Crews rescue injured man from Tennessee cave

Emergency crews freed an injured caver Monday who fell during a difficult expedition through a remote Franklin County, Tennessee, cave, a county spokesman said.

The nature of the man's injuries was unclear, according to county spokesman Chris Guess, who said the victim would be transferred to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga for treatment.

The man fell Sunday afternoon on the seventh of eight vertical descents, or drops, inside the Sinking Cove Cave in southern Tennessee, not far from the Tennessee-Alabama border, according to Brian Krebs with the Southeastern Cave Conservancy. The group holds the lease on the cave.

The expedition being attempted by the man, who is an experienced caver according to Krebs, would rate about a 9.5 on a difficulty scale of 10, he said.

Before the rescue, Krebs said extracting the injured man from the cave would be a challenge. Not only did he have to be lifted through the seven drops, but the man had to pass through a small crawl space that is about eight inches high and 14 inches wide, Krebs said.

Rescue workers made that crawl space bigger so they could get him out, according to Guess.

The rescue was complicated by the lack of cell service and the remote location. Krebs said the site is "about as far back in the wilderness as you can go."

Source: CNN

Gone in SIX seconds: The moment a gaping pothole swallowed a lorry in China

Staring into the huge hole in the road, this Chinese official probably cannot believe his eyes.

That's because a lorry has fallen down this massive fracture in the road which opened up as he drove over it.

The drama unfolded in the city of Changchun, which is the capital of north eastern China's Jilin province, earlier today.

A Chinese official stares into the hole the lorry created when it fell through a fracture in the road as it drove over it in the city of Changchun.

The two men who were inside the cab at the time of the accident were both injured, but there were no reports of how badly.

Authorities are now investigating the accident but they suspect the truck, which was carrying steel pipes, was overweighted.

The accident is just one of hundreds that take place in China each year, with the country being one of the most dangerous places in the world to drive.

There are around 100,000 deaths a year caused as a result of traffic accidents, which is twice the number of the United States, despite the fact the U.S. has four times as many cars.

The roads are also notorious for poor building standards.

In February four lorry drivers were lucky to survive after a bridge collapsed as they drove over it in Shangyu, in east China's Zhejiang Province.

Their lorries plunged 25 feet before overturning as they all switched from one motorway to another.Source: Daily Mail

Cavers vs. Spelunkers: The Battle for Alabama's Underground

Beech Springs Cave - Photo by Alan Cook

If you think "spelunking" is the proper term for exploring caves, think again. Those who explore caves with proper safety equipment and precautions refer to themselves as "cavers." To a caver, a spelunker is someone who thinks proper caving gear is a six-pack and a handheld flashlight. Cavers rescuespelunkers.

Alabamians know a thing or two about caving. First off, we have the headquarters of the National Speleological Society (NSS) located right here in Huntsville. Local NSS groups, called "Grottos," include Birmingham and, of course, Huntsville.

Second, we have caves. A lot of caves. According to the Alabama Cave Survey, which maps Alabama caves, we have well over 4,000 of them! In fact, south-central Tennessee, northAlabama, and northwest Georgia—better known to cavers as TAG—is a real caving hotspot.

If you've only experienced Alabama's commercially-operated caves (DeSoto Caverns, Sequoyah Caverns), one of our State Parks (Cathedral Caverns, Rickwood Caverns), or even Russell Cave National Monument you may think of caves as having large, dry chambers and lots of walking passage. But cavers experience caves in their natural state, where wet, muddy crawls and deep pits abound. You should only experience "wild" caves with experienced cavers: inexperienced spelunking can get you trapped—or killed.

Rescue team will show its fun side with open day activities

A rescue team will be throwing open its doors next week to give the public a behind-the-scenes look at their work.

The Cave Rescue Organisation’s base in Clapham, in the Yorkshire Dales, is the venue for a day of activities aimed at families during the school holiday.

Catherine Kemp, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s outreach officer, said: “There will be lots of games and activities for children – and for adults it’s an opportunity to see what happens when someone needs help on the hills and in caves.

“Volunteers from the CRO will be on hand to talk about the essential job they do.”

The free day of activities is suitable for children aged five and above, but they must be accompanied by an adult.

The rescue team operates both above and below ground in the western Dales. This year its volunteers have been called out 32 times so far, to incidents as diverse as rescuing sheep from potholes to dealing with the casualties from a light-aircraft crash on Ingleborough.

The Earliest Social Network Ever Discovered

Human remains found in a cave in the Serranía de Ronda

The skeleton could have been there for at least the past 10 years

Speleologists exploring a cave in the Serranía de Ronda have found human remains which could have been lying there undiscovered for at least the past 10 years.

Diario Sur reports that the find was made last week in the area known as Puerto del Viento, within the municipal boundaries of Ronda. The two potholers discovered the skeleton in a 3-metre deep pit inside the cave they were exploring. Civil Guard called out to the scene found a bullet shell lying nearby, which Sur said could indicate a violent death.

It’s understood that forensic analyses are currently underway to try and identify the victim and detectives are also investigating missing persons reports over the past two decades.

Source: Typically Spanish

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service unveils plan to fight white-nose syndrome in bats

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday released a national plan to enhance collaboration among the states, federal agencies and tribes trying to manage a rapidly spreading disease that has killed more than 1 million hibernating bats since it was discovered in New York in 2007.

Over the last five years, white-nose syndrome, which was named for the presence of a white fungus around the muzzles, ears and wings of affected bats, has spread to 18 states and four Canadian provinces. Bat colony losses at the most closely monitored sites have reached 95% within three years of initial detection.

A recent study published in Science magazine showed that pest-control services provided by bats save the U.S. agricultural industry at least $3.7 billion a year.

The service considered about 17,000 comments received on the draft plan made available to the public in October.

The 17-page plan recommends decontamination protocols to reduce transmission of the fungus by humans, surveillance strategies and diagnostic procedures designed to ensure that white-nose syndrome testing results are accurate and comparable between laboratories.

“We’ve learned a lot in the past few years about the disease, but there is much more work to be done to contain it,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a prepared statement. “This national plan provides a road map for federal, state and tribal agencies and scientific researchers to follow and will facilitate sharing of resources and information to more efficiently address the threat.”

Source: LA Times

Climate Clues Hang from Mysterious Cave's Ceiling

Two-million-year-old dripstones hanging from a strange cave high in the Austrian Alps may provide clues about how the mighty mountain range grew, as well as offer a glimpse into the climate's past.

Wilder Mann cave, as the locals call it, is unusual. Not only is a cave at such a high elevation rare, the cylinders of calcium carbonate mineral clinging to its roof are an odd color. Dripstones as brownish as these are typically found only in humid settings, among a lot of vegetation. Here, there is only barren rock.

"These pieces didn't fit together at all. We needed to figure out what was going on up there," said Michael Meyer, of the Institute of Geology and Paleontology at the University of Innsbruck, in Austria, who led research on the cave. The findings were recently detailed in the journalGeology.

Petzl recalls all Absorbica and Scorpio via ferrata sets

Recall alert for inspection of all SCORPIO and ABSORBICA via ferrata lanyards

* Extension of the product safety alert issued on May 13th 2011

Concerns all SCORPIO lanyards manufactured before May 17th 2011 up to serial number 11137****.
The relevant product references are: L60, L60 CK, L60 2, L60 2CK, L60 H, L60 WL, K29VF 1,
K29VF 2, K29VE 1, K29VE 2, K29V 1, K29V 2.

Following a via ferrata accident on Thursday the 5th of May 2011 we launched - by reason of precaution - a voluntary product safety alert to inspect our SCORPIO via ferrata lanyards (L60 and L60CK) manufactured prior to March 2005. This alert was launched on 13th May.

Our internal investigation and analysis of our manufacturing procedures specific to the production of tear webbing energy absorbers has identified a weakness which could explain the defect leading to the cause of this accident.

As a consequence and even though the probability of this defect recurring remains very low, we have decided to take the following actions:

1. Temporary stoppage of all Petzl tear webbing lanyard production.
2. Temporary stoppage of the sale of all stock of SCORPIO and ABSORBICA tear webbing lanyards for inspection before resuming sales.
3. Issue a request for immediate self-inspection for all ABSORBICA energy absorbers, used by professional workers at height, using the special inspection procedure.

Source: Petzl 1 & 2

Motueka cave 'world's deepest' of its kind

The source of the Pearse River near Motueka is the deepest known cold-water cave in the world, says a dive team who set a world depth record in it.

In January, six Australian divers followed the river back to its source in Kahurangi National Park where it emerges out of a mountain, beneath a cliff.

They swam into the hole and down the submerged cave, with diver Craig Challen making it to a depth of 194m, without reaching the end.

His descent is the deepest cold-water dive on record.

The expedition took five tonnes of equipment.

One diver at a time swam, in pitch blackness, against the current of the 6-degree water.

They placed four "habitats" along the passage where they could sit in trapped bubbles of air, eat and drink and wait out the decompression needed because of the extreme depths.

Challen said they took down containers usually used for bulk liquids, upturned them and filled them with air.

For the nine-hour dive he was actually only swimming for 25 minutes - the rest of the time was spent sitting in the habitats.

The cold water required electrically-heated dive suits.

Challen said it was not known how much deeper the cave went but the team was coming back next January to find out.

The Pearse Resurgence, as the cave is known, was first explored in the 1970s.

Diver Dave Weaver died exploring the cave in 1995.

Challen said it was his second expedition with leader Richard Harris.

Asked why he would willing swim hundreds of metres down pitch black caves, Challen said: "We have a saying 'If you have to ask the question you don't understand the answer'."

Source: Stuff

Darkness stifles reproduction of surface-dwelling fish

A cave-dwelling Atlantic molly doesn't mind the darkness,
but its surface-dwelling cousins have trouble reproducing
and sustaining life in the dark. Credit: Rudiger Riesch

There's a reason to be afraid of the dark.

Fish accustomed to living near the light of the water's surface become proverbial "fish out of water" when they move to dark environments like those found in caves, according to a study from North Carolina State University.

In research published this week in Biology Letters, a Royal Society scientific journal, NC State post-doctoral researcher Rüdiger Riesch and colleagues found that Atlantic molly females from regular surface streams have a difficult time adjusting to cavelike conditions. Surface female fish had trouble reproducing in the dark conditions, study results show. In addition, many surface-dwelling females introduced to dark conditions – surprisingly, according to the researchers – suffered from high incidents of stress-induced bacterial columnaris disease, or "fin rot," which causes patchy lesions on the bodies of the fish.

3D Photography Exhibit of Lechuguilla Cave

Over a year ago an idea sprouted hundreds of feet underground among a group of cavers exploring the vast subterranean maze known as Lechuguilla Cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. On May 7, 2011 this idea bloomed into a three-dimensional photography exhibit called the Underground of Enchantment developed by the Carlsbad Museum & Art Center (CMAC). The exhibit includes several poster-sized 2D images presented in 3D in the viewers provided, brief 3D slide programs with glasses provided, and a display of hand-drawn postcards by children from around the world. CMAC will host the exhibit through August before it travels to several locations in New Mexico and neighboring states and finally spends the summer of 2012 at the Carlsbad Caverns National Park visitor center.

The driving force behind the creation of the exhibit was Malgorzata "Gosia" Allison-Kosior, a Carlsbad Museum employee as well as a seasonal interpreter at Carlsbad Caverns National Park and long-time volunteer caver. To bring the exhibit to life, Gosia worked with an international team of cave photographers, researchers, and explorers with the same enthusiasm for bringing to light and sharing the beauty and scientific wonders of Lechuguilla Cave. Over 130 miles of passages have been mapped in "Lech", as it is familiarly called, since its discovery in 1986. A large array of fragile speleothems (cave decorations) and cave pools illustrate the cave's splendor and a long list of research papers in geology, mineralogy, and microbiology speak to its scientific significance. Still, to most of us the cave will be forever out of reach except through photographs, maps, and videos. In addition to the need to protect the delicate formations within the cave, it is in designated wilderness and will not be developed for public visitation. Even among cave explorers and researchers, Lech is an extreme aspiration, literally difficult to explore as it requires technical rope climbing ability, often multiple days underground, and adherence to strict conservation protocols.

In Memoriam: Dr. Thomas Barr

"It is with profound sadness that Lynn and I inform the caving family of the passing of our dear friend and fellow caver Dr. Thomas Calhoun Barr NSS 892 RL HM CM FE.

Tom was a true caver besides being a world renowned cave biologist, university professor, former NSS president (1965-1967), and a voice of reason and experience occasionally sharing his wit and wisdom with us on Tag-Net.
He joined the NSS at age 18 and dedicated much of his early career to exploring caves in many locations around the country and especially in TAG using a coleman lantern for his light source.

Most here know that Tom authored the book "Caves of Tennessee" which has been used by nearly every newbie caver in Tennessee as "the source" for finding caves to explore.

In addition to his love of caving Dr. Barr graduated from Harvard, Columbia, and Vanderbilt Universities eventually teaching at Texas Tech, Tennessee Tech and becoming professor emeritus of Biological Sciences at the University of Kentucky where he retired in 1993 after a long successful career.

He was a gifted scientist who tirelessly worked on describing new cave beetle species, collaborated on scientific papers, and helped mentor the next generations of cavers and cave biologists.

Tom's dedication to the study of cave beetles continued to the day he died.

There is so much more to this man than can be written in a simple post.
He was a true friend, mentor, and gentleman. We will miss his gentle voice, great sense of humor, and his unique "coleman lantern" caving style. His passing is truly a huge loss to all his friends, family, and to all cavers. Tom you will be greatly missed.

Brian and Lynn Roebuck"

Inside the heart of the volcano: Explorers descend 650ft into magma chamber for the first time

For the first time in history scientists have descended 650ft into the magma chamber of a volcano.

These incredible images show one explorer gently lowering himself into the heart of the dormant Thrihnukagigur volcano in Iceland.

Known as a 'sleeping volcano' because it could come back to life at any time, Thrihnukagigur is credited with helping to create the Atlantic island we call Iceland when it last erupted 3,000 years ago.

Going down: A scientist descends 650ft into the magma chamber of Iceland's dormant Thrihnukagigur volcano

Only now - 50 years since the first man went into space - have human beings visited the only magma chamber on the planet currently safe to explore.

Caves and their dripstones tell us about the uplift of mountains

In one of his songs Bob Dylan asks "How many years can a mountain exist before it is washed to the sea?", and thus poses an intriguing geological question for which an accurate answer is not easily provided. Mountain ranges are in a constant interplay between climatically controlled weathering processes on the one hand and the tectonic forces that cause folding and thrusting and thus thickening of the Earth's crust on the other hand. While erosion eventually erases any geological obstacles, tectonic forces are responsible for piling- and lifting-up rocks and thus for forming spectacular mountain landscapes such as the European Alps. In reality, climate, weathering and mountain uplift interact in a complex manner and quantifying rates for erosion and uplift, especially for the last couple of millions of years, remains a challenging task.

In a recent Geology paper Michael Meyer (University of Innsbruck) et al. report on ancient cave systems discovered near the summits of the Allgäu Mountains (Austria) that preserved the oldest radiometrically dated dripstones currently known from the European Alps. "These cave deposits formed ca. 2 million years ago and their geochemical signature and biological inclusions are vastly different from other cave calcites in the Alps" says Meyer, who works at the Institute of Geology and Paleontology at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. By carefully analysing these dripstones and using an isotopic modelling approach the authors were able to back-calculate both, the depth of the cave and the altitude of the corresponding summit area at the time of calcite formation. Meyer et al. thus derived erosion and uplift rates for the northern rim of the Alps and – most critically – for a geological time period that is characterized by reoccurring ice ages and hence by intensive glacial erosion. "Our results suggest that 2 million years ago the cave was situated ~1500 meters below its present altitude and the mountains were probably up to 500 meters lower compared to today", states Meyer. These altitudinal changes were significant and much of this uplift can probably be attributed to the gradual unloading of the Alps due to glacial erosion.

Dripstones have been used to reconstruct past climate and environmental change in a variety of ways. The study of Meyer et al. is novel, however, as it highlights the potential of caves and their deposits to quantitatively constrain mountain evolution on a timescale of millions of years and further shows how the interplay of tectonic and climatic processes can be understood. Key to success is an accurate age control provided by Uranium-Lead dating. This method is commonly used to constrain the age of much older rocks and minerals but has only rarely be applied to dripstones – i.e. only those with high Uranium concentrations – and luckily this is the case for the samples from the Allgäu Mountains.