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Jaimie Hashey Hashey 1 Professor Adam Polk Physical Geography 13 April 2021 The -tastic Year 2021

All over the world there is a celebration happening. This is the celebration of learning about the greatness of and karst. The International Year of Caves and Karst (IYCK) is this year, the year of 2021. Scientists all over the world would like to spread the word and educate people about the importance of caves and karst. They started back in January 2021 by posting informative videos and many web pages and articles on karst and the IYCK. As the year progresses there will be many scientists, organizations, teachers, and preservations that will organize and host events educating us about caves and karst. Students should be added to the list of contributing by writing reports about caves and karst. There are many ways to celebrate the year. Most people would probably think of celebrating by going to your local /karst location and adventuring around the geography. Due to covid many caves are still closed or have limited open hours. It may not be a great idea to plan on going to the caves at this time. IYCK can also be celebrated by reading about them and donating to foundations to help preserve them. The many ways to celebrate and learn of caves and karst. Where to begin?

Karst is a slovene term derived from “kras” which means barren and rocky, developed on limestone (“International Year of Caves and Karst 2021”). There is the Kras Plateau in and where karst was recognized and is used as a common reference for karst. The oldest show cave in Europe is Vilenica Cave. There are many caves around this karst region, hence, why caves and karst are often in association with one another. The reason there is so many caves is due to the dissolving of limestone rocks that have made up the landscape. The land is formed Hashey 2 from such easily dissolved rocks like limestone. Limestone was originally formed by the sedimentation and compression of many seashells that creatures from the oceans had formed on themselves when they were alive. Limestone is high in calcium carbonate which can be easily dissolved by water with chemical impurities. Over millions of years limestone is formed and pushed into areas where they then start the dissolving process where streams will form and run through joints going underground. In humid areas this is most common due to constant moisture dissolving away the limestone. This can leave huge caves with streams running through, dripping from onto , forming a mass enchanting wonder of to dazzle the eyeballs. On top of that karst topography can just be the land slowly sinking down to the hard bedrock level where it can no longer dissolve. This leaves karst tower or Mogotes on the landscape making it look like a storybook scene of steep mounds with some trees growing off the sides. So many interesting, beautiful scenes that karst topography has, so breathtaking. If that takes your breath away how bout talking about being swept off your feet by a doline. And by doline, I mean . Probably the scariest part of the karst topography is when just suddenly give way in places at any unsuspecting time. They can be huge and lead to underground caverns. Something to be aware of when you are building a bunch of stuff on top of limestone. Limestone isn’t the only rock to be aware of dissolving dolomite is another common mineral of karst topography and there is a few others, but these are the most common.

Speleology is the study of caves and the IUS (International Union of Speleology) is the worldwide organization of scientists that study caves. This is the organization that has organized this year’s celebration of the International Year of Caves and Karst 2021. They are working with many other organizations all over the world to bring recognition to the caves and karst issues of Hashey 3 today. The NPS (National Park Service) of the US is aiding in the celebration. They are featuring the event on their website by having great pictures, information and talking about cave week that is June 6-12 of 2021. That week will be strong week focused on celebrating caves. Just look for your local cave celebration guide. Here in New , there is the Carlsbad Caverns National

Park. When you visit their site, you will have to make reservations to go see the caverns to celebrate cave week there. There are other caves in the US like “The Granddaddy of them all, the longest cave on Earth, Mammoth Cave in Mammoth Cave National Park, is over

400 miles in length” (“Cave Exploration in the National Parks” NPS). Back here in we have the National Caves and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) which is a part of New

Mexico Tech that is also in Carlsbad. These are just a few of the organizations in the US that is involved there is also many organizations around the world. These organizations would like to help us all recognize the importance of caves and karst.

Karst are a very important part of caves and karst. 20% of the world’s drinking water comes from karst aquifers. These aquifers are easily put in danger when toxins enter the water or garbage is dumped in or nearby. These toxins can not only poison humans getting water from these nearby aquifers, but it can also harm the many species of creatures that only inhabit caves. Caves are home to many different creatures called from millipedes to cave crickets; from caney mountain cave crayfish to cavefish; from salamanders to the many species of bats (“Caves and Karst Species” Missouri Department of Conservation; “ are home to Giant Cave Crickets” Jstor). There are many different species in different caves and in different parts of the world. Then there are the assortments of flora that can grow in caves. A lot of these caves can have trees where some light breaks through joints and sinkholes. A stream Hashey 4 can disappear into some part of the cave and reappear as a waterfall in another part of the cave.

Quite a fairytale world of wonder. It can be harsh thinking of all the pollutants that threaten these beautiful places.

We should really want to keep these places safe and naturally intact. I think many probably think that since these places dissolve away anyways that they shouldn’t care about them. No, we should still take care of these beautiful places. Dissolving away naturally does not mean these places need to be polluted and poisoned. When these caves dissolve, they don’t hurt as bad as polluting the area away into total devastation. Polluting the area can damage the area even quicker while the process of dissolving takes many years and can slowly allow the species of the area to adapt to the changes. Of course, most importantly to all, the water is still good to drink when karst dissolves. So, plants and animals that live in these places can still live well. We just need to help by keeping them that way.

Thinking about ways to help caves and karst is a good way to spend your time. There are many ways other than just visiting the physical sites. There are even more ways than visiting the websites and reading about them. Don’t get me wrong, these are all good ideas, but what if you might want to sit back and brainstorm a story involving caves and karst? I know, I would like to go visit these beautiful sites myself, but just think of it as giving the caves a vacation. Let them rest while you explore your imagination. Go into the caves with your stories, paintings, poems, comics, illustrations and even cooking. Bake a karst cake and use various designs to decorate it using icing. Maybe join a caves and karst organization or think about going to school to study the field. I should add that many of the sites would like to compile people’s reports and experiences, most likely some art and stories, too, about caves and karst. I just got an e-mail Hashey 5 from Dr. Veni about submitting this report to the NCKRI page. I am pretty excited! I think I will!

They have also informed me that the IYCK is going to continue into 2022! Since this year is still having difficult times with covid. Also, the IUS and many scientists around the world haven’t been able to have proper meetings. I am so glad I have been learning about this! There are so many opportunities to get involved and help. Don’t be afraid of caves and karst, they are a beautiful part of this world. Let’s celebrate! It’s a fantastic karstastic world of caves and karst

2021 -2022! Well, I should add that not only in these 2 years should we recognize caves and karst but we should always have the well being of these places in our hearts and minds.

Hashey 6

Works Cited

Missouri Department of Conservation. “Caves and Karst.” Missouri Department of

Conservation, https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/habitats/caves-and-karst.

Accessed April 17, 2021.

International Year of Caves and Karst 2021. “Explore.” Union Internationale de Speleology,

2021. https://iyck2021.org/index.php/explore/. Accessed April 17, 2021.

National Parks Service. “The International Year of Caves and Karts 2021.” National Parks

Service, 2021, https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-international-year-of-caves-and-

karst.htm. Accessed April 17, 2021.

Fauna and Flora International. “Karst of Thousands.” Fauna and Flora International, 2021,

https://www.fauna-flora.org/environments/limestone-habitats. Accessed April 17, 2021.

New Mexico Tech. “NMT Celebrating 2021 as the ‘International Year of Caves and Karst’.”

National Caves and Karst Research Institute, 17 Febuary 2021,

https://www.nmt.edu/news/2021/international_year_of_cave_and_karst.php. Accessed

April 17, 2021.