ed
to
a l l formats of v i s i t s . It i s
concluded
t ha t
ambient
thermal
v a r i a t i o n s
in the
chamber
are
fundamental ly dete rmined
by
convect ion
and
r ad ia t ion processes , the l a t t e r being the most impor tant in quan t i t a t ive
te rms,
whi le a
preponderant ro le i s played by the
presence
of
carbon
dioxide and
wate r
vapour in
apprec i ab le
concen t ra t ions
in the a i ra f the chamber,
which,
due
to
i t s form, i s t he rma l ly ve ry se ns i t i ve
to the
presence
of v i s i t o r s .
REFERENCES
Bartlet t , A Braun, T. 1983. Death in a
hot tube:
The
physics
of heat stroke. Amer. J . Phys.
vol.
51,
pp.127-l40
Breuil,
H Obermaier
,
P. 1935. The cave o f Altamira t
Santil lana del
Mar
Ministerio de
Cultura,
Espana.
Cendrero, A., Noya, J . Valle, P.
1976.
Estudio
de la
roca soporte de
las
pinturas
rupestres
de la Cueva de Altamira. Zephyrus .XVIII-XIX,
pp.5-lS.
Garcia
Lorenzo,
R
Enderiz,
J .
1970.
La
conservaci6n de
la
cuevas
prehist6ricas
y
las
pinturas
u b i c d ~
en
elIas. Proc. Symp. Internat. of Art Rupest. Santander, pp.S2S-S57.
Hoyos, M., Bustillo, A., Garcfa, A.,Mart n,
C., Ortfz,
R., Suazo, C. Estetan, A 1984. Caracter
i s t ic s geol6gico-carsticas de la cueva de Altamira Santillana del Mar). (in
press)
103
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Marion, J .B. , 1979.
McAdams,
V.H. 1964.
General
Physics with Bioscience
Essays
Transmission
de
la chaleur Dunod.
John Wiley
Sons.
Raznjevic, K 1970.
Tables
e t
diagrames
thermodinamiques Eyrolles .
Vil lar ,
E. 1981.
Proyecto c1enti f ico tecnico
elaborado para
la conservacion
de
las
pinturas de
la cueva
de Altamira Monografia
no.S. Ministerio
de
Cultura. Espana.pp.S-14.
Villar , E., Bonet, A., Diaz Caneja, B., Fernandez,
P.L.,
Gutierrez,
I . ,
Quind6s, L.S.,
Solana, J.R.
Soto, J . 1982. Microclima de
la Sala
de Policromos de la cueva de Altamira. Rev de
la
R A C E F N
vol. LXXVI,
pp.686
-
692.
Vil lar ,
E.,
FernAndez,
P.L.,
Quind6s, L.S., Solana,
J .R.
Soto, J . 1983
a.
Caracterizacion
cromatica
del techo policromado de
la
sala de pinturas de Ie
cueva
de Altamira Monografia no.9.
Ministerio
de
Cultura,
Espana.
pp.7-2S.
Vil lar , E., F e r n ~ n d e z P.L., Plaza, L.,
Quind6s, L.S.,
Solana, J .R. Soto,
J .
1983 b.
Evolucion
del color de
la
cierva
pintada
en
la cueva
de Altamira Monografia no. 9, . pp.27-4 3 .
Vil lar , E., Fernandez,
P.L.,
Quind6s, L.S.,
Solana, J.R. Soto, J .
1983 c.
Temperature
of rock
surfaces in Altamira cave (Spain). Trans
Bri t
Cave Res Assoc Vol. 10, pp.16S-170.
Vil lar , E.,
Fernandez, P.L., Quind6s, L.S.,
Solana, J .R. Soto, J . 1984
a .
Air temperature and
a i r
interchanges
in
the Altamira cave.
(Spain). Trans Bri t Cave Res Assoc Vol. 11, No.2 .
Vi l lar , E., Bonet,
A.,
D az-Caneja, B., Fernandez, P.L.,
Gutierrez, I . , Quind6s, L.S., Solana, J.R.
Soto, J . (1984 b). Le humedad natural en la cueva
de
Altamira (in press .
Revised
S
received 13th April 1984.
104
E. Vil lar
Departamento
de
Fis ica
Fundamental,
Facultad
de Ciencias,
Universidad
de
Santander,
Santander, Spain.
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C VE SCIENCE
Transact ions
Brit ish Cave
Research Association. volume
11
no.2 July 1984.
LIMESTONE
ND
VOLC NIC
C VES
OF
THE FIJI
ISL NDS
by the l a t e Tim Gilber t
cont r ibu ted by
Mrs J .Gi lber t )
Abstract
The small
limestone areas
in
the Fi j i Islands
contain many caves, one
with
a
surveyed
length
of
lSOOm.
There are
lava
caves in
the
south of Taveuni Island,
the most
extensive being 920
m
long.
GEOGR PHY
The F i j i
Group
i s an a rch ipe lago
of 320
i s l ands , s i tua t ed in the South Pac i f i c Ocean
about
1800 km nor th of New Zealand Fig . 1) . The l a rg e r iS lands are
rugged
and
h i l l y ,
r i s i n g to 1200 m in p laces ,
wi th
minimal co as t a l
lowland
s t r i p s .
The
popula t ion of
647,000
people cons i s t s mainly o f n a t iv e Fi j i an
i s l anders
and four th
genera t ion
Indian immigrants.
These f r i end ly people l i ve in towns and vi l l ages on the
coas t ,
and
along
the main r i v e r
v a l l ey s .
The c l ima te
i s
mild and equable , the
normal
temperature
range
being 16 -
32
0
C.
The
S.E. t radewinds
br ing
a r a i n f a l l o f
about
3000 mm
per
year
to
t he
windWard
areas of the t h r ee
l a r ge s t
i s l ands . These have
a
natura l
cover ing of t r o p i ca l r a in f o r e s t . The smal l e r
i s l ands ,
and a
l so the
leeward s ides o f
the
l a rg e r iS lands ,
have
a r a i n f a l l of 1800 mm per year . The
natura l
v eg e t a t i o n
i s
normally
t r o p i ca l
grass lands ,
a l though l imestone
areas a re
densely
fo res ted .
V i t i Levu I s l an d i s c i r cu i t ed by co as t a l roads: Queens Road
around
the south and
west
coas t s ,
and Kings Road around
the nor th and
eas t
coas t s .
A few roads penet ra te i n l and ,
alon g the main r ive r va l l eys .
Away from
these
roadS,
t r ave l
i s
on
foo t , with
a guide.
There
are
no
roads in
the
cen t r a l
highland area , some 3000
km
2
. Trave l
to
the
other
inhab i ted
i s l an d s
i s
by the small i n t e r - i s l and
t r ad ing
vesse ls .
There
a
re a l so r egu lar
f l igh t s to Vanua Levu, Taveuni , and Lakeba I s l ands .
V i t i Levu
I s l an d
has
a
wide range
of rock t ypes ,
plu ton ic , volcan ic ,
sedimentary,
and
metamorphic.
Many of the sedimentary and
f ragmental
volcan ic
sequences have interbedded
l imestone uni t s ,
which
commonly conta in
cora l . The iS lands of the Lau
Group a re
mainly s in g l e
volcanoes, most of them
wi th over ly ing
l imestone.
Some
i s l ands , mainly in the south
of the
group,
a re wholly l imestone, the presumed volcan ic ed i f i c e
below
not
yet
exposed
by eros ion .
Vanua
Levu,
and most o f
the o ther i s lands of
F i j i ,
are mainly vOlcanic and
l imes tone
i s
ra re .
C VE EXPLORATION
The smal l
s ca t t e r ed
l imes tone ou tc rops of
the main
iS land, V i t i
Levu,
conta in a sur pr i s
i ng ly
l a rge
number of
caves.
The en t rances
are of ten in uncu l t iva ted
l and be longing
to
a
nearby F i j i a n
vi l l age .
Most
of
the caves desc r ibed have been s y s temat ica l ly explored and
surveyed
by
the author now deceased) while he was res iden t in Suva between 196
9
and 1973.
Some caves were explored so lo , and some
had
probably
not been en tered before , i . e . Udi t Cave
and Quaia
Cave.
On one occasion the au thor , accompanied by
an Ind ian
s tuden t , spen t t h r ee
days in the
bush
w h i l s t
explor ing a
remote
l imestone a rea
in
Easte rn Vi tu
Levu, s leep ing in
a
cave
a t
nigh t .
The only
other
recorded
cave explora t ions in
V i t i
Levu
a re
those
of
caves
in t he S iga toka Va l ley by Watling and Per n e t t a 1977) , Sawyer and
Andrews
1901) and Rodda,
a
res iden t geo log i s t .
F i j i a n vi l l age r s are f r equen t ly unwil l ing to
en ter
caves , because
of
t h e i r
t r a d i t i o n a l
b e l i e f s .
The account
of
caves
in
the
Lau Group of I s lands i s
ex t rac ted
from descr ip t ions o f
incomple te explora t ions by Sawyer and
Andrews
1901) and Ladd and Hoffmeister 1945) .
There
may
be
undiscovered volcan ic caveS in the uninhabi ted S.E. s ide of Taveuni
I s l and ,
in
add i t ion to those in southe rn Taveuni , which are descr ibed fo r the
f i r s t
t ime in th i s a r t i c l e .
C VE BIOLOGY
Caves
provide
pro tec t ion and food for
a
va r i e ty
of
c rea t u re s .
Most
not iceab le to the
nose as wel l as
to
the
eye
are the ba t s .
Near ly
every
cave
desc r ibed conta ins small
insec t ivorous bat s
the Sheath Tai led Bat , Embal lanura
s e mic a u d a ta .
The l a r g e f r u i t bats
do
not l i ve
in caves, unl ike the
smal l e r Lony
r a i l ed F r u i t Bat , Notop ter i s macdonald i ,
a t
Saweni Cave.
Guano
i s t h i ck on the
f loor
of
many
caves and
makes
a qooa r e r t i l 1 ~ e r
A small bi r d ,
the White Rumped
Swi f t l e t (
C o l l o c a l l i a s p o d io p y g ia uses
a
s imi la r
echo
sounding
method
to ba t s to
f ind i t s way
about in the
dark. t bui lds i t s n es t s on
the cave
wallS , and i s reputed
to
a l igh t nowhere
e l se .
Spide rs and cockroaches are found
on
t he Walls .
Spide rs
found
70 m beyond
the
en t rance in
Saweni Cave,
Vi t i
Levu Lis land , have been
i den t i f i ed
as members o f
the
genus L o x o s c e l e s . This genus i s known
to
be ind igenous to t he Afr ican and
American t rop ics Watling and Pern e t t a ,
1977).
In the st reams, prawns, c rabs and ee l s are
eas i ly v i s i b l e . The caves in Namuka-i-Lau and
Vatu1e1e
I s lands are famous for
t he i r
red
prawns. Many animals a re only temporary and i nvolun ta ry
cave dwellers . Toads,
fo r ins tance ,
are
of ten washed in by f loods .
lOS
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f o0
o
F
J
S
L
N
D
S
d
a
w
a
9
;
V
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L
Q
o
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v
f
V
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L
{
8
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e
e
•
(
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e
1
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7
9
°
F
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r
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°
o
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o Nakorowaiwal
W ILOTU RE
N
O.
km
. 1 kru .
I I
FIGURE
W IM C
C VE
se R A GRADE
3
Ri f t
o
metres
F GURE 3
1 7
25
•
Cave
entrance
• Vi l lage
-Y -R ive r or creek
_ _ _ Road
or
path
i mestone
Entrance
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f
oe
r
M
a
n
e
a
P
~
c
o
e
O
W
p
-
~
-
-
~
\
l
{
H
g
o
u
t
\
~
l
o
w
e
s
e
m
w
C
F
p
h
p
a
m
e
e
E
T
O
N
D
1
W
L
O
U
C
B
G
3
C
P
N
C
M
a
n
c
m
b
?
H
g
e
p
n
o
s
e
E
a
e
a
-
3
O
o
w
p
S
e
m
p
.
F
G
4
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It
i s
not
known i f
any
s o l e l y cave-dwel l ing spec ies l i v e in F i j i , but
t h e r e are repor t s
of
cave a d a p t a t i o n s . Prawns
of a new spec ies
and
genus ( oc r is l uensis ,
with
modif ied
e yes t a lk s
and
ocula r pigment reduced ,
are
r eco rded from Waqava I s l an d in
the Lau Group
(Edmonson, 1935)
White
sp i d e r s
a re repor ted from Vol ivo l i
Cave
in
V i t i
Levu (Sawyer
and
Andrews, 1901).
C VES OF WESTERN ND NORTHERN VITI LEVU ND ADJACENT ISLANDS
a)
Western
and
Nor thern
V i t i Levu .
There i s very little l imes tone
in
t h i s area ; what t h e r e i s occu rs most ly as t h in
e longa te l en ses . The patches of l imes tone southeas t of Nadi , of Eocene and poss ib ly
Oligocene
age, are
t he
o ld es t
fo s s i l i f e ro u s
rocks
known in
Fiji.
Bartholomew
(1960)
s t a t e d t h a t
Caves
and
natura l
arches occu r a t a number of l o c a l i t i e s
.... There
a re a few
s in k
holes
in
p l a c e s
bu t gener
a
l l y these
a re
smal l ;
however,
t h e r e i s almost
a c l a s s i c
example
in
the
l imes tone
bes ide
t he
t r a c k l ead ing
to Koromba summit .
(17
krn
so u t h e a s t
of
Nadi ) .
Bartholomew's Pla t e VI
shows
a cave in
t he
maSS
of l imestone
3
krn southeas t o f
Lolobalavu
t r igonomet r i ca l po in t
(Nadi) .
b) YaSawa I s l an d s .
There i s a
well-known
cave on Sawa- i -Lau,
an
i s l an d j u s t o f f
the
southern coas t
of
Yasawa. The cave ,
which i s
r eg u la r ly
v i s i t e d by t o u r i s t s ,
can be en te red
in
two
ways; from
t h e top ,
by walking
around
t he c l i f f - f a c e ,
o r
by
d i v i ng
th rough a
submerged
opening a t sea
l ev e l . The l i g h t
from t h i s
opening i s v i s i b l e i n s i d e the
main
chamber.
There are
some
pa in t ings
on the
wal l which have not been
s a t i s f a c t o r i l y
i n t e r p r e t
ed . Der r ick
(1965)
repor ted a legend about a young c h i e f who r eg u la r ly
dived
th rough wi th food f o r h i s illicit
be t ro thed , who
was
hid ing i n s id e .
C VES OF EASTERN VITI LEVU
There
a re
some
smal l
s ca t t e r ed
outc rops of l imes tone
in
the a rea
around Wai lotua
V i l l a g e
in Easte rn V i t i Levu (F ig . 2 ) . The t e r r a i n i s h i l l y and dense ly f o r e s t ed ,
t r av e l
i s d i f f i c u l t
away
from the roads . Caves ne a r t he
v i l l ag es
of
Wai lo tua ,
Nasau, Drekeniwai , and Nakorowaiwai
were explored . The more
remote
l imes tone ou tc rops were not v i s i t e d . In r e l a t i o n to Wailotua
Vi l l a g e t hese are s i t u a t e d a t : 2
krn
wes t : 15 krn wes t a t Korosu l i V i l l a g e and 9 krn eas t - n o r th
e a s t .
a) Nakorowaiwai.
The a rea near t he abandoned
v i l l ag e
o f Nakorowaiwai i s t y p i ca l j agged and dense ly fo res t ed
l imes tone count ry . It i s
e s s e n t i a l to ge t a
guide . A t
one
p o i n t t h e
Waivisa
Creek (F ig . 2)
f lows th rough a l a r g e
tunne l
about
30
m
long.
A
few metres downstream from t he tunne l
a
t r i b u t a r y en te r s Waivisa on t he
l e f t .
This l eads a f t e r
about 100
m
to
a
cave
en t rance .
This
can be
pene t ra t ed for
about 60 m to
the foo t o f an
underground w at e r f a l l about 20 m
high , w i th
shee r
wa l l s
and a s t r o n g draught . Upstream of t he tunne l
in Waivisa Creek
t h e r e i s a
shor t
h i gh
cave,
beyond which t he source of the s t r eam i s r evea led - a c i r c u l a r pool about
20
m
in
diameter surrounded by
wooded s l o p e s .
In the main v a l l e y above the pool , t he re a re a number o f depress ions in the
a l l u v i a l
f l o o r ,
some
with smal l s treams f lowing
along
the
bot tom.
Eas t o f
Korobalavu Peak
and
n e a r
a
manganese
d e p o s i t ,
i s
an
impress ive rift in
the
f ace
of
a cliff.
A t
one poin t
access can
be ga ined to
about 100 m
of
smal l cave passage wi th a smal l impenet rab le
s tream. Fur the r
along
the
su r f ace ,
a rope
i s necessa ry
to descend to a chamber.
From
t he
chamber
a
number of holes
in
the
f loor
drop
down
i n to a nar row rift wi th a
s t r eam.
P o ss i b l y
the s t r eam i s t he one emerging in
t he
w at e r f a l l
descr ibed e a r l i e r , ne a r
WaiviS3.
These a re
t h e only
caves so f a r en te red , in t h i s
a rea ,
but
the
v i l l ag e r s have repor ted
many o th e r s .
b) Wai lo tua .
The cave
e n t r a nc e (F ig . 4) i s
s i t u a t ed nex t to Wailotua V i l l ag e Number
1 ,
about 15 krn
west
of Korovou (Tai levu) on Kings Road. The v i l l ag e r s w i l l t ake v i s i t o r s
to
the main
chamber fo r
a charge . The approach i s decora ted
wi th g inger
p l an t s ,
and t h e r e i s a
pa t h
from t he main
e n t r a nc e
to t he main chamber.
There
i s a dry mud f l o o r but it i s
c l ea r
t h a t a t one t ime water
used
to
flow
th rough
t hese passages . The
canyon
passage i s a t a
lower l ev e l ,
its he igh t
v a r i e s between 3 m
and
15 m. There a re some f lowstone format ions in
the en t r ance passages .
The
foo tpa th
l eads
to
t he v as t main
chamber, where
f i r e s
a re sometimes
lit in the
cen t r e
of
t h e
f l a t
t e r r a c e . Below
t he
t e r r a c e ,
which
i s
f loored
with ha rd
mud,
the
chamber
f l o o r
i s
a jumble
of
l a r g e boulde rs .
Beyond
t he
chamber
l i e s t he eas t e r n en t rance ,
where
a
s t r eam
f lows
i n to t h e cave .
There a re some high l ev e l passages
l e a d i ng
o f f
t he
main chamber,
but these
cou ld
no t
be
surveyed
because t he
bamboo
l adder l ead ing to them was dangerously
ro t t en .
The main
s t r eam
f lows i n to a passage in t he s id e of t h e main chamber, down an ex c i t i n g
s e r i e s
of cascades and
w at e r f a l l s .
The deepes t i s about 6 m, and no
ropes
are needed by an a g i l e per son . The s t r eam
disappear s
under
t he
passage w al l ,
and beyond t h i s t he
passage i s
dry , though it e v i d e n t l y
ac t s as an over f low in f lood condi t ions because t h e r e are
f r esh
grave l
banks,
waterworn
rocks ,
and s t i c k s in the
roof .
The dry
passage
cont inues ,
most ly
j u s t s u f f i c i e n t l y h igh and wide
to
walk th rough ,
and
opens dramat i ca l ly in to
the
wal l
o f
a
l a rge
chamber. A mud s lope l eads down
to
a s t r eam, which
disappear s
under
the
rock a t the f a r end.
It
i s presumed to re-emerge
100 m
away
a t the same l ev e l , a t
some
spr ings a t t he sharp bend in
Wailo tua Creek
(Fig. 2) ,
where some water
f lows
th rough a
p i l e o f
boulder s on
the
r i v e r bank, and cold wa te r can
be
f e l t wel l ing up
from the
r i v e r bed . There
i s a l so
p a r t of t he lower strearnway acces s ib l e , and
a high l ev e l p a r a l l e l r o u t e .
109
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Q UI C VE
BCRA
GRADE
3C
PLAN
N
o
metres 1
______ ____ 4 ______
n t ra n ce
Cana
I
=
LEV T ION
LOCATION
FIGURE 5
)
Wainibuku
SUV RE
Kalabo
\
• Tamavua
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 7
\.0. L imes tone
5
l e
o
metres
I
55 0
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-
W
N
B
R
E
F
G
U
R
E
m
e
e
C
a
p
s
f
L
m
e
o
a
o
m
a
e
N
E
n
o
d
e
o
3
C
o
o
s
n
e
o
r
S
t
e
m
s
n
(
\
S
p
n
S
t
e
m
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There
i s p o t en t i a l fo r fu r
t h e r explo r a t i o n
in
t h i s cave.
Su
rve
yed l eng th -
about
1500 m ( the
l onges t
in
F i j i ) .
c) Nasau.
The a rea
of l imestone in
which
Wailotua Cave
i s
formed ex tends 8 kID eas twards ,
and
con ta ins seve ra l o the r caves . Two were v i s i t e d a t Nasau Vi l l age
(F ig .
3) . These two caves
found to
be
l inked
inside)
appear
to
be
old
sp r ings .
The water t ab l e
has
dropped below
t he
l eve l
of the caves , and below the s t ream bed they face
onto Waimaca means
dry
s t ream )
.
It i s c l e a r t h a t water r i s e s
cons ide rab ly in
the
caves
in
ra iny cond i t ions ,
but
t he re i s no
s t ream course in them. The en t rance chambers
have
much guano on the
f loor
. The f l u t ed
columns
around
the en t rance a re impres s ive .
Near
the end
of
the caves , a t i g h t
squeeze
gives access to a
R i f t Passage,
con ta in ing many s t a l a c t i t e columns . Length 100 m.
CAVES OF SOUTH EASTERN VITI
LEVU
Within a 15
kID rad ius
of Suva, t he c a p i t a l of the F i j i Is lands , there
a re
a number
of
very smal l areaS o f exposed l imestone (F ig . 6 . Th i s i s a t h i n band o f
r ee f
l imestone which
occurs in the Suva Marl
Ser ie s .
Most
of
the land i n t he a rea i s e i t he r c u l t i v a t ed or b u i l t -
on. There
are caves over 300 m long near Quai a Vi l l age , and
n e a r
Wainibuku
Creek,
i n add i t ion
to
t he
many
smal le r
caves
in the a
r ea .
d) Quaia .
~ t r e m runs onto
the
Lami l imestone about 2 kID
nor th
of t he cave
en t rance pass ing
th rough seve ra l shor t shal low caves .
It
then cu t s a deep
t rench and goes
permanently
under
ground (F ig. 5) . It i s c l e a r
t ha t
the s t ream once flowed on the
su rface ,
a t the l eve l which
now
forms
the
top of t he
en t rance
rift. A 10 m l adder i s needed to descend
the
rift and
beyond i s a
se r i e s
o f
poolS
and cascad es (P la t e
1) .
Shaf t s o f day l igh t a re
still
v i s i b l e ,
coming from the sur face and
cas t i n g
complex shadows
over
the shee r wal l s of the rift.
Beyond the day l igh t
zone , the
s t ream
fo l lows
a l ev e l meandering
rift
passage, decora ted with
some
c a l c i t e
format ions
.
Fur the r
on,
t he
water
i s
deeper
and swimming i s
necessa ry .
The
cave
ends
in a
sump
with a
smal l muddy
chamber
above
it. The wate r resurges a t a
row
o f
smal l
spr ings
a t
the
base o f
t he
r idge behind
Quaia Vi l l age
(Fig . 5) . According to
the survey, the
sump
a t
t he end of
the
cave comes very c lose
to
one
of the spr ings .
It
may
be p oss i b l e
to
c rea t e a bot tom
en t rance
by digging. The
cave,
365 m long , i s formed along a f a u l t l i ne .
e)
Other
Caves
in
Lami and Suva.
1) A
smal l
cave occurs on Cave
I s l an d
Only 15 m long ,
it
zigzags from
s ide
to s ide .
2 Two smal l
caves
occur on the shore
a t
Lami.
3 There i s a smal l cave of f Edinburgh Drive
in
Suva,
ne
a r
the WM Hospi t a l .
4)
Nauluvatu;
a
cave
a t l e a s t
50
m
long o ccu r s
in
the lower p a r t
of
the v i l l a g e .
The
en t rance
i s used as a
rubb ish
dump,
hinder ing
access . The cave
con ta ins seve ra l
l a rge dry
chambers.
5) A smal l cave occurs in the c l i f f s on t he
eas t
s ide of Tamavua
River .
6 There
i s an
underground cavern near
Waiqanake
Vi l l age
(F ig .
6).
f )
Kalabo .
A
s t ream
has
cut
a massive
tunne l
r igh t
through
t he
r idge
on
which Kalabo
Vi l l age
i s
s i t u a t e d F ig
.
7). It cu ts th rough
the whole of t h i s i s o l a t ed
l imestone band,
f o r the
f l a t
roof i s marl ,
and
in t he lower h a l f o f
the
cave the s t ream flows through ba sa l t .
The
passage
i s
most ly 5 m
wide and
15 m
high , fo r t he
e n t i r e l eng th
of
150 m.
g) Wainibuku Creek Area .
This l imestone
a rea i s
about 11 kID
n o r t h e a s t
o f Suva
(F ig.
6) .
The
l imes tone
i s
roughly
hor izon ta l
w i t h
a
maximum
th ickness of 25 to 30 m, wedging out to the sou th ,
so
t ha t it i s
absen t
on
Pr i t am
Singh
Road (F ig. 8)
.
It i s exposed i n t he face of a
prominent
escarpment ,
in
some
enc losed depres s ions
in
the h ighe r ground, and in
f l a t t e r
areaS fu r t h e r nor th .
It
i s
o v e r l a i n
by ma
rl
(P la t e 2) .
Th i s smal l k a r s t conta ins a
r i ch va r i e ty
of fea tu re s : s ink ing s t reams ,
severa l
d i s t i n c t
types of cave, enclosed depress ions , po tho le s , n a t u ra l a rches , and minia tu re
canyons.
1) Udi t Cave
(F ig .
8) :
Ins ide
the lower , nor the rn , en t rance a
6
m cl imbable cascade l eads
to 100 m o f lOW, c r awling passage. Beyond t h i s the cave con t inues
as
a f ine boulder
s t rewn
tunne l
most ly
6
m high
and wide to
i t s end in a
s t a l a c t i t e
gro t to .
The one
j unc t ion i s
not
e a s i l y
found
- a smal l s t ream en t e r s th rough a low passage a t f l o o r l ev e l
and
t h i s can be
fo l lowed
up
through
the
base of two cl imbable
potho les and
then through a crawl
to
the
s ink
.
The
t o t a l
passage
l eng th
i s
790
m.
2 WainibuKu Cave (F ig. 8 : The s t r eam en t e r s the cave a f t e r cu t t i n g a
narrow
channel in the
l imes tone fo r one ki lometre . I t s bas in , seve ra l square ki lomet res in ex t en t , probably
used
to dra in
on
the sur face ,
through the col to
the
e a s t
of
the
top
en t rance .
The
i n i t i a l 75 m
of
s t ream passage i s m wide
by 6
m high ,
wi th deep
wate r .
The cave
becomes much l a rg e r a t
a j unc t ion
wi th
a
shor t dry
passage, and i s
inhabi ted by
many
b a t s , cockroaches ,
and s w i f t l e t s .
The
s t ream
cont inues
th rough a
number o f
pool s ,
in
a passage 4 m wide by
15
m high . It
emerges
from the
nor the rn en t rance
in to a c i r cu la r
pool .
Nearby
a re the en t rances
to two
s h o r t dry
caves .
Below
the poo l ,
t he s t ream flows through
a minia tu re canyon, with an arch,
deep
pools ,
and
cascades . This i s
presumably a fo rmer con t inua t ion
of the cave where
the
roof has co l l apsed .
The
l eng th of t he cave
i s
180 m.
3) Dharam Singh Cave
(F ig .
8): The smal l
sou the rn en t rance
gives access
to
a l a rge downward
s lop ing chamber, 55 m long
by
9
m
wide
and
6
m high , which i s
c rossed
by a t i n y s t ream.
An
i n s ign i f i c an t
hole
leads
i n t o a
hor izon ta l
passage,
about
3 m high wi th a f l a t muddy
f loo r .
Dayl igh t i s reached a f t e r 50 m, where the roof
has
co l l apsed . Beyond i s a la rge chamber 43 m
long
with a co l l apse hole i n t he roof .
Length 2
00 m.
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CAVES OF SOUTHE
RN
VITI LEVU
There i s very little exposed l imestone in the
southern
coas ta l
a
re
a of
Vi t i Le vu
,
between
Siga toka
and
the
Suva
area
r ig .
1 ) .
The
45
m long Matalima
Cave
occurs in a
t h in l imestone l ens
near
Nabukelevu V i l l ag e ,
12
km nor th of the Queens
Road
. Small c
av
es
in vOlcanic rock
are
repor ted
ne a r Rukua Vill a ge on
the west coast of
B
eqa I s land ,
and on
Yanuca
I s l a nd
10
km west
of
Beqa . Vatu le le
I s l and i s
a
lmost
en t i r e ly
l imes tone .
There a re
severa l caves
near the
nor the rn t i p
of
the
iS land ,
north,,,est
of Ekubu
V i l l ag e . These conta in
chambers with pools
of
brack i sh
water ,
ev iden t ly
connected
with t he sea , a nd i nhab i t ed by
red
pr aw ns .
a) Sigatoka River
Val ley
.
There are
severa l
l imestone outcrops in
the S ig
a t oka River Val ley Fig. 1 ) . Th e
val ley i s ch a r a c t e r i s ed
by
ro l l ing
h i l l s ,
with natura l grass l ands , and cu l t i v a
t ed
areas
with ma ny v ill ages . The l imestone
outcrops
are densely fo res ted ,
with
c l i f f s
cut
by
old
r i v e r meanders Pla te 3 . The l a r g es t maSS
of
l imestone in
the
i s l an d s ,
km
long and
km wide,
i s ne
a r Toga V i l l ag e . There i s a sma l l resurgence
cave
in the
c l i f f
oppos i t e
Toga
Vi
ll a ge . Two ki lomet r es to t he west . A
small
s tream emerges
from
a low a
rch
e d ent r ance
in
the c l i f f s
behind Sautabu Vil lag e . Beyond is
a chamber
about
350 m
long
and
30
m
wide,
with s ide passages le
a
ding
o
f f
a
t.
a higher
l ev e l . Watling
a
nd
Per n e t t a ,
1977) .
Thi r t een ki lomet r es
up
the S iga toka Va l ley
Ro
ad from Toga
Vil lage
, a
smal l
l imestone
ou
tc r
op ne a r Tuvu Vill ag e .
This i s
a
dense ly vegeta ted
area
of
j
agged pinnacles
and
rock
depress ions .
There
a re a few sma
ll
c aves in
the
low c l i f f s
facing
the ro a
d.
One
cont
a ins
a p i l e of human sku l l s .
Cl un ie
has
de s c r ibed Malua Cave , 2 . 5
km
southeas t o f Saweni Vi l l age . t cons is t s
of
tw o chambers in a l imestone
ou
t c rop , and i s of great h i s t o r i c
and
archaeological i n t e r e s t .
b)
S aweni.
Sawe
n i
Cave Fig.
9) is
formed in a n i so l a t ed b a nd of l imestone which en c i r c l e s Ta le ma lawe
Pe a k, a
nd conta ins
o the r c
av
es . The two
bottom entrances
a
re ac ross
the r ive r , and a
bout one
ki lomet r e from the
v i l l ag e
. The c ave
cons is t s of
an
upper
and a
lower s e r i e s of pass
a ges ,
which eme rge
a t a common
en t r
a
nce
higher up the
h i l l s i d e
. The presen t
s t r e
a
m
which i s
only
a
t r i c k l e
in dr y weather ,
has
inva ded
the
ex i s t ing cave and
cu t
the lower l ev e l pa
s sages
much
more r ecen t ly .
The
ch
ambers a
re impressive in s i ze , but there
a re
few format ions in the cave
except some
wa
ll
moonmilk .
There
a
re considerable
depos i t s of guano
th roughout
the
length
of
the
c
av
e . Archaeologica l exc a v a t ions prove t h a t the cave was
used
by
man for hundreds of
yea
r s ,
poss ib ly as a cen t re for ma king s h e l l orn a ments. There are
sever
a l b u r i a l s in th e cave f loor .
White-rumped swi f t l e t s breed and roos t in
the
c ave , a s
do
Long T a i l ed Fr u i t Ba ts and She a
th
Ta i l ed Ba t s . Ba
rn Owls Ty to alba)
a re of t en
seen
there , a s they
prey
on t he swi f t l e t s and
f r u i t
bat s . Surveyed
l ength
of S aweni
Cave
i s 42 0 m.
CA
V
ES OF SO
UT
HWEST VI TI LEVU
Limestone
of the
Thuv
a Sedimentary
Group s t re tches i r r eg u l
a
r ly
a long the
co as t a l
h i l l s
between
Siga toka
a nd Natado l a Ha
rbour
Fig.
1) .
Sink-holes a re common
but
how many of these
a re dr
a i
ned
by negot i
able c
aves
i s
not
known. Some s ink holes a re
usu
a l l y l a
kes and t he re fore
v ery poor lydr a ined . Small caves
occu
r a t
sever
a l l oca t ions . Natuata Cave , which i s used as
a bur i a l cha mber,
i s
ne a r Naevuevu Vill a ge, 8
km
west of
Sig
a toka by ro a d. There a re
sever
a l
smal l caves on the coas t to the sou
the
as t of Na t a
dol
a Ha
r b o u r : Cikec i
Cave
i s
an ac t i v e
s ink
in
wet we a
ther ,
s
itua ted
a bout 800 m from Sanasan a V
ill ag
e . Fur the r a long
the
Queens
Ro a d ne a r Tau Vill a ge, a bout 40
km
from
S ig
a tok a , t he re a re seve ra l c aves in a l imestone qu a r r y .
a) Vo l i V o l L
• The
en t r
a
nce
to Vo l i v o l i
Ca v
e
Fig
. 10)
i s
in
the f loor
of a
dr
y
val ley ne
a r the
escarp
me
n t over
lo
oki
n g Vo l i v o l i V il l age , 2
km southwest
of S ig a
to k
a . A
s t r e
a m
c le
a r l y
flows
th rough t h i s c av e in
wet
we a t h e r , a
nd
through
most
of
the c ave
it
has
cu t
a channel abou t
m wide with a f l oor of a
ngul
a r blocks .
The
ma in pa ss a ge
i s
smal l in
p l aces
, b u t ope
ns
in to
l a rge chambers with
ex tens i
v e mu d depos i t s .
The
c ave may c ont inue beyond the l ow pebbly
crawl , which ma
rks
th e end of the survey. There a r e
unconfirmed
re po r t s of a
bottom
e n t r a
nce
a l though wa t e r ev i den t l y b acks u p cons ide r a bly
in
the
chamb
e r b e fore the crawlway, s ugges t
ing
co n s t r i c t i o n s
fur ther on. Surveyed length
19 5 m.
LAVA CAVES OF TAVE
UN
I ISLAND
Almost the
who
l e
iS l a
nd
h as exper ienced
re
cent vO lc anic a c t i v i t y and most
of it
i s
cove red by l ava
flows
,
with
many c inder cones , one of which
i s
known to h ave
erupted
only
a bout 2000 yea rs a go .
Most of
the known l av a
tubes
a re
in
the coconu t plan ta t ions a t
the
southe
rn
end
of
the
i s l
a
nd Fi
g . 12 ) ;
but
t he re may be
more in
the u
ninh
a
bi ted
r a in
fo re s t
a l o
ng
the south - e a
s te rn s id
e
of
the iS l a
nd.
a) S a l i a levu .
The
cave e ~ t r n e
a 5 m
deep co l l
a
pse
hole , i s a
bout 30 minutes
wa
lk
f rom
Sal ia levu
V
ill age Fig
.
11) .
t
is
poss ib le to wa l k a
ll
the
way through
the
cave to
the
upper
en t r a
nce ,
a pa r t from o
ne
aW
kw
a
rd
pool , a
nd
c
l imbs up some of
the l
ava
f a l lS . The sma
ll
s tream h
as
inva
ded
the c ave onl y re l a tive ly recer . t l y , an d ha s had ve r y little e r
osive e f f ec t
on the
or ig ina
l l
ava format ions
. Mud a
nd
gr
ave
l
depos i t s
ob
scure them in some p l aces
.
Mo s t of the
wa
ll
s a re very smooth ,
but
where
the
f
lo
o r is un af fec
t ed
by the s t r e a m
it
i s commonly very
rough
and
sh
a rp, es p
ec ia
lly
a t
the la v a
f a l lS . Th
e
re
a
re
l
ava
t e r r a
ces in the pass
a ge
wal
l S ,
and in some pl a ces a f a
l s e
f loor divides the l
ava
tube . Downstream
of
the
main en t r anc e ,
there a re deep depos i t s of sof t a
nd
put r id -smel l ing mud. I t i s prob able t ha t
the
passage i s
114
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o
Stream
entrance
1:i
Si
de ,;
entra nces
ELEV T ION
me t res 50
• J
S WENI
C VE
BCRA GRADE
2B
PLA N
Main
Resurgence entrance
15m
FIGURE
9
VOLIVOLI C VE
BC RA GRADE
2B
High level
.
; ~ : ~ ~ : : : ~
PLAN
ELEVATION
?
o metres
50
L __ __ __
__
FIGURE 10
115
E
nt rance
Om.
c::::=o
10
2
30m.
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Upper
entrance
South Cape
• Cave entrance
A Probable cinder cone
.. Poss ible
cinder cone
'- 500 foot
contou
r
TAVEUNI km 1 >
Figure
12
SALIALEVU LAVA CAVE
BCRA
GRADE 3C
o metres
100
L
L
Figure
fa l l
Main
entrance
N
Deep
water
WAI MAQERE LAVA CAVE
BCRA GRADE 3C
o
P L N
?
Unsurveyed
? m e ~ ~ r e s ~
__ ~ ~ o
o
Lava
fall
ELEVATION
Entrance
U d sag
= = = = = ~ ~ = _ - ~ : ? : ~ ~ ~ , ~ - = = J = = = = : : : : = = = = : - ~ = ~ % ~ = : ~ = = _ ~ - ~ _ = = : ~ ~ : t ~ ~ s ~ ~ ~ r ~ ~ e ~ y ~ ~ = = ~ ~ ~ ; ; ~ ~ ~ e ~ = = =
10
c::::
~ . ~ ~
: : : : : : : = = : : . . : : : : : ~ _ _
Lav a f aII
20
Figure 13
6
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f i l l e d with mud o r water beyond t h i s poin t .
Bats
are
only
found close to the tunnel
en t rances , and smal l ee l s l i ve in the s t ream. Most of th i s 920 m
long
cave could eas i ly
be developed
as a t o u r i s t
a t t r ac t ion .
The es t ima ted s lope
of
the
cave i s 10
0
•
b Waimaqere.
Both of
the
l ava caves a t Waimaqere a re
in
the
coconut plan ta t ion , about
30
minutes
walk from
the
v i l l a g e . Cave Number
1
(Fig. 13)
needs a 6 m
l adder
to en ter
the co l lapse
hole en t rance .
The
surveyed l eng th i s about
330
m,
wi th another 100
m unsurveyed.
Cave
Number 2
has
a cons tan t
s lope of
about 8
0
downwards
from the walk- in en t rance .
It
i s a
s ing le
lava tube ,
most ly 6 m
high
and 3 to 9 m wide , for
the
surveyed l eng th
of 180
m.
Plan t roo ts
hang from
the roof in p laces .
There are only
a
few
dr ips o f
water
en ter ing these caves, so the lava
formations
are
b e t t e r preserved
than in Sa l i a l ev u Cave.
These inc lude
lava
f a l l s , deep channelS
in
the rough
c l in k e r y
f loor (Pla te
4
which
sometimes
meet and jo in
a t
junct ions .
l ava
t e r r aces and f a l se f loors and
ropy
l ava . Much
of
the
rock
i s very rough and sharp.
In
some
places there are
smal l
browniSh coloured
s traw
s t a l a c t i t e s ; in other s , a grey
white
depos i t on the roof .
c) Sogulu.
The two co l lapse hole en t rances to Soqulu Cave are a 30 minute walk uphi l l from the
Soqulu Esta te House,
12
km n o r th eas t o f Waimaqere. The
cave
i s a
s ing le
lava tube with a
f loor
of mud and boulde rs , and conta ins few i n t e r e s t ing format ions. The humped t op of the
lava
flow
it fol lows
can
be c lea r ly seen on t he sur face . Like other lava tubes, it
does
not d ip f a r below the su r f ace , and
roo ts
can be seen
in
severa l p laces .
There are
pi l e s
o f
bones in the lower par t o f the
cave.
The
es t ima ted l eng th of the
cave
i s 165
m.
d)
Other
Loca t ions .
Many smal ler and l e s s in t e r e s t ing l ava tunne l s have been found
in
southern Taveuni .
One which may be long
but
has
not
been explored i s
Qara
Tabu.
This
cave
r ea l ly i s
tabu;
Gilber t waS
forbidden by the Tui Vuna
to en ter the
cave.
There
a re
also
pr ac t i c a l
d i f f i c u l t i e s ; the
en t rance ,
near
the
South Cape, i s a t sea
l eve l
in
a
c l i f f face and
can
only
be en tered
by
boat in good condi t ions .
Caves have been noted
near
the v i l l ag es Qarawalu ( e igh t
caves ) and
Tubakau (Fig .12) .
A cave with two
chambers
and
passages leading
o f f i s r epor ted
near the
end
of t he Vuna
Road,
about 1 km from the South Cape.
It
i s bes t known l o ca l l y as the
cave
down which an Indian
was
once thrown .
C VES OF
THE
L U GROUP OF ISLANDS
There
i s a grea ter area
of
l imestone in t hese s ca t t e r ed i s lands than in the whole
of
the r e s t o f F i j i (F ig . 1) . Of the 36 l a rg es t
i s l ands ,
15 a re whol ly l imestone,
four
a re
s o l e l y volcan ic , and 17
of
composite nature . The l imestone i s lands a re q u i t e
di s t inc t ive
in appearance. They of ten have c l i f f s undercut
a t
sea l eve l ; the higher a reas a re covered
in
rocky
pinnac les and depress ions ,
entwined
with t r ee roo ts ;
sometimes
t h e r e i s a cen t r a l
depress ion , d ra in ing underground
to
the
coas t .
Much
of
t he fol lowing
informat ion
i s
obta ined from Ladd and HOffmeister 's (1945) a r t i c l e , which also con ta ins maps showing the
loca t ions
o f
many
caves.
The
i s lands
a re descr ibed
from
nor th
to
south.
a Vanua
Balavu
I s l and .
Caves occur in
the
l imes tone iS l e t s
a t
t he nor the rn end of Vanua Balavu, near Q i l aq i l a .
One
i s l e t
i s merely a hollow
l imes tone she l l conta in ing
a l a rge chamber,
22
m
high
and 1 m
deep
in sea water
(Sawyer
and
Andrews, 1901) .
b) Mago I s land .
. There
a re
many caves
in
the
l imestone
r im
of
Mago I s l and (Sawyer
and
Andrews,
1901) .
To
the
nor theas t ,
t h e r e
i s
an entrance in
a
l a rge c l i f f
f ace , 60 m above sea
l eve l .
This
l eads to severa l well decora ted chambers, 3 to 12 m long.
Another cave in
t h i s a rea has
a
35
m deep
en t rance sha f t ,
connected by a
se r i e s of l a r g e chambers,
to a bottom
en t rance
a t the base of
a
c l i f f . To the nor th ,
a l a rge
sha f t 35
m deep,
jo ins
a
t o r tuous
underground
passage about 700
m
long ,
which dra ins to
the sea .
In
the
northwest
of the i s land ,
a
small
cave
en t rance
gives access to a well decorated chamber,
30
m
square
and
10
m high. Severa l
passages l ead off one i s 300
m
long wi th s ide passages
(Sawyer
and
Andrews, 1901).
c) Lakeba I s l an d .
The wel l
known cave
on
Lakeba I s land i s near Nasaqalau, west
o f
the a i r s t r i p . The
cave
passage
i s
about
450
m
long ,
5 m
wide
and 15
m
high . It
has
s t a l a c t i t e s
hanging
from
the
roof , and a small s t ream in the f l a t mud f l o o r . The
f i r s t
en t rance i s in the s ide o f a
wooded bluf f , and
the cave
i t s e l f desc r ibes
a rough
a rc
th rough the
l imestone masS,
to
emerge a t t he
second
en t rance (Der r i ck , 1965; Sawyer and
Andrews,
1901) .
d) Other
I s lands
in
the
Lau Group.
Caves have been r epor ted
in
o ther i s lands in
t he
Lau
Group.
These
are :
Tuvuca
(Rodda,
1981) ,
Cicia ,which
i s
s imi la r to Mago
I s l an d
(Sawyer and Andrews, 1901) ,
Vanua
Vatu ,
Namuka - i -Lau,
Yagasa (Sawyer and
Andrews,
1901) , Waqava
(Ladd
and
Hoffmeister , 1945) and
Fu1aga.
C VES
OF
OTHER ISLANDS IN FIJI
a)
Vanua Levu I s l and .
Vanua Levu i s the
second
l a r ge s t i s land in the F i j i
Group,
but t h e r e i s hard ly any
l imestone,
and
most
of
the
rock
i s of older
volcan ic
o r i g i n . Small caves
occur
in co ra l l i n e
l imestone outcrops
in
the
Labasa
area ( Ibbotson,
1969) .
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b) Rotuma I s l and .
. Rotuma, about
650
kID to
the
nor th
of
Suva, i s a
young volcan ic
i s l and and severa l lava
tunnels a re known to
e x i s t
Rodda,
in
Gilbe r t 1975)
c)
Kadavu I s l an d s .
. The Kadavu I s l
ands
a re
mainly
volcan ic in or iq in wi th ve ry littl l imes tone . A few
smal l caves
have
been r epor ted Rodda , in Gi l b e r t
1975).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This
a
r t i c l e was or ig ina l ly
in tended
for pub l i ca t ion in F i j i but s inc
e t he
decease
o f the
author
in
1
978, it has been r e v i se d
by
h i s
widow,Judy
Gilber t for publ icat ion in
Cave
Science.
P .
Rodda,
a
geo log i s t employed by
t he
F i j i government ,
cont r ibuted to the or ig ina l r epor t
1975)
and
helped with
t he
prepara t ion of
the
f ina l t ex t .
F .
Clunie of
the
F i j i
Museum
provided
in format ion
regard ing cave
biology
and
caves in the Sigatoka
Val ley .
The fo l lowing people ass i s ted
the
author
with the
surveys :
J . Gi lber t D. Swann, C.
and
J .
Venning, D. Story
C. Clements ,
P .
Hil ton and
D.
Sharma
.
Dr.
A.
Waltham gave inva luable he lp with the
f ina l
a r t i c l e .
Spec ia l
thanks are
due
to v i l l a g e r s
and
farmers in F i j i
who
allowed
access
to caves
on
t h e i r land
and
of ten ac ted
as
guides to the
ent rances .
REFERENCES
Bartholomew, R.W.
1960 .
Geology of the
Nandi a re a
Western V it
i Levu. Bull .
Geol . Surv. Fij i N o . 7 .
Derr ick ,
R.A. 1965. The Fij i Islands .
Second, r e v i se d
ed i t ion .
Government
P r i n t e r Suva.
Edmonson, C.H
.
1935. B.P.
Bishop
Mus . Dcc . Paper No. 11 3)
.
Gi lber t
T 1975. Caves
o f Fij i unpubl i shed r epor t .
Ibbots
on
, P .
1960
.
Geology
of the
Suva
a re a
V i t i
Levu.
Bull .
Geol. Surv.
Fi j i
No. 4 .
Ladd, H.S
. , Hoffmeis ter ,
J .E .
1945. Geology o f
La u
,
F i j i . Bull . Bishop
Mus. Honolulu No .
18 1
.
Rodda,
P.
1981.
The phosphate
de pos i t s and
geo logy
o f
Tuvutha
.
Econ . In v . Miner. Resources Dep.
Fi j i N o . 3 .
Rodda,
P. 1967. Out l ine of the
geology
o f
V i t i
Levu . Geological
Survey
of Fi j i Dcc. Paper N o .3 .
Sawyer,
B . Andrews, E .
C.
1901.
Notes on the caves of Fi j i with spec ia l r e fe re nc e to Lau.
Proc
.
Linn
.
Soc.
NSW
XXVI, pp.
91
- 10 6 .
Watl ing ,
D., Perne t t a
J .C. 1977.
Limestone caves in
the Sigatoka
Val ley V i t i Levu, F i j i . Stud.
Speleol .
Vol . 3
2),
pp. 78-86.
Revised
MS rece ived
23rd
May 1984
118
J . Gi
l
b e r t
,
19
Cotswold
Drive ,
Sprotborough,
Doncas ter ,
DN 7PF.
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NOW A V
AIIABLE
LIMESTONES AND CAVES
OF
THE
PEAK
DISTRICT
compiled
and edited
by
T.
D. Ford
published by Geo-books
c o
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Ltd.
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469
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British Cave
Research
Asoociation
Volume 3, combined nos
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4, 1976)
Available
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(Transactions of
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Associat ion
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sc ience , inc lud
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biology in t h e i r ap
pl i ca t ion
to caves
as
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t echnolog ica l
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. Papers may
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the
Br i t i sh Cave
Research
Assoc ia t ion . Subsc r ip t ions are
due
on 1 s t January
annual ly
.
MEMBERS OF BCRA
COUNCIL FOR
1984
Pres id en t :
Chairman :
Dept. Chairman:
Secre tary :
Membership
Secre tary
:
Tr easurer :
Transac t ions
Editor :
Bul le t in
Edi to r :
L ibrar ian :
Foreign Secre ta ry :
Conserva t ion
Off icer :
Sa les Off icer :
Bio log ica l
Recorder:
Archaeologica l
Record
er :
Meetings Manager:
Dis t r ibu t ion
Manager:
Insurance Manager:
Advert is ing
Manager:
Southern Club
Represen ta t ive
:
Co-
opted Members:
Spec ia l Pr o jec t s
Editor :
Equipment and
Techniques
Off i cer :
Dr .
G. T
.
Jef ferson ,
Zoology
Dept.
Univers i ty
Col lege , PO Box 7S,
Ca r d i f f
CFl
lXL .
B. M. El l i s , 30
Main Road
Westonzoyland,
Bridgwater ,
Somerset .
J . J .
Rowland,
Llywn
yr Eos Capel Bangor
Aberystwyth,
Dyfed,
SY23 3LR .
Dick
Wil l i s , 56 Granby
Hi l l ,
Cl i f ton ,
Br i s t o l BSS 4LS
David
R.
Stoddard,
23 Claremont Ave nue,
Bishopston,
Br i s t o l
BS7 SJD .
J.W.
Dey, 16 Edge H i l l Road, Sh ef f i e ld
S7 lS P .
Dr .
T. D
. Ford, Department
of
Geology,
The Univers i ty , Leices ter LEl 7RH
.
J .S . Corr in 55
Osborne
Terrace , Bacup,
Lancs OLl3
SJY.
Roy
Paulson, Holt House, Holt
Lane,
Lea,
Matlock,
Derbyshire .
J .R.
Middleton
2 Broad Elms Close Sh ef f i e ld
Sl1 9ST.
D.M. Judson
Rowlands
House Summerseat,
Bury,
Lancs
BL9 5NF.
B.M. El l i s , 30 Main Road,
Westonzoyland
Bridgwater , Somerset .
M.C.
Day, 11S Whitmore Road
Harrow
HAl 4AQ.
Dr.
J . D. Wilcock,
22
Kingsley
Close,
Staf ford ST17 9BT .
Dr.
R . G.
Pick n e t t
2S Po t t e r s Way
Laverstock
Sal i sbury
Wil ts SPl lPX.
Sam Moore, Havencourt ,
The
Parks,
Aldington Evesham.
Geoff
Wells 39 Linden Road,
Redland,
Br i s to l BS6 .
Keith Plumb
11
Copper
Be
ec h Way Leighton
Buzzard
Bedfordsh i r e LU7
SBD.
Pe t e r
Robertson
36
Tadf ie ld
Road Romsey
Hants
S05
SAJ .
Dr.
A.C
. Waltham,
Civ i l
Engineer ing Dept . ,
Tren t Po l y te chnic ,
Nottingham
NGl 4BU
A. Eavis ,
Tides
Reach,
Redcl i f f Road,
Hessle N. Humberside HU13
OHA
1984 SUBSCRIPTIONS