CAVES The Journal of the Australian Speleological Federation AUSTRALIA

Tianxing 2011 Expedition Bungonia Paleo-Sediment Project Finished Infectious Diseases in Caves Speleothem Paleoclimatic Records

No. 187 • DECEMBER 2011 F Coming Events This list covers events of interest to anyone seriously interested in caves and karst. The list is just that: if you want further information the contact details for each event are included in the list for you to contact directly. The relevant websites and details of other international A S and regional events may be listed on the IUS website http:///www.uis-speleo.org/ or on the ASF website http://www.caves.org.au. For international events, the Chair of International Commission (Nicholas White, [email protected]) may have extra information. This list only covers events in 2011 and the first half of 2012. However, 2013 looks very busy with the next ASF Conference, TAGalong, in January at Galong NSW, the ACKMA Conference in May at Waitomo Caves, New Zealand and the international IUS congress in July at Brno, Czech Republic. We’ll keep you posted on these events in future Caves Australia issues 2012 January 7 June 25-29 ASF Council Meeting, Bankstown Grammar School Sydney. For details NSS Convention in Greenbrier Valley, WV. For details see the MAYACON contact your club. 2012 website (http://www.nss2012.com/) March 14-18 September 13-15 15th International Symposium on Vulcanospeleology, Amman, Jordan. International Congress on Scientific Research in Show Caves, Skocjan Caving field trips to the volcanic fields of Jordan and possibly Syria, March Caves Park, Slovenia. The Congress will focus on scientific research in show 19-22, 2012. Details are available at http://www.vulcanospeleology.org/ caves. For details of the venue, program and costs check the Park Škocjanske April 11—13 jame website http://www.park-skocjanske-jame.si or e-mail: [email protected] 15th Australasian Bat Society Conference and AGM, Melbourne. Details on for details. the society website: http://tinyurl.com/7uravjk September 16 -21 May 4-6 39th International Hydrogeology (IAH) Congress, Niagara Falls, Canada. ACKMA Annual General Meeting (and 25th birthday), Wee Jasper, NSW. The 2012 Congress will allow the presentation of a wide variety of new and For details contact Suzanne Newnham [email protected]. evolving hydrogeological issues and opportunities that includes a major ses- sion on Karst Hydrogeology. For details see: http://www.iah2012.org/index. php Mole Creek Caving A letter to the Editor

To the Editor: caver and has been a member of the Savage of the caves by cavers...” is not true. Stephen The article in Caves Australia 185 titled River Caving Club since 1991. Stephen is has systematically documented many karst “Whatever Happened to Mole Creek?” by also currently a member of the Northern areas in north-west Tasmania (Caves of Stephen Bunton was a good and interest- Caverneers and has been for many years. Gunns Plains, 2004; Moina Caves, 2003 are ing account of the history of caving at Mole During this time Stephen has contrib- good examples) and he is currently working Creek in Tasmania but I was disappointed uted to and made available much informa- on a publication that documents the caves with the author’s portrayal of Stephen tion to the Speleo community on Mt Cripps, of Mole Creek. Blanden as a secretive solo caver towards the Gunns Plains, Moina Caves and Mole Creek All of his publications are available for end of this article and I wanted to respond in either specific publications or in the purchase through Savage River caving Club to this. As a proofreader for this publication many articles published in Speleopod (the or Stephen himself. Stephen was offended I was upset to have missed the comments journal of the Savage River Caving Club) at being labelled an “amateur caver” and I made in this article and I can only apologise and in Troglodyte (the Northern Caverneers am not surprised, because with this list of for this oversight. magazine). achievements in karst documentation, that Soon after Stephen Blanden’s arrival The claim that “...there is no real, con- label is unfair. in Tasmania in 1984, he became an active certed effort at systematic documentation —Jodie Rutledge

Page 2 • Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 CAVES AUSTRALIA A S Caves Australia is the Journal of the Caves Australia Australian Speleological Federation and is F published quarterly. No.187 December 2011 This work is © copyright 2011, Australian Speleological Federation Australian Speleological Federation PO Box 388 • Broadway • NSW 2007 • www.caves.org.au Incorporated, although copyright in articles, ABN 15 169 919 964 photographs and illustrations remains with ISSN 1449-2601 • Registered Publication NBQ0005116 the authors. Aside from any fair dealings for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1974, no part Contents may be reproduced without the written consent of the author and/or publisher and the inclusion and acknowledgement of the source. The views expressed in Caves Australia Coming Events...... 2 are not necessarily those of the Editor or Mole Creek Caving...... 2 Publisher (the Australian Speleological Federation) or its Executive, Commissions A letter to the Editor or Committees. Editorial: Plan for Action...... 4 Editor: Ian Curtis President’s Report...... 4 Email: [email protected] Tianxing 2011...... 5 Production and Advertising Manager: Alan Jackson Alan Jackson Email: [email protected] 2012 Speleo Projects Calendar...... 10 Proofreading: Introduction to Timor Caves...... 11 Susan White Garry K. Smith Greg Middleton Joe Sydney B4 Paleo Cave-Sediment Preservation Project Finished...... 12 Jodie Rutledge Bungonia National Park NSW ASF: [email protected] Joe Sydney and Dirk Stoffels For all ASF publications: [email protected] Infectious diseases in caves...... 15 Editorial contributions are welcome! An Australian perspective For contributor guidelines, contact the Nicholas White, Andy Spate and Janeen Samuel Production Manager. Murra-El-Elevyn Water Temperature...... 17 Advertising Contact the Production Manager for Peter Buzzacott commercial, caving community and Unlocking the Potential of Speleothem Paleoclimatic Records...... 20 classified rates. Rates range from $5 to $400 Helen Green for full page mono back cover. Discounts apply for placements of 4 adverts and an Review: Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3D...... 22 up-front payment. Susan White Issue Dates March, June, September and December Review: ACKMA CD: Magazine Subscription Conference Proceedings and Journal Articles 2011...... 22 Journals are included within ASF Susan White membership fees. Subscription to magazine is also available to non-ASF members at $40.00 including postage within Australia for one year (four quarterly issues). Change of address Notify us immediately of any address Cover: Pitch in Da Keng Wan, China. Photo by Rob Middleton. changes to ensure delivery of your Caves Australia. ASF Executive President Stan Flavel Senior Vice President Joe Sydney Vice President Jim Crocker Vice President Phil Maynard Vice President John Cugley Layout and Production by Treasurer Grace Matts Summerleas Print, Kingston, Tasmania Executive Secretary Debbie Hunter General Secretary Bob Kershaw Membership Colin Tyrrell

Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 • Page 3 F EDITORIAL

A S President’s report PLAN FOR Season’s Greetings to One and All ACTION e-reading the Timor quarry Rstruggle to protect the karst (Newcaves Chronicles Vol.34 July 2010) has brought back memories of ne of the undisputed laws of the smaller local struggles in our area: a cosmos is that as we get older time plan to enlarge a quarry; rezoning of O flies faster (this is now further supported land from rural to heavy industrial; by the recent observation that matter can ‘harvesting’ water from catchment go faster than the speed of light). areas and creeks and pumping it into 2011 has all but disappeared behind me storage dams. as I have had my head and mind absorbed In every instance a plan has been in the complexities of human neuroscience. presented to our community with Many times this year I have related minimal community consultation personal events in and around caves and and, to my recollection, with scant observations of fellow cavers and found regard for the environmental issues, interesting insights as to what makes us dif- despite protestations to the contrary. ferent and also the same and what the real Some of the strategies used here to addiction to caving is all about. try to change/influence plans might I promise an interesting article for an be helpful if your club has concerns upcoming issue of Caves Australia. you as can come to the ASF Council meet- about an issue: The warmth of summer encompasses me ing in January in Sydney. ❚ Ask to see the Development Ap- and a few upcoming opportunities to ven- It will be a time to define and tick the plication (DA). There may even be ture underground are welcome and I will boxes and see where and how the Federa- older DA’s for the same area. Check head north and east to do just that. tion is developing and being effective. if guidelines have been breached in This year has seen many things happen- We may think we get bogged down in the past. ing in Australian caving with great new politics in ASF but as a professional body discoveries and subsequent documentation we must be able to be introspective and ❚ Get a copy of protected woodlands all around the country. break out of self-limiting practice and move (Box/Gum) from NPWS. Do a flora Every state has far from exhausted the forward as is necessary. and fauna checklist. As well, check exploration potential of its own karst and it We will meet to discuss and develop and to see if development change will often is the more accessible cavities that get show the world what our common sport, have any effect on water. the immediate attention. hobby and vocation of Speleology is all ❚ Contact individual local council With time and energy, gaps in knowl- about. members (after a committee of some edge will be filled and other small gaps may I commend all of the Executive and kind has been formed). In every in- be slightly modified (to allow me in!) Commission members for the tireless work stance we found that council policy It is great to see that all problems and they do. ASF is in a good place and is mov- is not unanimous. Writing letters to disputes have definable and attainable solu- ing forward in a timely manner. our local paper before contacting tions and, given the wide range of personal- The potential of where to go to is limited them proved helpful, too. ities and backgrounds of all cavers and cave by energy and, to a smaller degree, time. ❚ Find like-minded groups and broad- managers, time is the important element… Let us get down and dirty, then clean up en your support. everybody can mellow and back down from and talk the talk. ❚ Meet regularly, keep good minutes their personal agenda. Time heals. In Caving and keep everyone informed. Lo- I look forward to meeting as many of Stan Flavel cal stakeholders (landowners) we found nearly always supportive and Articles for informal networks quite influential. Wanted All campaigns are very wearing Caves Australia! and wearying. Whether caving, cave diving or generally just caving, Caves Australia Despite this, our experience has readers are interested in YOUR story. been (as was NVHSS’s) that commu- It is only with YOUR contribution that we can produce a quality nity/personal ties are strengthened magazine for all to enjoy. For writing and style guidelines, contact the and new friends made. Editor or Production Manager for further information.

Page 4 • Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 EXPL Tianxing 2011 O RA

Alan Jackson STC TION

he Hong Meigui Cave Exploration TSociety (HMG) has been taking on the immense task of exploring the caves of China’s vast limestone geology since January 2001. This year four ASF mem- bers were lucky enough to tag along on the annual expedition to the area of Tianxing this past September, enjoying a few weeks of deep vertical cave exploration. To provide the full background on the history and accolades of HMG would re- quire a lengthy article on its own. A fairly comprehensive website covering the “who, what, where and why” of the society can be found at www.hongmeigui.net. In a nut- shell: China is a bloody big country; a very large percentage of that country is covered

with limestone; that limestone is chock full shin of empty spaces conducive to a sport called

‘caving’. In the eleven years that HMG has r m a pa Di been up and running its members have Tanya (Russia) and a shield in Zuan Yan Keng participated in over 90 expeditions and have explored and surveyed over 388 km of cave. soaring bridges and numerous tunnels (up tination. The motorway was soon a distant The longest individual cave/system is 61 km to 7 km long) cut a swathe through the memory as we were whisked up the narrow, long and the deepest cave so far is 1020 m increasingly exciting karst landscape. Wul- gravel, winding goat track with our driver (with estimated depth potential in excess of ong, a small city of around 300,000 people, trying to emulate some rally driving hero. 2000 m in one area). In short — China is a is a popular spot for local and international cave explorer’s paradise. tourists; it acts as a gateway to the South he expedition was for five weeks but This trip was the 11th annual expedition China Karst UNESCO World Heritage Site. Twe Australians only turned up for the to the Tianxing area. Tianxing is a small From Wulong it is usually a short trip up last three weeks. A total of 25 people partici- tobacco-growing rural village perched high into the hills to Tianxing, via a visit to regis- pated but only seven of those people stayed in the rolling hills of southwestern China. ter with the local police in nearby Jiangkou. the full five weeks. There were 12 Poms (one To get there we flew into Chongqing (a mas- However, due to a road closure this year, it of whom, Duncan Collis, resides princi- sive filthy super-city on the Yangtze River took an extra hour or two to get to our des- pally in China and has been a driving force with a total municipal population of around behind HMG since the beginning), four 29 million people). Chongqing met all my Australians (Serena Benjamin, Janine McK- expectations of what urban China would innon, Tim Moulds and me), four Russians, be like — packed with people, high-density a Canadian, two Americans (Steve currently apartment block living, traffic chaos, hor- lives in Shanghai and Erin Lynch mostly rendous air pollution and a raging pace of lives in nearby Wulong and is the adhesive development. The next leg was a ~2.5 hour that formed and binds HMG together), one bus ride east on the new (4-5 years old) Chinese and one Indian. Numbers fluctu-

motorway to the city of Wulong. Apparently c kson ated during the expedition but peaked at 24 this leg used to take around 7 hours by bus for almost a week in the middle. It was a lot

but the motorway carves a more direct line alan ja of people. with little respect for valleys or mountains; Typical Chongqing traffic Accommodation and facilities were

Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 • Page 5 Karst scenery on the track to Da Keng Wan

pretty good. Erin’s long presence in the area that surface water doesn’t hang around for he first priority of the expedition was (11 years), her command of the language long. All drinking water was (and always Tto push Zuan Yan Keng, or People Go and, most importantly, her vivacious yet is) brought in in bottles/drums but this Down Cave (PGD). PGD is not a translation diligent personality means that pretty much year there was very little washing or toilet of Zuan Yan Keng — keng means ‘pit’ but everything has been thought of and planned flushing liquid. Important parts of the body Zuan Yan is more a geographical reference for in advance. were kept clean with a large supply of wet- than anything else. PGD had first been The expedition had access to numerous wipes. Caving gear cleaning was restricted found, a mere 150 m from ‘down town’ rooms (gear store, common room, sleeping to the bare minimum — for inspection Tianxing, in 1994. The first part of the cave areas and so on) and the owners of the build- of PPE safety. The toilet became increas- consists of a complex series of small active ings, Mr Liu and Mrs Wei kept us supplied ingly unpleasant as the expedition unfolded. inlets and oxbows with numerous dead with important consumables — principally Trogsuits were standing up by themselves, ends. During the 2005 expedition the cave food and beer. everyone was covered in a general layer of was revisited as a distraction from the main The only real problem for this year’s pig shit and cave mud (often the same thing push in another cave, Lan Mu Shu, and expedition was the water shortage. It had in rural China) and the general odour was progress was made to a large active stream been dry in the preceding months and being pretty bad. Fortunately we all smelled as bad passage. Several hundred metres of deep surrounded by a karst area tends to mean as one another. pools (‘lobster pots’), short cascades and ledge traverses have formed in the most appalling rock imaginable (a band of mud- stone sandwiched conformably between limestones). Time ran out with the cave at -177 m deep and 1.7 km long and wide open streamway passage. A little more progress was made in 2006 which saw the end of the horizontal streamway passage reached (now coined Comfortably Numb) — it terminated in a ~50 m pitch. The nature of the rock still hadn’t changed but, thanks to some extra long through bolts, the pitch, christened Crappy Crapola Crapstone, was dropped and some real limestone was found again. The survey only made it to the top of Crappy Crapola (-207 m deep and 2 km long) but the way on beyond the 50 m pitch was open. Imogen Furlong had been on the 2005 expedition and PGD had been eating away at the back of her mind for years. Imo has caved extensively internationally and had little trouble pulling together a strong international team from the contacts she’s shin made over the years for a proper PGD push in 2011. By the time we Aussies arrived at r m a pa

Di the end of week two the known parts of the Entrance pitch, Da Keng Wan cave had been rigged (with quite a bit of

Page 6 • Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 NICHOLAUS VIEIRA re-bolting with long bolts in the mudstone) ten also meant that an 18+ hour bounce trip the junction at -550. This meant we had a and four push/survey trips had been under- would only yield 100-150 m of new passage, 50 m pitch between us and our water supply taken. The cave had taken on a more vertical sometimes less — not a good return. and urine disposal spot! nature and it was then surveyed to -550 m. Team 1, with a bit of support from some The ‘local experts’ (Duncan and Erin) had etting up camp had its own drawbacks, bouncing sherpas, headed in and set up theorised that PGD would connect into the Smainly the amount of extra gear that camp on day one with the intention of stay- underlying large master system, Dongba, needed to be carted in and, ultimately, ing two nights. A second team of three also most likely in an area near Glycogen Cham- carted out, too. Another positive, though, headed in on day one, but only to stay one ber (a huge 160 metre diameter chamber) was the reduced wear on your gear; repeat- night, to do some sherpa work and do some — the trend of the passage and the water ed trips to -600 m on muddy ropes wreak geology (Erin was the official rock-nerd volume matched an inlet in that area. This havoc with your descending and ascending keeping a track of strike, dip and faults). had seemed likely until the water sumped gear and the pile of dead Stop and Simple Our soft Western Australian member, Tim at -500 m and the way on became a dry, bobbins/pulleys was mounting back in the Moulds, was a member of Team Geology breccia-filled phreatic passage heading in gear store. The other issue with camping but he only made it to -200 m before decid- the opposite direction. was water — we’d lost the water at -500 m ing to leap across a turbid pool of unknown Two more bounce trips to the explora- and the only obvious spot to camp was at depth and substrate. What he found in the tion front followed before a decision was made to set up a camp. The first of these two trips had wasted some time trying to push through rockfall in the base of a large chamber before giving up and installing a bolt traverse into a promising looking ‘up’ passage above the chamber. The second trip showed that the up passage continued going with very large dimensions but more importantly there was a junction with a fossil streamway that got us back on the downward path. The old streamway seemed to terminate not long after in a mud-filled chamber but an unpromising-looking low passage heading off from the top of a mud bank surprised us by slowly changing to stooping passage, then standing passage, then downward-trending passage. It was now taking 3-5 hours to get to the pushing front (then 4-7 hours out again), depending on the group, which wasn’t leaving much time to explore on a 14-20 hour push trip. The expedition rules that enforced the ‘sur- IN vey what you explore’ principle as well as taking both back- and foresights for every leg and sketching to scale both plan and

elevation meant that progress was slow. This S ERE NA BE NJA M made for excellent quality survey but it of- Flying Monkeys Traverse, Zuan Yan Keng

Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 • Page 7 Tianxing 2011 TION O RA EXPL ith tho m as s Almost all the expedition members bottom of the pool was a rolled ankle — work. When we got to camp Team 2 had just ered out and headed for the surface while there’s a reason we usually keep our Western got back from their push and had spent the The Russians went to bed. Australian cousins quarantined behind a day surveying the big chamber. We set to The traverse over the 30 m pitch (Flying few thousand kilometres of desert but, un- trying to fix the radio and tried to push a Monkeys Traverse) went in easily enough fortunately, the resources boom in that state shitty drafting squeeze near camp. We failed and we were delighted to find large phreatic has lead to an increasing number of them on both accounts, but we did at least get the walking passage. We pushed one passage earning enough money to afford the airfares camp radio to receive — we just couldn’t to its termination (trending up) but noted required to escape. This incident had threat- transmit for some reason. The message from two other good leads unexplored. Back at ened to make it difficult for the remaining the surface was that the survey data put the camp that night we formulated a plan with members of Team Geology as in theory it exploration front at ~40 m vertically from a Erin. She and Andy would head off in the would mean they’d have four bags between connection with Dongba and instructed us morning for a super long push day beyond two people, one of whom was not a two bags where a likely tie-in station would be. This the connection. Nick (the super Canadian kind of caver, but luckily the bouncing sher- was relayed to the Russians and they headed caver) was coming in the next morning at pas in shining armour turned up with the off expecting to come back with good news light speed and would catch up with them good news that they’d double packed it right in the morning. and assist. Another three were also coming to camp despite having been instructed to in the following day to push the up lead drop some bags on the way. Note: it’s easy to e awoke from our slumbers in the behind camp and then help start the derig. trick an unsuspecting Russian who speaks Wmorning to the distant shouting of Imo, Serena and I (Team 4) would head zero English into taking his bags further the Russian version of ‘rope free’. Masha back to our lead over The Gash and then than originally planned as he didn’t know eventually dragged herself into camp and head out. The Russians left that evening. what the original plan was anyway! All’s well confirmed that the connection had been The following morning I couldn’t resist that ends well, although it was a slow trip made. This was great news but also slightly having a quick trip down to the connection out with the limping gimp. disappointing news … what would we do — I had to get my male-induced ‘must get Team 2 headed in the following morning now? Only Erin had visited the section of as deep as I can’ urge out of the way. Serena and Team 3 (The Russians) headed in that Dongba that we’d connected into (seven and I both went down, making ourselves evening, after sleeping all day in prepara- years previously) so only she knew the good useful by carting some rope and water down tion. This would allow us to ‘hot bed’ three leads and she wasn’t due at camp until the for the push team. I can now say I’ve been to of the six beds in camp and improve effi- evening. Rather than head down and waste -720 m, a new PB, and that Tasmanian caves ciency. I headed in with Team 4 the follow- time blindly wandering around a partially are not deep enough. ing morning. We met Team 1 as they headed explored area we decided to head back up We had a good long day on our way out out halfway along the cave. They reported the cave a bit (to -430 m) to push a lead pushing one of the two remaining leads that the cave was going (down) and they’d we’d spotted over the top of The Gash (a 30 we’d left the day before. We found dry pas- found a massive chamber (Devine Retribu- m pitch above the sump). We figured this sage that headed the same direction as the tion). This was our first update in a couple might provide a way back to the water the sump, surveyed to a point one metre lower of days as the Nicola Radio was refusing to other side of the sump. Team 2 was all tuck- than the sump and left a wide open lead to

Page 8 • Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 return to one day (or one year). We got out CA in the wee hours of the morning after some 64 hours underground.

The Dongba team had an epic day with V E VISIT more leads than they had time for. It was a pity that the connection wasn’t made till so close to expedition end. Another seven years should see the remaining leads suit- ably mature and ripe for another bout of exploration! The derig team filled in its day finishing the aid climb in the ascending passage above camp. This led to a long horizontal section that yielded some 200 m of new passage, ending up some 340 horizontally and 90 m vertically from camp, with ongoing leads. The next few days were dedicated to the derig. The initial derig team had an epic and got rope pulled out to -470 m and camp gear out to -320 m. The next team got all the gear up Crappy Crapola (I think I did that pitch four times that day with more bags than I care to remember and I must admit the Western Australian put in a good effort that day with a heavily strapped ankle and restored some lost honour) and trips over the next two days finally saw the last bag hauled up the entrance pitch. As well as the downstream pushes in PGD there were other projects on the go. Upstream in the main PGD stream passage (Comfortably Numb) some 800 m of passage were surveyed over six trips. It terminated at an aven at -81 m. An easy connection to this point in the cave would mean avoiding the squalor of the entrance series, saving lots of transit time. All up PGD, to the connection point with Dongba, came in just a fraction under 5 km in length. Da Keng Wan (Big Pit) and Liang Feng Dong (a.k.a. Beer Cooler) were two (now one) cave(s) that served as a welcome dis- traction from all the PGD action. The two caves were ultimately connected. DKW started out with a stunning 20 m entrance into a wide canyon which the sunlight poured into dramatically at certain times of the day. After a few trips a large chamber was found (~150 m long by 40 m wide) A which kept the surveyors busy for a while. A R E I

few spectacular decorations in the chamber, S V I one a ~10 m high egg-shaped blob of calcite (Thousand Year Egg), made for some good photography. In the end this cave exceeded NI C HOLA U 1.5 km in length and was left in wide open Thousand Year Egg, Da Keng Wan streamway passage at -258 m — another chose to wait until I was 31 years old and a Petzl America for their support. We would one for a future expedition. Beer Cooler, as father before I started putting my hand up also like to thank Andy Eavis and Oxford the name suggests, was a nice little drafting for international expeditions — I should University Caving Club for the loan of entrance conveniently located on the track have spent my early twenties, when I didn’t equipment. not far from DKW which served as a fridge have a mortgage and children, skipping Finally, thanks go to our Chinese for post trip beers. from expedition to expedition. What a pity contacts including the Institute of Karst wisdom only comes with age. Geology in Guilin; Panjie and the People’s ll up it was an excellent expedition Tianxing 2011 would like to thank the Government of Wulong; and Mrs Wei, Mr Afor me. It has left me wondering why I Ghar Parau Foundation, Starless River and Liu and the villagers of Tianxing.

Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 • Page 9 2012 Speleo

UE S Projects Calendar

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CA Rescue Squad and receive a gift calendar for your enjoyment! Twelve stunning images takes you on an enchanting subterranean journey to caves around the world. 24 free postcards included as a bonus Make your donation soon and don’t miss out on this great gift! Send your cheque to: C/- Grace Matts NSW Cave Rescue Squad Inc 176 William St Bankstown NSW 2200

Page 10 • Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 CA

Introduction to Timor Caves V E H

Garry K. Smith NHVSS ISTO RY he Timor Caves are believed to have Tbeen discovered around the early 1850s. They are located 24 km east-north- east of Murrurundi, near the Northern boundary of the Hunter Valley. This limestone is of the Middle to Up- per Devonian period, approximately 375 million years old. A water reserve was ga- zetted to include the caves on 12th March 1867, however “as there is no water on this reserve, in all probability the land was retained as a Water Reserve on account of the caves”. (Dunlop, E. H., 1924). If this is the case, then Timor Caves are among the earliest to be reserved in New South Wales.

The most popular and accessible caves ith are located along Isaacs Creek, a tributary of the Isis River, and are within the Caves

Ridge Reserve. G A RRy k. s m Timor — Main Cave TR1 The majority of caves are horizontal with a maximum vertical range of 20 m. Most can be explored by experienced cavers without the use of ladders or ropes and the larger caves can be fully explored in less than four hours. There are a number of very interesting geological features in these caves which are of great significance. These include fine examples of stalag- mites which have been deposited in early cave development, then partly eroded away by later passage development, thus creating sectioned speleothems which can be clearly seen on the cave walls today. There are also a number of old passages that have been in- ith filled by lava flows. Many of the caves at Timor are excellent examples of hypogene caves (created by ris- G A RRy k. s m ing groundwater). Grass trees on the Timor Karst Throw this in the mix with the stunning vately owned land and access to these caves Timor Caves — Hunter Valley, New South karst dotted with giant grass trees up to 7 is restricted. Wales which contains 57 cave maps, as well m tall and you have a landscape which will The Newcastle and Hunter Valley Speleo- as chapters on geology, invertebrates, bats, leave the observer with a lasting impression. logical Society Inc. (NHVSS) has over many karst-specific vegetation, birds, palaeontol- The Caves Ridge Reserve contains many years built up a good working relationship ogy, cave surveying and mapping, educa- of the public access caves which do not with landowners in the region, so cavers’ tional opportunities and minimal impact require permits. For a small fee visitors first point of contact should be through caving. are able to camp on privately owned land the NHVSS for access to caves outside the The book has a strong focus on conserva- adjacent to Isaacs Creek which borders reserve. tion of the environment and natural won- the Eastern boundary of the reserve. Away The NHVSS postal address is PO Box 15, ders, both above and below ground. It can from the reserve there are other caves in the Broadmeadows, NSW 2292 Australia. be ordered through the NHVSS website at Timor Karst; however, these are all on pri- NHVSS has recently published the book www.nhvss.org.au

Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 • Page 11 B4 Paleo Cave-Sediment TION A Preservation Project Finished

ER V Bungonia National Park NSW

Joe Sydney HCG Dirk Stoffels CSS V E PRE S

ungonia National Park has one so they informed the Bungonia Recreation aid in keeping cavers to a path, but would

CA Bof most significant karst regions in Advisory Group (BRAG). also assist those with limited climbing skills NSW. With over 300 known caves and In discussion with BRAG they asked needing to cross a wide void. deepest mainland cave, it is regarded as for cavers’ advice on what would be the With plans approved, it was time to one of the sporting meccas in Australia. best way of preserving the cave sediment. think about how to implement the concept. Not only do cavers regularly visit, but it HCG needed to consult with the New South CSS decided that a pre-construction mock is also visited by families and adventurous Wales Speleological Council clubs for fur- bridge would aid in seeing where it fitted, outdoor sports people. Bungonia offers ther advice, with the Canberra Speleological and also if the long lamination sections more than just caving with activities such Society (CSS) showing interest and offering could be taken into the cave. Sections of as canyoning, bushwalking, bird watching advice. The discussion between HCG and 50mm PVC pipe with joints were ordered and more. CSS brought up many ideas with the most and a date of February 2008 was set aside But with all this activity, there is a price suitable being some type of bridge. The idea to build the mock bridge. ASF clubs were to pay. In the early 90s when Julie Bauer, was floated with Parks and they too con- contacted for ‘experienced’ caver assistance author of the book Under Bungonia, was sulted their internal experts. Soon after it with 12 cavers turning up. researching the park’s geology as part of her was agreed that a bridge would be the most university studies, she recognised that some appropriate for this location. cave sediments were worth future research. It was some years later that the Highland Bridge design Caving Group (HCG) began noting the During 2008, CSS took on the challenge degradation of cave sediment by recreation- of designing a bridge and came up with an alists in the Kings Cross area of B4 Fossil initial design. The draft plan was submitted Cave. When they were crossing the Kings to Parks who in turn gave it to their engi- y Cross void and climbing the embankment, neers. e cave sediment was being kicked away from The engineers accepted the design with the wall and floor. Some HCG members few changes. The design is based on a num- d n jo e sy who also use the cave noted that the sedi- ber of horizontal laminations bolted togeth- New HCG member Fiona Ray marks ment was being eroded at an alarming rate, er and a vertical ladder. Not only would this PVC pipe for cutting. The pipes, joints and tools were taken into the cave with key people given tasks to do and soon the first side lamination/pipe was constructed. The bridge started to take form and we could see where the two bridge base plates needed to be installed. After a couple of hours, the PVC pipe bridge was complete. Most of it was then dismantled except for one 5-metre side section so that we could see if we could get it through the cave. If you know B4 Fossil Cave, there are some tricky sections that require some negotiation, but with lots of cavers spaced throughout the tight sections the process was quite easy. With the PVC side lamination mockup now sitting in Dirk Stoffels’ garage, it was

Page 12 • Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 B4 Paleo Cave-Sediment Preservation Project Finished

time to work on final specifications and A few cavers took the Friday off and CA metal requirements, which took some time. assisted with the pre-rigging of the cave, Consulting with Parks and their engineers, installing the electrical lead for power tools,

the most suitable material was selected and setting up the generator and a Michie S V E PRE based on geting the lamination sections into phone line. A UHF radio mast was also set the cave, the cave environment, cost, and up to communicate with cavers throughout ease of fabrication. the Park and Ranger station. Installation of all this took half a day so there was sufficient y e time for all the bridge laminations to be lowered into the entrance chamber. d n jo e sy Setting up rigging at B4 entrance. V ER A TION SH y e JOHN BRU d n jo e sy Lowering the lamination section into B4 entrance. Carrying a bridge section through B4 Fossil cave. fitted nicely so we exited the cave, taking all the bridge parts with us. Knowing that it y e would fit with little trouble eased our minds. Fabrication of the bridge and ladder was d n jo e sy finished in April as it took some months to Mock PVC bridge with ladder. cut and weld 11 mild steel laminations for the bridge and fabricate a ladder. The ASF

In the end, mild steel was selected with SH Parks experts agreeing. During early 2010 Conference at Chillagoe in Queensland Parks, with approval from the Karst Geodi- meant that key players would not be avail- versity Unit, approved funding of $3300 to able for installation of the bridge. On return JOHN BRU Levelling the bridge frame. purchase the steel required by CSS to fab- from the Conference HCG immediately sent ricate the bridge. In late 2010, with funding an email to clubs calling for assistance with now available the steel was purchased and installation on May 27th–29th. Twenty-four fabrication of two base plates and one side cavers turned up on the weekend. lamination could commence In February 2011 the two base plates and single side lamination were fabricated and ready for a test fitting. Clubs were contacted again for experienced cavers for

a trial installation date of Saturday 19 Feb- y ruary 2011. Thirteen cavers were selected e for their experience in various fields such as cave rigging, SRT etc. Three pitches were d n jo e sy Manoeuvering the lamination up into rigged for lowering and raising if needed the Letterbox Squeeze. and the 4.5-metre bridge component was wrapped to ensure cave protection. With so many cavers present throughout the cave it was easy to pass the lamination through. The trickiest section was at the southern end of The Canyon where we not- SH ed that a couple of well placed bolts to aid y lowering would not go astray. Later on the e bolt placement was discussed by BRAG in JOHN BRU

the interest of caving safety; it was thought d n jo e sy Drilling the anchor holes. that the bolts could also aid a rescue from Luke Gannon (HCG) measuring the level. Cavers were briefed at the B4 car park the popular cave if needed, so they were on safety, their tasks and toolboxes so that placed. everyone knew the overall plan and where At the Kings Cross void the two base things were. The first cavers started to enter plates were fitted with lamination and we around 9 am, bridge components and tools could see what rock required re-engineer- soon arrived and work commenced. First k e g annon

ing. With a bit of tweaking it looked as l u was levelling of base plates and then the though the bridge had sufficient room and Blackish Blind Snake found at second pitch. fitting of the side lamination. Once fitted,

Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 • Page 13 B4 Paleo Cave-Sediment Preservation Project Finished

the M20 x 200mm deep baseplate bolt holes were drilled, with bolts temporarily placed. When all the laminations were in place, the side bolts pulling the bridge together were placed and the bridge was then one solid piece of metal. TION With the bridge constructed by 6 pm, it A was time to exit the cave for a hot meal. As many caving clubs were involved, a grant from the ASF Karst Conservation Fund covered the costs of equipment, transport ER V of bridge components, petrol and a hot meal for the cavers! HCG members cooked up a fine meal with minestrone, marinated chicken and steak with hot potatoes and pasta salad followed by apple crumble with custard. The cavers were very appreciative that after a hard day’s work, hot food was ready for them. V E PRE S y

Later that night after dinner, a few key e cavers had to return to the cave to glue in the bolts. By the morning, the glue would CA d n jo e sy be set and the bridge ready for its final stage The bridge and ladder installed over B4 Kings Cross void. of construction, the ladder. The ladder did not take long to install and in the meantime, cavers started to take out what gear was not needed. By noon the ladder was installed and the cave completely de-rigged. The installation was a total success and is a testament to the experience and the hard working nature of all cavers involved. It is estimated that the worth of cavers’ time spent on this project between 1992 and May 2011 is around $47,300. HCC and CSS would like to thank Bungonia National Park and the Bungonia Recreation Advisory Group (BRAG) for al- lowing them to undertake this project. We also thank the ASF Karst Conserva- y tion Fund. e A final ‘Thank you’ must go to all the

hard-working cavers from the following d n jo e sy clubs: CASM, CSS, HSC, HCG, SUSS and Photo showing slot where cavers climbed and damaged paleo cave sediment on wall. The bridge encourages cavers to bypass this section. UTSS. ACKMA Journal September 2011 Managing Access to Caves in the Digital Age — Anne & Peter Wood Canterbury Earthquake — Moira Lipyeat NHVSS challenges Timor Quarry Appeal — Garry K. Smith & Jodie Rutledge Infectious Diseases — Nick White, Andy Spate & Janeen Samuel A visit to Shmoo Cave — John Brush Borenore Revisited — Kent Henderson Book Reviews Lovesong of the Dark — Geoff Kell Report on Cape Range World Heritage listing — Andy Spate. More information about ACKMA at: www.ackma.org

Page 14 • Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 HEAL Infectious diseases in caves An Australian perspective T H & S AFE Nicholas White (VSA), Andy Spate (WASG) and Janeen Samuel (VSA)

A recent article published in the jour- vectors associated with caves—bats, ar- Smith (1994) and Spate (1994: available nal Wilderness & Environmental Medicine thropods and birds. We will discuss each of on the ACKMA CD) provide discussions of (2011, Volume 22, pages 115-121) may these in turn below with the diseases in the histoplasmosis in Australia. Whitten’s very be of interest to cavers, cave managers, same order as in Dr Igreja’s paper personal paper (1992) makes for interest- scientists and others who visit caves, ing reading as it indicates how the medical especially outside Australia. The article, BATS profession can overlook the possibility of

titled Infectious Diseases Associated with In discussing the role of bats, it is im- diseases such as histoplasmosis. T

Caves, is by Dr Ricardo Pereira Igreja, from portant to note that the Order of bats, It’s a good idea to wear a proper mask Y the Department of Preventive Medicine, or Chiroptera, is divided into two main (not just one of those el cheapos you get in Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of groups: the Megachiroptera (“megabats”) hardware stores) wherever there’s a likeli- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It seems to be aimed and the Microchiroptera (“microbats”). The hood of heavy exposure to dried guano, primarily at clinicians, but it summarises megabats include the flying foxes; they are whether bird or bat. This mask should be of the infectious risks for cave users, and all fruit, nectar or pollen eaters and they do the particle filter type and fit well. NIOSH some of the precautions that can be taken not occur in the Americas or Europe. The (2005: National Institute Occupational against them, in a readable fashion. The microbats are found on every continent Safety and Health: Histoplasmosis Protect- paper should be read in conjunction with except Antarctica. Most are insectivorous ing Workers at Risk See: http://www.cdc. this discussion. It is somewhat simplistic in and some are cave-dwellers; in Australia all gov/niosh/docs/2005-109/) provides de- its discussion of who visits caves and why cave-dwelling bats are microbats. However, tailed advice. Should you suffer pulmonary they do. It doesn’t cover all the diseases that some microbats in the Americas eat fruit or or upper respiratory problems within about might affect Australian cave users. Read nectar and may be referred to as “fruit bats” two weeks of caving it would be prudent to it in full at http://www.wemjournal.org/ - and some African and Asian megabats live advise the medical system of your possible article/S1080-6032(11)00069-X/fulltext. in caves. The largest microbats are bigger exposure to histoplasmosis. Anti-fungal The abstract reads: than the smallest megabats, as exemplified treatment may be warranted and this is “In recent times, caving has become in Australia by the big “micro” ghost bat and quite different from treatment for tuber- increasingly popular, with almost 2 million the little “mega” blossom bats. culosis. In some individuals progression to people visiting national park caves each year The distinction between the two groups disseminated histoplasmosis can be a life- in the United States. Although the 2 million is important because, in the last fifteen threatening disease. tourist visits are extremely low risk, smaller years, several “emerging” diseases affect- numbers of sport cavers are at risk for some ing humans have been traced to a possible Rabies high risk conditions, and expedition cavers origin in one or more species of bat, and in “Classic” rabies doesn’t occur in Aus- are at risk for some obscure infections. In- almost every case these have been megabats. tralia, but the closely related Australian fectious diseases like histoplasmosis, rabies, So, although Dr Igreja is right in saying Bat Lyssavirus, which is present here in leptospirosis, and tick-borne relapsing fever bats are linked to the transmission of the megabats and some species of microbats, may be transmitted by the underground three diseases he lists, this is an oversim- produces an identical disease and has killed fauna. To reduce the risk of illness or injury plification. Any bat may give you rabies, no two people. In one instance the source of while caving, knowledge of potential risks bat will give you histoplasmosis, and only a the transmission to humans was a bite from before engaging in this activity is important. megabat (as far as we know to date) will give a fruit bat and in the other from handling Caving preparation needs to be carefully you Marburg haemorrhagic fever. a microbat, the non-cave-dwelling Yellow- planned and executed, including vaccina- bellied sheathtail bat (Saccolaimus flavi- tions, prophylactic medications, and advice Histoplasmosis ventris). The Australian Bat Lyssavirus has regarding safe conduct and behaviors.” Histoplasmosis does occur in Australia. been isolated from four species of megabat Below are some comments on the dif- There are reports of cases in cavers from (flying foxes) and from the Yellow-bellied ferent sections of the paper, with particular Wee Jasper, Bungonia, Timor (NSW) and sheathtail bat. Antibodies to the Australian reference to the situation in Australia. They Chillagoe as well as in geologists working Bat Lyssavirus have been found in seven are not complete in themselves but are in- in mines, and one death apparently associ- genera representing five of six families of tended to be read in conjunction with the ated with the demolition of a battery hen microbats in Australia. Some of these are paper. Please note that none of the three au- building in South Australia. The disease cave dwelling bat species (Anon., 2009). thors of these comments is either a medical is acquired by exposure to Histoplasma Experts are divided over whether the doctor or an expert on any of the diseases spores in dust generated by disturbance of virus has always been in Australia or is a discussed, so if you are concerned about a dry guano, not directly from bats nor from recent introduction. If the latter is the case, possible exposure you should consult your other infected animals or people. Bats can it could still be expanding into new species. medical adviser and/or the Department of become infected, and thus can theoretically Certainly, overseas bats of the same genera Health. transfer the causative fungus from one cave as our common cave-dwelling species have There are at least three potential disease to another by faecal contamination. been shown to carry Lyssaviruses. All bats

Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 • Page 15 Infectious diseases in caves—an Australian Perspective

should be regarded as potential carriers. to air travel, to several countries in Asia, Eu- People who are immuno-compromised or Anyone likely to be handling them (e.g. for rope and North America, and killed several suffer from pulmonary disease should seek

Y research or rescue purposes) should receive hundred people before it was eradicated. It expert medical advice before caving, par-

T prophylactic vaccination. Ordinary cavers is thought that the ultimate source of the ticularly if there is a likelihood of exposure should stay out of chambers with bats in virus was Chinese horseshoe bats (Rhino- to bird or bat guano. It goes both ways them, thus avoiding both disturbance of lophus sinicus), since a similar (though not Animals that live in caves may occasion- bats and risk of infection. identical) virus has been found in them. It ally pass diseases on to people, but it works is likely that another type of animal was in- the other way too: People may very easily Marburg – and Ebola – fected by the bats and then passed the virus carry disease-causing organisms from one Haemorrhagic Fevers to humans. cave to another, with devastating results to These only need to be considered if you Closely related viruses have been found the inhabitants. So, please, be careless if you are going overseas—mainly to Africa. In in other species of Rhinolophus in Europe. like about your own disease risk—Earth Africa, human infections with both these Horseshoe bats are microbats and cave- has no shortage of humans—but be very viruses have been linked to infections in dwellers. We have three species in Australia, careful about cleaning and disinfecting T H & S AFE various species of megabat. In the case of with Rhinolophus megaphyllus being found your clothes, boots and gear between one Marburg virus, the bat involved is a mem- all along the mainland east coastal strip, and cave area and another, and be absolutely ber of the genus Rousettus. This is the only there is no reason to think that they do not over-the-top obsessive about it when mov- genus of megabat that lives in caves (and carry similar viruses. It should not be cause ing between continents.Perhaps it is worth echo-locates.). There are no cave-dwelling for alarm but another reason to treat bats mentioning with regard to all the newer HEAL megabats in Australia, but there are some with respect and to observe good hygiene human infectious diseases derived from species of Rousettus in Asia. when in contact with any sorts of animals animals (zoonotic diseases) that these ap- Recently a type of Ebola virus has been or their excreta. pear to be due to human interference with discovered in the Philippines. However, it is the animals themselves or their habitats. different in that, so far, it does not seem to Leptospirosis cause disease in people and it has not been This disease does occur in Australia and Summary detected in bats. the bacteria are carried by many types of In summary, the paper discusses a num- animal. It is present in native rodents, espe- ber of diseases which pose risks to cavers, Hendra Virus cially in the tropics, in marsupials including cave researchers and others. Of those listed This virus has no connection to caves or wombats, bandicoots and possums (pos- histoplasmosis is certainly a risk for people microbats. We include it because it has been sums in New Zealand too), and in mega- entering bat caves in Australia. The paper in the news lately, with deaths of horses in bats, but doesn’t seem to have been detected will be of interest for cavers and speleolo- Queensland and northern NSW, and state- in microbats—probably for want of looking. gists visiting other parts of the world. ments by some prominent people along the It is also found in many introduced animals lines of “we must kill all the bats”! including rats, house mice, deer, cattle and Acknowledgments Hendra virus is a new type of virus which pigs. With the possible exception of caves in Our thanks go to Joe Sydney for bringing first appeared in Brisbane in 1994. It is now the tropical north, the greatest risk to cav- Dr. Igreja’s article to our attention and to known to be carried by flying foxes—i.e. ers might be in a wet cave contaminated by Ken Grimes for his valuable comments on megabats. It has never been found in micro- effluent from dairies or piggeries, or if they the text. bats. Horses are apparently infected by the explore drains or sewers—but­ then there flying foxes, and in some cases have then would be other risks too, such as salmonel- References passed the disease on to people (and to one losis. Anon (2009) Disease Strategy Australian dog). There have been no cases of people Bat Lyssavirus Version 3.0, 2009; AUS- being infected directly from the bats. Be- Arthropoda VETPLAN www.animalhealthaustralia. cause the virus is frequently fatal to horses Tick-borne relapsing fever hasn’t been com.au/wp-content/.../ABL-07EDIT- and people it is causing grave concern, but recorded in Australia but there are a few 20Jan10.pdf it should not be an excuse for killing either rickettsial diseases carried by ticks or mites, Igreja, RP (2011) Infectious Diseases Asso- mega- or micro- bats. It is hoped that a not to mention the paralysis toxin produced ciated with Caves, Wilderness & Environ- vaccine for horses will be available by next by the scrub tick. And we have plenty of mental Medicine 22:115–121 year, and this should prevent further occur- mosquito-borne diseases (Dengue, Ross Smith, G (1994) Are you exposing yourself rences. River, Barmah Forest Fevers, Murray Valley to histoplasmosis? Australian Caver A similar virus, Nipah virus, is found in Encephalitis). We imagine all these would 136:6-8 Revised for 1997 ASF Confer- megabats, particularly of the genus Ptero- be more of a risk on the surface than in a ence, Quorn SA. See http://wasg.iinet. pus, in Asia and parts of East Africa. In cave, except in the entrance area. The idea au/histo.htlm the initial outbreak, in Malaysia, pigs were of wearing insecticide-impregnated cloth- Spate, A (1994) ANDYSEZ 10: Further infected first and passed the virus on to ing inside a cave, as suggested by Dr Igreja, Dangers of Breathing, ACKMA Journal people; however, the virus can sometimes be concerns us. This could be fatal to any cave- 15:38-39. passed directly from bats to humans. There dwelling arthropods, which are likely to be Whitten, WK (1992) Reflections on caving, are so far no records of it in cave-dwelling harmless and maybe even rare and vulner- chest clinics and Histoplasma capsula- megabats. able, rather than disease-carrying. tum: a case study, J. Occupational Health and Safety 8(6):535-541 Severe Acute Respiratory BIRDS NIOSH (2005) National Institute of Occupa- Syndrome (SARS) Cryptococcosis and psittacosis both tional Safety and Health: Histoplasmosis SARS was a viral disease that emerged in occur in Australia, but so far no cases are Protecting Workers at Risk. See: http:// China in late 2002. It spread rapidly, thanks known to have been associated with caves. www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2005-109/

Page 16 • Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 CA

Murra-El-Elevyn water temperature V E S C

Peter Buzzacott I E N CE

Background Committee awarded $750 to the project. WA) and soon we were heading east after In 1999 a team of scientists visited Mur- The Directors of the ASF Karts Conserva- work on a Thursday. We swapped tales of ra-El-Elevyn cave on the Nullarbor Plain to tion Fund awarded a top-up of $381 to adventure as the sun set behind us till some- collect water samples for analysis, microbial enable further visits to Cocklebiddy and time after midnight we pulled off the road, mantles for genotyping and to record the Weebubbie Caves. threw down swags and hunkered down for water temperature.1 The team also visited The Geoscience Australia website data- the night. Cocklebiddy, Tommy Grahams, Weebub- base was searched for earthquake records in Dawn bathed us in a warm glow so we bie and Warbla Caves.2 The temperatures the vicinity and one 2.8-magnitude quake hit the road without delay, breakfasted at recorded in the entry lakes in 1999 and the was recorded 7 km away in December Norseman and arrived at Murra by 11 am temperatures today are presented in Table 1992. Nearby Cocklebiddy Cave has 7 km Friday morning to meet Heather and Mark, 1 for the three caves nearest Cocklebiddy of flooded passage and so the epicentre of a couple of cave divers from Melbourne. We Roadhouse. the earthquake appears to be theoretically set up camp, set up our A-frame, arranged Table 1: Water temperatures (degrees Celsius) within reach of the water in Murra. The our loads and lowered all the dive gear for Nullabor caves1, 3 spatial relationship between Cocklebiddy, down into the cave. Cave 1999 2009 Difference Tommys, Murra and the earthquake, As the afternoon wore on we carried Cocklebiddy 18.8 19._. < 0.7 (adapted from a Google Earth image), is our kit underground, to the water’s edge, Tommy Grahams 23.1 23.4 + 0.3 shown in Figure 1. and assembled our dive units. That done, Murra-El-Elevyn 23.7 18.9 — 4.8 I wondered if the water temperature in we retired to camp and divided the chores. As can be seen, the water temperature has Murra could have been previously main- I cooked a heap of gourmet pork sausages, barely changed in Cocklebiddy or Tommy tained by a certain level of heated water in- (with ginger and shallots), Heather whipped Grahams Caves but in Murra the tempera- flow, and then slowly cooled over a decade up a mash, Andrew and Mark got the fire ture appears to have dropped substantially. or more if that in-flow was reduced by an and the red wine happening, the stars came The water in Tommys makes for a par- earthquake. Questions, questions; it was out; life is pretty good on such occasions. ticularly warm environment and the dry time to collect some hard data. We talked about the cave and made plans parts of the cave make for a warm shelter on I called my good buddy Andrew, we for the following day. cold desert evenings. arranged permits through the DEC office Andrew and I had sausage toasties for Because the water is so warm, suggesting citing our membership of the CDAA (ASF- breakfast, then we abseiled down 35 m and the possibility for a geothermal heat source, CDS trip leaders are thin on the ground in carried our lunch to the water. Tommys was selected for the first tempera- ture mapping project (See Caves Australia 184). Murra was chosen next due to the po- tentially dramatic fall in water temperature.

Methods Before heading out to the desert exhaus- tive attempts were made to confirm the previously recorded water temperature in Murra. Posts were made on the ASF-CDS e- mail list, the CDAA member forum, former instructors and cave divers were contacted, requests were made to the DEC Esperance Office, the DEC Wildlife Branch, WA Mu- seum and CEGSA. The main result of this process was to confirm that no baseline water temperature data are on record for future research com- parison. An application for support was made to the ASF Grants Scheme and the Grants Figure 1: Diagram showing relationship between three caves and the 1992 earthquake epicentre

Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 • Page 17 Murra-El-Elevyn Water Temperature

towards him reeling in the tape measure he would turn and swim to the next logger. As often happens with data collection and CE survey, after a few goes we settled into a routine and thereafter the work progressed N quite efficiently. E Pulling the loggers out went smoothly; I we had some lunch by the water and then it was time to reel in our line. We decided to reel-in about 150 m and then, gas permit- ting, Andrew would lead to another cham- ber I’d pointed out but which we hadn’t yet

V E S C visited. I was wearing my brand new MB-Sub Cave torch which cost about $1000 but CA gee-whizz, she’s a blinder. About the most interesting thing you notice straight away is that the light beam is square, and this makes it especially suited for cave diving because I can slowly move the square back and ott

c forth along the rock in front of my buddy and there is no mistaking that I want his attention. During the reeling in I had an t er bu zza e

p issue with one of the reels jamming. It was fine laying line into the cave but when the Andrew abseiling into the cave spool winds the other way, as in when the line is being collected, then the spool winds We were soon dressed and ready for ac- sweating buckets and glad to sink back into down the spindle too, activating the brake, tion. The plan for the first dive was to lay the water. meaning I was having to stop and undo the 200 m of line to the back of the main pas- Afterwards we had some lunch and brake every 20 m or so. The first time this sage, then to clip on 12 loggers, one every prepared for the second dive, during which happened Andrew wandered on towards 20 m or so, and a 13th was to be placed we planned to start surveying in the log- the next logger so I signaled him slowly, he directly underneath one on the roof in the gers and also to run a line to a side passage turned and came back. Later on, when I was largest chamber, to record top and bottom Heather and Mark were interested in visit- filming sheets of hanging microbial mantles temperatures. Andrew and I have been cave ing. The dive went to plan and, once we had I turned the lens 90º and the beam widened diving with each other since 2006. Before packed-up for the day, the last thing I did out to light up the whole cave. This is the the dive we discussed our plan in detail and in the cave was to lower a fourteenth log- best torch I’ve ever had. then, once in the water we worked steadily ger down into the entry lake. That done we Surfacing in the entry lake, I quickly sat towards the goal, mindful of each other, made our weary way back up to the camp down and made field notes about anything I our remaining gas, and other things I think for another night of camaraderie. could think of: the order we clipped the log- about while cave diving. The next day Andrew and I resolved to gers onto the line (coming out); the order The first dive was a success with all 13 complete the survey of each logger on the we surveyed the loggers (going in); the time, loggers in place, though it did start with an way into the cave followed by collecting all physical locations (the first logger was tied amusing incident. My pre-dive checks went the loggers on the way out. Once again this to the hole in the big rock at the entrance smoothly, then Andrew double-checked me was a busy dive and we worked well as a to the main passage, etc); anything and ev- at 5 m which is our usual method, but this team. Andrew would swim forward to the erything I could think of. From experience I time he signaled a slight bubble-leak at my next logger, pulling the fiberglass surveyor’s know how valuable field notes can turn out regulator. I looked at it carefully and before tape out of its cradle as he went. Once he to be if a few loggers get mixed up, or if we my eyes the leak increased and air started stopped I’d take up the tension by wind- find something odd. pouring out of the regulator into the water. ing in the slack, record the distance, take On our last night in the desert we cel- I turned off the tank valve and surfaced, a compass bearing along the tape and note ebrated with a hot shower and a cold cider, looking for a spanner to tighten the hose. the direction, and lastly make a note of the followed by another big cook-up around the Andrew said he could see the spares kit near depth of the logger for my field notes, using fire under a star-filled sky. We couldn’t have the water on a rock so, rather than take my my personal dive computer. asked for better weather. gear off, I simply hopped out of the water The loggers themselves similarly estimate Back home, I downloaded the data log- wearing all my dive gear (including three their own depth based on ambient pressure gers, arranged my data in the right order full tanks) and shuffled over to the kit. and I’d previously taken these 14 loggers on and transcribed my notes. Three projections But, the spares kit was not to be found, so a calibration dive to 10.01 m depth, with a were planned to represent the position of I shuffled a way further and searched about standard deviation between them of just the loggers: a depth-adjusted bird’s-eye here and there before deciding just to climb 5 cm. The field notes, however, could be a view; a side-on view from the east show- over a jumble of rocks to my own gear and quick method of confirming which logger ing northerly progress and a side-on view fish out my own wrench from the bottom was where in the cave, if any confusion from the south showing easterly progress; of my dive bag. By the time I’d sorted out arises later. both side-on views showing temperature. the simple issue of tightening a hose I was Whenever Andrew saw me heading Pythagoras’ theorem was used to account

Page 18 • Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 Murra-El-Elevyn Water Temperature for differences in depth (for the bird’s eye CA view), trigonometry was used to account for direction (for the side-on views) and the resultant temperature map is shown in V E S C Figure 2.

Results Figure 2 shows the birds-eye view of the route swum by the divers, and the water temperature recorded by each logger. The I E heavy arrow pointing east indicates the location of an as-yet-unmeasured passage. N CE Discussion A potential drop in water temperature of 5 degrees could have implications for

the make-up of water-dwelling microbial ott mantle communities, for example poten- c tially changing the dominant species from t er bu zza

a hanging variety to one that forms dense e p Heather holding the safety rope in the doline mats on the cave floor. Solubility of carbon dioxide could in- ber. I’d had a look in there and my buddy Conclusions crease, leading to a lower pH and higher asked me if I’d reached the end, blocked by This research cannot confirm if the water acidity, plus possibly altering solubility of a boulder collapse, but I hadn’t reached the temperature in Murra-El-Elevyn has indeed other minerals, not to mention the effect end and had turned in sight of where the dropped by five-degrees in a decade. But, at of such a drop on the “dry” sections of line terminates, tied to a rock. It was then least now we have a record of the current the cave, such as altered minimum winter my buddy said that he’d felt “noticeably water temperature. At the time of this study air temperatures and lower humidity. No warm water” at the end of that passage. the water ranged from 19.02 to 19.70 de- source of warm water was discovered this Without looking for it, or expecting it, grees, got warmer the further into the cave trip though it was a success in that we now he had simply gone for a dive and felt warm we traveled, heading generally north and have a record of the variance throughout the water there. east, and got cooler the deeper loggers were main passage. The passage he refers to connects to the placed. Next trip to Murra the map will be Tantalisingly, my buddy from the Tommy biggest chamber at the end of the main pas- extended into narrower passages in search Grahams study called in for a coffee one day sage, in between a high roof and a third air of “noticeably warmer water”. and asked how the trip went. I described the chamber. Turns out those two locations, dives and mentioned the passage Mark and (either side of this potentially warm pas- Acknowledgements Heather had explored, heading east after a sage), recorded the warmest temperatures Sincere thanks are extended to DEC for restriction near the end of the main passage in the cave. Looks like I’ll be heading back allowing access to conduct this research, when it heads south from the largest cham- to Murra. to the ASF Small Grants team for support- ing the project, and to the editor of Caves Australia for publishing these results for posterity. Raw data available upon request.

References 1. Holmes AJ, Tujula NA, Holley M, Contos AK, James JM, Rogers P, et al. Phyloge- netic structure of unusual aquatic mi- crobial formations in Nullarbor Caves, Australia. Environmental Microbiology. 2001;3(4):256-64. 2. Contos AK, James JM, Heywood B, Pitt K, Rogers P. Morphoanalysis of bacterially precipitated subaqueous cal- cium carbonate from Weebubbie Cave, Australia. Geomicrobiology Journal. 2001;18:331-43. 3. Buzzacott P, Buckley D, Waterworth P. Chemoautotrophic microbial mantle prevalence in Murra-El-Elevyn: cata- strophic decline or seasonal fluctuation? In: Moskric A, Trontelj P, editors. 20th International Conference on Subterra- nean Biology; Postojna, Slovenia: ICSB Figure 2: Birds-eye view of the Murra-El-Elevyn water temperature August 2011 2010 Organising Committee; 2010. p. 99.

Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 • Page 19 CE

N Unlocking the Potential of E I Speleothem Paleoclimatic Records Helen Green PhD Student School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne V E S C Use of speleothems for scientific research research as their growth mechanism is has been increasing over the past 30 years. 4 cm linked to Earth’s atmosphere and hydro- CA We cannot ask for “more research to under- Undulating sphere in a number of ways, potentially stand caves and karst” and then not have in- growth axis providing information on paleo-rainfall and put into this. This is an article from a current temperature patterns, alongside consequent earth science PhD student on the advantages fluctuations in the vegetative cover above of speleothems as a climate proxy and the Growth the cave site. However, the recent increased need for appropriate management. hiatus recognition of speleothem importance has been bolstered by numerous improvements ell-dated, high resolution paleo- in the techniques applied to the generation Wclimate records from continental of multi-proxy records and radiogenic dat- settings are becoming increasingly sought ing. The substantially reduced sample size after for use in climate research with par- and consequently vastly improved resolu- ticular focus on testing and validating tion have allowed for annual resolution general circulation models at high spatial for records spanning extensive periods of resolution, and investigating possible paleoclimatic history. Alongside these ad- leads and lags between different compo- vances, speleothems also possess multiple nents of the climate system. advantages over other paleoclimatic proxies

Speleothems have been proposed as the e l n gree n with their particular suiting to paleoclimatic multi-proxy paleoclimate archive with the h study and their advantages over other prox- Buchan Sample RO collected from Royal Cave until ies increasingly recognised. Firstly, the oc- potential to provide such data (McDermott, recently held one of the Southern hemisphere’s few 2004) and, consequently, have been pro- records of a Younger Dryas climatic event well currence of speleothems at a wide range of pelled to the forefront of paleoclimatology established in the Northern Hemisphere. latitudes and altitudes means that they can over the last decade. However, coupled with The stalagmite has since been redated to disprove provide hemispheric coverage compared to this record. the increased awareness of their potential in their latitudinally restricted ice core coun- paleoclimatic study, the great need to pro- leothem deposit is sourced from meteoric terparts. Their growth inside caves means tect and preserve the fragile world of spe- precipitation falling above or nearby the that they are sheltered from post deposi- leothem decorated caves has also become particular cave site and hence the geochem- tional erosion and degradation and avoid increasingly recognised. istry of speleothem calcite holds informa- processes such as bioturbation which often These fascinating formations, often tion about the external climate at the time hamper the preservation of ocean sediment formed over thousands, and sometimes each particular layer was deposited. cores. millions of years are unparalleled anywhere These secondary calcite cave deposits Unlike biological archives, speleothems else on earth and although their numerous have been extensively used in paleoclimatic are resistant to adaptation over long periods attributes over most other climatic proxies of time (Franke, 1965). Their potential for can’t be ignored, it is the duty of paleocli- continuous growth over long time peri- matologists to work closely with the caving ods allows for both high resolution and community to utilise this valuable resource extensive records spanning up to millions in the least invasive manner possible. It is of years, often outperforming the record clear that what must be followed is a proce- length and resolution of all other available dure in which as little material is removed paleoclimatic proxies. from the caves for the greatest gain in pa- Speleothem suitability to uranium series leoclimatology, and with vastly improved dating processes also means that these high sampling and technological techniques and resolution records can be accurately and equipment we are now able to closely follow precisely anchored to chronologies inde- such a procedure. pendent of orbital tuning. e l n gree n

Generally hosted by karst caves, speleo- h Cave walls, ceilings and floors are com- them formation is the result of aqueous dis- A cluster of stalagmite samples removed from monly adorned with a large variety of solution of calcium carbonate from the host Royal Cave in Buchan during the production of the speleothem types and their mineralogy as tourist route: These neighbouring stalagmites will well as their morphology is considered to rock and overlying soil and the consequent provide four supporting records allowing for greater re-precipitation in the cave. The water confidence in their interpretations and consequently, be a function of the composition of the in- involved in ultimately forming the spe- paleoclimatic reconstruction filtrating seepage water feeding a particular

Page 20 • Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 Unlocking the Potential of Speleothem Paleoclimatic Records location, fluid flow (routes) and the growth caves spanning over a considerable area. CA conditions (temperature, chemistry and 2 cm Although individual speleothems can and light) specific to each cave gallery (Richards Uniform growth have been used to produce adequate records and Dorale, 2003). layers in clean calcite of paleoclimatic fluctuations, sampling V E S C Despite this range of speleothem type, multiple samples from the same cave allows the simple stratigraphy of the “stalagmite” for a hugely increased confidence in such form has meant that they are the most records and further secures speleothems as prominent speleothems in paleoclimatic Uniform diameter leaders in paleoclimatic research. study. It is with this in mind that we must Though favoured for conservation reassess the removal of speleothems from I E purposes, the mechanism by which their caves for paleoclimatic study in light of im- “stalactite” counterparts grow involves proved sampling and analytical techniques N

calcite deposition both on the outer surface and equipment enabling a vastly improved CE

e l n gree n adherence to the Australian Speleological and through the central cavity resulting in h coeval layers that are difficult to reliably (Portland) Stalagmite cross section displaying Federation codes of ethics. The removal sample (Lauritzen and Lundberg, 1999). uniform diameter and clear growth banding of sub-milligram sized samples for dating, Flowstones depositing in vast sheets on cave from the source ocean to the atmosphere, trace element and isotope analysis means walls and floors hold more paleoclimatic soil zone and epikarst and finally within the that stalagmite samples may be used mul- potential with their lateral extent allowing cave system itself. Consequently, the con- tiple times for a range of different projects. for repeat sampling. trols on speleothem records are extremely The development of a speleothem reg- However, their potentially complicated complex and the challenge has become to ister in which the details and age range growth histories, often involving switching disentangle the climatic signal from that of samples removed from caves across flow direction and tendency to grow only influenced by local/ non-climatic factors. Australia could be archived, would allow during high flow events means their paleo- To decipher the climatic influences on researchers to return to samples for both climatic records can prove difficult to inter- speleothem records, more information is new studies and re-analysis. Alongside new pret. Stalagmite growth mechanism allows required to provide further confidence in samples, my PhD project has reanalysed a the internal stratigraphy of the speleothem the paleoclimatic interpretation. Buchan sample collected in 1996, exploiting to be interpreted as a linear age progression, Speleothems located in proximity must improved techniques and reduced sample with the oldest calcite deposited first at the be selected in order to maintain a set of size requirements, to re-drill and re-date the stalagmite base and becoming progressively growth constants (i.e. epikarst composition remaining portion of the speleothem axis. younger towards the speleothem upper sur- and thickness, cave ventilation, infiltrating The requirement for such a decreased face. Depositional processes control stalag- water pathways, cave temperature) and to sample size means that once bisected, a mite morphology and can provide insights consequently minimise the number of non- geochemical analysis may be performed on into both the speleothem’s growth history climatic variables influencing the overall just one half, or in some cases, a centimetre and, consequently, indirect paleoclimatic signal. The use of multiple neighbouring thick slab cut from the bisected face. The re- information. Drip rate and fall height can be speleothems will allow the identification of maining portion of the stalagmite may then influential on speleothem shape with larger coincident isotope or trace element excur- be polished and preserved for future study, stalagmite diameters generally indicative sions held in the calcite records supporting or under particular circumstances, returned of an increased drip rate (Franke, 1965) as their interpretation as climatic or non cli- to the cave site for tourist/public display and well as influences from temperature and soil matic signals. interest and used to aid the understanding CO₂ variations. The sensitivity and conservation issues of paleoclimatic investigations. Climate reconstructions are obtained surrounding the removal of speleothems Working together honestly and respect- from speleothems via variations in the from caves are fully appreciated and un- fully, speleologists and paleoclimatologists chemical content of their calcite. Paleocli- derstood but it appears that the removal will be able to both protect and preserve matic studies have predominantly focused of multiple samples from a single cave these natural phenomena and produce ex- on variations in the stable isotope composi- gives more reliable paleoclimatic results emplary paleoclimatic records of Australia. tion of both carbon and oxygen resulting than the removal of multiple samples from from various physical and chemical pro- References cesses, both directly and indirectly related Franke H W, 1965, The theory behind sta- to climatic fluctuations, and much of their lagmite shapes. Studies in Speleology v.1 regard as major paleoclimate and paleo- (2/3) 89-95 environmental archives has resulted from Lauritzen. S-E and Lundberg L J, 1999, such records. Individual “draping” layers. Speleothems and Climate: a special issue However, alongside this isotopic infor- The varying colour results from of The Holocene: The Holocene, v. 9, p. mation, the potential for speleothems to varying organic content 643-647. provide multi-proxy records has propelled McDermott, F., 2004, Palaeo-climate recon- them ahead of single-proxy archives such as struction from stable isotope variations those held in tree and sediment cores. Trace in speleothems: a review: Quaternary element records are frequently used to sup- Science Reviews, v. 23, p. 901-918. port the isotope archives. Richards, D A and Dorale, J A, 2003, However, the final recorded signals of Uranium-series Chronology and Envi-

e l n gree n ronmental Applications of Speleothems: both isotopes and trace elements consist of h 5 cm a complicated interplay of environmental (Portland) Flowstone cross section demonstrating Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, controls and processes in systems spanning clear growth banding but varying deposit thickness v. 52, p. 407-460.

Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 • Page 21 EW Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3D Review by Sue White RE VI

his 3D documentary of the discov- Despite the tightest of restrictions and A revelation in the movie suggests that Tery of spectacular 30,000-year-old considerable technical challenges, Herzog tourist dollars might explain why he was cave paintings in Chauvet Cave in the follows his previous pattern of taking us allowed in. south of France was shown at both to an extraordinary place. The cave is already a regional attrac- the Sydney and Melbourne Film festi- He and a tiny crew gained unprec- tion (there is an exhibition nearby), and vals and then was released for general edented access in an exclusive expedition certainly the movie is a fabulous bit of ad- screening on 22 September. to join the cave researchers. vertising that may even help France’s bid As I write this it is still showing for He carefully details the technical diffi- to have Chauvet designated a UNESCO several sessions per day at the Nova culties faced in making the film, as well as World Heritage site. Cinema in Carlton Vic, but I am unaware musing on the potential spiritual mean- Chauvet Cave was discovered in (and have not been able to discover) if it ing behind the spectacular Palaeolithic December 1994 by three French cavers, has continued showing elsewhere. artworks. Jean-Marie Chauvet, Éliette Brunel Des- Review: ACKMA CD Conference Proceedings and Journal Articles 2011 Susan White Chair of ASF Publications and Helictite Commissions

he latest CD produced by ACK- I found the papers overall interesting and ASF’s role on the front index page but you TMA (Australasian Cave & Karst Man- valuable. would need to be looking for it to realise agement Association) has recently arrived. Unfortunately there are some other prob- that the copyright is partially held by ASF. Although this is a useful compilation of lems which mar an otherwise worthy piece Unfortunately these and other inaccuracies previous cave and karst management con- of publishing. detract from the whole exercise. ference proceedings and ACKMA Journal The title of the CD itself is inaccurate as I often find the organisation of such CDs articles, there are some issues with the ACKMA conference proceedings 1973—2011. rather messy with html documents with publication. This title implies that the conferences were separate figures not as easy to use as the This CD has the 23 papers and 10 extra all ACKMA conferences, whereas the first pdfs. Both are presented here so one does abstracts from the latest Cave Management five (1973—1983) were convened by the have a choice. Conference at Ulverstone, Tasmania in May ASF Cave Management Commission, the I also personally do not like dark back- 2011 as well as the previous material. As sixth was hosted in 1985 at Waitomo, New grounds, in this case green, with white (or usual this year’s conference had a wide range Zealand by the Tourist Hotel Corporation light coloured text) but that is a personal of presentations detailing management and of New Zealand and the seventh in 1987 preference. There is a main index which cave and karst science from around the at Wombeyan by a triumvirate of the NSW helps organise the overall CD. world as well as well as an interesting selec- National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW The compilation of all the Australian tion of Australian and NZ offerings. Tourist Commission and ASF. and Australasian Cave and Karst Manage- As expected, Tasmanian topics domi- It was not until this Wombeyan meet- ment conference proceedings is useful as it nated with approximately half the papers ing, in 1989, that ACKMA was formally places all these related documents together. relating to Tasmanian sites. established. The implication, unless you are These are interesting reading and the evolu- The range of topics was very wide: karst already aware, that cave management con- tion of management ideas in Australia and area descriptions, history, cave interpreta- ferences have always been the prerogative New Zealand since 1973 is illuminating. tion, cave guide training, various types of and the initiative of ACKMA is not an ac- The various articles from the ACKMA cave tours, cave biology, geomorphology, curate portrayal of the history of cave man- Journal are also valuable as such articles are municipal planning on karst, the state of agement meetings since 1973. A more cor- not always easily obtainable. The updating cave and karst management in various areas rect title is probably Australasian Cave and of the CD after each of the management and particular projects. The papers vary in Karst Management Conference Proceedings conference is a valuable way of keeping the quality as expected of such a conference but 1973—2011. There is acknowledgement of proceedings up to date.

Page 22 • Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3D champs and Christian Hillaire. of smell and the epilogue involving Following an air current coming from albino alligators born in water heated VI RE the cliff, they dug and crawled their way by nuclear power plants is somewhat of into the cave, which had been sealed tight an anticlimax to the photography of the for some 20,000 years. artwork.

The French government soon took The spectacular cave shots of spe- EW custody of the cave, and ordinary visitors leothems and a floor covered with animal were barred to protect it from the kind bones are surpassed by the photography of damage done to other prehistoric cav- of the beautiful images of galloping hors- erns, in particular, Lascaux. es, bison and a ghostly menagerie of cave There has been extensive debate on lions, cave bears and woolly mammoths. whether the earliest Chauvet paintings Multiple red palm prints of an early date from 32,000 to 30,000 BP or are ac- artist adorn one wall. tually somewhat younger. I watched it in excellent 3D which Whatever the case, everyone agrees on enhanced the effect of the decorated cave their beauty and that Chauvet Cave is one walls. of the world’s outstanding cave art sites. Despite the narration, new-age music There are hundreds of paintings, as- and chanting, which I found distracting, tonishingly realistic drawings of horses, the film can only be described as in the cattle and lions. ‘must see’ category for cavers. These are illuminated as cavers would see them in the lights of head-torches and hand-held lights. As a result torch- when the music subsides, Herzog inter- Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3D (G) light brings the drawings to life. rupts his English narration and the cam- Director: Werner Herzog It is an unforgettable cinematic expe- era pans slowly across the walls. Genre: Documentary rience that provides a unique glimpse of The metaphysical digressions, the in- Runtime: 90 minutes the artwork. terview with a perfume designer whose Available formats: film Cave of Forgotten Dreams works best hobby is detecting hidden caves by sense Film release date: 22 Sep 2011 ha rd r olan eber

Caves Australia No. 187 • December 2011 • Page 23