Two bodies found in cave

Two bodies have been found in a North Yorkshire cave after rescue teams worked through the night.

The bodies were recovered at 3.20am today from Yordas Cave near Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales.

Police and cave rescue workers were called out after a report from a woman whose husband had not returned home.

Neither body has yet been formally identified.

Source: The Sun

Fixed Hangers Removed From French Grotte des Cavottes

Due to excessive placement of fixed hangers (bolts) and the resulting increase of non-trained people visiting the cave, the Regional Committee of the Doubs has decided to remove the bolts from the "Grotte des Cavottes" in Montrond-le-Château, France.

The work was done during a course from the French School of Speleology (EFS) at Halloween 2007 and was filmed by some members:

Russian doomsday cult holed up in cave

Russian police stand guard Thursday on the hillside
where cult members, who include four children, are
hidden inside a snow-covered cave in the Penza region.

29 members threaten to blow selves up if officials try to remove them

Officials were talking Friday with more than two dozen doomsday cult members holed up in a snowy forest near the Volga River to await the end of the world, which their leader says will come in spring.

The cult members have threatened to blow themselves up with about 100 gallons of stockpiled gasoline if authorities forced them out of what officials described as a cave or bunker near the village of Nikoskoye, about 400 miles southeast of Moscow, said regional spokesman Yevgeny Guseynov.

"Any forceful action is dangerous," Guseynov said, but he added that doctors and rescuers were nearby and trying to coax the cult members to leave.

Self-declared prophet Pyotr Kuznetsov, who established his True Russian Orthodox Church after he split with the official church, blessed his followers before sending them into the cave earlier this month, but he did not join them himself.

He was undergoing psychiatric evaluation Friday, a day after he was charged with setting up a religious organization associated with violence, Guseynov said.

The 29 people — including four children, one only 18 months old — had stocked the cave with food and other supplies.

Authorities arrest stepfather after girl found dead in cave

The stepfather of a 9-year-old girl whose body was found Friday in a hillside cave in southwest Missouri was arrested in her death, authorities said. Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland said David Spears, 24, was arrested in the death of Rowan Ford. "The stepfather was a possible suspect," Copeland told The Associated Press. "I will confirm that he has been arrested, as well as one of his friends." Copeland said a 24-year-old man from Wheaton was also arrested. Charges had not been filed Friday night.

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Krubera-Voronya expedition video

NUg Speleologists Assist Exploration of Private Underground Catacomb

Following the destructive earthquake in the Naples area in 1980, many ancient churches in the city were closed because of fear of structural damage. One particular church with a fascinating history was among those shuttered and abandoned. Located in the very center of the original city, this church, which will remain unnamed for reasons of security, has a long and mysterious history. It stands where a large private palace once stood in the 17th century. A noble Marquise owned the palace, and had decided to move to a newer part of Naples. A religious order bought his palace for 600 Ducats in 1601, and converted it to a small chapel and convent. Historians and archeologists knew that the elaborately decorated church was built incorporating parts of a grand old private palace, beneath which a private burial catacomb had been used dating at least to the mid 1500's. In 1640 the religious order acquired an adjoining palace and an atrium between the two buildings. An elaborate Rococo church was constructed over the site of the private underground cemetery. For the next three hundred years the elaborately decorated church and convent used the old cemetery for burial of clergy and members of the order.

After the earthquake of 1980 the church, like hundreds of other ancient buildings in Naples, suffered structural cracking and damage. The church was closed and abandoned. Pieces of the ornate facade and exterior began to crack off and plummet to the narrow street below creating a public hazard. Priceless paintings and ornamentation had been removed from the church and placed in museums and stop-gap measures were taken to shore up the exterior the church. The once famous church and convent with its mysterious underground burial chambers faded from memory as the once glorious structure faded into the background melding with the facades of the other centuries old buildings on the street.

Cavemen 'may have used language'

They are typically portrayed as primitive brutes capable only of grunting, but new research now suggests Neanderthals may have whiled away the hours in their caves in conversation.

Scientists who have been trawling through the DNA found in Neanderthal bones have discovered that the now extinct species had a “language gene” that is only found in modern humans.

Their controversial findings create the tantalising possibility that Neanderthals were in fact capable of speech much like humans and communicated with each other through their own language.

As language is seen as one of the key cornerstones that has set humans apart from other animals and allowed sophisticated cultures to develop, many anthropologists now believe it may have allowed Neanderthals to have their own culture.

It is a stark contrast to the traditional image of Neanderthals as simple-minded cavemen and the latest research has shed new light on how Neanderthals evolved from our common ancestor more than 400,000 years ago.

Secretary of Spelelogy Federation Alexey Zhalov: We expect great and perhaps interesting findings

The Bulgarian Federation of Spelelogy has trained ten youngsters, half of them being beginners by a project of Smolyan Municipality called ‘The Bio Diversity in the Rhodope – Underground Life and Daylight’. The speleologists uncovered three new caves. A visitors’ and information centre in Smilyan will be opened. It will have speleological equipment. For that reason Radio FOCUS – Smolyan spoke to Alexey Zhalov, secretary of the Bulgarian Federation of Spelelogy:

FOCUS: Mr. Zhalov, you trained speleologists by a project of Smolyan Municipality, what was the purpose and how many people did you train?
Alexey Zhalov: When there are interesting and poorly explored landschafts and having in mind their rational use and protection we need a well-prepared team of people. That’s why the project will involve training of one group of people, which is divided in two. Five people have been trained for speleologists at a beginner stage, another five were trained in more advanced modes. The trainees passed this course, following programs that have been unified by training programs, which are valid within the Bulgarian Federation of Spelelogy with almost the full number of hours set for theoretical and practical training. The best thing is that they all managed to pass the exam with excellence after all and obtained certificates and diplomas. Now the Mursalitsa spelelogy and extremist tourism club has five trained speleologists, who we hope will urge the new activities. Five people from the club got a better qualification that will help the club’s activity, firstly, as a unity of NGOs, secondly, as a team that has taken the first steps and now develops caving and extremist tourism in the municipality. Everyone is looking forward to that. The idea was to have both goals achieved – one of them being a hobby. Along with that our federation now has ten new trained aides.

FOCUS: What caught your attention in the course of training, we heard you found new caves along the Arda River?
Alexey Zhalov: What is worth mentioning is that our training passed in an expedition, which means that we managed to find new caves within the practical lessons. The map of caves of the municipality increased with four new markings. It turned out that one of the caves has two entrances, so they are three caves. Having in mind what we did in the previous two stages of the project and in the two previous expeditions, now we see the number of caves has reached 21.

FOCUS: Will you continue exploring?
Alexey Zhalov: I want to say that we spotted a few new sites for exploration with positive perspectives. The team will work at its best in the near future. We expect great, perhaps very interesting findings. When we concluded our work last night I said the region was like a flour sack that the more you beat, the more you get – caves, speleologists, which is very good, of course.
I want to point to the role of the municipality. I want to note that this is the country’s first pioneer project that binds these activities. Opening, rational use and protection of caves, making a tourist product that works for enriching the region in all meanings of the word. We train people here and we help the progress of caving by implementing this project. This is praiseworthy, I would like to note that we found a good partner here, meaning the municipality and working together for another time I see we proved to each other we can be useful. I want to thank the municipality for having lent a hand and I hope we will remain good partners, because there are many interesting things here. We can make not only geographic explorations, as is the finding of a new cave, we can help for their exploring and assimilating in terms of tourist potential, as well as preserving as a natural resource.

Source: Focus Information Agency

Brit woman survives cave flood

A 24-year-old British woman survived flash floods in a Thai cave which killed seven others by clinging to the ceiling.

A British man, five other Western tourists and two Thai guides were swept away by the floods while exploring the cave in a southern Thai national park.

The British tourist, Helena Carroll, told Thai television station TITV that she was shouting: "'Help me! Help me!' all night. Then I saw a light."

Carroll was shown leaving the national park in tears by boat with her rescuers, who she said were "good men."

The other victims are four Swiss citizens and a 10-year-old German boy, police Lt Col.Pichan Kanayasiri said.

The group had been trekking through the Khao Sok national park in Surathani province late Saturday afternoon when a heavy rainfall sent water surging through the cave, which is near a waterfall.

"The tourists were inside the cave and didn't know what was happening outside," Pichan said. "They were trapped inside the cave."

The province's governor, Winai Phopradit, said he had ordered the national park to close during the current rainy season.

"We have signs both in English and Thai warning tourists not to go into the cave during heavy rains," he said.

Several years ago a Belgian tourist died at the same location.

Source: The Sun

When low-tech triumphs: a cave rescue

Emergency workers resort to Vietnam-era phones, telephone cable and glow sticks in the search and rescue of three cavers lost under the streets of Austin, Texas.

Three college students were rescued Sunday after spending two days in a narrow limestone cave under the streets of Austin, Texas.

What stands out to me about the rescue effort is that high-tech gear was of little or no use to the emergency workers.

Cell phones and even radios were useless in the underground complex. Rescue workers resorted--successfully--to a Vietnam-era phone system, thousands of feet of telephone cable, and glow sticks. And, oh yeah, just as important were the skinny rescue workers who were willing to subject themselves to the claustrophobia-inducing cave.

Central Texas is chock full of caves. Until Sunday, I had never heard of Airman's Cave, where the cavers got lost, even though it lies directly under a couple of popular shopping centers in south Austin that I frequent.

This 2-mile-long cave isn't like the caverns of renown. For most of the way through Airman's Cave, you end up on your hands and knees or on your belly. There are areas where the cave is only about 18 inches wide.

Airman's Cave, which is not gated or blocked off, is considered one of the most difficult caves in the region to navigate, according to a member of a local caving group quoted in the Statesman. It takes an expert caver about 12 hours to navigate, the caver said, and only 40 to 50 people have ever made it through.

The three University of Texas students--two women and one man--entered the cave on Saturday morning. They'd been smart enough to tell a friend to call for help if they weren't back by midnight. That friend surely agonized much of, if not the entire night, before calling 911 at 5 a.m. Sunday.

After 11 hours of searching, the three cavers were found. They were not injured, though they had run out of water. Altogether, the trio was underground for about 35 hours before emerging late Sunday night.

The only disappointment--other than the fact that high-tech gear was pretty much useless--was the students' response after they emerged from the cave. Dirty and dehydrated, they profusely thanked the rescue workers. However, all three said they would "absolutely" try it again.

"Really, nothing went wrong except us getting lost," one of the students told reporters.

Don't get me started about the cost of their adventure to taxpayers.
Source: CNET

In Memoriam: Kenneth A. Hornung

Kenneth A. Hornung, 85, of Lake of the Woods, Locust Grove, died Friday, Oct. 12, 2007, at the home of his son and daughter-in-law after a brief illness.

He was born on July 15, 1922, son of the late George and Winifred Hornung. Ken retired in 1990 from IBM, after 25 years of service as an engineer. He previously lived in Lake Arrowhead in Stafford County where he was active with the lakes committee, and helped to design and build the beach shelter. Previously he lived in New York and raised three children. Up until the time of his death, Ken volunteered for ChildHelp, and was active in his community. He enjoyed spending time with his family, caving and being outdoors. He was a founding member of the National Speleological Society. He was a loving father to son Michael Hornung and his wife, Amy, of Brasher Falls, N.Y.; and two daughters, Jennifer Eckhart and her husband, Mike, of Fredericksburg, and Allison Weitzel and her husband, Dave, of Ashburn. He was a loving and devoted Papa to Parker, Sean and Gabriel Hornung; Austin, Logan and Ashyln Eckhart; and William and Andrew Weitzel. He is also survived by his friends of 60 years, Bob Richter and Al Vargo. In addition to his parents, Ken was preceded in death by his wife of 35 years, Rhoda Fuchs Hornung; and a brother, George Hornung.

A funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, at Mullins and Thompson Funeral Service, Fredericksburg Chapel. Burial will follow at Oak Hill Cemetery, Fredericksburg. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16, at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley, 6805 State Highway 11, Potsdam, N.Y .13676.

Condolences to the family may be sent to mullins thompson.com.

Neanderthal Man lived in the Nerja Caves

View of the inside of the Nerja Cave

Three tools dating from 40,000 years ago have been found in the caves

The confirmation that three flint tools date from 40,000 years ago confirms the fact that the Nerja Cave (Málaga province) was inhabited by Neanderthal man.

A group of scientists have been looking at items removed from the famous grotto some 20 years ago and say that there is no doubt about the evidence.

The tools date from the middle Palaeolithic period and are part of 151,588 items which have been newly classified in an operation led by Antonio Garrido.

The news was released to the press yesterday by the Nerja Cave Foundation. Director, Ángel Ramírez, said that the news marks a key day in the history of the cave, and that it was exciting to know that that the municipality was witness to one of the most relevant prehistoric times.

Nerja Cave Website - www.cuevadenerja.es

Source: Typically Spanish

Cave Records Provide Clues To Climate Change

A close up of one of the stalagmites analyzed in the study.
Credit: Jud Partin

When Georgia Tech Assistant Professor Kim Cobb and graduate student Jud Partin wanted to understand the mechanisms that drove the abrupt climate change events that occurred thousands of years ago, they didn't drill for ice cores from the glaciers of Greenland or the icy plains of Antarctica, as is customary for paleoclimatolgists. Instead, they went underground.

Growing inside the caves of the tropical Pacific island of Borneo are some of the keys to understanding how the Earth's climate suddenly changed - several times - over the last 25,000 years. By analyzing stalagmites, the pilar-like rock formations that stem from the ground in caves, they were able to produce a high-resolution and continuous record of the climate over this equatorial rainforest.

"These stalagmites are, in essence, tropical ice cores forming over thousands of years," said Partin. "Each layer of the rock contains important chemical traces that help us determine what was going on in the climate thousands of years ago, much like the ice cores drilled from Greenland or Antarctica."

Ice Age Northern Europeans could have reached the Costa del Sol earlier than previously thought

Experts have been studying thousands of remains uncovered in excavations in the Caves of Nerja

The Nerja Cave Foundation released details on Wednesday of more 150,000 archaeological remains unearthed in excavations which took place in the caverns moiré than 20 years ago, and which were studied and classified last month.

The team of experts examined close to one and a half tons of material extracted from the caves two decades ago, and amongst their discoveries, according to a report in Diario Sur, were a number of tools from the Solutrean culture, characteristic of a period previously unknown in the Nerja Caves. They may date back as long ago as 22,000 B.C.

It could mean that prehistoric man escaped Ice Age northern Europe to the Costa del Sol much earlier than was previously thought.

More definitive results are expected when the cataloguing process has concluded.

Source: Typically Spanish

Inside the nation's deepest spring

The cave system under Weeki Wachee is now regarded as the
deepest underwater cave in the United States at 403 feet.
A team of cave divers with Karst Underwater Research have
pushed the system to that depth during a series of dives
earlier this summer.

Weeki Wachee's depths and beauty humble researchers.

It's a world of sapphire blue, with boulders as big as houses and passages wide enough to accommodate a jumbo jet.

To a diver who has explored the deep, naturally formed Weeki Wachee Springs, there's one word to describe being 403 feet down.

"Humbling," said Brett Hemphill. "When you're that deep, you might as well be between the Earth and the moon."

As part of the Tampa's Karst Underwater Research team, Hemphill, 40, and 19 other divers have confirmed that the home of the world-famous mermaids is indeed the deepest spring in the United States.

"Some of the rooms were so large that I had to focus on one wall and make sure my compass was pointing the right way," Hemphill said. "There were sections where you could see formations that looked like piles of bones."

Though the spring water is mostly crystal clear with visibility of about 100 feet, below 350 feet it becomes a deep, rich blue. The water at that depth, Hemphill said, has not gotten light of any kind for perhaps hundreds of years.

Cavers explore a hidden world

Christy Mehrlich takes part in a caving expedition for
more than four hours, which had her squeezing and crawling
around rock formations

If you enjoy maneuvering between fallen boulders barely far enough apart to fit your inhaled torso, I have a sport for you.

Like traditional sports, helmets are mandatory. A steady stance is recommended, seeing as how there are drops of more than 100 feet. And upper body strength is a must.

I can testify to this requirement, as I was barely able to lift my arms to type this sentence.

However, unlike more traditional sports, an affinity for bats – the flying mammal, not the wooden club – is a plus.

I learned these tips and many more while spelunking in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas.

So you are probably thinking, “What is spelunking” and “Why did you pay someone to expose you to these dangers?”

Probably to avoid this exact question, young spelunkers now call it caving, as in to explore caves.

South Dakota Spelunker Awarded

A 51-year-old South Dakotan has won the world's top award for cave exploration.

Mike Wiles not only plays in caves. He also works in one. Wiles is an employee at Jewel Cave National Monument about 13 miles west of Custer.

He's given credit for helping explore the cave and moving its ranking from the world's fourth-longest to the second-longest. Jewel Cave is 140-miles-long.

Wiles attributes his win to the more than 100 other cavers who have helped him, and to his commitment to go where few others will. For example, he recently lost 15 pounds so he could squeeze through narrow passages.

Overview of past winners on the NSS website.

Source: Keloland

Flintknapping Revival of an ancient craft

Flintknapping, the art of making chipped stone tools, may have begun as much as three million years ago, when our ancestors began fabricating crude stone hand axes. Through the ages, stoneworking skills were refined, and eventually spread to all inhabited continents. In North America, the manufacture of chipped stone tools can be traced to the arrival of the "Clovis" people on the continent, about 12,000 years ago. The Clovis people (also referred to as Paleo-Indians) got their name from a site near Clovis, New Mexico where the first examples of their stone tools were found. Archeologists debate the date of first arrival of humans in North America, with some holding to the "Clovis First" theory, while others insist that people arrived here earlier. Either way, it is safe to say that when people first arrived in North America, they brought with them a sophisticated stone tool technology.

Over the last 40 years, there has been a renewed interest in this ancient craft. Today "flintknappers" are found around the world. The word "flintknapper" most likely had its origin in the German language. When pronouncing this word in English, the "k" is silent, so the word is pronounced "flint-napper." When saying the word "knap" in German, the "k" is pronounced, and the word sounds like "ka-nap." The German word "verknappen" means to reduce something or to make less of something, and the German word "knacken" translates into "to crack," as in to crack a nut. Both cracking, and reducing a stone in size, pertain to the flintknapping process, since larger pieces of stone are reduced by chipping it into smaller finished pieces. At some point, probably during the era of flintlock weapons, this German word morphed into English, and those who produced gun flints for the King of England, became the Royal Flintknappers.

Belgian potholer rescued after 4 days trapped in Pyrenees cave system

nnette Van Houtte, the Belgian caver who was rescued
after 4 days trapped below ground.

The journey to the surface covered a distance of almost five kilometres

The Belgian pot-holer who has been trapped in the underground cave systems of the Navarra Pyrenees since Saturday has been safely brought above ground.

Anette Van Houtte was brought out by a specialist team of the Civil Guard early on Wednesday, with the team taking it in turns on carrying the stretcher along the almost five kilometre journey to the surface.

She was trapped at a depth of 650-700 metres in the Sima AN 51 Piedra de San Martín cave near the town of Isaba, suffering fractures to three toes and an open wound when she was caught in a rockfall.

She is now being transferred to hospital in Pau, in France.

Dominique le Senechal, the fire brigade commandant from Pau who was with the French team helping in the rescue operation, told El Mundo newspaper that the rescue concluded at 5.38 this morning. He described it as perfectly coordinated.
Óscar Esteban, his colleague with the Spanish Civil Guard, said only one of the rescuers was slightly injured and was able to reach the surface on foot.

There was some difficulty as the team neared the exit, where the passage was too narrow to get the stretcher through: the team was delayed some five hours while blasting took place to open up the route.

Source: Typically Spanish

Rescue operation for Belgian potholer trapped in Navarra caves

Spanish police say it could be another two days before the woman can be brought out of the fissure in Isaba

A medical team is reported to have reached a Belgian caver who has been trapped in a fissure in Isaba, Navarra, since Saturday.

Spanish police name her as Anette Van Houtte, and say she is at a depth of between 650 to 700 metres in the Sima AN 51 and four to five kilometres from the entrance. She has an open wound and fractures to three toes.

A telephone cable has been in place since Monday, keeping the injured woman in contact with the surface.

The rescue operation is expected to be complicated, and could take more than two days. EFE reports that explosives may have to be used to make the exit route more accessible.

Source: Typically Spanish

William R. Elliott Receives National Award

On July 27, 2007, Dr. William R. Elliott (“Bill”) received the Honorary Membership Award from the National Speleological Society at their convention in Marengo, Indiana. The certificate is “in recognition of his outstanding contributions to speleology,” signed by the NSS Board of Governors. NSS is the world’s leading cave exploration, science and conservation organization with 12,000 members.

The Honorary Membership has been awarded each year since 1941 to outstanding scientists and conservationists, including foreign speleologists, and includes life membership in the Society, although Dr. Elliott has been a member for 39 years. The last Missourian to receive the honor was in 1989.

Bill has been the cave biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation, Resource Science Division, in Jefferson City, since 1998. His duties include research, conservation, management, education, and recreation in caves owned by the Department, and cooperative work with private and public cave owners. He is involved in karst land management issues and public policy.

Bill grew up in Georgetown, Texas, where he began caving at age 15. He joined the NSS in 1968, and he soon was involved in cave exploration, mapping, bug collecting, Mexican cavefish, bats and cave photography. He began finding new species, and over the years ten new species, including a new genus, have been named after him by scientists.

Bill’s biology degrees include a bachelor’s from the University of Texas at Austin, and M.S. and Ph.D. from Texas Tech University. He studied cave life in Mexico, Belize, and many states from Texas to Alaska. He has published numerous scientific articles, and he has trained hundreds in cave ecology and management. His specialties include cave protection, bat studies, millipede taxonomy, biogeography and macrophotography. He has appeared in several videos on caves.

Bill is a Fellow of the NSS and a board member of the Missouri Caves and Karst Conservancy. He is the former Editor and Data Manager of the Texas Speleological Survey (TSS). He is a past director of the TSS and the American Cave Conservation Association. He received the TSS Outstanding Service Award in 2002. In 2006, he received a Special Achievements in GIS Award from ESRI, the makers of ArcMap, for his papers on cave biogeography and conservation. He is active in Bat Conservation International, Missouri Speleological Survey, and the NSS Biology Section. He is Chair of the next National Cave & Karst Management Symposium, to be held in St. Louis, October 8-12, 2007.

Bill has a web site with many photos of cave life and information. Just Google “biospeleology” or go tohttp://www.utexas.edu/tmm/sponsored_sites/biospeleology/

Bill and his wife, Gayle Unruh, like to travel, camp, hike, watch wildlife and canoe. His family resides in Texas, California and Kansas. He is a licensed Sport Pilot and President of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Chapter #429 in Jefferson City.

Rock blasting threatens ancient Barabar caves

The blasting of rocks for commercial purposes in the hills of Bihar's Jehanabad district is threatening the famous Barabar caves that date back to the third century B.C.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has detected cracks in the caves. "The blasting of rocks for making stone chips has been causing damage to the Barabar caves," ASI superintending archaeologist P.K. Mishra said.

Mishra said the ASI had sought the local administration's help to protect the caves. Soon after the cracks were detected, the ASI sought a ban on the blasting of rocks in the nearby hills.

"The ASI will install a special clock housed in a glass case at the site to monitor the stability of the caves," Mishra said.

ASI officials said the caves date back to emperor Asoka's time and were used by Jain monks as a retreat. The caves, carved out of a huge piece of granite, represent one of the earliest examples of rock-cut architecture in India. The caves also find a mention in E.M. Forster's book "A Passage To India".

Source: India E-news

One more cave in Meghalaya, tally 1,100

With the discovery of the Umsngad Sink Cave in Jaintia hills district, Meghalaya can now boast of 1,100 caves including the sub-continent’s longest cave—Krem Liat Prah—which is 25 km long.

Meghalaya Adventure Association (MAA) recently undertook a caving expedition that included members from England, Wales, Scotland, Germany Ireland and USA to Jaintia Hills. It is during this expedition that they discovered Umsngad Sink. MAA General Secretary Bryan Kharpran Daly said, “We explored only 200 meters. We will explore its length later on.”

Kharpran said the team also went deep into the Krem Liat Prah cave, which was 22 km and managed to trace the length of the cave to 25 km. He said it is the longest cave in the sub-continent. Kharpran founded the MAA in 1990 and ever since, he has been organising caving expeditions in Meghalaya.

The MAA had also explored the 14.8-km Krem Umthloo cave and traced its length to 18 km, making it the third largest cave in the sub-continent. Meghalaya is one of the areas in the world with the maximum number of caves. He said the MAA mapped 30 sq km of area in Nongklieh Ridge and has so far discovered 138 cave passages.

Source: Indian Express

Bill Stone: Explorer, inventor and outer space dreamer

Engineer and daredevil caver Bill Stone pushes the frontier -- through flooded tunnels, the remotest depths of the Earth and the limits of human endurance. Next up, he’s planning to mine moon ice by 2015 and build an autonomous robot to visit the icebound sea of Jupiter’s moon Europa.

Engineer and daredevil explorer Bill Stone is obsessed with discovery. After years of crawling through the deepest unexplored caves on the planet, he's building robots to go where he can't. His company Stone Aerospace built DepthX, an autonomous robot, which descended 1,099 feet down Mexico's deepest watery sinkhole. In 2009, Stone and his team completed a successful mission to Antarctica. ENDURANCE, an expedition sponsored by NASA, was developed to explore and map under the ice of Lake Bonney in Antarctica.But this was just a test for the real mission (which is explained in a recent National Geographic documentary, Journey to an Alien Moon): building a probe with NASA to bore through miles of ice on Jupiter's moon Europa, then swim through the buried Europan sea in search of alien life.

He's also hoping to singlehandedly jump-start commercial human space exploration by offering spacefarers affordable fuels and consumables extracted from the moon. His new Shackleton Energy Company, or SEC, intends to raise $15 billion (as he points out, this is about the cost of a North Sea oil production platform complex) to mine ice thought to be trapped on the moon's southern pole at Shackleton Crater, and to sell derived products (including propellants and other consumables) on the moon and in low earth orbit (LEO) to international consumers. If all goes well, SEC will be open for business as early as 2015 as an international energy company.
"With a doctorate in structural engineering and 11 patents to his credit, Stone is the archetypal modern-day explorer, a multidisciplinary maverick constantly inventing tools in the name of discovery lust"Wired

Quotes by Bill Stone
“We have never seen monsters underground — at least the kind that eat you. If there is a monster underground, it is the crushing psychological remoteness that begins to hit every member of the team once you cross about three days inbound from the nearest entrance.”

Source: TED

Cave diving: Mexico Jailhouse Cenote

Jailhouse, formally known as the Muknal's Remote Siphon on the QRSS maps, is reached through the same exit from the highway as Mayan Blue. The key must be obtained in Tulum at the house just past the Ejido Tulum home. Entry is currently 150 pesos per person.

Going up the Mayan Blue road past the Mayan Blue parking lot, you will pass a brand new road to the right. The next Y is at a house, and you go right. Be careful of the tethered bull! There is ample parking and a number of tables at the dive site. A caretaker will come and ask to see your key.

Entry is via a set of easy stone steps to the edge of the pond. There is about a 2' dropoff from the stone at the edge to the silty bottom. It's best to stay very close to the entry edge while gearing up and doing checks, to preserve the visibility along the mainline. The line is tied off to a branch in open water, just below the polypro rope. It descends through a duck-under, and then is tied off on about a 2 foot slab of rock, and makes a 90 degree turn. The bottom is mung, but if you keep your fins in the ceiling, you can get through the entry without damaging the viz for those behind you.

The cave really has two parts -- one section is fresh water, and very, very dark. The other portion is below the halocline, and very white and cobalt blue. Salt water passage exists on both sides of the T, but the biggest passage is to the downstream side.

Mosquitoes and other bugs are a menace here!

Remains of one million year old mammoth found in Tarragona

The mammoth tusk unearthed in Tarragona

Flint tools dating back more than 500,000 years were also discovered

Archaeologists working at a site in Tarragona, in Cataluña, have made a find which they describe as ‘of great importance’ in the world of palaeontology: the remains of a mammoth which they believe could be more than one million years old. They found a tusk from ‘Mammuthus meridionalis,’ and two teeth, which could be from the same animal.

Flint tools were unearthed at a higher level which could provide evidence of human habitation in the area more than half a million years ago. Roman ceramics were also discovered.

The find was made on the finca La Boella, between La Canonja and Tarragona.

The head of the excavation, Josep Vallverdú, described the discovery as very important in providing more knowledge about the first human migrations from Africa to Europe over one million years ago.

Four scientists found dead in cave

Four speleologists from Belgrade died yesterday during research at a cave in central Serbia, Beta news agency reported. 

Rescuers who pulled out the bodies said the cause of the death most likely was carbon monoxide released by a pump extracting water from a lake in the Ravanica cave, about 140 kilometres south of Belgrade.

Source: Times

Two speleologists die exploring cave

Rescuers recovered bodies of two speleologists that drowned early Sunday in a cave near Ravanica monastery.

Rescuers are still searching the cavern in a bid to locate the remaining two speleologists who also went missing.

The accident occurred at 1,500 meters underground, as the speleoloist were exploring the interior of the cave.

Two victims have been identified as Belgrade University students Boško Madžarević and Bojan Borokić, both members of the Speleologists Association "As".

The Ravanica cave is said to consist of 10 channels filled with water. According to still unconfirmed information, speleologist drowned in the second.

Meghalaya cavers petition apex court - Glare on mining & cement factories

The Meghalaya Adventurers’ Association has filed a counter affidavit in the Supreme Court regarding the Meghalaya government’s alleged failure to protect ancient caves of the state.

The association has also requested the apex court to direct the state not to issue any new licenses to private firms for setting up cement plants that might endanger cave systems in Meghalaya.

The apex court last year admitted the public interest litigation filed by the association and Subhash Dutta, an environmentalist and a chartered accountant from Calcutta. A bench headed by Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal had issued notices to the Centre and Meghalaya government to submit their replies within four weeks. The association alleged that rampant mining activity in the vicinity of Kotsati-Umlawan was posing a threat to the cave system in Lumshnong in Jaintia Hills district and many other caves in Meghalaya.

Notices were also issued to the principal secretary, Prime Minister’s Office, secretary to the government of India, ministry of environment and forest, the chief secretary of Meghalaya, the Central Pollution Control Board, the state Pollution Control Board and the chief principal conservator of forests, Meghalaya.

However, the Meghalaya government filed a reply in January, assuring the court that mining activity and cement factories located nearby did not pose a threat to the caves as alleged by the petitioner. The state government also stated that all rules laid down by the Centre for allowing mining activities have been strictly followed.

The association in their counter affidavit alleged that the cement factories belonging to the Cement Manufacturing Company Ltd understated their production capacity and capital investment.

According to the state government’s reply, the company’s production capacity was shown as 900 tonnes per day and the investment less than Rs 100 crore. The court has fixed April 30 for the next hearing.

Source: Telegraph India

100 speleologists trapped as quarry collapses in Moscow region

Amateur speleologists who were trapped in an abandoned quarry in the Moscow Region following a cave-in, have cleared a passageway to the surface and are now out of danger, emergency services said Saturday.

"The report of a collapse at a quarry near the village of Starostyanovo [near the town of Domodedovo, about 30 km to the south of Moscow] came at about 3 p.m. Moscow time [midday GMT]," a police source said earlier today.

It said up to 100 speleologists may have been trapped after a section of quarry collapsed, blocking the only exit.

But an emergency services official said later they had managed to unblock the passageway before rescue workers arrived at the scene.

"About 20 of them have already come to the surface. There are no casualties," he said.

'Cave entrances' spotted on Mars

Nasa release on the topography of the
south polar region of Mars

Scientists studying pictures from Nasa's Odyssey spacecraft have spotted what they think may be seven caves on the surface of Mars.

The candidate caves are on the flanks of the Arsia Mons volcano and are of sufficient depth their floors mostly cannot be seen through the opening.

Details were presented here at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas.

Temperature data from Mars Odyssey's Themis instrument support the idea.

The authors say that the possible discovery of caves on the Red Planet is significant.

The caves may be the only natural structures capable of protecting primitive life forms from micrometeoroids, UV radiation, solar flares and high energy particles that bombard the planet's surface.

Caves Of St. Louis County: A Tale Of Loss

Robert Osburn (yellow helmet, recording and sketching) and
WUSTL graduate student Jenny Lippmann (measuring and
doing compass readings) conducting the cave survey in
a small passage of 23 degree cave in Crawford County, Missouri.

The Caves of St. Louis County and the Bridges of Madison County share a common theme: loss.

The former, a scholarly paper that appears as the sole entry of the journal Missouri Speleology (Vol. 45, No. 1, 2007) is a description of some of St. Louis County's 127 known caves and a warning that development over the past two centuries has eliminated or destroyed many caves in a state that could quite rightly call itself the Cave State. The latter is a tear-jerking novel, made into a movie by Clint Eastwood, about a doomed, unlikely love affair, a hallmark of the '90s with all the permanence of the Backstreet Boys.

Caves, though, are in trouble, at least in St. Louis County, Missouri, USA, says co-author Robert Criss, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

"Caves have been discarded by developers with the same impunity as trees," said Criss. "Things are developing so rapidly in St. Louis County and elsewhere that we should try a little harder to protect our natural habitat. There is no law in Missouri to protect caves on private land, and we don't seem to have any protocol as to what is acceptable. The loss of caves is not on anyone's radar screen, and I think it should be."

Caves are a feature of karst terrain, along with sinkholes, springs, and "losing" streams that disappear into "swallow holes" and resurface in other areas. Criss and his collaborators, Washington University earth and planetary sciences graduate student Jennifer Lippmann and research colleagues Everett Criss and G.R. Osburn, studied most of the 127 reported caves in St. Louis County — which excludes St. Louis city — a county of 508 square miles with a population (2000 Census) of 1,016,315, comprising nearly one-third of the St. Louis area's population of approximately 2.7 million.

Legendary caves of Missouri

Caves in this karst region are legendary, having served over time as beer storage sites, ballrooms, taverns, speakeasies and disposal sites. Farther north, outside Hannibal, who could forget Injun Joe's lingering death in the cave that was gated after Tom and Becky Thatcher became lost there?

Like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, the authors, using existing data of mostly paper documents, including maps — most between 20 and 50 years old, but some extending into the late 19th century — located many of the 127 caves, whose aggregate length is more than four miles. The cave lengths, though, are exponentially distributed, with half of the caves less than 100 feet long. Two of the longest caves, Cliff Cave and Cave of the Falls, both in the southeast part of the county, account for a full half of the aggregate length of all caves in the county.

They found that the entrances to at least two caves have undergone significant natural modification from breakdown or landslide processes. They also found that a far larger number — greater than 10 percent — have been highly modified or obliterated by suburban expansion in the county. At least 24 caves have been obliterated or made into culvert entrances. St. Louis County's Metropolitan Sewer District even manages several caves as part of the sewer system that handles street runoff. Indeed, there is a picture in the journal paper of a typical suburban yard, the homeowner standing next to a storm sewer culvert, which is the entrance to Fogelbach Cave.

During the project, Criss and his associates located and examined the caves, wrote new reports for them and typed-up and entered all the preexisting reports into the Missouri Speleological Survey electronic database. In the historic reports, multiple names or index numbers were sometimes found for the same cave, or the same name and index number were applied to different caves. The authors updated the records and visited many of the caves, refining the previously reported locations with a Global Positioning System (GPS). It was from these visits and checking physical features versus previous reports that they determined the natural modifications to the entrances of two caves.

Caving adventure, astonishment

The caving experience was not without adventure and astonishment. Lippmann early on came face-to-face with a startled animal in one cave.

'I was in a tight, watery spot when suddenly found myself face-to-face with a beaver," she said. "Many people do not realize how many caves there are in this area, and yet caving lets you experience a whole different world that is mysterious and beautiful."

Criss and Lippmann say that caves are the homes of many species, including several types of bats and salamanders, the Ozark cave crayfish, amphipods, isopods and many others. In addition, some species, such as raccoons, bears and the beaver Lippmann encountered, use caves as temporary domiciles.

Caving should be done with proper respect for potential dangers and for preserving these natural features and their inhabitants, the authors said.

"It's hard to measure the impact of filling in caves on habitat and species loss," Criss said. "I'm not saying I want all development to stop or that owners shouldn't sell to developers. My point is that we really haven't sufficiently discussed the issue."

Another karst feature, the sinkhole, is little understood in St. Louis County. In county parks that have not been developed, topographic maps show numerous sinkholes, as many as 100 per square mile. Many other areas including downtown St. Louis had similar numbers of sinkholes before development obscured them.

"There are thousands of sinkholes in the county that people are unaware of, as well as maybe one hundred more caves that we haven't yet been able to find," Criss said.

Together, the issue of sinkholes, caves and springs, the components of a karst geological system, has created structural problems in suburban housing, and ecological and water pollution concerns.

"Disregard for springs, caves and sinkholes can lead to their destruction and can result in engineering problems for structures built on karst terrain," the authors write.

Outgrowths of this project include Lippmann's master's degree thesis and a paper on stress effects in caves by Everett Criss.

Source: ScienceDaily

Prototype Space Probe Prepares To Explore Earth's Deepest Sinkhole

Doctoral student Marcus Gary SCUBA dives with the DEPTHX
probe during initial in-water tests at The University of Texas
at Austin Applied Research Laboratories wet test facility.

Scientists return this week to the world's deepest known sinkhole, Cenote Zacatón in Mexico, to resume tests of a NASA-funded robot called DEPTHX, designed to survey and explore for life in one of Earth's most extreme regions and potentially in outer space.

If all goes well with this second round of testing and exploration, the team will return in May for a full-scale exploration of the Zacatón system.

Sinking more than 1,000 feet, Zacatón has only been partially mapped and its true depth remains unknown.

During eight years of research, doctoral student Marcus Gary and hydrogeology professor Jack Sharp from The University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences, discovered the system's unusual hydrothermal nature is analogous to liquid oceans under the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa.

Technology developed to explore the sinkholes could be applied to future space probes of Europa, where scientists believe that deep cracks and holes in the ice offer a chance of finding extraterrestrial life.

Discovery Of New Cave Millipedes Casts Light On Arizona Cave Ecology

The north rim (left) and south rim (right) species of the
new millipede genus. While they may appear identical
, careful examination of the gonopods indicates
these are two distinct species.
Photo by D. Billings

A new genus of millipede was recently discovered by a Northern Arizona University doctoral student and a Bureau of Land Management researcher.

J. Judson Wynne, with the Department of Biological Sciences at NAU and cave research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Southwest Biological Center, and Kyle Voyles, Arizona State Cave Coordinator for the Bureau of Land Management, collected specimens leading to the discovery of two new millipede species in caves on opposite sides of the Grand Canyon.

Wynne and Voyles, known for their cave research, also discovered a new genus of cricket last spring.

"We knew the millipedes likely represented two distinct species because the two populations were separated by the Grand Canyon," Wynne said. "The fact these two species belong to an entirely new genus was a great surprise to us."

Wynne said these eyeless albino millipedes are "essentially living fossils" and provide researchers with another piece of the puzzle needed to better understand cave ecosystems.

A Spanish speleologist has died in a caving accident in France

Two others who were with him escaped unhurt

A Spanish speleologist has died in a caving accident in the Eastern Pyrenees in France.

It happened on Saturday afternoon in a cave system near Opoul, at a depth of between 130 and 150 metres.

The 51 year old victim, who has not been named, was part of a group from the Granollers Speleologist Club, in Barcelona. He was with two companions, who escaped the accident uninjured.

The only information on what happened is that he may have been caught in a rock fall.

The area the group were exploring is described as unstable.

Source: Typically Spanish

'Regressive Evolution' In Cavefish: Natural Selection Or Genetic Drift

Cavefish (without eyes) and surface dwelling brethren.

"Regressive evolution," or the reduction of traits over time, is the result of either natural selection or genetic drift, according to a study on cavefish by researchers at New York University's Department of Biology, the University of California at Berkeley's Department of Integrative Biology, and the Harvard Medical School.

Previously, scientists could not determine which forces contributed to regressive evolution in cave-adapted species, and many doubt the role of natural selection in this process. Darwin himself, who famously questioned the role of natural selection in eye loss in cave fishes, said, "As it is difficult to imagine that eyes, although useless, could be in any way injurious to animals living in darkness, I attribute their loss wholly to disuse."

The research appears in the most recent issue of the journal Current Biology.

Simmering embers cool down - Team of cavers to continue exploration mission

The Meghalaya Adventures Association and the team of cavers, comprising 40 speleologists (caving experts) and scientists, put their foot down and decided to continue their exploration mission at Shnongrim ridge under Nongkhlieh area of the Jaintia Hills district in Meghalaya.

At a meeting today with the coal traders, who are peeved with the association for filing a PIL in the Supreme Court to prevent unscrupulous mining, the cave experts, led by general secretary of the association Brian Kharpran Daly, put up a brave front. They asserted that cave exploration would continue at Shnongrim.

The coal trader’s delegation was led by one Balious Swer, secretary of Khlierieht sub-division of coalminers’ association.

Additional district magistrate F.M. Doph attended the meeting. When contacted, he said the consultations ended on a positive note and another round of talks would be held on Friday to decide on a final outcome.

The cavers, representing various caving organisations from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Scotland, the US and Germany, along with some local experts, are on a monthlong expedition.

Caving Expedition Asked to Leave Meghalaya

An international caving exploration in Shnongrim ridge under Nongkhlieh area of the Jaintia Hills district in Meghalaya is in jeopardy following a threat to cavers by local coal traders. The cavers, comprising about 40 speleologists (caving experts) andscientists, might have to discontinue their expedition.

Last evening, a group of local coal traders led by S. Khyriem and Vinson Pala asked the cavers to “go back to their countries.” The contention of the coal traders was that the presence of the cavers had caused “concern” among residents of the area.

The incident is said to be a fallout of the public interest litigation (PIL) which has been filed by the Meghalaya Adventures Association in the Supreme Court to prevent unscrupulous mining activities in Shnongrim. The apex court has asked the Union and state governments, and the departments of environment and forest and mining to file their replies.

The situation in Shnongrim is said to be tense and the Meghalaya police have advised the cavers to call off their exploration “for the time being.” “We don’t want the international caving experts to be held responsible for anything and create any misunderstanding,” said director-general of police, W.R. Marbaniang. A police team as well as the additional district magistrate of Jaintia Hills has been rushed to Shnongrim ridge to prevent any untoward incident.

Six die in Canary Islands caving tragedy

Narciso H., one of the 24 people brought out alive
after the caving tragedy on the Canary Islands.

Their group was overcome by carbon monoxide on an underground expedition on Tenerife this weekend

Rescue teams have recovered the bodies of six people who apparently suffocated to death while exploring underground caverns on Tenerife this weekend.

They were part of a caving expedition which entered the Barranco de Los Cochinillos cavern, in Los Silos, on Saturday.

It was made up of two groups, one from the Canaries Astrophysics Institute, and the other, members of the Tenerife Friends of Nature Association.

The tragedy seems to have happened when they mistook their route, and became trapped in the Piedra de los Cochinos, a 200 year old man-made gallery where temperatures reached 30 degrees Centigrade, and the volcanic terrain gave off toxic carbon dioxide gases.

One by one, they began to lose consciousness.

Red Bull Felix Cave Base Jump

Austrian adventurer and BASE jumper extraordinaire Felix Baumgartner again pushes back his personal borders when he plunges into Mamet Cave in Croatia's Velebit National Park, successfully freefalling and parachuting into the dark interior for a safe landing on the rugged cave floor. The jump, lasting only seconds, requires absolute timing to survive... this is undoubtedly the most challenging of Baumgartner's exploits so far.

Caves at Sacromonte Granada closed off by the police.

The caves are Heritage of Mankind

Police in Granada have closed off empty caves in the Sacromonte area of the city. The mayor ordered the action considering the caves to be ‘unhealthy and unsafe’.

Squatters have been staying in some of the empty caves which are in the old Gypsy quarter of the city.

Local police say the operation to close the caves was carried out without incidents.

The caves at Sacromonte are considered Heritage of Mankind by UNESCO.

Source: Typically Spanish