Hello everyone!
I pleased to invite you to the official site of Central Asian Karstic-Speleological commission ("Kaspeko")
There, we regularly publish reports about our expeditions, articles and reports on speleotopics, lecture course for instructors, photos etc. ...
Dear Colleagues, This is to draw your attention to several recent publications added to KarstBase, relevant to hypogenic karst/speleogenesis: Corrosion of limestone tablets in sulfidic ground-water: measurements and speleogenetic implications Galdenzi,
A recent publication of Spanish researchers describes the biology of Krubera Cave, including the deepest terrestrial animal ever found:
Jordana, Rafael; Baquero, Enrique; Reboleira, Sofía and Sendra, Alberto. ...
Exhibition dedicated to caves is taking place in the Vienna Natural History Museum
The exhibition at the Natural History Museum presents the surprising variety of caves and cave formations such as stalactites and various crystals. ...
Did you know?
That safety line is a safety rope attached to a caver climbing on a ladder or negotiating a difficult situation and held by a man above [25].?
Three new hypogean species of the Iberian genus Roncocreagris Mahnert, 1974 are described from mainland Portugal: R. borgesi sp. nov. and R. gepesi sp. nov. from caves in the Sicó massif, and R. occidentalis sp. nov. from caves in the Montejunto and Cesaredas karst plateau. This brings to nine the number of known hypogean species of the mostly Iberian genus Roncocreagris: five from Portugal and four from Spain. Ecological comments and new localities for some of the previously known species are also included.
parallelism at great distance are but apparent exceptions: for instance Dolichopoda baccettii and Dolichopoda graeca. As — when there are no conditions of insularity causing a particularly remarkable differentiation specific to many entities — the geographic barriers among the elements of each group are often very scanty, we can consider possible that after the two great immigrations from the East, by which two suhgenera, one after the other, were imported during the Tertiary period (Baccetti, 1960), the phenomena of speciation were largely favoured, in the Quaternary, by the acquisition of troglophilia which has greatly hindered any possible migration.
Stenasellus virei is now known from 77 localities (caves, phreatic waters and underflow of some rivers) of the eastern Aquitanian basin, central and eastern Pyrenees, and of Spain. A classification of the different biotopes of the species is attempted herein, and some of their characteristics are summarily described. This cavernicolous species can now be viewed in a new light, as much ecological as systematic or biogeographic.
Stenasellus virei is now known from 77 localities (caves, phreatic waters and underflow of some rivers) of the eastern Aquitanian basin, central and eastern Pyrenees, and of Spain. A classification of the different biotopes of the species is attempted herein, and some of their characteristics are summarily described. This cavernicolous species can now be viewed in a new light, as much ecological as systematic or biogeographic.
This new, albinistic and anophtalmous Bragasellus has been collected in the waters of the Cova del Infierno ("Hell Cave") near Covadonga, province of Asturias, Northwestern Spain.
This small species has been found in the underflow of Guadalquivir River (Jaèn Province). It belongs to the phyletic line of Stenasellus breuili Racovitza, distributed in the underground waters of the Iberic Peninsula.
This new species was captured in the phreatic waters of Guadalquivir valley, where it lives together with another, very small-sized Stenasellid: St. bragai Magniez, previously described. It belongs to the phyletic line of St. breuili Racovitza, which colonizes the subterranean waters of the Iberic peninsula.
This new, anophthalmous and unpigmented species lives in the underflow of Jalon River, Province of Alicante, Southeastern Spain. It belongs to the phyletic line of Proasellus meridianus (Racovitza, 1919).
The paper gives a description of a new, unpigmented and anophtalmous species of Bragasellus collected in Calderòn Cave, Vellia de Carriòn, Palencia Province, Northern Spain (hydrographic basin of Douro River).
This is a description of the affinities and biogeographic significance of three new cavernicolous species of Diplopoda from France and Morocco. One species apparently belongs to the Polydesmida (family Paradoxosomidae) and the other two to Craspedosomida (families Caratosphydae and Chordeumidae). 1) Eviulisoma abadi n.sp. is distinguished from other species of this genus by total depigmentation, by the characters of the gonopodial orifice and the male gonopods, by the low number of segments (19) and by its geographic isolation (Morocco) and ecology (Kef Aziza cave). This justifies the establishment of a new sub-genus, Jeekelosoma. The other species of this genus are found in equatorial Africa and the east. E. abadi is the first paleoarctic species of this genus and is the second paleoarctic species of the tribe Eviulisomidi after Boreviulisoma liouvillei Brol.). It is also the first known from a cave. Like the two other known species of Paradoxosomidae known from the southwest of the paleoarctic zone, Boreviulisoma liouvillei Brol. and Oranmorpha guerinii (Gerv.) the new species is indicative of originating in the Ethiopian region at a time when the Sahara was not a barren desert. 2) Ceratosphys maroccana n.sp. from Gouffre Friouato (Morocco) probably is not an epigean troglophile; it is the southernmost species of this genus which is normally found in France and Spain. This is apparently a remnant of a small group of species from the south of Spain that constitute a sub-genus Proceratosphys Mau. and Vincente. 3) Orthochordeumella leclerci n.sp. (caves of Ardèche, France) manifest the presence unique in this genus of cavernicolous characters including depigmentation and extreme length of antennae and is the only truly troglobitic species of this genus. Other characters are less distinctive but it is possible to distinguish this species by sexual characteristics from other species, notably that from the neighbouring geographic area, O. cebennica (known only from the Ardèche region) which is troglophilic. The other three species are found in epigean forest habitats, one in the Pyrenees, the other two in the Tyrol, the Swiss Jura, Baden and the northeast of France and Belgium.
THE SOUTHERN AND WESTERN KARST OF SIERRA DEL MONCAYO (CORDILLERA IBERICA, SORIA, SPAIN) - The present work is a summary of our doctoral thesis about the karst on the southern and eastern slopes of the Moncayo (SANZ PEREZ, 1984). An interesting example of subterranean capture from the atlantic watershed to the mediterranean is shown, qualitatively and quantitatively demonstrated through diverse hydrogeological techniques of study. In the first part of the article, diverse karstic forms are described, including the Araviana Polje (37 km2). The hydrogeological characteristics and dynamic of the karst give a detailed hydraulic balance from which it is deduced that 70% of the water feeding the Vozmediano stream, the outlet of the aquifer, of 1.1 m3/s, and situated in the Ebro valley, comes from the Duero basin.
SPELEOMORPHOLOGY OF POZO AZUL ("BLUE POOL") (BURGOS, SPAIN) - The present paper gives a morphological description of the Pozo Azul, which is the longest known submerged cave in Spain. It is associated with a karstic spring (x flow = 1m3/sec.) that drains an Upper Cretaceous aquifer situated in a syncline. Different morphological observations made on the section and orientation to the gallery, together with data concerning erosive and sedimentary phenomena, confirm a phreatic type of circulation.
THE SIPHON OF FUENTONA DE MURIEL (SORIA – SPAIN) - The present paper deals with the description of the siphon of Fuentona de Muriel (Soria – Spain), the deepest submerged cave in Spain, associated with a karstic spring of 1 m3/s mean flow. This spring drains a carbonated aquifer of Upper Cretaceous with a syncline geometrical form.
THE GYPSUM KARST OF THE CENTER OF THE EBRE BASSIN (SPAIN) - The central Ebro basin was filled with evaporitic deposits (gypsum and limestones) during the Miocene. During the Quaternary, several alluvial terrace and pediment levels were developed and they overlay the gypsum deposits. A large number of karstic landforms developed on gypsum have been found. The most important reason is its high solubility. We have found different types of microlandforms. The most important are Rillenkarren, solution pits and micro etching. There are also small tumuli. They are active at present. We have differentiated three macrolandforms: paleocollapses, depressions and alluvial dolines. The paleocollapses are very narrow and deep. They are filled with quaternary materials. They are not active and were generated in the Middle or Upper Pleistocene. The depressions were developed by the gypsum dissolution, together with topographical and geomorphologic factors. They do not seem to be active nowadays. The alluvial dolines are developed on the terrace and pediment deposits, which overlay gypsum materials. There is basin, well and pan-shaped dolines and they are especially frequent in the T2 terrace level. From the study of aerial photographs of different years, the variations in the number and size of dolines and their density have been determined. Natural factors (lithology and fractures), together with human activities (irrigation) are the principal causes in their development.
The massif of River Lobos, NW of the Iberian Range, is characterised by an important karst crossed by a canyon 26 km long. This canyon was dug into the Cretaceous limestones from a gradually eroded Neogene impervious cover by allogenic waters. The Cretaceous aquifer is drained by La Galiana spring. The general characteristics of the karstic relief and its hydrogeological functioning are descri-bed in this study. La Galiana spring is simulated by a mathematical model of precipitation-water flow. The results show a 4 to 5 day delay between precipi-tation and the spring flow.