Gamisaru Cave Hotel, Ayvla Village, Cappadocia, Turkey

Set in a restored 1,000-year-old Byzantine monastic retreat built into a cliff over a stream, the 25-room "troglodyte" hotel combines marble bathrooms and other modern facilities with what has been called "a spiritual feel."

Remains of frescoes hundreds of years old can be seen at a nearby dirt-floored church, and the Middle Anatolian area has hundreds of volcanic pillars from which people carved homes.

It's certainly photogenic - from the Gamisaru's terrace near sundown, a lone shepherdess may be seen leading her flock.

Bat Navigation: After the Next Sunset, Please Turn Right

Greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis).
Credit: Dietmar Nill

Despite the fact that bats are active after sunset, they rely on the sun as their most trusted source of navigation. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology found that the greater mouse-eared bat orients itself with the help of the earth's magnetic field at night and calibrates this compass to the sun's position at sunset Since the 1940s it has been known that bats use echolocation calls for orientation at close range.

Some bats, however, fly 20 km and more away from their roost every night to search for prey. Summer and winter roosts are often over 50 km apart and some species migrate even up to 1000 km each year across Europe. Recent evidence has shown that bats utilise the Earth's magnetic field for orientation on longer journeys. Scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology have now confirmed this finding after conducting research on the ability of greater mouse-eared bats to find their way home at night after manipulations of the magnetic field at sunset.

'New human' found in Denisova Cave, Siberia

The field camp at Denisova Cave in southern Siberia,
where a new member of the human family tree may have been found

A hominid that lived in southern Siberia some 40,000 years ago could be a new branch on the human family tree, a finding that would rewrite mankind's exodus from Africa and conquest of the Earth.

Scientists have announced they sequenced DNA from the bone fragment of a pinkie finger, possibly from a small child, found in a cave in the Alta Mountains.

The bone found in Denisova Cave was extricated in 2008 from a soil layer carbon-dated to between 30,000 to 48,000 years ago.

Teased from a cellular component called mitochondria, the genome was compared to the code of our extinct cousins the Neanderthals, of homo sapiens, the bonobo and chimpanzee.

The Siberian hominid, the investigation found, had some 400 genetic differences, which makes it a candidate for being a distinct species of homo, as the genus for humans and closely related primates is known.

A "Rollercoaster" Cave Dive

Alachua County was named by the Indians for its natural features and some believe that Alachua is the Indian name for sinkhole. So perhaps rightfully, the sinkhole next to I75s exit 399 has been called Alachua Sink.

Sheck Exley and Court Smith are some of the first known explorers of the sink. During dozens of dives, they discovered several large rooms in the system. A copy of the original survey map made by Exley shows that he calledthe first room "Crayfish Haven," followed by "Danas Room," and finally "Lewis Room." Exley and other team members explored and mapped a total of 2,250 feet (686 meter), both upstream and downstream.

Diving Alachua Sink today requires permission from the NSS-CDS, which owns the site, and a guide. Divers must be a member of the NSS. The system is considered an advanced cave dive, requiring "Full Cave Diver" certification and proof of the Abe Davis Award or equivalent experience. In addition, divers must have documentation of at least three prior dives to a depth of 150 feet (46 meter) with required decompressions of 45 minutes or more.

Dive teams will be limited to one guide and two divers, except for the upstream section beyond the 180-foot depth, where diving will be limited to one guide and one diver. In order to dive the downstream tunnel, the diver must complete three dives in the upstream section. Dives in the downstream tunnel will be limited to one guide and one diver.

Kiwi cavers break caving depth record

The caving world is buzzing after a caving expedition in the South Island ventured deeper into the earth than cavers anywhere in the world, ever.

The three week expedition in the Mt Arthur area near Murchison, cracked the 1000 metre mark and catapulted New Zealand's deepest cave into the Top 10 in the world.

Cracking that mark means the New Zealand cave system is not only much deeper than first thought, but also connected.

Caver Kieran McKay, who was part of the team that broke the new record, says the find has taken a long time.

"We've been looking for this for over 60 years and it's involved hundreds and hundreds of people and thousands and thousands of man-hours and people traipsing all over Mt Arthur," he says.

The latest expedition linked separate caves in the Ellis Basin system to form what will be in the Top 10 deepest caves in the world.

"We're walking into worlds that formed before mankind ever existed on this planet and our lights are lighting up the darkness for the first time and that to me is an incredible humbling and amazing feeling," says McKay.

McKay is an experienced caver, who knows the cave system well. A 10 metre fall in 1998 left him with a smashed jaw, wrecked knee and broken arm. It took him three days to be pulled out, but it never stopped him going back.

That determination has been rewarded with his team's latest find and McKay says the cave system may go even deeper.

"There's an entrance 300 to 400 metres higher up the mountain and we're hoping to connect that into the system as well," he says.

The Sparc-funded team will be heading back next summer to find out just how deep they can go.

Source: TVNZ

Karst Rocks Fuel New Illegal Business in Bulgaria

Miraculous rock formations stolen from caves from around
Bulgaria have become the matter of a new illegal trade.

The breaking off and sale of rock formations from karst caves has become a new illegal trade in Bulgaria.

It has become fashionable to use thekarst rocks to decorate the interior of villas, hotels, and restaurants of wealthy owners, announced Aleksey Stoev, member of the board of the Bulgarian Tourism Union.

Stoev has explained that the Union and the Bulgarian Speleology Federation insist on a new law specially designed to protect the caves. It is supposed to provide for giving the caves on concession in order guarantee their preservation.

The scale of the new illegal business with karst rocks is still unspecified but according to commentators from the tourism sector, it is growing rapidly.

Budapest: Cave Diving in the Capital

Dating back to Celtic origins, Budapest was the capital of Lower Pannonia during the Roman Empire. In the 15th century, the town developed into a center of Renaissance humanist culture. After nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, Budapest became the second capital of Austria-Hungary. Today, it is home to 1.7 million people and the capital of Hungary. The Danube River still divides the Buda district on the west bank from Pest district on the eastern side. Margaret Island can be seen from either side and provides green space in the heart of the city.

Regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, Budapest also features 80 geothermal springs and the world’s largest known thermal water cave system. Since the hills of Buda consist mainly of limestone and dolomite,water seeping through cracks dissolved minerals and created many caves over thousands of years, the most famous ones are Pálvölgyi and Szemlőhegyi. So far, more than 170 caves have been found in Budapest’s underground, and many are still waiting to be explored.

The Molnár János Cave system in the Buda Thermal Karst is home to an underground thermal lake, which was discovered in 2008. Cold and warm waters coexist in the lake. The temperature in the lower part of the lake (deeper than 39 feet/12 meters) is a constant 68 degrees (20 degrees Celsius), while the upper layer has a temperature of 81 degrees (27 degrees Celsius) that is changing with the seasons. The phenomenon is called hydrothermal karst, and it produces a large variety of cave sizes and morphologies.

Scuba diving tragedy

Police divers have recovered the body of a man who died in a sinkhole in South Australia's southeast.

The 52-year-old man from Victoria was scuba diving with a friend in Kilsby Cave sinkhole on Saturday when he got into difficulty, police said in a statement on Sunday.

Police divers recovered the dead man's body from the sinkhole, at Mt Shank near Mt Gambier, on Sunday afternoon.

The second diver survived and was treated by paramedics at the scene.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

Source: The Herald Sun

Phylogenetic analysis of Mexican cave scorpions suggests adaptation to caves is reversable

New evidence that specialized adaptations are not evolutionary dead ends

Typhochactas mitchelli is among the smallest
known scorpions and part of the Typhlochactidae
family of cave scorpions, endemic to Mexico.
Like all scorpions, it fluoresces in long-wave ultraviolet
light as this image of its ventral side highlights.
Credit: V. Vignoli

Blind scorpions that live in the stygian depths of caves are throwing light on a long-held assumption that specialized adaptations are irreversible evolutionary dead-ends. According to a new phylogenetic analysis of the family Typhlochactidae, scorpions currently living closer to the surface (under stones and in leaf litter) evolved independently on more than one occasion from ancestors adapted to life further below the surface (in caves). The research, currently available in an early online edition, will be published in the April issue of Cladistics.

"Our research shows that the evolution of troglobites, or animals adapted for life in caves, is reversible," says Lorenzo Prendini, Associate Curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History. "Three more generalized scorpion species living closer to the surface evolved from specialized ancestors living in caves deep below the surface."

Trimix Territory: Emergence de Ressel

With thousands of known caves, France is one of the premier cave diving areas in the world. If a region stands out, it is an area between the rivers of Lot and Dordogne in the southwest of France. The upper valley of the Dordogne is a series of deep gorges. The cliffs, steep banks, fast flowing water and high bridges attract both tourists and divers. In several places the river is dammed to form long, deep lakes. Camp sites and holiday homes have proliferated wherever the valley floor is wide enough to accommodate them. The Dordogne is one of a few rivers in the world that exhibits a phenomenon known as "tidal bore," referring to waves that travel upriver against the current.

Divers will find a multitude of long and deep caves in the area that offer good visibility (usually between 33 feet/10 meters and 99 feet/30 meters). The water temperature is around 55 degrees (13 degrees centigrade) for most of theyear. One of the more challenging dive sites with lots of cave diving history is the Emergence de Ressel, which provides a range of experiences for divers of different experience levels. (Check the link for maps, surveys and more detailed info)

At first sight the resurgence pool looks a bit cloudy, but the change to clear water at depth is startling. Descending in the head pool brings divers to an oval tunnel that disappears in the dark behind the reach of any HID light. After 328 feet/100 meters, the line goes through a minor restriction and the tunnel branches off at the 656 feet/200 meter mark. Both ways lead to the first sump. The upper tunnels remains shallow and reaches a shaft after another 130 feet/40 meters or so, while the lower tunnel descents to the 66 feet/20 meters mark before reaching the shaft. Both tunnels connect through two side-tunnels, but some areas don’t have guidelines, so attention must be paid.

At a penetration of 1,247 feet/380 meters, a big room is reached. Continuing on, a chimney at the 1,312 feet/400 meter mark descends to 164 feet/50 meters. Following the line, a water filled room descends to the 197 feet/60 meter mark at the bottom. Divers have to negotiate several areas with boulders, while the tunnel descends slowly to the 197 feet/60 meter mark. At a penetration of 2,953 feet/900 meters, the cave seems to end. The tunnel leads to the left and up to the 164 feet/50 meter mark again.

Aachtopf: Germany’s biggest Spring

The Aachtopf is Germany's biggest natural spring, producing an average of 8,500 liters per second. Production varies seasonally and in response to the weather, but the spring never runs dry. The Aachtopf is a karst spring which is located south of the western end of the Swabian Jura, near the town Aach. The name Aachtopf is compounded from Aach (meaning water in Old High German), the name of the river created by the spring. Topf can be translated as bowl and is commonly used for round, bowl-shaped springs. The Aach flows southward into Lake Constance, which empties into the Rhine.

The spring marks the southern end of a cave system which transports water from the western end of the Swabian Jura. Most of the water is derived from the Danube River and is obtained where the latter river disappears underground at the Danube Sink near Immendingen and Fridingen. Strangely, the Danube flows eastwards into the Black Sea, whereas the Rhine flows northwards to the North Sea. Therefore the water of the Aach flows under the European continental divide. This is a relatively common feature of karst stream captures.

The karst spring is connected to a huge cave, which runs northwards. The first exploration was made by Jochen Hasenmayer, a famous German cave diver. He mapped almost 1,000 feet (300 meters) of the cave between 1962 and 1969.