Caves: Processes, Development and Management

335 Pages·1996·11.259 MB·English

by  David Gillieson(auth.)

Caves
Caves: Processes, Development and Management David Gillieson
© 1996 David Gillieson. ISBN: 978-0-631-19175-9
The NaturalEnvironment
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This serieswill provide accessible and up-to-date accounts ofthe
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Caves
Processes, Development and Management
David Gillieson
The Changing Earth
Rates ofGeomorphological Processes
Andrew Goudie
Land Degradation
LaurenceA. Lewis andDouglas L. Johnson
Oceanic Islands
Patrick D. Nunn
Humid Tropical Environments
AlisonJ. Reading. RussellD. Thompson
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Robert Allison
Drainage Basin
Form, Process and Management
K.J. GregoryandD. E. Walling
Deep Sea Geomorphology
Peter Lonsdale
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Mark Macklin
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Edward Maltby
Arctic and Alpine Geomorphology
Lewis A. Owen, DavidJ. Evans andJim Hansom
Earth Surface Systems
Order, Complexity and Scale
Jonathan Phillips
Weathering
W. B. Whalley. B.J. Smith andJ. P. McGreevy
Caves:
Processes,
Development and
Management
David Gillieson
I]
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Gillieson,DavidS.
Caves:processes,development,andmanagementIDavidGillieson.
p. em. - (Thenaturalenvironment)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-631-17819-8.- ISBN0--631-19175·5(pbk.)
1. Caves. I. Title. IT.Series.
OB601.05 1996
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Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements ix
ONE The Cave System and Karst 1
What is Karst? 1
What is a Cave? 1
Where are the Deepest and Longest Caves? 5
Caves as Geomorphic Systems 7
Now the Details .. ,. 11
TWO Cave Hydrology 14
Basic Concepts in Karst Drainage Systems 14
Karst Aquifers 15
Porosity and Permeability of Karstic Rocks 16
Zonation ofthe Karst Drainage System 19
Defining the Catchment ofa Cave 19
Hydraulics ofGroundwater Flow in Karst 20
Diffuse flow 22
Fissure flow 23
Conduit flow (turbulent and laminar cases) 23
Flow nets in karst drainage systems 27
The Role of Salinity 28
Evolution of the Karst Drainage System 31
Analysis of Karst Drainage Systems 32
Water tracing techniques 32
Spring hydrograph analysis 38
Spring chemograph analysis 42
Structure and Function ofKarst Drainage Systems 44
Storage and transfers in the karst system 44
The role of extreme events 47
Karst Hydrology of the Mammoth Cave Plateau, Kentucky 51
vi Contents
THREE Processes of Cave Development 59
Introduction 59
Karst Rocks 59
Limestone 59
Dolomite 67
Sandstone 67
Processes of Dissolution ofKarst Rocks 68
The solution oflimestone in meteoric waters 68
Soil and vegetation in the limestone solution process 71
The zoning ofsolution in the unsaturated zone 73
Limestone solution in seawater 75
Solution ofevaporites 77
Solution ofsilicates in meteoric waters 77
Rock Control and Cave Morphology 79
Role of lithology 79
Role of joints, fractures and faults 80
Cave breakdown and evaporite weathering 87
The Development of Common Caves 88
Formation ofcaves in plan 88
Formation ofcaves in length and depth 90
The Formation ofMaze Caves 97
Caves formed by floodwaters 97
Cayes formed by hydrothermal waters 97
Cayes formed in gypsum 100
Lava Tubes, Weathering Caves and Pseudokarst 101
The formation oflava tubes 101
Weathering caves and pseudokarst 102
Origin of Caves: an Overview 104
Geological Control and the World's Longest Cave 106
FOUR Cave Formations 115
Introduction 115
Carbonates 115
Controls over carbonate mineralogy 121
Cave deposits formed by carbonate minerals 123
Colour of calcite formations 128
Important Non-Carbonate Minerals 128
Evaporites 128
Phosphates and nitrates 131
Oxides, silicates and hydroxides 133
Other Minerals 134
Cave Formations of the Nullarbor Plain, Australia 134
FIVE Cave Sediments 143
Introduction 143
Clastic SedimentTypes 143
Processes ofSedimentation 144
Contents vii
Gravity-fall processes 144
Waterlain clastic sediments 147
Diagenesis of Cave Sediments 155
Stratigraphy and its Interpretation 155
Sediment Transport and Particle Size 156
Provenance Studies 160
Caves and Flood History in the Kimbcrleys, Australia 161
SIX Dating Cave Deposits 167
The Importance ofDating Cave Deposits 167
Dating Techniques and the Quaternary Timescale 168
Palaeomagnetism 169
Radiocarbon 172
Uranium series 174
Trapped electron methods: ESR, TL and OSL 179
Timing the Ice Ages 185
SEVEN Cave Deposits and Past Climates 188
Introduction 188
Basic Principles and Tests for Reliability 189
The Last Glacial-Interglacial Temperature Record 191
Carbon Isotopes and Environmental Change 198
Stalagmite Fluorescence and Sunspot Cycles 199
EIGHT Cave Ecology 203
Introduction 203
Life Zones within Caves 203
The Cave as a Habitat . 205
Classification of Cave Life and its Function 213
Adaptations and Modifications to Life in Darkness 214
Origin and Dispersal of Cave-Dwelling Animals 216
Threats to Cave Fauna 220
Conservation ofBiological Diversity in Caves 223
The Impact of Cavers on Cave Fauna 227
Unravelling the Secrets of the Carrai Bat Cave 230
NINE Cave Management 237
Introduction 237
History of Cave Use and Exploitation 237
Impacts ofVisitors and Infrastructure on Tourist Caves 240
Cave cleaning and its impacts 245
Impacts of recreational caving on caves 245
The Radon Risk in Caves 247
Cave Carrying Capacity and Alternative Management
Concepts 250
Cave Classification and its Applications 253
Ca,ve Interpretation and its Use in Management 256
viii Contents
Management ofthe Glow-Worm Cave, Waitorno,
New Zealand 260
TEN catchment Management in Karst 268
Introduction 268
Basic Concepts in Karst Management 268
Defining Karst Catchments 269
Vegetation and Caves 271
Accelerated Soil Loss in Karst 272
Agricultural Impacts 276
Fire Management in Karst 280
Guidelines for Karst Management 282
Conservation Issues in Karst 285
Rehabilitation and Restoration ofCaves 286
International Cooperation and Liaison 288
Restoring a Limestone Ecosystem inTasmania's World
Heritage Area 290
Further Reading 300
Print Media 300
Electronic Media Sources 300
Glossary 302
Index 315
Preface and
Acknowledgements
When I try to imagine afaultless love
Or thelife tocome, whatI hear is the murmur
Ofunderground streams, whatIsee is a limestone landscape.
W. H. Auden: In Praise ofLimestone
This is an unashamedly antipodean view of the world of caves:
although the caves ofthe fragments of Gondwanaland are not the
deepestorthe longest in the world, they are among the oldest and
haveformed underconditions markedlydifferentfrom those ofthe
highe~latitudes ofthe northern hemisphere. The inheritanceofthe
ice ages is expressed differently in the caves of Australia, where
theclimaticfluctuationshavebeenbetweendryandwetratherthan
cold and wet (except in Tasmania). I have included a selection of
the caves ofthe tropical world, in recognition oftheir great scien
tific interest, of their great beauty and of the small but energetic
group of tropical karst scientists who have placed them firmly on
the global karst scene. I have also provided an overview of cave
managementissuesinthehope thatreaderswithastronginterestin
caves will become involved in cave conservation, for the caves we
have today are a fragile resource for a rapidly growing population
ofcaye and karst users.
I have deliberately tried to simplify some of the finer details of
karst processes so that this book will appeal to the many with a
keen, developing interest rather than to the few with detailed
knowledge of small parts of the world of caves. To cater to the
latter, Ihave providedsome further reading inthespecificscientific;
literature where these topics may be plumbed to greater depths.
Where possible I have tried to stick to plain English terms but of
necessity some terms from other languages have been used where
these provide succinct words for complex concepts.
I am deeply grateful to Julie Kesby for her editorial skills. I am
greatlyindebtedtoPaulBallardwho has producedallofthefigures
for this book. I am also greatly in debt to Anne Cochrane and
x Preface and Acknowledgements
RussellDrysdalefortheirconsiderablehelpincompilingandanno
tating reference material. The work was also greatly assisted by a
special research grant from the University College, University of
New SouthWales. Finally, IthankCaroline Richmond, myeditor,
for her sound advice, tolerance and thoroughness.
I have been fortunate enough to visit many caves over the last
twenty-five years; among the goodly band of international
speleologists I must acknowledge my particular debt to Mike
Bourke, Derek Ford, Albert Goede, John Gunn, Ernst Holland,
Julia James, the late Joe Jennings, Kevin Kiernan, Stein-Erik
Lauritzen, IanMillar,thelateJimQuinlan, HenryShannon, Geary
Schindel, Dingle Smith, Andy Spate, Alan Warild, John Webb,
TonyWhite,PaulWilliams,SteveWorthingtonandYuanDaoxian.
The following people kindly provided photographs to supple
ment my own: Gareth Davies, Stefan Eberhard, John Gunn,
Andrew Lawrence, Franz-DieterMiotke, PeterSerov, Andy Spate,
Tony White. Their individual contributions are acknowledged in
the plate captions.
I am also grateful to the following for permission to reproduce
copyrightmaterial:
Faber and Faber Ltd for permission to reproduce lines from In
Praise ofLimestone by W. H. Auden.
Figures 1.2,3.9,3.11,3.12,3.14,3.20,3.22:from P. Courbon, C.
Chabert,P. BostedandK. Lindsley,Atlas ofthe GreatCaves ofthe
World. © Cave Books.
Figures 2.1 and 2.2: from P. L. Smartand S. L. Hobbs, Character
istics ofcarbonate aqumers: a conceptural basis. In Proceedings of
the EnvironmentalProblems in KarstTerranesandtheirSolutions.
Copyright 1986. Reprinted by permission of National Ground
WaterAssociation.
Figures 2.3, 2.4 and 2.12: from S. R. H. Worthington, Karst
Hydrogeology of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Unpublished
PhD thesis, McMaster University. CourtesyS. R. H. Worthington.
Figure 2.6: from J. Jankowski and G. Jacobson, Hydrochemistry
of a grounderwater-seawater mixing zone, Nauru Island, Central
PacificOcean.BMRJournalofAustralianGeologyandGeophysics
12, 51-64. Courtesy Australian Geological Survey Organisation.
Figures2.7and4.1:from GeomorphologyandHydrology ofKarst
Terrains by W. B. White. Copyright © 1988 by Oxford University
Press, Inc. Reprinted by permission.
Figure 2.10: from Journal ofHydrology 61, P. W. Williams, The
role ofthe subcutaneous zone in karst hydrology, 45-67, © 1983.
With kind permission of Elsevier Science - NL, Sara
Burgerhartstraat 25, 1055 KV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Figures2.16,3.1,3.16,3.18,3.19,6.4: from D. C. Ford and P. W.
Williams, Karst GeomorphologyandHydrology. Copyright 1989.
Reprinted by permission ofChapman & Hall Ltd.