Enormous cave bears, Ursus spelaeus, that once inhabited a large swathe of Europe, from Spain to the Urals, died out 27,800 years ago, around 13 millennia earlier than was previously believed, scientists have reported.
The new date coincides with a period of significant climate change, known as the Last Glacial Maximum, when a marked cooling in temperature resulted in the reduction or loss of vegetation forming the main component of the cave bears' diet.
In a study published in Boreas, researchers suggest it was this deterioration in food supply that led to the extinction of the cave bear, one of a group of 'megafauna' – including woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, giant deer and cave lion – to disappear during the last Ice Age.
They found no convincing evidence of human involvement in the disappearance of these bears. The team used both new data and existing records of radiocarbon dating on cave bear remains to construct their chronology for cave bear extinction.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Big Underground Thermal Lake Unveiled In Hungary
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| Speleologists explore Malom Lake inside Janos Molnar, one of the world's biggest thermal water caves, during a media visit to the newly discovered galleries of the cavern under Budapest earlier this week |
An underground thermal lake Hungarian officials say is one of the biggest in the world was unvelied on Tuesday after its discovery below a Turkish bath in the capital Budapest.
"This is the biggest active, water-filled thermal water cave and hall in the world," speleologist Sandor Kalinovits, one of the lake's discoverers, said during a tour of the cave below one of Budapest's more affluent residential districts.
The lake, discovered earlier this year, lies in a subterranean hall 86 m (282 ft) long, 27 (89 ft) m wide and 15 m (49 ft) high and belongs to the Janos Molnar cave.
Budapest is built above a labyrinth of caves filled with warm thermal water and many have only partially been explored. Environment Minister Imre Szabo told reporters the cave might be opened to the public. City officials plan to apply to UNESCO to declare the cave system a World Heritage Site.
The Ottoman Empire, which governed Hungary in the 17th century, left a legacy of Turkish baths which remain extremely popular with local residents as well as tourists.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Injured caver in stable condition
Injured caver Jane Furket is in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital after a gruelling 10-hour rescue operation to extract her from Waitomo Caves.
The 38-year-old was with two companions when she fell into a stream inside the Luckie Strike Cave at about 2.35pm, suffering a broken hip and losing three teeth.
Her companion managed to pull her from the water and covered her with a survival blanket before seeking help. Furket was conscious at the time her companion left her.
The incident occurred about 1100 metres into the cave which is 15 kilometres from the Waitomo Township. It appears that Furket unhitched herself from a traverse line on a slippery ledge just prior to the fall.
The cave has been described by a police spokesman as a moderate scramble, which required climbing, crawling, abseiling, and squeezing through wet and dry passages and up waterfalls. Another says there's crawling room only in some parts.
About 25 caving experts, police, search and rescue and St John Ambulance staff worked for up to 10 hours to successfully rescue her from the cave.
The 38-year-old was with two companions when she fell into a stream inside the Luckie Strike Cave at about 2.35pm, suffering a broken hip and losing three teeth.
Her companion managed to pull her from the water and covered her with a survival blanket before seeking help. Furket was conscious at the time her companion left her.
The incident occurred about 1100 metres into the cave which is 15 kilometres from the Waitomo Township. It appears that Furket unhitched herself from a traverse line on a slippery ledge just prior to the fall.
The cave has been described by a police spokesman as a moderate scramble, which required climbing, crawling, abseiling, and squeezing through wet and dry passages and up waterfalls. Another says there's crawling room only in some parts.
About 25 caving experts, police, search and rescue and St John Ambulance staff worked for up to 10 hours to successfully rescue her from the cave.
Ancient China: Lack Of Rainfall Could Have Contributed To Social Upheaval And Fall Of Dynasties
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| Asian monsoons, Northern Hemisphere temperatures and alpine glacier data across 1,800 years are compared. Credit: Zina Deretsky |
Chinese history is replete with the rise and fall of dynasties, but researchers now have identified a natural phenomenon that may have been the last straw for some of them: a weakening of the summer Asian Monsoons.
Such weakening accompanied the fall of three dynasties and now could be lessening precipitation in northern China.
Results of the study, led by researchers from the University of Minnesota and Lanzhou University in China, appear in the journal Science.
The work rests on climate records preserved in the layers of stone in a 118-millimeter-long stalagmite found in Wanxiang Cave in Gansu Province, China.
By measuring amounts of the elements uranium and thorium throughout the stalagmite, the researchers could tell the date each layer was formed. And by analyzing the "signatures" of two forms of oxygen in the stalagmite, they could match amounts of rainfall--a measure of summer monsoon strength--to those dates.
Such weakening accompanied the fall of three dynasties and now could be lessening precipitation in northern China.
Results of the study, led by researchers from the University of Minnesota and Lanzhou University in China, appear in the journal Science.
The work rests on climate records preserved in the layers of stone in a 118-millimeter-long stalagmite found in Wanxiang Cave in Gansu Province, China.
By measuring amounts of the elements uranium and thorium throughout the stalagmite, the researchers could tell the date each layer was formed. And by analyzing the "signatures" of two forms of oxygen in the stalagmite, they could match amounts of rainfall--a measure of summer monsoon strength--to those dates.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Caves flogged on eBay
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| Comfy? ... caves for sale |
Bidding for the 28-acre Mystic Caverns in the hills of the Ozark Mountains starts at $899,900 – slashed down from the initial asking price of $1.2million.
The package includes three caves – two of which are safe to go into, and a gift shop for visitors.
Current owner Steve Rush bought the property in 1988, giving tours of Mystic cavern and Crystal Dome cavern.
The third cave – Not Much Sink cavern – is too dangerous to enter.
Source: The Sun