New record in Iranian caves

Pendant une expé de quelques jours, une équipe de spéléologues de différents clubs spéléos iraniens vient d'atteint la profondeur de -806m dans la grotte "Jojar" dans la province de Kermanshah à l'ouest de l'Iran. 

Avec cette profondeur, Jojar devient la grotte la plus profonde de l'Iran, repoussant, après 43 ans le Ghar Parau (-752m) à la deuxième place.

Lors de cette expédition, 2256.80 mètres ont été cartographiés. Et la grotte continue... Les membres de l'équipe espèrent organiser plusieurs autres expéditions pour poursuivre son exploration et  explorer d'autres entrées possibles dans la région.

L'année dernière, l'équipe avait atteint -568m de profondeur dans la grotte "Jojar"

Info by: Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns

Rescate en Peru de Cecílio Lopez Tercero

"Desde la  FEDERACIÓN MADRILEÑA DE ESPELEOLOGíA agradecemos toda ayuda que se pueda prestar en estos momentos, pero rogamos encarecidamente, que los equipos interesados en participar en el rescate, se pongan en contacto unicamente por estos medios a fin de aunar esfuerzos

Mas información: http://rescateintimachay.blogspot.com.es

Muchas gracias de antemano por vuestro apoyo y colaboración. Todas las aportaciones recibidas irán íntegramente a sufragar los gastos del rescate de Ceci y el equipo enviado por la Federación."

Gruta do Cinema é salva da destruição

Gruta do Cinema é salva da destruição graças à rápida ação dos órgãos ambientais de Santa Catarina

"No último dia 5 de abril, foi realizada uma expedição de reconhecimento prospecção na região de Botuverá e Vidal Ramos, Centro Leste de Santa Catarina. Um dos objetivos do trabalho seria localizar e remapear a Gruta do Cinema, em mármore, que havia sido mapeada na década de 80 pelo grupo de espeleologia GEEP-Açungui do Paraná, que estimou seu desenvolvimento em 250 m. Seria, portanto, a segunda maior caverna cadastrada no Estado de Santa Catarina, atrás apenas da Gruta de Botuverá.

Para nossa surpresa, ao chegarmos à região, fomos informados que as entradas da caverna haviam sido soterradas, e que uma mineradora local já tinha iniciado a destruição do maciço. (...)"

Ler artigo completo: Meandros

Cave & Karst Science

Volumes of the journal "Cave & Karst Science" (Transactions of the British Cave Research Association) from 1974 to 2005 are now available as free downloads at:

http://bcra.org.uk/pub/candks/catalogue.html

To view more recent volumes go to:

http://bcra.org.uk/pub/candks/index.html

Atlas dos Morcegos de Portugal Continental

6S, the longest salt cave in the world

Pestera (the cave) 6S de la Manzalesti (Subcarpatii Vrancei, Romania) one of the largest salt cave in the world

Pestera (the cave) 6S de la Manzalesti one of the largest salt cave in the world; see all pages (236), photos (253) and maps (37).

(see all pages from http://romania-natura.ro/node/409; http://www.romania-natura.ro/node/396)

Hypogene Cave Morphologies

Free download! (5.14 Mb)

(2014) ISBN Number: 978-0-9789976-7-0

This new electronic publication is Special Publication 18 from the Karst Waters Institute, consisting of selected papers and abstracts for the Hypogene Cave Morphologies symposium held February 2 - 7, 2014, on San Salvador Island, The Bahamas. The main thematic activities of the conference were to examine and discuss the unique cave morphologies and speleogens associated with hypogene caves, from the scale of 100 km+ cave maps down to centimeter size wall rock shapes and forms. Hypogene caves can be argued to represent a laminar flow regime that is quite different from the turbulent flow found in epigenic stream caves coupled to surface hydrology. Can these morphologies be uniquely characterized to identify hypogene caves? What effect do these laminar flow regimes have on geochemical models of dissolution drive in hypogene settings? Do flank margin caves fall in the hypogene flow environment?

Recommended Citation: A. Klimchouk, I. Sasowsky, J. Mylroie, S.A. Engel, and A.S. Engel, Eds., 2014, Hypogene Cave Morphologies. Selected papers and abstracts of the symposium held February 2 through 7, 2014, San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Karst Waters Institute Special Publication 18, Karst Waters Institute, Leesburg, Virginia, 111 p.

Deepest cave in the Southern Hemisphere

Report from a New Zealand Speleological Society expedition (leader Kieran McKay) in the Southern Alps and I thought you'd be interested:

Fantastic news from Kieran McKay this morning.

Have just arrived back from our 7 day Nettlebed [Cave] epic. Well I won't drag this out....we have done it!! Stormy Pot and Nettlebed are now one, we have a cave system 1200 metres deep and the deepest in the southern hemisphere!! The connection point is at the end of the yellow passage, we dug into a rock pile there, found a small shaft going up, I climbed this, and at the top there was a very narrow crack with a strong draught blowing through. I dug at this crack for an hour or so and eventually managed to squeeze through. One the other side I found myself in a small chamber I instantly recognised as the spot we used as ……second camp in Stormy Pot, the Rovers Return camp at the end of Coralation Street. At last!! We were pretty ‘stoked’ that’s for sure!! This is the culmination of many thousands of man hours over 40 years with the exploration of Nettlebed, then more recently with the exploration of Stormy Pot itself by Troy Watson, Neil Silverwood, Aaron Gillespie, Chris Whitehouse and I. A big thanks to Toby Reid from Reid/Heslop helicopters, Andrew Mckenzie from Absolute Wilderness, Sport NZ who helped to start this process back in 2010 when they gave us a grant which helped us find Stormy Pot, then NZ geographic [magazine] came on board and sponsored an expedition that helped to put another piece of the puzzle in place and got us closer to Nettlebed. In October Red Bull Media house supported an expedition that resulted in a positive dye trace and a smoke connection between the two caves. On the results of this Red Bull expedition we knew exactly where to look and made the connection. In the next few weeks the team will be getting together for the first through trip after which we will be more than happy to take others...

Paul Williams

14th Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst

The 14th Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst, which is generally known as "The Sinkhole Conference", will be held in Rochester, Minnesota, on 5-9 October 2015. Mark your calendars!

For 30 years this conference series has been the premier conference for all aspects of karst geoscience and related engineering and environmental issues—and not just sinkholes. This next Sinkhole Conference is being jointly organized with the Minnesota Groundwater Association and should be an exceptional meeting

The conference also now has a permanent website site, at the easy-to-remember address: http://www.sinkholeconference.com/. Bookmark and visit it for more information. The new "Past Conferences" tab includes the proceedings of the 13th Sinkhole Conference for free download. Information on conference hotels, the call for papers, and more will be posted later this year.

George Veni, Ph.D.
Executive Director
National Cave and Karst Research Institute

Cave collapse in India

Eight people crushed to death in India cave collapse 

India temple stampede Eight people have been killed in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh after the wall of an ancient cave leading to a Hindu temple collapsed, police said. The accident at the Bildwar cave in Surajpur district late on Tuesday may have been triggered by blasts at nearby coal mines, officials said. Police said three of the dead were girls aged between 10 and 13. Three others were injured after being pulled from the rubble. "Frequent blasts are carried out in the nearby coal mines and that could be the reason for the cave-in," Chhattisgarh Home Minister, Ram Sewak Pekra told the AFP news agency. He added that an investigation into the collapse would be carried out. Some residents of a nearby village told local media they had warned the authorities about cracks in the cave walls, which they believed had been caused by mining blasts. Senior Surajpur official S Bharti has reportedly announced a relief fund for the families of those who died. The Bildwar cave is a popular attraction and the temple is visited by worshippers throughout the year.

Source: BBC