Controversy over the great flood hypotheses in the Black Sea in light of geological, paleontological, and archaeological evidence, ,
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Yankohombach Valentina, Gilbert Allan S. , Dolukhanov Pavel,

Legends describing a Great Flood are found in the narratives of several world religions, and the biblical account of Noah's Flood is the surviving heir to several versions of the ancient Mesopotamian Flood Myth. Recently, the story of the biblical deluge was connected to the Black Sea, together with the suggestion that the story's pre-Mesopotamian origins might be found in the Pontic basin [Ryan, W.B.F., Pitman, III, W.C., 1998. Noah's Flood: The New Scientific Discoveries About the Event That Changed History. Simon and Schuster, New York]. Based on the significance of this flood epic in the Judeo-Christian tradition, popular interest surged following publication of the idea.Currently, two Great Flood scenarios have been proposed for the Black Sea: (1) an Early Holocene event caused by catastrophic Mediterranean inflow at 7.2 ky BP (initial hypothesis of [Ryan et al., 1997. An abrupt drowning of the Black Sea shelf. Marine Geology 138, 119-126]) or 8.4 ky BP (modified hypothesis of [Ryan et al., 2003. Catastrophic flooding of the Black Sea. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science 31, 525-554.); and (2) a Late Pleistocene event brought on by Caspian influx between 16 and 13 ky BP [Chepalyga, A.L., 2003. Late glacial Great Flood in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. GSA Annual Meeting and Exposition, 2-5 November 2003, Seattle, USA, p. 460]. Both hypotheses claim that the massive inundations of the Black Sea basin and ensuing large-scale environmental changes had a profound impact on prehistoric human societies of the surrounding areas, and both propose that the event formed the basis for the biblical Great Flood legend.This paper attempts to determine whether the preponderance of existing evidence sustains support for these Great Floods in the evolution of the Black Sea. Based upon established geological and paleontological data, it finds that the Late Pleistocene inundation was intense and substantial whereas the Early Holocene sea-level rise was not. Between 16 and 13 ky BP, the Late Neoeuxinian lake (the Late Pleistocene water body in the Pontic basin pre-dating the Black Sea) increased rapidly from ~-14 to -50 m (below the present level of the Black Sea), then rose gradually to ~-20 m by about 11 ky BP. At 11-10 ky BP (the Younger Dryas), it dropped to ~-50 m. When the Black Sea re-connected with the Sea of Marmara at about 9.5 ky BP, inflowing Mediterranean water increased the Black Sea level very gradually up to ~-20 m, and in so doing, it raised the salinity of the basin and brought in the first wave of Mediterranean immigrants. These data indicate no major drawdown of the Black Sea after the Younger Dryas, and they do not provide evidence for any catastrophic flooding of the Black Sea in the Early Holocene.In addition, available archaeological and paleoenvironmental evidence from the Pontic region reveal no recognizable changes in population dynamics between 14 and 6 ky BP that could be linked to an inundation of large magnitude [Dolukhanov, P., Shilik, K., 2006. Environment, sea-level changes, and human migrations in the northern Pontic area during late Pleistocene and Holocene times. In: Yanko-Hombach, V., Gilbert, A.S., Panin, N., Dolukhanov, P.M. (Eds.), The Black Sea Flood Question: Changes in Coastline, Climate, and Human Settlement. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 297-318; Stanko, V.N., 2006. Fluctuations in the level of the Black Sea and Mesolithic settlement of the northern Pontic area. In: Yanko-Hombach, V., Gilbert, A.S., Panin, N., Dolukhanov, P.M. (Eds.), The Black Sea Flood Question: Changes in Coastline, Climate, and Human Settlement. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 371-385]. More specifically, Mesolithic and early Neolithic archaeological data in southeastern Europe and Ukraine give no indications of shifts in human subsistence or other behavior at the time of the proposed catastrophic flood in the Early Holocene [Anthony, D., 2006. Pontic-Caspian Mesolithic and Early Neolithic societies at the time of the Black Sea Flood: A small audience and small effects. In: Yanko-Hombach, V., Gilbert, A.S., Panin, N., Dolukhanov, P.M. (Eds.), The Black Sea Flood Question: Changes in Coastline, Climate, and Human Settlement. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 345-370; Dergachev and Dolukhanov, 2006. The Neolithization of the North Pontic area and the Balkans in the context of the Black Sea Floods. In: Yanko-Hombach, V., Gilbert, A.S., Panin, N., Dolukhanov, P.M. (Eds.), The Black Sea Flood Question: Changes in Coastline, Climate, and Human Settlement. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 489-514]

Fungal communities on speleothem surfaces in Kartchner Caverns, Arizona, USA, ,
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Vaughan Michael J. , Maier Raina M. , Pryor Barry M.

Kartchner Caverns, located near Benson, Arizona, USA, is an active carbonate cave that serves as the major attraction for Kartchner Caverns State Park. Low-impact development and maintenance have preserved prediscovery macroscopic cavern features and minimized disturbances to biological communities within the cave.. The goal of this study was to examine fungal diversity in Kartchner Caverns on actively-forming speleothem surfaces. Fifteen formations were sampled from five sites across the cave. Richness was assessed using standard culture-based fungal isolation techniques. A culture-independent analysis using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was used to assay evidence of community homogeneity across the cave through the separation of 18S rDNA amplicons from speleothem community DNA. The culturing effort recovered 53 distinct morphological taxonomic units (MTUs), corresponding to 43 genetic taxonomic units (GTUs) that represented 21 genera. From the observed MTU accumulation curve and the projected total MTU richness curve, it is estimated that 51 percent of the actual MTU richness was recovered. The most commonly isolated fungi belonged to the genera Penicillium, Paecilomyces, Phialophora, and Aspergillus. This culturebased analysis did not reveal significant differences in fungal richness or number of fungi recovered across sites. Cluster analysis using DGGE band profiles did not reveal distinctive groupings of speleothems by sample site. However, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) analysis of culture-independent DGGE profiles showed a significant effect of sampling site and formation type on fungal community structure. Taken together, these results reveal that diverse fungal communities exist on speleothem surfaces in Kartchner Caverns, and that these communities are not uniformly distributed spatially. Analysis of sample saturation indicated that more sampling depth is required to uncover the full scale of mycological richness across spelothem surfaces.

Human impact on the „Raj'' Cave in the Holy Cross Mountains (Góry Swi?tokrzyskie). [in Polish], 1977,
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Rubinowski, Zbigniew

Mayan Urbanism: Impact on a Tropical Karst Environment, 1979,
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Deevey Es, Rice Ds, Rice Pm, Vaughan Hh, Brenner M, Flannery Ms,

From the first millennium B.C. through the 9th-century A.D. Classic Maya collapse, nonurban populations grew exponentially, doubling every 408 years, in the twin-lake (Yaxha-Sacnab) basin that contained the Classic urban center of Yaxha. Pollen data show that forests were essentially cleared by Early Classic time. Sharply accelerated slopewash and colluviation, amplified in the Yaxha subbasin by urban construction, transferred nutrients plus calcareous, silty clay to both lakes. Except for the urban silt, colluvium appearing as lake sediments has a mean total phosphorus concentration close to that of basin soils. From this fact, from abundance and distribution of soil phosphorus, and from continuing post-Maya influxes (80 to 86 milligrams of phosphorus per square meter each year), which have no other apparent source, we conclude that riparian soils are anthrosols and that the mechanism of long-term phosphorus loading in lakes is mass transport of soil. Per capita deliveries of phosphorus match physiological outputs, approximately 0.5 kilogram of phosphorus per capita per year. Smaller apparent deliveries reflect the nonphosphatic composition of urban silt; larger societal outputs, expressing excess phosphorus from deforestation and from food waste and mortuary disposal, are probable but cannot be evaluated from our data. Eutrophication is not demonstrable and was probably impeded, even in less-impacted lakes, by suspended Maya silt. Environmental strain, the product of accelerating agroengineering demand and sequestering of nutrients in colluvium, developed too slowly to act as a servomechanism, damping population growth, at least until Late Classic time

Distribution of cyanobacteria and lichens on hillsides in the Neger Highlands and their impact on biogenic weathering, 1983,
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Danin A. , Garty J.

Le rôle des héritages quaternaires dans les karsts alpins : le cas des Alpes du Sud, 1984,
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Julian, M.

THE PART OF THE QUATERNARY INHERITED FEATURES IN THE ALPINE KARSTS: THE EXAMPLE OF THE SOUTHERN ALPS - The periglacial past-processes influenced karst landforms. 1) the paleoclimatical change (Würm) related to the present climatical parameters; 2) the impact of periglacial processes on the superficial karst; 3) the internal evolution of the karst during the cold phases.

Correction and protection in limestone terrace, 1984,
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Sowers G. F.

A comparison of sinkhole depth frequency distributions in temperate and tropical karst regions, 1984,
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Troester J. W. , White E. L. , White W. B.

Phases d'effondrements aux grottes préhistoriques, du Würm à l'Holocène dans le Midi de la France, 1985,
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Blanc, J. J.

SEQUENCES OF COLLAPSES FROM WüRM TO HOLOCENE IN PREHISTORIC CAVES (SOUTH-EAST OF FRANCE) - Multivariates methods (factorial and discriminant analysis) applied to many accurate stratigraphy and sedimentary sequences files deal just-dated cave-collapses observed into cavity and rock-shelters in the SE of France, show some detailed interpretations about the mechanism inducing the blocks-falls. This work places in a prominent position the various influences relative to cold climates and wet environments, degree of rock jointing of cave-walls and the sismo-tectonic impacts.

The History of Cave Studies, 1986,
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Shaw, Trevor R.

The purpose of this paper is to set the overall scene for those that follow. Its aim is to provide a context for the ones dealing specifically with cave work in Australia. It examines the ways in which cave studies have developed elsewhere in the world, in different circumstances and under different constraints. There is not space here to consider the growth of ideas on speleogenesis, karst hydrology, the formation of speleothems, and the more 'scientific' aspects of the subject (Shaw, 1979). Discussion is therefore limited to progress in cave exploration and recording. Also, because of its impact on the serious study of caves, the growth of the general public's awareness of caves is touched upon. Interest in caves and the amount known about them has increased like so many things at an increasing rate, largely because after a certain stage existing knowledge aided subsequent work. For many centuries though, indeed for most of recorded history, this use of previous knowledge did not occur and explorations if they took place at all, were sporadic. It is convenient to divide cave history into four periods: a) the prehistory of cave exploration : to c.1000 B.C. b) isolated expeditions : c.1000 B.C. - c.1650 A.D. c) explorations making use of published information : c.1650 - 1878 d) explorations by cave societies : 1879 - date

Le peuplement animal des karsts de France (éléments de biogéographie souterraine pour les invertébrés, première partie : la faune aquatique), 1987,
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Ginet R. , Juberthie C.

THE BIOGEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS IN FRENCH KARSTS (FIRST PART: THE AQUATIC FAUNA) - This text analyses the bibliographic data in order to draw up a schematic representation of the biogeographical distribution of Invertebrate animals found in French karsts up to 1985. The animal population of these karsts is very varied, especially in the South of France. For many groups, there are obvious links with geological history and paleo-ecology. This text first lists the aquatic groups (from Porifera to Crustacea; the latter is the most varied and numerous in karstic water). It puts forward possible solutions to the problems posed by the ways followed by the ancestors of present-day groups, either of superficial fresh-water origin, or of marine origin during the Tertiary, and whose areas were later modified by the impact of Quaternary glaciations. For the terrestrial groups (cf. Karstologia n° 11), subterranean penetration followed different pathways, among which the Superficial Hypogean Compartment (MSS = Milieu Souterrain Superficiel) plays an obvious role; this shows that many troglobites are not limited, in the underground environment, to just caves and the karst. The Arthropods, and among them the Insects, are of course the most varied and the best known. Their biogeographical distribution reflects the problems of speciation, ecology and endemism, which are discussed in the text.

Impact of forest clearance on the soils of tropical cone karst., 1987,
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Furley P. A.

Fracture permeability: implications on cave and sinkhole development and their environmental assessments, 1987,
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Veni, G

Le peuplement animal des karsts de France (deuxième partie : éléments de biogéographie pour les Invertébrés terrestres), 1988,
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Ginet R. , Juberthie C.

THE BIOGEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS IN FRENCH KARSTS. SECOND PART THE TERRESTRIAL FAUNA - This text analyses the bibliographic data in order to draw up a schematic representation of the biogeographical distribution of Invertebrate animals found in french karsts up to 1985. The animal population of these karsts is very varied, especially in the south of France. For many groups, there are obvious links with geological history and paleo-ecology. This text first (cf. Karstologia n° 10) lists the aquatic groups (from Porifera to Crustacea; the latter is the most varied and numerous in karstic water). It puts forward possible solutions to the problems posed by the ways followed by the ancestors of present-day groups, either of superficial freshwater origin, or of marine origin during the Tertiary, and whose areas were later modified by the impact of quaternary glaciations. This second part concerns the terrestrial groups, subterranean penetration followed different pathways, among which the Superficial Hypogean Compartment (MSS = Milieu Souterrain Superficiel) plays an obvious role; this shows that many troglobites are not limited in the underground environment, just to caves and karst. The Arthropods, and among them the Insects, are of course the most varied and the best known. Their bio-geographical distribution reflects the problems of speciation, ecology and endemism, which are discussed in the text.

Impact des propriétés hydrodynamiques du substrat karstique sur la nature du sol en milieu méditerranéen, 1989,
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Verheye, W. H.

The impact of the hydrodynamic properties of the karst substratum over the soil characteristic in mediterranean areas - The weathering and pedogenetic evolution on limestones in mediterranean areas leads to the formation of a more or less decarbonated red soil. This evolution passes through successive stages of decarbonatation, rubification and decalcification and can be associated with a colour change, which includes lithochromic, brown and red phases. It is obviously influenced by the hydrodynamic properties of the soils and by the underground drainage characteristics of the substratum: hence soils developed over almost impermeable marly limestones remain at the lithochromic and/or brown levels, and decarbonatation remains weak; on hard and fractured limestones, pedogenesis is much more active and, even if the weathering volume on this rather pure rocks is small, the soil profile becomes almost completely devoid of free lime; under certain conditions a slight decalcification of the soil sorption complex may even be observed.