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December 1997 Volume 59 Number 3 JOURNAL OF ISSN 1090-6924 The CAVE AND KARST National Speleological Society STUDIES Bulletin THIS ISSUE: Condensation Corrosion in Movile Cave, Romania Presence of Rare-Earth Elements in Black Ferromanganese Coatings from Vântului Cave, Romania Generation of Cave Aerosols by Alpha Particles: Critical Evaluation of the Hypothesis Symposium: Cave Archeology in the Appalachian Mountains Harlansburg Cave: The Longest Cave in Pennsylvania Proceedings of the Society: Selected Abstracts 1997 NSS Convention in Sullivan, Missouri Hydrochemographs of Berghan Karst Spring as Indicators of Aquifer Characteristics Volume 59 Index A New Troglobitic Crayfish of the Genus Orconectes, Subgenus Orconectes (Decapoda: Cambaridae), Endemic to Shelta Cave, Huntsville, Alabama Journal of Cave and Karst Studies Editor Louise D. Hose Volume 59 Number 3 December 1997 Environmental Studies Program Westminster College CONTENTS Fulton, MO 65251-1299 (573) 573-5303 Voice (573) 642-2175 FAX Articles [email protected] Condensation Corrosion in Movile Cave, Romania Production Editor Serban M. Sarbu and Cristian Lascu 99 James A. Pisarowicz Wind Cave National Park Generation of Cave Aerosols by Alpha Particles: Hot Springs, SD 57747 Critical Evaluation of the Hypothesis (605) 673-5582 Serguei E. Pashenko and Yuri V. Dublyansky 103 [email protected] Harlansburg Cave: The Longest Cave in Pennsylvania BOARD OF EDITORS J. Philip Fawley and Kenneth M. Long 106 Earth Sciences-Journal Index Hydrochemographs of Berghan Karst Spring as Ira D. Sasowsky Indicators of Aquifer Characteristics Department of Geology Ezzatollah Raeisi and Gholamhosein Karami 112 University of Akron Akron, OH 44325-4101 A New Troglobitic Crayfish of the Genus Orconectes, (330) 972-5389 Subgenus Orconectes (Decapoda: Cambaridae), [email protected] Endemic to Shelta Cave, Huntsville, Alabama John E. Cooper and Martha Riser Cooper 119 Conservation Presence of Rare-Earth Elements in Black Ferromanganese George Huppert Coatings from Vântului Cave (Romania) Department of Geography Bogdan P. Onac, Rolf B. Pedersen and Magne Tysseland 128 University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse LaCrosse, WI 54601 [email protected] Cave Archaeology in the Appalachian Mountains Life Sciences Overview of the Human Use of Caves in Virginia: David Ashley A 10,500 Year History Michael B. Barber and David A. Hubbard, Jr. 132 Department of Biology Missouri Western State College Stable Isotope Analysis of Human Remains: St. Joseph, MO 64507 A Tool for Cave Archaeology (816) 271-4334 Carmen C. Trimble and Stephen A. Macko 137 [email protected] Science Versus Grave Desecration: Social Sciences The Saga of Lake Hole Cave Marion O. Smith Thomas R. Whyte and Larry R. Kimball 143 P.O. Box 8276 Four Thousand Years of Native American Cave Art University of Tennessee Station Charles H. Faulkner 148 Knoxville, TN 37996 Virginia Burial Caves: An Inventory of a Desecrated Resource Anthropology David A. Hubbard, Jr. and Michael B. Barber 154 Patty Jo Watson Osteological Comparison of Prehistoric Native Americans Department of Anthropology From Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee Mortuary Caves Washington University C. Clifford Boyd, Jr. and Donna C. Boyd 160 St. Louis, MO 63130 Exploration Proceedings of the Society: Selected Abstracts Douglas Medville 1997 NSS Convention in Sullivan, Missouri 166 11762 Indian Ridge Road Reston, VA 22091 Authors 177 [email protected] Cave Science News 179 Book Reviews Betty Wheeler 1830 Green Bay Street Volume 59 Index 182 LaCrosse, WI 54601 The Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, formerly The NSS Bulletin, (ISSN 1090-6924) is published three times a year Proofreader by the National Speleological Society, 2813 Cave Avenue, Huntsville, Alabama 35810-4431; (205) 852-1300; FAX (205) 851-9241, e-mail: [email protected]; World Wide Web: http://www.caves.org/~nss/. The annual subscription fee, Donald G. Davis worldwide, by surface mail, is $18 US. Airmail delivery outside the United States of both the NSS News and the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies is available for an additional fee of $40 (total $55); The Journal of Cave and Karst JOURNAL ADVISORY BOARD Studies is not available alone by airmail. POSTMASTER: send address changes to the Journal of Cave and Karst Rane Curl Andy Flurkey Studies, 2813 Cave Avenue, Huntsville, Alabama 35810-4431. Horton Hobbs Albert Krause Copyright © 1997 by the National Speleological Society, Inc. Printed on recycled paper by American Web, 4040 Jim Mead John Mylroie Dahlia Street, Denver, Colorado 80216 Jim Nepstad Will White Cover: Bone Cave. See Hubbard and Barber, page 154. Serban M. Sarbu and Cristian Lascu-Condensation Corrosion in Movile Cave, Romania. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 59(3): 99-102. CONDENSATION CORROSION IN MOVILE CAVE, ROMANIA SERBAN M. SARBU Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati OH 45221- 0006 USA CRISTIAN LASCU “Emil Racovita” Speleological Institute, Str. Frumoasa 11, 78114 Bucharest ROMANIA Condensation corrosion is the dissolution of carbonate by acidic vapors condensing above the water table. This process is rarely noted and receives little attention in the mainstream cave literature. The oolitic limestone walls in Movile Cave’s upper dry passages are severely altered by a selective corrosion mechanism. Temperature differences between the water in the lower passages and the walls in the upper passages and high concentrations of CO2 in the cave atmosphere create favorable conditions for con- densation corrosion to take place. Carbon and oxygen stable isotope data support the hypothesis that condensation corrosion is the major mechanism currently affecting the morphology of Movile Cave’s upper dry level. Condensation corrosion is the dissolution of carbonate by High concentrations of carbon dioxide in the cave atmos- acidic vapors condensing above the water table (Ford & phere favor the production of large quantities of carbonic acid Williams, 1989). This carbonate dissolution process is rarely thus accelerating the process of limestone dissolution (James, noted and receives little attention in the mainstream cave liter- 1994). ature (Jameson, 1991). The effects of condensation corrosion Movile Cave in southeastern Romania was discovered in were reported from several non-thermal caves (Jameson, 1991; 1986 when an artificial shaft intercepted a natural cave passage 1995) as well as from many hydrothermal caves which exhib- at the depth of 18 m below the surface (Lascu, 1989; Sarbu & it specific dissolution patterns (Bakalowicz et al., 1987; Cigna Kane, 1995; Sarbu et al., 1996). It consists of an upper dry & Forti, 1986; Collignon, 1983; Palmer & Palmer, 1989). level (total explored length: 200 m) and a lower submerged Cupola-form solution pockets have also been modeled as con- level (total explored length: 40 m). For information on the densation corrosion cells (Szunyogh, 1984). It appears that location and detailed map of Movile Cave see Sarbu & Kane condensation corrosion is a quantitatively important force of (1995). The cave is developed in oolitic and fossil-rich lime- speleogenesis in semi-desert karst areas of Central Asia stone of Sarmatian age (i.e., late Miocene, about 12.5 Ma) that according to A. Maltsev (personal communication) as well as contains numerous molluscan fossils (Lascu, 1989). in the Mediterranean region (Pasquini, 1973). Several studies Following the examination of the cave’s morphology, performed in caves developed in soluble rocks (i.e. gypsum), Constantinescu (1989) concluded that the cave has a phreatic attempted to determine the amount of bedrock dissolved by origin. He also pointed out that the upper level of the cave is condensation corrosion (Cigna & Forti, 1986; Calaforra et al., extremely dry as a consequence of the lack of water infiltration 1993). from the surface and considered that the lack of speleothems is The mechanism proposed for condensation corrosion is the effect of the dry climate in the region. (Average annual simple: water vapors condense when the temperature decreas- precipitation in southeastern Dobrogea is 350 mm). The lower es reaching the dew point; drops of water or thin water films level is flooded by thermal water (20.9°C) flowing at a rate of result when condensation occurs on walls; water drips from 5 l/s (Sarbu & Kane, 1995). The water contains significant walls and ceiling if condensation rates are sufficiently large amounts of sulfide (0.3mMol/l), ammonium (0.3mMol/l) and (Jameson, 1995); carbon dioxide from the cave atmosphere methane (0.2mMol/l). An abundant and diverse microbiota dissolves in the condensate to form carbonic acid [1]. lives in the sulfidic waters and on the cave walls adjacent to the water (Sarbu et al., 1994). The food produced in situ by CO2 + H2O → H+ + HCO3- (1) chemoautotrophic microorganisms supports a rich community of cave limited invertebrates (Sarbu et al., 1996). The atmos- Carbonic acid reacts with the carbonate bedrock forming phere in Movile Cave is rich in carbon dioxide and depleted in bicarbonate [2] which is transported by the condensate as it oxygen (Sarbu & Kane, 1995). Hydrogen sulfide is present in drains down the cave walls. the cave atmosphere in the lower level of the cave, but has not been detected in the upper dry cave level (Sarbu, unpublished). 2H+ + CO32- + CaCO3 → 2HCO3- + Ca2+ (2) In the upper dry level of Movile Cave, the surface of the cave walls is soft, and petrographic analysis showed that the bedrock is severely corroded (Horoi, 1994). Individual oolites