speleonet

Black Spots Threaten Cave Drawings

Via the AP...

This July, caretakers noticed new black spots covering some of the drawings. Samples taken from them showed the stains were caused by two fungi, ulocladium and gliomastix, that developed on top of a sublayer of existing bacteria.

Targeted biocides, which are substances that can kill bacteria, were tested on the samples. At a meeting this week, the Lascaux Caves International Scientific Committee approved the use of the localized biocides to treat the affected cave areas.

... more here.

Ultima Patagonia 2006

Excellent 40 page PDF here on Federation Francaise de Speleologie's 2006 expedition to Patagonia's Madre de Dios archipelago. Scroll down for info on the 2008 expedition.

Lifeblood of the Maya

Via the Orlando Sentinel...

The Yucatan's first European colonizers depended on cenotes as well, and a model example is found in Valladolid.

At the Convent of San Bernardino de Siena, a 16th-century Spanish monastery built atop a cenote, the founders strived to create a self-sustaining community with sequestered vegetable gardens, an orchard and water below.

... full text here.

Deep Inside the Yucatán

Via the New York Times...

Cenotes are to the Yucatán Peninsula what the Alps are to Switzerland,” said Sam Meacham, director of Centro Investigador del Sistema Acuífero de Quintana Roo, or Cindaq, a nonprofit scientific and educational organization based in Playa del Carmen. “Similar features exist in other parts of the world; however, not in the abundance or natural beauty that we have here.”

... rest is here.

Hobbit cave digs set to restart

Via the BBC...

Indonesian officials have blocked access to the cave since 2005, following a dispute over the bones.

But Professor Richard "Bert" Roberts, a member of the team that found the specimens, told BBC News the political hurdles had now been overcome.

... rest is here.

Thailand: Pang Maph

Via the Nation...

The uncovered caves are among 176 surveyed in Pang Mapha and will be entered into a national database ensuring access for research, management and tourism.

The caves were discovered in a 1,200-square-kilometre limestone area of Pang Mapha. It is one of two significant sites for caves in the country - the other being in Kanchanaburi, Suchata explained.

The caves are home to diverse ecological systems and new species, said Dr Kasem Kulparadit of Mahidol University's environment and resource studies department.

... rest is here.

... cave images from the region.

The Elephant Caves of Mt. Elgon, Kenya

Donald McFarlane, Professor of Biology at Claremont Colleges, would like to pass along the following link to Speleonet readers...  The Caves of Mt. Elgon.

Partially geophagic, they are formed within pyroclastic deposits in western Kenya...

‘Geophagy’ means ‘eating dirt’ and is done typically to supplement minerals in the diet. At night-time, elephants enter the caves, remove large fragments of rock with their tusks and eat it! They also drop a lot, providing dinner for those animals that cannot directly excavate the rock themselves.

Subterranean salt-licks devoured over thousands of years. Not only by elephants, but by buffalo, bushbuck, rock hyrax, leopard, hyaena and primates as well.

... maps, photos.

 ... 'Speleogenesis of the Mount Elgon elephant caves, Kenya' by Joyce Lundberg and Donald McFarlane.

... and this colorful 40Mb PDF.

Destroying cave only way to gather information

Via the Times Colonist...

The roof of the cave was looked at by a professional geologist and found to be too unstable to be entered and worked within to conduct the assessment,'' Batten said. "So the only way to safely examine this cave is to take the roof off.''

... read the rest.

Peru finds ancient burial cave of warrior tribe

Via Reuters.com...

Archeologists have uncovered a 600-year-old, large underground cemetery belonging to a Peruvian warrior culture, thought to be the first discovery of its kind, an official said on Thursday.

After a tip-off from a farmer in Peru's northern Amazon jungle, archeologists from Peru's National Culture Institute last week found the 820-feet-(250-meter)deep cave that was used for burial and worship by the Chachapoyas tribe.

... rest is here.

Secrets inside Spanish cave

Via the Star.com...

The Neanderthals probably roamed a large area and used the cave periodically as a place to cook, eat and sleep, he said. The cave has yielded butchered bones of such animals as wild goat and deer, and remains of mussels and shellfish. At the time of the Neanderthals, the Mediterranean Sea was about three miles away; rising sea level has since brought the water to within a few dozen yards.

... rest here.

... here's a photo of the entrance from the sea.