·Bulletin Ti-Iirteen

·BULLETIN TI-IIRTEEN

Affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science IN TI-IIS ISSUE ...

Accurate and informative articles on caves including

TECHNIQUES FOR DATING CAVE DEPOSITS CAVES AND ROCKSHELTERS IN SOUTHWESTERN ASIA THE CAVE SALAMANDERS OF CALIFORNIA MECHANICS OF CAVERN BREAKDOWN WYANDOTTE CAVERN AN ENGINEER INSPECTS THE RIGGING REPORT ON THE TITUS CANYON EXPEDITION SOUTHWESTERN CAVES AS BOOKS OF HISTORY AND OTHERS

DECEMBER 9 5 I BULLETIN THIRTEEN Published by THE NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY To stimulate interest in caves and to record the findings of explorers and scientists within and outside the Society

THE NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY was organized in 1940. It now has mem­ bers scattered throughout the United IN THIS ISSUE, December, 1951 States, and also has many members in foreign countries. P REFACE ...... 1 T HE SOCIETY is a non-profit organiza­ tion of men and women interested in the study and exploration of caves and allied FRONTISPIECE ...... : ...... 2 phenomena. It is chartered under the law of the District of Columbia. Its energies are devoted to the unlocking of the secrelS TECHNIQUES FOR DATING CAVE DEPOSITs .. lyan T. Sanderson 3 of the world underground. T HE SOCIETY serves as a central agency SOUTHWESTERN CAVES AS BOOKS OF HISTORY for the collection, preservation and publi­ M. R. Harrington 10 cation of scientific, historical and legend­ ary information relating to Speleology. It arouses interest in the discovery of new CAVES AND RQCKSHELTERS IN SOUTHWESTERN ASIA caves and encourages the preservation of Henry Field 14 the natural beauty of all caverns. THE AFFAIRS of the Society are con­ trolled by a Board of Governors. The CAVE EXPLORATION ON JEBEL BARADQST, IRAQ Board appoinlS the national officers. The Dennis J . Batten 19 Board also approves committee chairmen - who are chosen not only for their prov­ ed ability in a particular field, but also AN ENGINEER INSPECTS THE RIGGING fo r their activity in the work of the So­ G . Alexander Robertson 22 ciety. OFFICERS FOR 1951 -1952: Charles E. Mohr, President; William E. Davies, Vice­ ORIGIN AND D EVELOPMENT OF " POSITIVE" WATER President (Science); Burton S. Faust, Vice­ C ATCHMENT B ASINS, CARLSBAD CAVERNS, President (Administration); Jerome M. N EW M EXICO ...... Donald M. Black 27 Ludlow, Vice-President (Publications); Ivan T . Sanderson, Vice-President (Public R elations); Lewis C. Kibbee, Treasurer; WYANDOTTE CAVERN ...... Clyde A . Malott 30 Chrissy V. Mansfield , Secretary to the Board of Governors. M ECHANICS OF CAVERN BREAKDOWN ...... William E. Davies 36 BOARD OF DIRECTORS : Ernest Ackerly, James E. Comer, Jr., James W . Dyer, Duane Featherstonhaugh, James A. Fow­ IDYLL OF THE ENNESSBEE ...... Jay Espee 44 ler, Emmons Graham, William S. Hill, George F. Jackson, Richard F. Logan, J . S. Petrie, G. Alexander Robertson, Nancy THE CAVE SALAMANDERS OF CALIFORNIA Rogers, Howard N. Sloane, William J . John W . Funkhouser 46 Stephenson, Ralph W. Stone. OFFICE SECRETARY : Mrs. Ellen Mofletr. REpORT ON THE M INERALOGY OF NEW RIVER CAVE LOCAL SECTIONS of the Society are called John W. Murray 50 Grottoes. They serve to stimulate and co­ ordinate activity and increase the interest, enjoyment and productiveness of caving. REpORT ON THE TITUS CANYON EXPEDITION LIBRARY: An excellent speleological Richard F. Logan 55 library is owned by the Society and is being constantly enlarged. Items on h~d may be borrowed by NSS members. Ex­ CAVE IN ROCK ...... George F. Jackson 59 tensive collections of cave maps, photo­ graphs and slides are being gathered and are available on a loan basis. WHO'S WHO IN BULLETIN THIRTEEN ...... 64 Membership helps to support the pub­ lications, special investigations, and the operation of the Society. PUBLISHED intermittently, at least once a year; EDITOR: Jerome M. Ludlow, 1l0B West State St., Trenton B, N. J . Associate ...... $ 5 Institutional ...... $10 Regular ...... $ 5 Life ...... $75 Inquiries relating to the publication of manuscriplS in the BULLETIN Sustaining ...... $10 should be addressed to the Editor; those relating to the distribution of the BULLETIN should be addressed to the National Speleological Society, 1770 PUBLICATIONS include the BULLETIN pub­ Columbia Road, N.W., Washington 9, D. C. lished at least once a year, and the NEWS appearing monthly. All members receive COPYRIGHT, 1951 by The National Speleological Society. the BULLETIN and the NEWS, Preface to Bulletin Thirteen

The editor of this BULLETIN and the Society R eaders of the BULLETI N should not over· may well be proud of it. It shows unmistakably look the interesting and valuable articles which the broadening scope of the National Speleo­ appear in the monthly NEWS. In the last four logical Society. Its publicati ons logically have years, a total of 278 pages have appeared. Due become the clearing house for American speleo­ to the larger and more condensed nature of the logical activities whether carried ou t at home or NEWS page a great amount of copy can be abroad. handled-the equivalent of a 200-page bulletin each year. While much of this material admit­ As significant as the reports herein on cave tedly is of temporary interest, an impressive pro­ studies in Iraq and Sou thwes t Asia is the de­ portion of the articles is of las ting value. An scription of an expedition by NSS members to index to these major articles and reports is Titus Canyon. This is the first published report planned. of a well organized, official activity. vVe hope that it will become the pattern for many more. At the las t annual meeting the growing IIn ­ portance of the Society'S publication program The Society's effort to keep its members in­ was recognized by the electi on of a vice-president formed of the la tes t scientific advances is ex­ in charge of publica tions. In addi tion to the emplified in an up-to-the-minute review of the BULLETIN and the NEWS, the Society this year current work on dating cave deposits. published " Palaces Under the Earth," a direc­ Vital informa tion from the fi eld of engineer­ tory of commercial caves. Underway are two ex­ ing is applied to speleological problems in two tremely ambitious projects, a " Handbook of articles designed to increase both the safety Speleology" and a " Bibliography of Speleology, factor and the enjoyment of cave exploring. 1750 - 1950." Both are in relatively advanced Other articles of high caliber round out the stages of preparation.

BULLETIN, making it one of the most important The Society expresses its gratitude to its edi­ ye t published. The next BULLETIN, already un­ tors and contributors. denvay, is expected in mid-1 952. Considerable CHARLES E. :\·fO HR, progress is being made also on the next regional bulletin, due in 1953. President

December I , 1951 Greenwich, Conn. I-V

z ;> ::J o z ;> t'" CJl "0 t'=l t'" t'=l o t'" o C') Ci ;> t'" CJl o Photo by Gustav A bel, Sa/zbw-g, Ausl1-ia £3 Eisr"iesenwelt, Das EistOl"; at the 'l'ennengebirg-e in Austria" The I ce Gate of the E is I"i esenwelt C1Lve" This beautiful photogl"U,ph was t'=l..., chosen fOI" our" rr"ontispiece fr"om It /:'I"OUp of 14 entries of Gustav Abel of Salzburg-, Austr"ia., submitted to the 1951 Photographic Salon -< of the National Speleolog-ical Society" Techniques for Dating Cave Deposits By IVAN T. SANDERSON All/Jhotos by Ame!-ican MuseulII of Natural Histo!y, New York Zoologist

The coming of man to N01- th Ame1-ica, long believed to have taken piace a meTe 35,000 years ago, has jJwbably bFen jJUsh ed back into time fm- beyond that figuTe by new discove-ries and advcl1I cfS in the techniques of dating clTc hae­ ological finds_ The methods for elating a-rtifacts aTe desnibed herein in a 1I1anner which makes complicated technical jJ1"Q ceeltl1"cs easily grasjJed by th e average reade1- _

T here are several well-establi shed methods captured by the nitrogen. The resultant nucleus for dating geological and archaeological speci­ immediately disintegrates, throwing out a pro­ mens; among which fiv e are of outstanding sig­ ton, which res ults in the formation of a carbon nificance to speleolog-y - namely, the statistical a tom of a tomic weigh t 14. These carbon atoms analysis of radioactive ca rbon H content, fiour­ happen to be radioactive. T hey are ultimately ine-analys is, varve-clay layer counts, tree-ring again reduced to ordinary nitrogen of a tomic counts, and spore-analysis_ Each may be applied weight 14- by the expulsion of an electron. either in general or in special cases to the dating In the meantime, however, the radioactive of cave deposits_ The extent to which these tech­ carbon atoms enter into the carbon-dioxide con­ niques h ave been applied to cave material is as tent of the atmosphere and are absorbed by yet regrettably small, and an endless task awaits plant life along with their sister isotopes Carbon speleologists in this fi eld. Before reviewing what 12 and 13. As a result they become transferred has been attempted or accomplished, it would to _all terrestrial animal life because this is ulti­ be well to describe briefly the bases upon which mately dependent upon plants for its growth the fiv e specific techniques mentioned above are and sustenance. The proportion of radiocarbon founded. 14 to ordinary carbon 12 is of the order of The radiocarbon method is probably of first 1 x 10-12 gm to a gram of carbon 12. W-hen a importance to speleology. T he basis of this tech­ plant or animal dies, absorpti on of radiocarbon nique is tha t the half-life of carbon-14 is 5,568 ceases and the remains of said animal or plant, plus or lllinus 30 years, which allows accurate if preserved in any way, are not thereafter d ating-though it cannot be too strong-Iy stress­ altered from this particular point of view unless ed that this is only on a statistical basis-of contaminated by phys ical proximity to some material up to about 25,000 yea rs of age. This secondary source of nuclear disturbance. Thus, is far more comprehensive than any previously any such remains may, by analysis of the propor­ devised methods-and much more precise, be it tion of their radioactive to non-radioactive car­ noted-for dating late quaternary deposits and bon content, be dated with an accuracy that is their contained human artifacts. dependent only upon the degree of refinement of the methods of analys is and the absence of As a resu I t: of the consta n t press stories and contamination. articl es in scientific and popular magazines which have appeared during the last few months Dr. ' '''. F. Libby of the Institute for Nuclear it has become we ll known to geologists, archae­ Studies of the University of Chicago solved both ologists, and speleologists that all plant and these problems and initiated this great advance animal matter contains, during life, a fairly if and its practica l application to historical, arch­ not entirely constant amoLlnt of the carbon aeological and geological researches. However, isotope number fourteen. This is caused by a warning should be sounded here, for it has cosmic rays striking our atmosphere and being been far too readily assumed-not only by the

BULLETIN NUMBER 13, DECEMBER 1951 3 non-specialist-that this technique is absolutely precise and invariably ·infallible. This, alas, is far from the case. The method is entirely statis­ tical, and the actual age of the material analyzed has almost as much bearing upon the degree of precision obtained in estimating its apparent age as does the care taken in the analysis and the liability to contamination. Dr. Libby, his co-workers, and others now entering this fi eld with similar equipment do not and never have claimed the degree of precision that has often been attributed to their findings by both popu­ lar and by some scientific publications. N ever­ theless, the method is an extraordinarily valu­ able advance in this most important field of r e­ search and has, as we shall see later, already resulted in a number at most remarkable dis­ coveries. The next two techniques that h ave been R econstl"Uction of slmlI of Piltdowll man. applied to the problem of prehistorical dating are Hourine-analysis and varve-clay counts. The first is of a purely chemical na ture and is a pplic­ 'any bed is af similar age to. any athers assaciated able only within any ane stratum ar depasit. with it. The methad has been applied to. the Being dependent upan the extent af TejJiace­ variaus bones associated with and including the ment af matter, it is only of use in' the deter­ specimen af the <[pe-man known as EoanlhTopuS discovered by Dawson at Piltdown in Eno'land minatian af the age of fossils which it may be b ' suspected are af older or yaunger age than the and as a resul tits previously claimed age has depasit in which they are faund. had to. he very cansiderably reduced because the analysis showed much lower flourine concentra­ Fassils may be washed aut af ane stratum tian in the fassilized bones af the ape-man than and depasited in anather, newer sediment, at in the assaciated fassils. In ather wards, this any time. Normally, such redeposits are obvious: skull was a later intrusion into the gravel bed a Liassic 1 ammonite in a Pliacene clay wauld fram ' which it was dug, prabably through hav­ be a sU'iking and easily nated example. When, ing lain in-ar passibly even having been buried on the other hand, human bones such as the in-a packet sunk from above into. that deposit. Piltdown skull and lower jaw and teeth, and mammath-bane artifacts faund alang with them are washed out af ane quaternary gravel and redepasited in anather, it is impassible at first sight, to. tell whether they were all derived from the same ariginal stratum. In certain places and at certain times, haw­ ever, flaurine campaunds-notably, flaUl-apatite -of specifically detectable nature may enter into. t.he list af minerals replacing the bones ar ather materials being fassilized. The rate at which such materials are replaced, ar the amount af such flourine campaunds available vary fram place to. place. Thus, it is passible to tell by analysis af th e praportional content af these campaunds whether ane fossil faund in

1 The oldest division in th e European Ju rassic system. Lowel' ,j!LW of EOltnthl·O[JIlS.

4 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY The study of varved clays, which was ongl­ climate, that si)ecific years of drought, flood or nall y initiated in Sweden by glaciologists, is a other catastrophes may be detected . ' '''hen this mechanical rather than chemi cal method of is done, tree trunks of various ages may, wh en calculating past time. The melting of a glacier analyzed, be linked together by temporal over­ foot or front, especially in a co nfined fjord or lap with a high degree of certainty in anyone valley, proceeds much more rapidly under sum­ area, thus giving us an extended picture both mer suns than during the ex tended northern of past climati c history and of the age of the winter. The water res ulting from the melting trunks themselves, together with any associated ice carries with it a ce rta in amount of very fin e remains found deposited with them. Such de­ sediment derived from the grinding action of posits sometimes occur in caves, especially in the moving morainic material co ntained with­ sink holes near their mouths or at the bottom in the glacier. The fin e sediment remains of a complete roof cave-in. in suspension in the water for a long time The last method that requires special men­ and is thus carried out into the still waters tion here has now been developed to such a of the lakes that usuall y lie below the glaciers ; high degree of complexity that it has warranted it is there slowly deposited. The result is a the es tablishment of a separate department of deposit of clay made up of a co ntinuous succes­ scienifi c research known as Palynology. This, in sion of layers that alternate in thickness accord­ sim pIer terms, mea ns tJo llen analysis. ing to the seasons. Slight variations in texture Pollen analys is, as employed today, was first and color between the alternate layers, deposited developed by the Swedish geologist, Lennart in summer and winter respectively, make it von Post. There are two great modern works possible to count th e actual number of years tha t may be consulted by anyo ne wishing to that the process has been going on and thus to pursue such studies and it is a field that would date precisely any included fossils or other for­ repay the speleologist. The method is based eign bodies that may be fo und therein. upon the fa ct that the pollen grains of flow er­ Varves may often be found in caves, not only ing plants and even the spores of lower plant because of the presence of a local ice front, but forms are of incredible variety, though specific­ also because of pronounced seasonal variations ally of constant appearance, when examined in rainfall. Their presence has often been over­ microscopically. These forms and patterns have looked by the excavators of cave deposits for a high specific value to the systematist and eco­ the very simple reasons that they do not look logist, and now that enormous collections of for them and the artificial lights used are not type-specimens have been built up, the parent brigh t enough to reveal them. ' '''hen fou nd plants may be identified very readily and rapiel­ they may be exceptionally va luable, especially ly. Moreover, pollen and spores are exceedingly in the tropics or in other areas where there is durable, outlasting almost everything else­ a pronounced seasonal variation in precipita­ except molluscan shells-if buried in suitable tion. In a cave in Trinidad the author made a deposits which vary from acid peat bogs to alka­ very rough cou n t back to 700 yea rs in a small line cave deposits. The vast majority of pollen side pocket, in order to try to date a surprisingly grains are, of course, normally des troyed, but fres h-looking potsherd that occurred at a depth enough fall upon bodies of wa ter, swamps, and of just over three feet. ' ''' here cave deposits run bogs in the bottom deposits of which they may up to 20 feet in depth without noticeable strati­ be preserved, especially if oxygen is deficient fi ca tion. a varve co unt might produce some sur­ therein, as in anaerobic muds on many lake prising res ults. bottoms. T he two rema ining methods mentioned prev­ Analysis of the specific grains fo und in a iously [or dating the record of the past are 0( large va riety of post-glacial deposits has now a biological na ture and are only applicable to been completed, and as a result an extraordinar­ the post-glacial era. Seasonal va riation is also il y detailed picture has been constructed of the detectable in tree rings, and in some cases th e changing vegetational cover of the land surface, extent of va riation therein recorded is so grea t, the clima tic variations that caused these changes, beca use of the se nsiti vity of the tree to the day and consequently, of the comparative ages of

B ULLETIN NUMBER 13, DECEMBER 1951 5 va rious deposits or [acies of deposi ts. The fin al as pollen grains may be preserved ill such places obj ective of palynology is to survey the entire alone, the entire surrounding territory being land surface of the earth wi th a view to cata­ either too dry, too moist, or otherwise chemically loguing all existing types of pollen grains and unsuitable for thei r preservation. It is certainly spores, and identifyi ng their parent plants, then a possibility that should no longer be neglected. recording the incidence, proportional amount, The res ult of these techniques is that we and spatial distribution of all such pollens and have now gained a very much cl earer and truer spores in surface deposits, and, fin all y, extending picture . of the past history of our earth' and this analys is as far back as possible into the past. more especially o[ the glacial and post-glacial In doing this some workers have already stepped periods. Of course these nevver techniques have

Tree rings as s hown br close-up or .)1'f{l.Ioia Tl'asilillg /(lIIii .

over into the rea lm of wholl y fossilized spores been combined with the more ordinary and and grains which opens . u p the possibili ty of much less spectacular though reli able methods extending the chronology back hundreds of mil­ [or ci a ti ng the past tha t have been used by geolo­ li ons o[ yea rs. gists and archaeologists since those sc iences T he method is of potential value to spcle­ were first formulated and practically applied. ology, es pecia ll y in fl ood streams or where large Moreover, since the es tablishment of the radio­ ca ve mou ths are open to wi nds bu t protected carbon technique, some great surprises have rrom direc t rain. Sometimes fin e materi al such come to light necess itating an almost complete

6 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY reorientati on of our previo usly es tablished ideas con tinent. For instance, Tepexpan i\l{a n's age of chronology. This is particularl y true in the has, according [ 0 this analys is, bee n reduced to fi eld of N orth Ameri ca n archaeology. 4,200 years, which strongly supports the theory U ntil recenLl y it had become an accepted that he was either buried in a m uch older de­ max im that man entered this continent onl y pos it by his relatives, or fell into a hole at after the last retrea t of the icc ca p, that this took dea th. On the other hand, charcoal from ce rtain place 35, UO O yea rs ago, th at he ca me exclusiyely camp-s ites in Ohio proved to be 6,400 years old. from eastern Asia by " 'ay of ..... Iaska, and that But [u n her surprises fo Il owed. even the carl ies t traces o f' his handicraft were Ma terial from mound-bur ials in Ken tucky, of almos t recent date. T his concept was first and wood fr om an ancien t fi sh-weir fo und in shaken by the discovery or human artifacts asso· the mud under Boston during recl amation ciated with the dung of an extinct giant ground projects turned out to be over 5,000 years old. sloth in Gypsum Cave in Nevad a. Then, in Objects [rom Cra ter L ake gave an age of 6,500 years, those fr om a South Dakota camp­ site, 7,000 years, and a pair o[ woven fi ber sa ndals fo und in a ca \'e in Oregon proved to be at least 9, 000 yea rs old. T he fi rs t analys is of materi al of the age of the Folsom points gaye an antiqtti ty of only 4,300 years, but further more exhaustiye tes ts ha\'e proved this to haye been in error, and 9,900 years is now given as a minim um age [or this culture. But older still is the so-ca ll ed Llano C ulture of the plains of New Mexico which is now estimated at 10,000 years, while the dung of the sloth mentioned above as haying been associated with human

Rel"oll stl"lldion of g'iant /:"I"olll\(1 s loth.

Peruvian coastal regions, ever deeper layers o[ culture ca me to light: these oln'iously required much grea ter periods of time [or their acculllula­ tion, depos i t and replacenl en t than had previous­ ly been ass igned to them in the accepted chro­ nology or America n ln an. Also de T erra in Mex· ico claimed an age of 11 ,000 yea rs for the amerin­ dian·type skull which he named Tepexpan jvl an. At th e sa me time a large number o f' peo­ ple, both alllateur and pro f' ess iona l. cla imed ages that were sometim es pos iti\'ely enormous for certain Northern America n cultures such as that of the makers of the famous Fo lso/ll P oinls , a mos t distinct form of notched stone spear hea d found in the ' ''' es t. FolsolII an'ow points, Folsom, New l\'1exico The radiocarbon method has, on the one hand, greatly reduced many of these es timates remains in Gypsum Cave, N.e \·ada, is certa inly down to proper size, but it has also provided 10,500 years old. some as tonishing and mos t unexpected support T hese fin d ings would be in teres ting 1Il for those who cl aim a great age for mall on this themse!\'es, and \roltl d considerably ex tend the

B ULLETI N N U MBE R 13, D ECE MB ER 1951 7 Thus man was here before the last glacial advance. But how long was h e here? At prese nt we h ave no satisfactory data to work upon, but there has been one serious, though admittedly startling, claim made. In a gravel pit near Frederick, Oklahoma, there has bee n found a large assortment of flint and other stone implements of fairly well­ advanced human workmanship. They are inti­ mately and apparently inextricably associated with sundry extinct animals- species of ele­ phants, camels, and large, lion-like cats-that ex­ isted during the first inter-glacial period, 750,000 years ago. The age of these deposits is hotly de­ bated, but the protagonists and critics are about equally matched and the former number among their ranks several outstandingly conservative geologists and palaeontologists. The question is at present without concrete answer, but should Sandal made of unsplit yucca blades, Grand Gulch, New Mexico. the artifacts prove to be of the same age as the animal remains-something that the radio­ history of American man, but they take on an carbon method ca nnot h elp us to determine­ entirely different significance in view of an­ we will be confronted with the challenge of other discovery brough t to light by the radio­ filling in some 7'10,000 years of human history ca rbon method. This is the unquestionable fa ct in Norlh America. In this the speleologist will that the ice-cap started to retreat from ''''iscon­ of necessity play the outstanding role because sin only 11 ,5 00 years ago and not, as previously it is almost exclusively in cave deposits that it cl aimed, 35,000 years ago. This can only mean that man, and perhaps semi-civilized man was living in the Americas during and presumably be! ore the last ice advance. As demonstrated by Brooks, Alaska and Siberia were not covered by the northern ice caps because of their geographical position and absence of the necessary precipitation, factors that play such a major part in glacial periods. J evertheless an enormous belt of territory was so covered from the Pacific to the Atlantic sea­ boards and extending down to Long Island in the east, St. Louis in the cen ter, and the mid­ R ockies in the west. The thousand' years be­ twee n the beginning of the retreat in ''''isco nsin (9 ,5 00 B.C.) and the appearance of man with the giant sloth in the Gypsum cave (8,500 B.C.) is not enough for immigration via the Aleutians and Alas ka , particularly because the ice sheets A glaciel' front, U ntel'gabelhol'n, Switzel·la nd. did not just melt away instantly, but took at least this period to retreat north and break up will be worthwhile searching for the evidence. into wes t, ce ntral, and eastern ca ps which alone There is really only slight reason for doubt­ would all ow human migra tions from north to ing the possibility that man may have been pres­ south. ent in America since pre-gl acial times, because

8 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY continuing researches in the Old World are I I. ------and LIBBY, W . F ., R ev. Sci. l11 stl'., 21, 550-4. constantly pushing human history backward, 12. ARNOLD, J. R. a n d LIBBY, W . F., 1949, Science, Jl O, a nd the age of Chellean and Acheulian cultures 678-80. in Europe, and their equivalents in East Africa 13. GATES , D. M ., 1950, S. W. L ore, 16, 1-4. and Sou theast As ia are already comparable 111 14. CO RNWAL L. 1. \ '\T ., 1950, Archaeol. News L et/er, :', age to the Oklahoma finds, or even older. So 177-8. far we have not looked intensively enough in 15 . A NDERSON , E . c. , LmBY. \'V. F .. WEI NI·IOUS C. , 5., R EID , A. F., KIRSI - I ENIlAU~ I, A. D . and GROSS E, A . V., 19·17 , this co untry for something that we have been Phys. R ev. 72, 93 1-6. conditioned not to ex pect, while Europeans 16. Movlus, H. L., 1950, A llt.iquity, LOlldoll , 2-1, 99· 101. have done so for something that they always beli eved must exist. T he oldes t remains of 17. ZWNER, F. E., 1950, N ature, LOll don , 166, 756-7. American man that have been actually dated 18. BR,\IDWOOD, R . and L., 1950, J a nno, A lltiqllity, LOIl­ don, 2-1 , 189-95. have been found in our caves and it is in caves 19 . Na tional R esearch Council , Di v. of Geology and that we must search for further evidence, and Geogr aph y, Wash . D . C .. 1950-R e p o J'l of the Com ­ every method at our disposal should be used, mittee o n the i\ l easu remelll of Geologic Time, 1949-1950 p. 2 1. notably the fi ve techniques specifi ca ll y mention­ ed in this article. (2) Flourine Datillg

I. W IL LARD, H . H . a n d \o\' Il" n :R. O. B., I ndllst. Eng. Ch em (Anal. Edit.) 1933, 5, 7. BlBLlOGR .-\PHY 2. OAKLEY , K. P ., A dvallcelll ent of Science, 1948, -I , 336. (I) Radiocarboll Datillg 3. OAKLEY , K. P. a nd MONTA GU. i\ 1. F . A., BIIII. B,·it. Mus. (I\'a / Hist .) Ceol. 1, '2 , 1949. I. LIB I\\" , W. F. alld L EE, D.O. Phys. R ev., 1939, 55, 2-15. (3) Pollell A nalysis 2. N IER, A. O. a lld GUl.IIRAl"SEl" , E. A . ] . A lli er. Ch elll...... uc. 1939, 61, ()97 . I. ERllT~I AN, G. All Illt roductio ll to Pollell-allalysis, 3. :-'I URI'HEY , B. F. a ll d N IER, A. O. Phys. R ev_, 194 1, 59, C hronica Botanica Co., Waltham i\ lass., 1943: 77 1. [demo Na /m'e 153, 5 1 I , '4 -1 , I delll. I bid., 15-1, 6, 1944. '1. LIlIIIY , W . F . Phys. R ev_, 19·16,69, ( 11 / 12) 67 1-2 . 2. FA ECR I, K. and I VERSFl" , J . T ext-bool! of Moden, Pol­ 5. Al" UERSON , E. C., LIIIII Y, \ '\T. F ., \NEIl" HOUSE, 5., R EID , le1l-analysis, 1unksgaard, Copenhagen , 1950. Idem : A.. F ., KIR S I ' IE N BA U ~I , A. D., GROSSE , A. V ., Science, Philos. T railS. R oy. Soc., 233, B. 600, 275, 1948. 19-17 , } 05, I. 3. IV ERSEN, J. Dallll/aI-j{s Ceoloo-ishe U lldersoueise II 66 6 . G ROSSI-:, A. V. a lld LIlIllY. \ V. F ., Sciell ce, 19·[7, } 06, 88. J9+ 1. '" '" ' , , 7. A:-;D ERSON, E . c., Lllmy, W . F., 'vVE Il" HOUSE, 5., R EID , 4. GOOUW Il" , H. New Phy tologist, 23, 278 and 325, 193-1 . A. F., KI RSHENBAU .\I, A. D . and GROSSE, A. V., Ph)'s. R ev ., 1947, 72, 93 1. 5. Idem. Proc. C eol Ass., 52, 328, 19-1 1. 6. J ESSEN , K. Proc. R oy Irish Acad., 52, B.6, 1949. 8. S I ~ II' SON , J. A., JR . Ph)'.\". R ev., 19-18, 73, 1277. 9. Lilli\\". \.\, . F., Al"DERSOl". E. C. and AR NOL. D. J. R . Sciellce, 1949, 109, 2278. (4-) Oth er R eferellces

10. ENGELK EMErR , A. G ., HA ,\lILL. \V . H., I l"GRA~ I , M. C . BROO KS, C. E . P ., Clill/ate th ro ug h the Ages, L o n don, and LIlIllY , W. F ., 1949, Phys. R ev., 75, 1825-33. J949.

BULLETIN NUMBER 13, D ECEMBER 1951 9 Southwestern Caves as Books of History A ll /)IIO /us by SO Il/hwes /, M llse ll lll , By M. R. HARRINGTON Los A IIgel es, California Cu.m t01', Sou. thwest N/ USeUl I7 , Los A ngeles, Ca lifornia

T he tl'emendous assistance which the speleolugist can give to th e (/"I" c!w eu­ logist in supfJlying the missing cli ajJte 1"S in our history of Ina n un th is co ntinent is dramatically jJu ")" tHl yed i"l1 th. is vel")' in form.ative (/j·ticle. Descri bed l, e")" ei"l1 is a jJo ten tial fi eld of in terest t o")" all cavers that cou ld yield exciting ({ li d valuable results. W e should accept its challenge.

It was a nice little dry cave, as such places had belonged to the ivIodern America n culture go. It faced southeast, if I recall , and the river -that much was indisputable fac t. As a theor y, was just around the corner ; I would not mind since the r ailroad was near, I guessed tha t they ca mping there myse lf. Bu t who, except an arch­ had been mem bers of the H obo or Bindle-Stiff eologist, would ever guess its 8 by 12 foot fl oor tribe. might con ta in a real histori ca l record that could I cl eared away this mess and dug dee per. be read by the tra ined eye? Soon I struck a dusty layer conta ining dry I t did not look very tidy, h owever, when I r ushes and grass, some partly burned, the relics first ran across it during my work in the Moapa of somebody's bed. In one spot ashes and char- Va lley, Nevada. Busy packra ts had cluttered up the Ooor with all kinds of sti cks and bits of cactu s. But among them 1 spied traces o[ m an ! Not ve ry ancient, I fear, but still part of the cave's story. M ixed with the packrat junk lay charred sticks, ashes, a worn-ou t pair of shoes, some chicken bones, three tin ca ns and one whis­ key bottle (e mpty). I studied these specimens

Tnside the l'ntr-ance to GY PSUIIl C1Lve, NeVltda, showing cr'ibbing needed in test pit. Tn t his pit pieces o f p lLint ­ ed wooden dar1; shafts wm'e found in It htyel' below one containing s loth dung. ltbove whiell was anot hc r' with r'eHes of a la tc r' per·iod.

coal sh owed the one-time loca ti on of a ca mp fire; mixed through the rubbish were deer bones split for the marrow and q uids of cooked mesca l ]~ ntnln ce to G ~ r p S lnn Cave, n eal' Las Veg:a.s, Nevada, with the author', 1\1. R. Harr'ing"ton. fib er that had been \"i gorously chewed. T here were also some fragments o[ coarse d ark-brown as an archaeologist should. Part of a label re­ pottery, some scraps of worn-o u t baskets, a few mained on one ca n; it had conta ined baked b its of h ome-made fi ber string, a cou ple o f sm a ll bea ns. T he second was obviously a sa rdine ca n ; triangular arrowheads made of obsid ian, a the third, so mewhat larger than the fi rs t, was broken ca ne arrow. Evidently the Southern smoked on the outside and con ta ined a [ew Paiu te Indians had used the cave before our coffee grounds. T he last occupants o[ the cave hobo friends.

10 N ATIONAL SPE LEOLOGICAL S OCIET Y Below this, if I remember correctly, came a onward. A nd not only that, in each case I h ad layer of plain dir t that was quite compact, and found some of the characteristic things each co ntained no trace of human occupation. Natur­ people h ad used, even hints as to their favorite ally I thought it might be the bottom, but to foods. make sure I d ug through it. Good thing I did! O f course without training and experience U nderneath it were more ashes and char­ I would not have been able to identify the peo­ coal, and quite a lot of broken pottery, some ples by their products; withou t reading I would from a white jar, some from a red bowl, both not have known the age, for instance, of the tastefully decorated in black. T here was also a Late Basketmakers, which has been worked out small stemmed arrowhead, a few stone beads, by the fa mous tree-ring method-from the late scattered animal bones, some diminutive corn 400's to the late 600's A.D. cobs, a mano stone for grinding corn. W ithout Apparently these Late Basketmakers h ad anything else, the pottery told me that Early used the cave during the early part of their per­ Pueblo Indians had preceeded the Paiu tes. iod, because the large points indica ted that they were still using javelins or darts hurled with the spear-thrower known as atlatl to archeologists, which they later abandoned in favor of the bow and arrow. A side light is thrown on the period when this occurred by another cave near Lovelock, Nevada, explored by the U niversity of Califor­ nia and the M useum of the American Indian, H eye Foundation. H ere was found one layer containing both dart-points and arrowheads, while the deposits above contained only arrow­ heads and those below only dart-points. Evi­ den tly there was one period when both were being used, after which the less effi cient atlatl was discarded. Perhaps some cave, some time, will produce Section showing where the stone da rt point lay in a evidence to tell us v\THO introduced the bow layel' ben eath that containing the ground sloth slmll in Gypsum Cave, N evaila.

But that was not all ; deeper still lay still another bed of ch arcoal and as hes, with animal bones split for the marrow, a few more corn cobs, several large stone points fo r javelins or darts, and some fragments of a gray pottery bowl wi th rather crude patterns composed of thin black lines and dots-clearly the work of a people call ed "Late Basketmakers" by archeolo­ gists-and probably more than 1,300 years old! T his layer rested on the rock bottom of the cave; consequently, unless they themse lves had clean­ ed out older deposits before moving in, the Late Bas ketmaker fa mily were the cave's fi rst h um a n occu pa n ts. W hen I fi nished my digging I rea li zed that in this one little cave I h ad fo und a record of fou r diffe rent peoples who had li ved in what is E xpedition Sec.·ebu·y, M.·s. Ber tha P a.·I{er Cody, points to spot whe.·e she found ground sloth slmll in Gypsum now sou thern Nevada from 500 or 600 A. D. CILVe, Nevada. .

B ULLETI N NUMBE R 13, D E CEMBER 1951 11 and arrow into the southwest. W e know that the direction of its discoverer, Mr. S. M. Wheel­ epoch-making event probably occurred between er, one time archeologist for the Nevada State 400 and 500 A.D.-possibly a little earlier. We Park Commission. Here the lowest layer of all also know that the bow and arrow was not in­ contained, among other human traces, a dart vented here, for we find no early stages of point of early type; the next layer above yielded development. It arrived in perfected form. dart points of Gypsum Cave type, and along The little cave in the Moapa valley could with them the dung of an extinct American not be called important; but others have been found in Nevada that gave us real information -for instance, Gypsum Cave near Las Vegas, explored by the Southwest Museum in collabor­ ation wilh the California Institute of Tech­ nology and the Carnegie Institution of Wash­ ington. This cave furnished evidence to support a fact which had been disputed. Previously var­ ious clues had been found showing that man had arrived in America before the strange ani­ mals of the Ice Age had become extinct, but some archeologists would not accept the idea. In one room of Gypsum Cave we found a very deep dry deposit in which the lower levels Ground sloth claw, dart point and wooden dart were composed mainly of the dung of the foreshaft from Gypsum Cave, Nevada. ground-sloth, a large Ice Age animal long since extinct. Buried in this were two fireplaces, a horse. Above this again was an Early Basket­ stone knife or scraper and some sticks which maker layer, then a Late Basketmaker; then had been cut with stone implements. Above the Early Pueblo and finally Paiute. dung layer was a thick deposit of rock fall and A still more outstanding record appeared in dry cav~ debris barren of human indications; Ventana Cave in southern Arizona, explored by then near the top a succession of Basketmaker, lhe University of Arizona and the Arizona State Early Pueblo and finally Paiute layers similar to Museum, under the direction of Dr. Emil "V. Haury. This yielded relics of human life from an early period when man hunted animals now extinct through various geologic changes as the centuries rolled on, up to the modern tribes of the region. The final report of this important project has recently been published. Perhaps the most important of all is Sandia Cave in New Mexico, explored under the direc­ tion of Dr. Frank G. Hibben of the State Uni­ versity-important in that it demonstrably carries the historical record farther back than Simll of gTolJlld sloth found in Gypsum Cltve beneath a slab in a st.·atum above anothe.· containing a stone da.·t any other cave thus far reported. Here the soft point. upper layer contained potery fragm ents and other articles left by Pueblo Indians, some of that we saw in the little Moapa Valley cave. them guite modern. Below this lay a hard stony Tests made by the new Carbon 14 method show crust which effectually sealed off the lower the ground sloth dung, in which the older hu­ deposits. Breaking through this a layer was man traces were imbedded, to be between 8,000 encountered, more or less hardened into breccia, and lO ,OOO years old! again containing signs of human occupation. Still another good record was found in Etna The people responsible for it were identified by Cave, near Caliente, Nevada, explored uncler their peculiar dart points as . belonging to the

12 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY "Folsom" group-an early culture well known der the direction of Dr. H erbert VI/. Dick, it was to American archeologists and before this dis­ thought that the growing of corn was introduced covery the oldest to be defin ed. This layer also into the southwest by the Early Basketmakers, contained the bones of extinct horse, camel, about the beginning of the Christi an Era. From bison, mammoth and ground sloth, evidently discoveries made in this ca ve it .appears that hunted and eaten by the people. corn was grown in what is now ew Mexico perhaps 4000 years ago. Even more interesting But that was nor all. The Folsom layer to students is the fact that corn went through rested upon a barren deposit of yellow ochre, a progress ive development in this region, start­ laid down in some remote wet period ~vhen the ing with a variety that combined P9P and pod cave stood unoccupied; under this again lay an corn, without husks, the oldest and most primi­ even older human deposit containing firepl aces, tive type of corn known. Later examples show \'arious stone im pl emen ts and the bones of ex­ a regular increase in size of cobs and kernels as tinct horse, biso n, camel, mastodon and mam­ time went on. moth. The one-shouldered spear or dart-points It is plain that caves containing human de­ found in this deposit are entirely different from posits should be treated with respect, and that the Folsom, very distinctive and unlike those their excavation should be left to skilled hands produced b y any ancient America n peopl e prev­ and to those alone; to eyes that can read these iously known. T hey do however resemble cer­ priceless and unique records of the pas t. Dry tain points of the Solutrean division of the caves are especiall y va luable, because in them European Paleolithic period-but there is prob­ everythi ng ma y be preserved, down to fib er, hair a bl y no connection. and even feathers, for literally thousands of O ccasional one-shouldered points of this years- as in the tombs of Egypt. Once disturbed form had previously been pi cked up in various the layers laid down throughou t the ages lose places, especiall y in the southwes tern states, but their value- can no longer be reacl. If you loca te until the Sandia Cave find their age and associ­ one of these . precious " books of history" don' t ations were not known. mangle or des troy its irrepl aceable leaves. Notify The late Dr. Kirk Brya n of Harvard Univer­ some reli able muse um or university-then vol­ sity considered the ye ll ow ochre in Sandia Cave unteer to help them dig if you wish. to have been deposited during the last advance There are many, probably thousa nds, of of the glacial ice, da'ted approximately at 25 ,000 such ca ves, still unexplored , in the Southwest, years ago, and of course the makers of the one­ waiting to tell their story. Smoked ceilings, deep shouldered points lived in the cave before the Aoor deposits, chips of Hinty stone on the dump ochre was laid down. \I"hether th is es timate is running down the bank outside,-all are among correct or not the fact remains that the ancient the clues that prehistoric men have left a record culture, now named "Sandia" from the place of inside. Rather shall ow caves were preferred, or its discovery, is the oldes t thus far defined in areas near the entrance in large ones, in most North Ameri ca. but not all cases. It should be considered not Caves may furnish some surprising informa­ only a pleasure, but a privilege, for every ti on. Before the rece nt excava tions in Bat Cave, Spelunker to locate and report all he ca n of New Mexico, made by H arvard Unive rsity un- them.

BULLETIN NUMBER 13, DECEMBER 1951 13 Ca ves and Rockshelters in Southwest.ern Asia By HENRY FIELD Research Fellow) HanJar d University

During the past twenty-five years a systematic search has been made in order to establish the antiquity of man in Southwestern Asia. The authm') a renowned aTchaeologist) heTewith pj'esents some of the details in this pmductive quest among the mins of ancient cu/tw-es. This (LTticie) and the companion piece fol­ lowing) show dHl.matically the impol·tant part which caves play in this fascinating field of resem·ch.

In Southwestern Asia, ranging from south­ Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two western Sinai to eastern Afghanistan and from daughters" (Gen. XIX, 30); (b) Abraham and the Caucasus to the Arabian Sea, flourished one Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah and Leah were buried of the great civilizations. Here was the birth­ in a cave (Gen. XLIX, 29-32); (c) when the place of writing, law-making, astronomy and Philistines attacked in great strength the Israel­ scientific research. From this soil sprang two of ites hid in caves (I Sam. XIII, 6); (d) David the great religions, Christianity and Islam. escaped to the cave of Adullam (No.3), which :Man has lived here in caves or rockshelters became a rallying point (I Sam. XXII, 1); and [or at leasL 50,000 years. Our interest in these EI ijah received the word of the Lord in a cave natural shelters lies in their human occupation in Horeb (I Kings XIX, 8-9). rather than from a geological aspect. Hence we The ancient Egyptians sheltered in a small shall concentrate mainly on those which have limestone cave on the northern side of the Wadi thrown light on man and his cultures from Khraiza. a tributary of the Wadi Feiran (No.1). modern times back into the mists of antiquity. Here in 1948 we found a large basalt pounder Several groups of cave-dwellers today live in of the type used by the ancient Egyptian miners this area: (a) Bedouins at Es Salt (No.4) near on their way to Serabit el-Khadem or to the the road from Amman to Jerusalem in Jordan; turquoise mines in the nearby Wadi Muqattab. (b) Chaldeans near Al Qosh (No. 12) in north­ Chalcolithic implements lay on the surface. ern Iraq; and (c) the Shihu, a wild tribe near Fresh camel and sheep tracks on the sandy ap­ Ras al-Kheima (No. 26) beside the Persian Gulf proaches proved recent temporary occupation by on the Trucial Oman Coast. Bedouin shepherds. This place must have served Caves have long sheltered Bedouin raiders as a shelter from the Chalcolithic period to the and la.wbreakers. One of the largest is Mukamin twentieth century. al-Walaj (No.9) in western Iraq. With a small At Petra (No.2) the Nabateans lived, wor­ en trance this sinkhole is reported to be able to ~ hipp e d and were bLlried in the rock-cut, multi­ hide 1,000 horsemen; abundant water is avail­ hued sandstone. At Athlit on Mount Carmel able. In 1934 at the western end of J ebel Sinjar (No.5) a series of skeletons of the Old Stone we crawled inlo a small cave (No. 11). Recent Age and their cultures and associated fauna Arab pottery, including blackened lamps, were were excavated. The thickness of the deposit embedded in the muddy floor. In Kurdistan indica ted a long occupation by th ese ancient (AnaLolia, Iraq and Iran) and Luristan the hunters. Near En Nebk (Nebek) (No.6) in hundreds of limes tone caves have sheltered shep­ Syria excavations in Yabroud rockshelter identi­ herds and those who through the centuries have fied forty-five cultural levels, ranging from feared the local governments. Acheulean to Neolithic. Northward near Trip­ In Biblical times there are several examples oli in Lebanon Upper Paleolithic deposits have of the use of caves: (a) "And Lot went up out bee n found associated with stag, gazelle and of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain, and his two wolf bones. The honeycomb caves at Nahr el­ daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Kelb (No.7) have been explored for many

14 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY yea rs. Evidence of ancient and relatively mod· During the Pea bod y if use ulll·H arva rd Ex­ ern occupa tions were found. pedition to the Near East in April, 195 0, Dennis On the eastern slope of Tell el·Hibr in Batten of the Iraq Petroleulll Company guided northwes tern Saudi Arabi a, Don Holm, Aralll co me to one of these potholes . T he circular de­ geologist, gu ided me to a small rockshelter (No. press ion was about 25 0 ft. across. Climbing 8) wherein la y a Bedouin skeleton. Nearby we down about thirty fee t we entered a small , nar· collected a fin e series of large N Ulllmulites . row lUnnel by wriggling headfirst over . a very T housands of honey·colored Hillt s, many fl aked rocky slope. Once inside we were abl e to stand by prehistoric man, were strewn on the summit up in a low chamber. Dennis' headlight swept and slopes of Tell el·Hibr. onto the pale face of his bride, Bernice. U ntil Moving eas twa rd we come to several sink· that momen t I had not realized this was her first holes or pot·holes near Haditha (No. 10) on experience in speleology. T he cave was dry and thl: Euphrates in Iraq. musty and an e\'il stench permeated everything.

T U R KEY

CAVES

I. W adi Fciran . Sina i. 15. Tamlama near rmia (R eza iyeh), Iran. 2. Pelra , J o rdan. 16. j3isitlln (Behisllln), Iran . 3. Cave of Adllilam , Israel. 17 . Bell Cave (Ghar. i. Kamarband) near Behshahr, Iran. 4. Es·Sall, J o rda n. 18. Hotu Cave, so utheast corner of Caspian , Iran. 5. Ml. Ca rmcl, Israel. 6. En·Nebk (Nebck), Sy ria. 19. Khllnik R ocksheller, sO llth Khurasan, Iran. 7. Nahr el· Kelh, Lebano n. 20. Khu rrllmabad, Iran . 8. Tell el· Hibr. Sa lldi Arahia. 2 1. Ncar Perse poli s, Ira n. 9. ~llIkaimin a l·W alaj . Iraq . 22. Lakc i\laha rTlI ncar Shi nlZ, Iran . 10. Hadilha, Iraq. 23 . J ebel ed · DlIkhan . Bahrain Island. II . J ebel Sinjar, Iraq. 2·1. AI Dllha il , Qalar Pcninsul a. 12. AI Qosh, Iraq . 2!i. i\ lid way belwcen Dllkhan and Umm Said, Qatar 13. J ehel Baradost, Iraq. Peninsula. 1-1. Hazar Merel and Zarzi near Sulaimaniya , Iraq . 26. R as al·Kheima, T rucia l Oman Coast.

B U LLETIN N U MBE R] 3, D ECEMBER] 951 15 My f1a.shlight picked out a hunk of raw meat animal long bones and earth. Bernice watched near my right foot. Bernice shuddered. We with fascination as she held the Hashlight for moved cautiously ahead into the earth. Now we the diggers. 'Vi th our hands and geological were surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands, hammers this was slow work. Bernice whispered, of animal bones. Here lay skulls and long bones "I've never touched a human skull before, but of camels, horses, hyenas, foxes, jackals, sheep I can wriggle in there far easier than you or and goats: Far inside we came to a fork. To the Dennis." With her sylphlike figure, this was right the vault was covered with bats hanging obviously true. A few minu tes later Bernice head down. As we disturbed. them, they flew crawled headfirst down the narrow tunnel. Her pell-mell, squeaking madly. We cornered them right fingers almost touched the skull. A little in a low chamber. The walls were black with more was cleared out. This time by pushing and bats. Suddenly with a wild rush they came to­ wriggling like a snake Bernice removed the ward us. They hit us in the face as they flew skull delicately and dragged it slowly back to panic-stricken past our flashlights. Dennis, like our willing hands. It proved to be a middle-aged Horatio of old, swung a butterfly net backwards male of local Bedouin type. Did a wolf decapi­ and forwards above his head. This was an eerie tate a body and drag this skull into its den? Was picture with strange shadows flickering on the this possible or was there another ex planation? walls. After it was Dver we picked up twenty­ 'Ve still do not know. seven victims felled by the thrashing white net. During the next hour we found six more These have been identified by Colin Sanborn at fragmentary human skulls and three mandibles. Chicago Natural History Museum as six male Scrambling upward through the entrance, each and twenty-one females of Rhinoporna cystops carrying a skull in either hand, was hard work. cys lo/)S, a new species to be recorded in Iraq, The air outside was refreshing indeed after two but previously known from Egypt and Palestine. hours inside that smelly cave. Another day we However, Bernice was found crouching in a returned with duffel bags to co-Ilect a represent­ corner with her hands clasped tightly over her ative series of animal bones and eight more hair. She seemed to be enjoying the bat hunt human skulls [or study at Harvard. even less than she would the skull chase which Our next speleological venture was high on was just around the corner. Yusuf put the poor Jebel Baradost (No. 13) in northeastern Iraq. little bats into a bag and we started down the In this phase of the expedition we were work­ other passage. ing cooperatively with the Iraq Department of A drip from the roof disturbed the utter Antiquities, Sayyid Fuad Safar being their rep­ silence. In the mud below were large pad marks. resentative. Five cars carried us and our equip­ '''' e were in a wolf's den. Without comment ment to Havdian village at the foot of the Dennis and I each picked up a camel's thigh mountain. 'J\T e walked and rode for five hours bone as a weapon. 'Ve advanced slowly and up a narrow, rocky trail. One of the "sure-footed cautiously dee per into the cave until we reached mountain . ponies" slipped and fell twenty feet a narrow path leading up into a small tunnel. to a ledge. Fortunately, he was only carrying Here the pad marks had beaten a track in the some bedrolls. Seeing this we · all dismounted fin e dust. My hand tightened around the up­ and walked for a time without comment. 'Ve raised cam~ l femur. As ~he light fl as hed into arrived panting and footsore outside Dian Cave. the tunnel I expected to see a pair of eyes glow­ Snowbanks covered the slopes for we were at ing as coals. The tunnel was ~ mpt y. 'Vas the 3,500 feet. J ebel Baradost stands near the Iraq­ wolf or his. mate in their lair just around the Iran-Turkish frontiers. 'Ve were surrounded by corner? We did not venture to crawl in to see. snow-capped mountains and huge limestone Back in the outer chamber we began to hunt peaks. Our purpose was to dig trial trenches to for human remains. I found a lower jaw with search for ancient human habitation in this the molars showing considerable wear. Dennis, cave. lying full-l ength into a sloping crevice, spotted \'\'e were quite a party, thirty-three of us a skull which had rolled into the deepest point. altogether, including: Robb White, my brother­ 'Ve began to clear a space through a pile of in-law as photographer; Dennis Batten, speleo-

]6 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY logist; Fuad Safar, poLtery speciali st; fourteen Stone Age. The R owandiz area has many caves A. ssyrians and fourtee n Kurds fr om H avdian ; worthy of explorati on and lrial trenches . two mou n ted pol ice as escort; and horses and "Ve drove south to Erbil (a nc. Arbela) and donkeys, the pack a nima ls. Sen tries were posted Kirkuk Cl nd eastward to Chemchemal, where we day a nd night [or these mounLains harbor ban­ were told aboul a gigantic cave call ed Mamlaha dits. During th e night we often heard shOlS ring­ ill mounrains abou t twenty miles easl. A roaring ing out across the va ll ey . At these moments we torrent foll owing hea vy rains made the track were glad to be able lO Illu ster sixteen riHes. "V e from Chemchemal to Mamlaha impassa ble. each slept with a riH e at our side. KurdistJ n from R owandiz through Aq ra to For a week we li ved in the open on arm y Sul aimani ya (No. 14) and Penjwin has many co ts outside Dia n Cave. T he trench beca me so caves and rockshelters, lhe majority of them un­ deep that we h ad LO proceed by 3 ft. steps down explored or unexamined for traces of ancient until virg in rock was reached at 14 feet 6 inches. human habitation. H owe\,er, H azar Merd and Pottery, animal bones and a few flints were Zarzi nea r Sulaimaniya were excavated by Miss found. Fua cl Safar identified the pottery as simi­ Dorothy Garrod, who fo und Paleolithic imple­ lar to that [rom Uruk, H assuna and other [am­ men ts in situ. ous ancient sites in MesopoLa mi a attributed to Moving eastward on this survey lies Iran or about 3,000-5,000 B. C. During this time Dennis Persia. The mountains of Kurdistan and Luris­ Batten a nd R obb "Vhile explored eve ry meter tan on the wes t contain hundreds, if not thous­ o[ the in terior of the ca \·e . T he wall s were too ands, of rockshelters and caves. Las t yea r I rough [or prehistoric cave paintings or engTav­ searched for Slone implements in three rock­ ings . T here were two pitches, one of twenty feet shelters in the Khurrumabad area (No. 20). At and another o[ thirty fee l. T he flo or of the lower Konji typologicall y Paleolithic flint implemen ts chamber contained a large pool of water. An­ were found at a depth of eight fee t. This was other small sounding was made in the interior; the first time Stone Age implements were exca ­ a similar cultural sequence was found together vated in Luristan. with animal bones washed down. J n 1934· Dr. Donald McCown and I found "Ve moved to Pas tun Cave, half an hour's microlithic flint implements on a scree slope walk across the mountain. This was a much ou tside a small rockshelter bes ide Lake Maharlu larger cave with giant stalactites and stalagmites. (No. 22) near Shiraz. Dr. Ernst H erzfeld de­ Two so undings were also made down to virgin scribed to me a large, unexplored cave (No. 21) rock, again at a depth of 14 feet 6 inches. "Ve abOllt three hours by horseback east of Perse­ found m any hearths, pottery, flints and a beau­ polis, ancient capital of Persia founded b y tiful necklace of lhirty-five cy lindrical terra cotta Darius I (5 21-486 B. C. ). To the south and east beads. These soundings proved for the first time across to Kuh-i-Taftan no prehistorian has that hunlers and nomads inhabited caves 111 searched for Paleolithic Illan and his cultures. Kurdistan for the past 7,000 or more years. Excavations have been made in fiy e ca ves by ,,,re climbed to the peak of J ebel Baradost Dr. Carleton S. Coon of the U niversity M useulll of the U ni ve rsity of Pennsy lva nia: (No. 13). T he air was fres h and cold. "Ve saw ibex tracks beside brea th-laking precipices. To (a) Tamtama, 13 miles northeast of R eza i­ the north were the snow-ca pped peaks of so u th­ ye h, at 5,000 feet (No. 15) . A few animal bones eastern Anatoli a, b ut l\It. Ararat was just too far and one Neanderthaloid femur were found as­ to be seen through the Zeiss glasses. On the socia ted wi th 23 crude im plemen ts and cherty eastern side rose the Persian pea ks. Standing on fl akes. a rock ou t or vi ew of the res t o[ the party I reI t (b) Bisitun (a nc. Behistun), 30 miles east of that deep thrill inside which comes onl y to Kermanshah, at 4,500 feet (No. 16). Abollt 1,100 m ounta ineers alone with nature . . . . implements and many animal bones were un­ At the foot of J ebel Barados t we examined earthed. Ha\'dian rockshelter. I-Jere on the scree slope Fuad and I found hundreds o f microli thic flint (c) Belt Cave (Ghar-i-Kamarband), 5 miles implemen ts indicating occupation by men of the wes t of Behshahr, about 120 fee t above the Cas-

B ULLETIN NUMBER 13, D ECEM BER 1951 17 plan (No. 17). An Upper Mesolithic female cient human occupation were found. At Al Du­ skull (aet. 12) was found associated with Hint hail, northwes t of Doha, we found animal bones implements and animal bones. and some human remains in another sinkhole (No. 24). This material was very similar to that (d) Khunik rockshelter in southern Khura­ from near Haditha (No. 10) in Iraq. The ani­ san (No. 19). Patina ted Mousterian implements mal bones are now being identified a t Harvard. lay on the surface. Early Islamic pottery was excavated. Evidence of an earthquake was Other significa nt areas worth careful investi­ recorded. gation for caves and rockshelters are the R ed Sea coast from Aqaba to the northern fringe of (e) At Hotu Cave (No. 18) at the so uth­ the great Rub'al-Khali sa nds, in the mountains eastern end of the Caspian he found in May, of Oman and along the H adhramaut, Aden and 1951, three skeletons of Homo imnicus, their into the Yemen. flint implements and animal bones. This is a Speleologica l reconnaissance I in Southwest­ most importa nt discovery in Southwestern Asia, ern Asia has alread y thrown light on the earlies t for we now have for the first time prehistoric inhabitants of this region, their many cultures skeletons midway between Mt. Carmel and the and the animals they hunted for food. As a re­ Neanderthaloid child's skeleton from Teshik­ sult many lacunae are being fill ed in the great Tash rockshelter near T as hkent in Soviet Cen­ historical mosaic on the crossroads of the three tral Asia. continents of Asia, .-\ frica and Europe. In the Persian Gulf on Bahrain Island Mr. T. G. Bibby and I examined two small rock­ shelters (No. 23) on J ebel ed-Dukhan (450 ft.). J For references sec Carleton S. Coon, "Cave explorations Some recent sherds were collected on the scree in Iran, 1949," University Museum Monograph , Phila­ delphia; A Te /w e%g.", vo l. 4, No.2, pp. 116-11 8; and slopes. Henry Fi eld, " Contributions to the Anthropology of In the center of the Qatar Peninsula midway Iran," Field :\[llSeum of Natural History, 1939, a lso "R econnaissa nce in Southwestern As ia," Sou.th wcstci n between Dukhan and Umm Said, we climbed to Journal of A llth ropology, vol. 7, No. I , pp. 86- 102, 1951 the bottom of a 90 ft. sinkhole (No. 25) with a and " R econnaissa nce in Saudi Arabia," JOllnllli of the R oyal Central .-\ sian Society, vol. 38, pts. 2-3, pp. 185 - pool of water at the bottom. No traces of an- 197, 1951.

18 N ATIO, AL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Cave Exploration on Jebel Baradost Iraq By DENNIS J. BATTEN Civil Engin eer, h aq Pet1"O iew n ComtJany

During the spring ot 1950 Dr. H enry Field, of the mountain. A small spring lies abou t 100 who was then lea ding the Peabody M use um­ ya rds so uth and above the cave. H arvard U niversity Expedition, invited me to This cave, which is of Cretaceous limes tone, join him in his sea rch for prehistoric man in a ppears to be both a solu tion and an erosion the caves of Kurdistan . T hat I accepted with cave. Accura te iden tifi ca tion has not been m ade, alacrity need hardly be mentioned, and I would but the neighboring Bekhme limes tone has been like to here record m y apprecia ti on of his offer identified as Campanian Maestrichian (Upper and thank him for his kindness, good humor Cretaceous). Bekhme Gorge lies northwest of and generosity during our period of association. J ebel Baradost. Dr. Field concl uded that early men, when mi­ From observa tion of the cave position in grating from the north, used the passes through respect to the snow wa ter drainage vall ey, it has the moul1la ins of Anatoli a and Kurdistan as been infe rred that the fo rmation of the cave and easy access routes to the fer tile lowlands of the va ll ey was taking place while the bed of the Middle Eas t. His suppos ition that R owandiz va ll ey was level with the cave entrance. T he dip Goro'e had aL some time been one of these mi- o of the strata gave the infiltrating wa ter a south­ gratory routes was correct: this was I think the wes terly direction. When the vaIJ ey bed became pointer he used in choosing Mount Barados t as lower than that of cave level, the fo rmation by a fi eld of acti vity. eros ion undoubtedly ceased. Surface wa ter in­ Many caves on the sou th and east faces of filtration has been responsible for the stalag­ J ebel Baradost were vi sited, but Dr. Field fi~ a l ­ matic formation, but it is improbable that any Iy se lected two ca ves, Dian and Pas tun, as belllg great changes have taken place since the m ain m os t likely to yield the evidence he sought. A water fl ow was directed into a differen t channel. ca mp site was therefore chosen outside Dian Cave. Dr. Field, R obb W hite, Sayy id Fuad From observation of roof and waIJ s it was Sa far, and myself explored both ca ves . deduced that the cave is both a solution and erosion cave. T he fl a t roof and ' the shapes and "Vhile the remainder of the party were all otted the tas ks which bes t suited their partic­ sizes of the material compos ing the scree leads ular talents, I as an amateur potholer (I prefer 10 this belief. U nfortunately, the facets tha t Lh e term rather than that of Speleologist) was would have made identifica ti on easier have been give n the tas k of making a quick survey of the obscured by false waIJ s and observa tion of the caves. original angles of facets and roof becomes im­ possible. All roof and wall joints have been Since this sun'ey was made with the aid of obscured by a heavy limes tone glazing to such a 50 ft. tape and a 6 ft. fl exible rule, inaccura­ an extent that it has been almost imposs ible to cies are bound to have occurred. By means of reconstruct in imagination the original cave two torches, one from each leg of the cave, the shape, with the exception of the implicati on converoO'e nce an0o' le was measured at the inter- secti on of the light bea ms.

, A. M. Hamilton in his " R oad through Kurdistan " men­ ESHKAFTA DIAN ti ons Eshkafta Hawdian calling it the " Cave of the ' '''ind." ' At no time d u ring our occupatio n of it was Eshkafta Dian' (H awdian or H avdian) lies even the slightest brea th of wind felt insicle the cave. a pproxima tel y 1,000 ft. from the summit of Dr. Fic Ici p uts forwa rd an ingenious . theory: T he cave is kno wn locall y uncleI' two names, Di an and H awcl l.an; J ebel Baradost. T he cave entrance faces east H awdian or Havd ia n being the nearest village. Dr. Field and overlooks a snow wa ter drainage valley run­ pres umed that H amilto n gave the K~rd! s h n O I~n an Arabi c transla tio n and fi nall y resolved It 111 English as nino' a lmost north-south dowll the southern [ace "The Cave of the W ind."

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20 NATIONAL SPELEOLOG ICAL SOCIETY that the three levels of the cave were originally have not entirely obliterated the shape of the one cavern under one roof. slope. One short stalagmatic wall h as begun to T he cave entrance has been partially blocked take shape but at no point has it attained more by man to afford greater protection for himself than te n fee t. The lowest point in the cave, is and his animals. That the cave has been habited the water retaining level of the cave. by man at intervals over a lengthy period is Dian Cave undoubtedly co ntinues beyond borne Oll t by the thickness of the open hearth this point, although it is not at the momen t levels. In general, the entrance is dry, although apparent. H owever, when na ture decides to some wa ter drips from the roof in isolated spots break down the wa lls now dividing the caves, but in insuffi cient quantity to make the cave un­ further exploration should be poss ible. It is inhabitable. thought that the cave ex tension, if any, will be From trial trenches it was established that 111 a southwes terly direction. the original scree slope floo r dips at the same ESHKAFTA PAST UN angle as the adjoining strata. T he roof is clear and (ree of cracks and joints. Progress in the Eshkafta Pas tun proved to be the larger of first cham ber is easy for the mos t part, and can the two caves. Erosion played a great part · in be made wi th a slight bending of the body. the formatio n of Pastun, as is apparent from a From there on, however, it is necessary to crawl. glance at the ground plan. T he wa ter entry at Previous excavati on here increased the head Point A would at first appear to be frolll the room. Moving into Chamber No.2, one is faced surface. This I do not believe to be true. with a passage widening at the extremity with The northeastern corner of the cave wall a vertica l wa ll on the left hand and a stalag­ . shows many water entries of various levels from mati c wa ll on the right. ' ,Vith the formati on of roof to flo or ; each water entry at one time cor­ the la tter ca me the reten ti on behi nd the wall of responded to cave fl oor level. Some water is at foreign material with a corresponding rise in the present infiltrating through the strata but fl oor level. In addition, the retention of infil­ it is apparent that Point B is now only a wa ter tJ'ating water has both levelled and glazed the outlet during spring flooding and carries away fl oor. Examination of the fl oor showed the sand· only the water that infiltrates through the roof wiching of foreign material and glazing. T he of the chamber. vertical pitches shown are not original· portions T he fl oor in the m ain chamber consists of of the cave formation but can be co nsidered material foreign to the cave being in the major­ faces of the stalagmitic wa lls. Acc ur ~ t e observ­ ity open hearth as h, and broken pottery. Evi­ ati on of the roof and fl oor poin ts were impos· dence of man's search for potash from among sible because of limestone glazing and the false the ash are apparent in many places. Spoor of wall. bear, pig and wolf were seen, although none challenged T he slight pitch to Chamber No. 3 can be our temporary occupa tion rights. ze of the cave and the simplicity of its easil y negoti a ted, the effect being more of a T he si structure still puzzles me. To date I have been tunnel than a chamber. Some low stalagmites unable to form an opinion as to its origin and r ise from the fl oor. T hese encrustations are wide­ based and mushroom in shape; some are bas in­ formation. Pastun Cave shows a general tend­ ency to a southwes terl y direction as does. Dian topped and contain good drinking water. The Cave. The dip of the stra ta appears to be respon­ la tter I take to be stalagmites ca used by filling sible. up of flukes in the original scree slope. The archeologica l finds t included H assuna, /\. tunnel leads fr om Chamber No. 3 to Al U baid and U ruk ware as well as animal Chamber No.4. T he tunnel, which appears to bones and from the lowest stratum in Pas tlln, a have been recently excava ted, drops vertically human fe mur blackened by fire. about ten feet, where it takes a 900 turn; full­ length crawling is necessary to negoti ate the I See Fuad Safar, "Pon ery from Caves of Baradosl;' rema inder 9f the tunnel. In Chamber No. 4, SlIme,-, vol. 6, No.2, pp. 11 8- 123, Baghdad, 1950; ami al though none of the origi nal scree slope is Henry l' ield, " Reconna issa nce in So uthwestern Asia ,. So u l h wes /em JOll n w / of A II/h ro/J%gy, vol. 7, No. i, visible, the limestone glaz ing' and stalagmites pp. 86- 102, 195 1. .

B ULLETI N N UM BE R ] 3, D ECEMBER 1951 2 1 AN ENGI NEER INSPECTS THE RIGGING

G. A LEXANDER ROBERTSON A /I drawings by Gmce Riddell Lu.ndin

M are than th irty yem's' experien ce in acciden t prevention, most of which has been spent in industTial operations, qW.l.lifies th e (l u thOT of this aTticie to sjJ eak with a:uthority. His W01'/{ entailed -r escu e techniques, {/Ttificial l·e.Hlscita­ tion, first aid, th e use of mpes, slings, lifts, hoists, scaffolding, laddel's , block and tackle, boatswa.ins' chain and othel' types of construction and rigging. In v iew of the ever inCTeasing numbe1' of persons exploring wild caves, this a.l·ticie is a timely one to give them sound advice.

On nearly every caving expedition some continually strive to make ACCIDENTS an un­ safety practice is viola ted, and usuall y when the possibility, this article is dedicated. exploration involves rope work, the violation is flagrant. Presented herewith are suggestions ROPE based on explorations of a considerable number Always use a line (cable or rope) tha t is of of caves and years of technical experience and adequate size for the job, and that is in good sound engineering practice. Everyone of them condi tion. I nspect and test ever'y rope before it has good grounds for support. Most of the rea­ is used, on each tTil). The often-heard saying sons wi ll be evident, even to the novice. It is that "testing a rope weakens it" is sheer non­ also hoped that the reasons will be evident to sense. that growing number of inexperienced and over-confident spelunkers who have been lucky enough to lower a companion into a cave and TESTING ROPE pull him out alive, and have th ereafter con­ About the best and most practical method of sidered themselves competent cave riggers. testing a rope, after first inspecting it for obvious Some of these suggestions may, at first glance, defects, is to subject it to a steady pull in the appear to be radica l; others probably cannot approximate magnitude of one-half the rope's always be fo llowed, for there is hardly any such ultimate breaking strength (when new). Any thing as an absolutely perfect safety rule. Some, rope that .fai ls in this test (half-life) should be no doubt, wi ll be met with such belligerent re­ discarded as it. wi II no longer possess the re­ torts as: - "1 have been caving for years without quired factor of safety to meet emergencies. following these rules and have never been One of the simples t tests is tbat of tying one hurt!" Surely such an attitude is just as illogical end of rope to a tree a bou t three feet above its as th e remarks of a "jay walker" who, when base and having the necessary number of per­ ca utioned aga inst crossing a busy street between sons pull on the other end in a steady "tug' of intersections, definitely replies "I've been cross­ war" fashion, keeping the rope three feet above ing where 1 pl eased all my life and I've never ground. ''''hen pulled in this manner, on a level been hit." grassy surface, tbe stra in or pull on the rope will To tha t group of cavers whose co nstant aim average about 75 per ce nt of the total weight of is not to make SAFETY a pmbability, but who those pull ing.

Pull on rope equals about t lwee-four ths total weight of people pulling.

22 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY MAIN LINES pecial.l) d!Jplicable to those who do caving and campmg m the fall and winter and leave their F or the m ain raising and lowering line in ropes . o ut~ oors at night. Thaw the rope by vertical caves, a Ys inch manila rope is recom­ warml11g it slowly- excessive heat also ruins mended. Its weight is approximately 13 pounds rope. per 100 feet, yet it has an average breaking Do not drag a rope on the ground any more strength of 4000 pounds when new, or a "half­ than is absolutely necessary. It not only wears life" fa cto?' of sa fety of ten to one for a 200- the o~ter fib ers, but it picks up grit that may pound man. Sisal rope may be used, but is only work 111 and cu t the inner ones. If rope becomes three-fourths as strong as manila and is more caked with mud and sa nd, it is advisable to susceptible to in jury from moisture. Neve?" use wash it with clean water, but without soap. A a facto?' of sa fety of less than fi ve to one. Six or large galva nized wash tub, fill ed with water, is seven to one is greatly to be preferred. excellent for this purpose and accommodates SAFETY LINES c~mfortably about 50 feet of Ys -inch rope at a time. Shake the rope around violently and a A safety line, as the name implies, is a line majority of the dirt and grit will become loosen­ used to "safety" a person climbing by his own ed and fall to the bottorn of the tub. effm'l (s uch as on a rope ladder, hand-over­ vVet rope should be d?'ied 1J1'omptly and hand, rope loop, etc.). A Y2 -inch m anila rope is thmoughly. One of the best methods is to hanrr sufficiently strong for this purpose. It weighs . ~ I~ on a wooden rack in a garage, so tha t air may about 7.3 pounds per 100 fee t and, when new, CIrculate freely through it. Never leave a wet h as an average breaking strength of 2400 ~ope in a bag or other closed space, especially pounds or a "ha lf-life" of 1200 pounrls. Nrmp.T 111. warm weather, as it wi ll almost certainly use a "safety line" on a person when he is mIldew. Although this greatly weakens it, there being raised or lowered on a "main line." It not may be no marked difference in appearance. only is wo?"thless and confusing but highly con­ ducive to accidents by becoming fouled, and it If, on the contrary, the weather is very hot may become a real hazo'rd by loosening rocks and dry, as prevails in certain sections of the that might fa ll and strike the caver. United States, it may be advisable to wet the rope before using. A wet rope is stmngeT than a CARE OF ROPE dry one. A vo id bending rope over sharp corners while Do not jerk a rope when it is kinked-it under load. I t not only cuts the fib ers on the tends to weaken it, and thereafter it may cause it under side, but, by excessive tension, it breaks to brea k under a moderate pull. those on the outer side as well. ' Never subject a rope to a sudden jerk of any Never store ropes on the /iOO?' of basements great magnitude; its strength may be penna­ and garages. Aside from the danger of excessive nently reduced. The author has seen sight-seers dampness that is usually present, they are there lowered into dee p caves by virtually dropping accessible to pets. Animal feces and urine are them almost as fast as in a free fa ll, only to be ruinous to rope, and it is an established fact jerked to a sudden stop about 15 feet from the that next to the street corner fire plug, there is bottom by snubbing the top end of the rope nothing so attractive to Fido as a coil of cave around a tree. T he strain on the rope was ter­ rope. rific, and why it did not break and result in a No rope should ever be disc(l1'd ed or left in serious accident wi ll forever remain a mys tery, or near a cave. A discarded rope presents too for surely it could not be attributed to the use great a tempta tion to the novice. An ropes that of any judgement or common sense on the part are condemned should be immediately des troy­ of the person responsible for the rigging. What ed by burning or cutting them into short un­ a price could have been paid, just to give some­ usa ble lengths. one a thTill! ~eve r use a rope when it is fmzen-the SIZE OF WORKING GROUP fibers are then quite brittle and the rope may 'While a person ca n pull, when standing on break even under a very light load. This is es- level sodded ground, up to 85 or 88 per cent

BULLETIN NUMBER 13 , D ECEMBER 1951 23 of his weight, it can be done for only a very when strain is to be put on either end of short period of time. rope, as then it can slip a nd convert itself " vVa lking groups", pulling persons from ver­ into two half-hitches-slip knots. ti ca l drops can never rely on being able to util­ ize more tha n one-h alf the total weight of group. If ma ny persons must be pulled up and no relief is available, due La the fa tigue fa ctor 40 per cent of Lotal weight is about all tha t sh ould be reli ed upon. Do not overlook the fact tha t "ro pe drag", or fri ction ca used by the rope being pulled over c. Bowline-Unexce ll ed [or tying a loop pro jec ti ons inside a cave as well as over rocks in end of rope such as for a "safety line" a nd earth a t the entra nce, can easil y supple­ around a person on a rope ladder. ment " li ve" load by 100 per cent or more. In­ deed , it is not at a ll uncommon [or a pull in excess of 300 pounds to be n eeded to ra ise a I SO-pou nd person [rom a ca ,·e . This fact clearly demonstra tes the need fo r a large fa ctor o[ sa fe ty, not only for the rope but for ma npower as well.

K N OTS d . Bowlil/ e U /1 a Bighl-Idea l [or produc­ So much h as been written a bout how lo lie ing a loop along a rope (not at one end). different knots that it is deemed unnecessar y in As it is in rea lity two loops, it is recom­ th is article to ela bora te on tha t phase of rigging. m ended for the leg loops of the so-called T here are, however, other aspec ts in their use " parachute ha rness" type of rig used for tha t are equally important but often neglected . vertical drops. T he ca ve rigger need no t know m a ny knots­ fi ve generall y will suffice. T hey are:

e. Sheel Bend-Good [or fas tening two ropes together, especiall y if they are o[ different sizes.

a. Half - Hil c h - . ~ bas ic knot form, ver y .-\ word of ca u ti on III the use o[ knots is in sel dom used alone, but often forming a order. lNhen strain IS a pplied every knot part o[ other more complica ted knots. Its "creeps" until it becomes se t. T here[ore, never main use in ca yes is to secure other work­ ti e a knot cl ose to the end of a line. It may ing knoLs aga inst unt ying. untie when sLr ain is a pplied . T ie the knot a t least 18 to ~ 4 inches [rom the end. Many Lypes o[ knots tha t are stable when working in the o pen, are suujec t to unlying if the knot ca tches on some obstructi on. The bow· b. Flal o-r R er'f-Excell ent in an y case line a nd shee t bend are notable examples. As where the strain is rrom within (not ap­ such a d anger always exi sts in caves, suffi cient plied to either end o[ ro pe). For exam ple: rope should be left when tying the " working" A loop tied arou nd a tree when it is de­ knot La put a couple o[ half· hi tches around Lh e sired Lo a ttach (w ith a shackl e) a stand­ line. T his will sa feguard the working knot [rom ing sheave b lock. N('ve r lise a {Ial knot becoming untieu.

24 NAT IONAL SPELEO LOG IC AL SOC IETY BLOCK AND FALL. of the rope to loosen rocks which might Neve,' use a tTaveling bloch (sheave) in a fall and strike the caver on the rope) and vertical cave drop to raise or lower anyone. The others below. only possible excuse for using one is when the b. As a means of changing di" ection of rope is too small or weak (and therefore has to pull to facilitate easi er handling-as for be doubled) or when sufficient manpower is not instance, when a block is secured to a tree available. "Weighed against the potential acci­ so located near the cave entrance that the dent hazard, however, neither excuse is valid. pulling party may hoist a caver by walk­ ing down hill-a very real help. The arguments against traveling blocks are: a. If it is within reach of the caver it may There are several rules that should be strict­ cut off his fingers or at least seyerely in­ ly adherred to in th e selection of sheave blocks: jure his hand. 1. Never use a sheave that is too small in diame­ b. If placed too high to be reached by the ter for the rope. It not only requires consider­ caver it is then susceptible of becoming ably more work to operate but it greatly foul ed on a projecting ledge, or even weakens the rope by excessively stretchirig the worse, in a crevice in a ledge. Being then outer fib ers pass ing around the sheave. A safe out of reach of the caver, he would be practice is to ha\'e all sheaves eight times as unable to extricate it. The pulling party large in diameter as that o[ the rope. Example: (generall y out of sight of and out of A 'Is-inch rope should use a fi ve-inch sheave. hearing distance of th e caver) upon feel­ U nder no circulllstances use one whose diameter ing extra res istance would probably pull is less than seven times that of the rope. all the harder. This might easil y result in 2. Never use a chea p or I igh t sheave of the breaking either the rope or the block or awning", toy, or window sash va riety. A good i t. might dislodge a portion of the ledge fiv e-inch block should not weigh more than which could fall and strike caver who is fiv e or six pounds-truly a small amount of pinioned immediately undernea th. In weight when human safety is involved. any case such an accident could well be fatal. 3. Never use any block except of the safety type-one that has a strong piece of metal c. In vertica l drops ropes always twist or across the lower side which will ca tch and hold unwind to a certa in extent. In cases the rope in the e\"e nt that the sheave pin works where traveling blocks are used this ou t or wears in two. By using a good block of causes the two ropes to be wrapped standard design and carefully inspecting and around each other thus fouling them and lubrica ting it before each use no trouble should making them inoperable-a ve ry CO Ill­ be experienced on that score. mon ex perience. 4. lever use a block th at is equipped with a There is no way to remove all twist [rom a hook-in shon DO N OT USE HOOKS! They rope since one of the factors governing the are dangerous, time consuming, and even if the amount of twist is weight. r\ rope that will n ot hooks are tied, they are still unfit for cave work. twist with a lOa-pound girl will twist with a R emove all hooks frol1l blocks and use so"ew 200-pound llIan and vice versa . pin shncldes instead. They require only a fra c­ Standing bloc li s ca n be put to exce llent use ti on o[ the time needed for tying a hook, are both inside and outside caves: far stronger and, abo\"e all , they "stay put". "Vhen removing hooks from blocks they may a. As a mea ns of posilioning a drop over generally be cut so as to leave the ring still a t­ the cenle'l" of an opening thereby elimi­ tached. T his ring is often large enough for the na ting the fri ction and wear on the rope inse rtion o[ a shackle. If not, have a "eliable that wou ld be ca used it: it were pulled welding shop fo rge and we ld a ring at the top over the earth and rocks at the edge o[ of every block. Do not have the rings welded th e opening. Also, it lesse ns the tendency (attached rigidly) LO the block.

BULLETIN NUMBER 13 , DECE1\IBER 1951 25 5. Steel blocks are superior to wooden ones. To keep from bending rope too sharply at They will stand more abuse and are not affected shackle the rope should be carried around a suit­ by moisture. However, a good wooden block able sized thimble. Both shackle and thimble with steel shrouds (bands extending from top should be galvanized. The pin should be screw­ to bottom of block) should give good service if ed up snug. If desired it can be locked by run­ care is exercised in its use and it is not subjected ning a wire through the hole in the pin and to hard knocks which might break the wood. As • around the body of the shackle. to size 'of sheave: Since all ropes get larger with LIGHTS use it is advisable to get a block one size large1· than the rope for which it is to be used . This Never raise or lower a caver by a non­ reduces friction on sides of sheave and lessens metallic rope while his carbide lamp is burning wear on the rope. unless rope is protected. SHACKLES If the person on the rope has a good fl as h­ light (which every caver should have) fastened Screw pin shackles-not loose pin-are ideal to him by a strong cord to prevent dropping for attaching sheave blocks to supporting ropes . there will seldom, if ever, be need for another The Y2-inch size is recommended. They are large so urce of light during the descent. enough to accomodate all sizes of rope up to and including %-inch, and while they may appear For those who insist upon keeping a carbide small, they will support more than eight tons. lamp lit while being raised or lowered, the fol­ lowing suggestion is made: Place a fl exible metallic sleeve around the hoist line next to caver. This is extremely simple and efficient and consists merely of slid­ ing a short section (about two feet long) of %-in ch Gree nfield fl exible conduit over the hoist rope just above the chest knot. This may be purchased for a few ce nts from almost any

NOT this

GI·eenfleld flexible conduit pI·otecting I·ope I'I·om but THIS flame of cltl·b ide lamp.

26 _ NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY electrical contractor and makes the rope prac­ chair if, perchance, it hangs on some obstacle tically immune to damage from carbide lights. and tilts or tips over. Before slipping the Greenfi eld tubing into posi­ tion apply a couple of layers of fri ction tape to ANCHORS AND MOORINGS the rope for about three inches a t points where A line (cable or rope) that is made fast ends of metallic sleeve will be. This will prevent (tied) to an objecl is never any more secure injury to the rope. After the sleeve is in position than the object to which it is tied. This may apply another three-inch layer of tape a t each sound elementary. It is an axiom of greatest end of it-one and one-half inches on sleeve and importance, howe\·er, es pecially in cave rigging. the same amount on rope. T his is done to pro­ .Too often cave ladders have been ti ed and vide a smooth surface and to prevent grit from safety lines snubbed around stalagmites which entering the space betwee n th e tubing and the were of ample proportions in themselves, but rope. which close inspection would have shown to be T he above precautions aga inst fl ame apply f01 ·m ed on tot) of a mud deposit. Obviously equally to "safety lines" and " main lines ." such an object makes · a dangerously insecure mooring. A nchors, should be inspected and "BOSUNS'" CHAIRS tested as diligently as m l)e. "Bosuns'" chairs are sa[e [or \·ertica l drops The above treatise on ca \·e ri ggl I ~g, while in caves with ample-si zed entrances . provided admittedly incomplete, is intended solely as a that previous exploration has re\·ealed no inter­ sugges ted guide to alert those who assume the ve ning ledges. "Bos un" chairs permit a large responsibility for the sa fe conveyance in a cave group of people to be handled in a remarkably of that most precious commodity- the human short time. They shou ld , howe\·er, be so con­ life- those who acknowl edge the eternal tru th structed th a t a caver w nll ol possibly slit) 0 111 of that Safety is an Art, II Ot ·an A ccident.

•

Origin and Development of ~~Positive" Water Catchment Basins, Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico l

By DONALD M. BLACK

Ranger, National Park SenJice

OBSERV.-\ T IONS of the immediate area (figs. II, III). A careful search of much of th e cavern has not revealed D epress ions which have, and do act as, an indisputable so lu tion ca tchmen t basin. A few catchment basins for water seemingly foll ow basins are probably collapse dammed. T he most definite patterns of developmenl. In origin they common kind of ca tchment basin is the "posi­ migh t develop as solu tion basi ns in the bed tive" type. rock, as co ll apse dammed so lution areas sealed with minerals or silt (fig. I), or as pos itive grow­ J Approved for publica tioll by the Director of the Na· ing structures which blIild above the topography ti oll al Pa rk Service.

B U LLETI N NUMBER 13, D ECEM BE R 1951 27 POSITIVE BASINS A positive basin is peculiar in that it is FIG. I bounded on two or more sides by flow stone or "retaining dams" of crystalline carbonates, The maximum elevation of the water surface is con­ trolled by the growth of these carbonate crystals across the areas of overflow, Overflow causes retaining dams to grow in height; in fact, with­ out overflow, these dams will cease to grow, New dams develop when the water level is high enough to spill through other low places in the· topography; each spillway eventually becomes 10 f«t dammed, R etaining dams are composed of two zones of growth, and no less than two types of Fig. I-Collapse dammed solution ,joint sealed with ca rbona te crystals, The zone of growth in con­ flowstone, A, bed !'oc\(; n, flows tone ; C, f1owstone tact with the bas in water (basin side) consists sealed rubble ; D, watel' level. of massive, triangular, pyra~idal crystals that radiate laterally (fig, II, AI); back side of the dam is faced with layers of acicular crystals whose longes t axis is normal to the slope of the

), dam (fig, II, A2 Individual dams are often formed on formations that slope thirty or more degrees (fig, IV), Although the general trace of several adjacent retaining dams is concave to­ ward the source of water (fig, II, C), the i ndi vidual dams have a trace tha t is con vex to­ FIG.II ward the source of water (fig, II, B), SC('I le fo r A

Positive basins formed by the converging of ! 6fed ' "aprons" of flowstone (fig, III) within narrow confining solution joints are responsible for many of the water levels seen in the Left Hand Tunnel. ' ,Vhere not confined between narrow solution joints, flowing water tends to build c retaining dams to confine or impound water I (fig. II, IV). This latter type is represented by Sed-I, e fM B M n C 3 ftd the Mirror Lake, Longfellow'S Bath Tub, and ~ the Devil's Spring. Positive basins are respons­ ible for the various types of "lily pads" which Fig, ] lA-Retaining dams in cross section, 1, latel'­ comprise an important part of the scenery of all~ ' growing, massive, tJ'iangula,r, PYI'amidal, cal'­ the Carlsbad Caverns. bonate crystals; 2, layers of acicular crystals with long a.xis nOl'lnal to bacl( slope of dam; 3, bed !'ocl(; J. H. Mackin and H. A. Coombs I recognized 4, flowstone slope deposited pl'ior to formation of the ex istence of water basins in which they I'etaining dams; 5, watel' level. found cave pearls. The basins described by them would be considered flows tone sealed depres­ Fig, IlB-Trace of sel'ies of adjacent retaining' sions and not the positive type basin. dams; III'I'OW indicates direction of overflow,

I "An occurrence of 'cave pearls' in a mine in Idaho", Fig. nC-Tmce of single I'etaining dam; arrow Jour. Geol. pp. 58-(i5, vol. LIII, No. I, Jan. 19-15 . indicates diJ'ection of overflow,

28 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY ...... ' . .... : .':...... ' ,.', . FIG.l[ ...... ,: ...... ~ . 0:. ..

5 feet .. - -- ~ ..

Fig'. 'III-Solution joint dammed by two sources of fiowstone : A, bed I'ocll; B, oldest soul'ce of fIowstone ; 1, f1anll 01' al)l'on of fIowstone 1'1'0111 sOUl'ce "B"; C, 1I10st recent soul'ce of fIow­ ston e; :?, apl'on or f1anl, of fIowstone ... ·0111 sO Ul'ce "C"; D, old I'etaining dam on f1anll of "B"; E, old wutcr level at hcig ht of retaining dum; F, new maximum water levcl due to building­ of fIowstone from SO UI'C!' "C". ""atm' in basin I'etained b~ ' the old I'etaining dam completely dis!1PI)eal'ed be fore f1alll, "~" could invade the bas in.

.. . . . ", -, .. " . FIG.TIl" ...... - ... , . .. I .. "" .. ' ...... '. - : : ...... I l' / I / ......

'- . ... "" . ' ......

.. - ...... -, ," - ..-.

'- "" .. ' ..

Sedl e

Fig . lV-TelTacing of fIows tone sIOl) !! hy l-etainillg' darns.

B ULLETI N N UMBER 13, D ECEMBE R 1951 29 WYANDOTTE CAVERN CLYDE A. MALOTT Indiana Univenity (Publisll ed IJos thll mOllsly)

Dr. Malott he1'ewith presents a scholarly histm,), and desc1'ilJtion of one of Ame1'ica's most fa.mous cave1'l1S, enlivened by his distinctly inte1'esting lite1'n1')1 style and authentica ted by his yeaTS of IJ ersonal expe1'ience in I he H oosie1' state. This palJe1', hithe1'to unpublished, was gmciously given to the National Speleo­ logical Society by his family afte1' his death. on August 26, 1950 .

Caves have long excited interes t in Indiana, of which are replete with information on the a state possessing an abundance of karst features. cavern. No area, however, has attracted visitors so early Though the romantic name of ' Vyandotte or continuously as ' '''yandotte cavern in south­ was given to the cavern on behalf oE the Indians eastern Crawford CO Hnty, some ten miles west who formerl y were present in the region and of historic Corydon, the early Hoosier State who left abundant evidence of their visits in the Capital. This grea t cavern was discovered about great cavern, it a ppears unlikely that any of the the year 1800. It was exploited for its nitrous Indians were of the Wyandotte tribe, These earth used in the manufacture of gun powder fonner inha bita n ts of the region left crude [rom about 1812 to J818. The site of the cavern sledge-hammer stones in the cavern with which and some 4,000 acres of Jand were acquired by they quarried out a large section of the base of - H. P. Rothrock from the U. S. Government in the gigantic "Pillar o[ the Constitution" in the 1820, and the Rothrock family still reta ins the older and upper galler y, and cut away quanti­ cavern and its environs of wooded hills. ti es o[ flint stone from the roof section o[ the The lure of the great cavern was at first main gall ery sys tem 70 feet lower. ra ther local, but after 1850, when some inquisi­ 'Wya ndotte Gl\'ern is hollowed out o[ the ti ve ex plorers discovered a passage leading into thick limes tone form a tions in the western sec­ the lower levels composing the main part of the tion of the wide limestone terrain of so u thern ca vern system, word of its vast size and seeming­ r ndiana where si nkholes, si n ki ng streams, grea t ly endless passages was spread afar, and the up-welling springs and caverns abound, and Rothrock family in self defense was compelled where the high uplalld ridges arc composed of to open the cavern to the public and build an sa ndstones and shales . Blue River and its im­ inn to ca re for the visitors who flo cked to sec mediate tributaries have deeply dissected the the cavern with its wonders wrought in stone. upland terrain into va ll eys and ridges with a It was visited in 185'1 by H. C. Hovey, the fam­ reli ef exceeding 400 fee t. The noisy riming ous cavern speciali st, who prepared articles on waters of Blue River near the cavern are 390 the cavern for the AlI1e1·icnn .J ournal of Science feet above sea level, wh il e the adjace nt sa nd­ and Arts, the .V ew Yo'rli Tribllne and the Indi­ stone ridges reach or exceed 800 feet in altitude. anapolis .Journal. Hovey, like others, returned '''' ya ndotte Inn and the nea rby cavern entrance again and again, and in 1878 brought a special are loca ted on the slopes reaching from the artist with him to prepare sketches of many deeply-set river to the cres ts of the upland r idges, in teresting features o[ the cavern for Snibne1"s T he view looking eastward from the Inn across Magazine and for his book on Celebmted Blue River valley is a magnifice nt one, and in II me1'ican Ca vern s, Detail ed accounts of the the autumn, when the luxuriant summer [oliage cavern sys tem were published in the Annual of fores t green changes to brilliant hues, the R eports oE the Indiana Geological Survey by view becomes one of marvelous beauty, State Collett in 1879 and by Blatchley in 1897, both Highway 62 , lea ding westward through the sink-

30 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY hole country wes tward from Corydon and along steeply {nto the great vestibule of the cavern to the winding valley of Blue River, is an admir­ a padlocked gate in the twilight 215 feet from able work of engineering' along and about the the entrance. Beyond, the smooth-trodden path­ Lwisting valley sunk so dee ply in the hilly ter­ way leads along rugged walls under a high­ rain, It passes cl ose by the great cavern and arched ceiling of dark limestone. It leads past thence wes terly through the mos t rugged and a gigantic block of rock fa llen from the right picturesque co untry in so uthern Indiana. wall some 650 fee t from the en trance. This T he more readily avail able portion of the rup;ged stone, called "Fallen Rock", is es timated cavern sys tem has been developed into an easy to weigh 535 tons. I t has reposed in the dark route of travel for sight-seeing visitors, while the cavern for century after century and h as the remote portion is open to the more adve nturous dust of ages accumulated upon it. At a distance cavern visitors who wish to ex tend their time of 865 feet from the entrance a large passage and endurance in the great subterranean pas­ leads upward on the left into the old upper sages tha t lead into th e unmapped and unex­ level of the cavern and thence over a rugged plored sections of the system. T he regular trip and difficult route to the great "Senate Cham­ with guide service through the more diversified ber" which contains an enormous fluted column section of. 't\Tya ndotte requires about two hours extending from flo or to ceiling, known as the time and a travel distance of one and three­ "Pillar of the Constitution". This route is a fourths miles. Once inside the cavern, however, specialty in itself. To the right of the junction time and distance become vague and uncertain of the old cavern a descent of 30 feet or more is to the visitor. Progress through the cavern is an made rather abruptly down well constructed adventure in to the unknown, and a continual stairs to the main gallery sys tem of the cavern. change of novel fea tures come into view without H ere, the silt-covered fl oor of the main gallery perspective and in turn pass behind with a fad­ sys tem fi rst becomes ev ident. It is quite dry, ing co nception of the spacial rela tions of dis­ th ough it represents a deposit made by waters tance and direction. T he immediate aspects of which formerly coursed through the great cavern the cavern are all tha t the visitor has in sight passages. In places it is littered with rock fa llen at any moment, and these change from one to from the ceiling, or is interrupted by great anoth er and so compleLely absorb his attention arched rooms in which hills of rugged rock that he becomes more or less oblivious of time have accumulated from above. The floor of the ;md distance. main cavern is 110 fee t below the cavern en­ The entrance to ' '''yandotte cavern is a trance and 65 or 70 fee t above the water level yawning void about 7 feet in height and 20 of Blue River. feet in width in the well-bedded limestone. A succession of fea tures in turn engross the Both the flo or and the roof descend rather attention of the VISItOr. R epetition occurs, though in different degrees. Fundamental geo­ logical aspects are impressively apparent and in­ escapable, The cavern is rough-hewn from layers of limes tone by former water action which dissolved and eroded the passages through the limestone. Fossils are occasionally seen on the walls and ceilings. Features of irregular solution are locally strikingly apparent and some curious forms attract special a ttention. T he rugged wa lls and the ceiling' are dominant­ ly covered with a coa ting of gypsum which has developed through ages of capillary exudation from the country rock, crys tallizing on the dry Pho/.o by P erry D . GI'iffith wa lls in the dry cavern air. Locall y the white, E ntmnce to Wyandotte Cavern, sit uated on II steep, sparkling, alabas trine gypsum is of unusual l'ocl{ y slope in the most rugged pOI·tion of scenic southel'n JndhwII. beauty, and in the long galleries glorifies such

B ULLETIN NUM BE R 13, D ECEMBE R 1951 31 places as the "Bishop 's R os trum" , the "Ball the cavern some of the ca rbon dioxide is given R oom", " Fros t King's Palace", " Morton's Mar­ up, causing an over-sa tura tion of the solution, ble H all ", and the "Fairy Palace". Perhaps the and interes ting deposits are formed. The stalac­ most admired forms are the dripslOne forma­ tites, or icicle-like pendant forms, are made ti ons compos ing the pendant stalactites of the where the drip from the ceiling is relatively ceiling, the squat stalagmites of the flo or, and slow, permitting release of ca rbon dioxide from the as tonishing and preplexing helictites so im­ the solulion. T he stalaclite form grows in pressively arrayed in the "New Discovery" p as­ length by crystalline deposit of ca lcium carbo­ sage. nate on the end, and increases in girth by

Photo by George F . ./acli so n Stalactites, s talagmites anll h elictites in IL I'emote pass,Lge of 'V~ ' anllott e Cavm·n. The photo- gTaph iHustnltes how the stahLg'mites (on the floor) a1'e : Llw [ L~' s more l"Oundell than the stlLlac - tites ahove them. DI'oplets of W!Ltm', a ftm' lea.ving- minute quantities of mincml JrHLttel' on the ends of the sta ladih's from which they fall, splash at.op t he staJagmites below. Holling down- wanl they thus build up the outCl- peJ"iph el'y of the lattm-, filling with millel'al mattel' any roug-h 1)I'ujedions or COI·ne l·S.

T he dripstone depos its o[ the ca vern are successive depos its on the sides o[ the suspended fo und wh ere seepage waters [rom above enter tube which in its primitive form is holl ow. Some lhe cavern after having passed slowl y through of them may become over-thickened and de­ thick masses of soluble limes tone. The ve lop into va rious heavy forms, while others waters, charged with ca rbon dioxide, dissolve m ay receive the depos it so as to resemble rows lhe calcium ca rbonate com posing the limes tone of long, hanging leaves of tobacco. T he drip of by d irecl contact. moving slowly through the the over-saturated solution on the fl oor in time sma ll cracks, crevi ces and lhrough the porous builds up deposils of calcium carbona le, pro­ beds themsel ves. On seeping into the free air of ducing the stalagmite fo rm. Since these are built

32 N ATIONAL SPE LEOLOGICAL SOCIETY up against gT£lvity and usuall y with some spread­ play of dripstone formati ons. T his passage was ing of the water-drip, they are usuall y much once one of the ma in ,va ter routes of the ca\'ern thicker than the normall y slender stalactites . stream, but in the later peri od of wa ter dis­ Loca ll y a stalactite and sta lagmite may join to charge through the cavern it became silted produce a column reaching from fl oor to ceil­ nearly to the roof. Because the packed cl ay and ing. Dripstone form ati ons of vari ed character silt reached cl ose to the roof, it lay undiscO\'ered and associations are abundant in the "Throne until 19+1 , when it was trenched through and R oom", along "Purgatory '''' alk'' to "Pillared opened as a pan of the regul ar cavern rOUle. Palace", the "New Discovery" passage, "Spades Locall y the passage verita bl y bristl es with stalac­ Gro tto", "Penelope's Grotto", on and above ti tes, sta lagmites, co lu m ns and helictites, so me of

1'11010 by George F. j achsoll "Monument Mountain" in W y andotte Ca\'em . Towel'ing 175 feet hig- h this is said to lJ e the lal"l~' es t undel'gl'ountl "mount.ltin" in the wol"ld. Because of t he tilted caml'I',L ang-Ie n e ce ss al'~ ' the flat. slalJ of limestone alJo\'e the top of the "mountain" appeal's tu lJe a flat wall. Actually it is dil'ectly abov(' the stalagmites.

"i\Ionument Mounta in " and loca ll y at other which are exceedingly white and deli cate. H el ic­ places in the cavern. Since much of the GI\'ern tites are irregularly twisted or contorted growths lies 300 feet or more below the surface and be­ of crys talline ca lciulll ca rbonate, frequently ac­ nea th the ridge where the limes tone beds are companied by bulbous and botryo idal masses. protected from seepage waters by thick laye rs ot formed in caverns where seepage waters are ve ry impervious shale, it is onl y locally that dripstone slow ;t nd where much of the evaporation takes depos its are made in the GIVe rn. place with little water d rip, a ll owing growths to The "New Discovery" passage, opened in foll ow various directi ons independent of the 194 1, is especiall y a ttracti ve for its riotous dis- downward pull of gnl\'ity. They are formed 0 11

B ULLETIN N U MB ER 13, D E CEMBE R 1951 33 Photo by George F. Jaclo'oll Photo by George Fo Ja cksoll An unus ua l IlhotogTa.ph ta.l

Photo by George F. Jachson An oddly s haped ca' oe l'ul"Ill ation hanging "'00 111 the 1"001' of one of t he n e \\"I~ ' di scove.oed 1°001l1S in W yano dotte C'11vc.ono Indianao Pidllloe shows it about one­ half actual sizeo

34 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY normal stalactites, stalagmites, irregular roof co ncerning the "Long Route" with a sugges tion masses, and even on one another, often in bearing on the origin of th e great cavern run­ curious curis, loops and extensions and in such ways transecting the limes tone terrain. The profusion as to defy description or explanation. "Long Route" of the cavern includes the great Countless thousands of them run a gamut of runways beyond the "Auger Hole", a small display rarely equaled in any other cavern. opening at the northern end of " Rothrock's Another fea ture of Wyandotte cavern is the Grand Cathedral" room. A full trip requires a developmen t of grea t rooms through rock fa ll s minimum of four and one-fourth miles of cavern from the ce iling, where the width of the channel travel in the mapped a nd readil y available parLS runways became over-widened and failed to of the sys tem. The great runway voids of the support the flat-l ying beds above. The fall en "Long R oute" are obviously the underground rock masses rise high above the silt-covered channels of cavern streams which formerly channels into great arched rooms. Among the fl ooded through them. Evidences of the solution, largest of these rooms are "Odd Fellows H all " eros ion, and deposition produced by flooding and the "Senate Chamber" in the old upper waters are impressively present, and the ques­ level, and the "House of R epresentatives" and tion of the origin or so urce of sufficient waters "R othrock's Grand Cathedral" in the main to carve ou t the great channels is a natural one cav~ rn ga llery. T he largest and most impressive fo r the visitor to pose. R ece nt study in the is "Rothrock's Grand Cathedral", the ·ceiling of region indica tes that the waters \'ery probably which rises 135 feet above the silt-covered floor, came from Blue River which sought an under­ and which contains a great mass of fallen rock ground route across the neck of a wide easterl y 105 fee t in height. The great room is oval in detour. Such a rou te is at least seven miles shape, having a length of 360 feet and a width shorter and possesse.d a hydrostati c head of 50 of 1'10 feet inside the room 40 feet above the feet or more. The ques tion of the abandonment base of the fall en rock. Its base a t the floor level of such a route when once so we ll developed is of the cavern probably covers an area in excess a complex one. It may be in part associated with of one and four-ten ths acres, and the mass of massive rock fa ll s in th e mature cavern routes, fall en rock is equivalent in volume to a block which so blocked the passages th at they became measuring '100 feet long, 150 feet wide, and 60 il ted up. ' Such blocking and silting of the fee t high, with a content in excess of 110,000 underground routes, however, ca nnot fu lly ac­ cubic ya rds and a weight of at least 225,000 cou nt for their abandonment. Blue River valley tons. Atop this great pile of fa llen rock, known in its later history has undergone a relatively as "lVlonument l'Vlountain", are masses of flow­ rapid down-cutting period and has been deepen­ stone and several prominent stalagmites, one of ed so me 65 or 70 feet below the well developed which is very white and is known as "Lot's underground passages, leaving them high and ·Wife". Thirty feet above "Monument Moun­ dry. Such a down-cutting period was ,brought tain" is the flat ce iling forming a great oval with about by the nearby Ohio River which was a thickl y-se t fringe of stalactites hanging from a greatl y enlarged a.nd deepened by the glacial ledge below it. T he great rugged rock mass with waters directed down its co urse and which sup­ its up-standing stalagmites and the fringed oval pla J1led a much smaller and shallower pre­ above it is an impress ive sight when viewed as glacial predecessor. Thu , 'VVyandotte cavern i a subdued silhouette formed by a light beyond a special feature whose history of development the mountain away from the observer. is an intimate part of the terrain in which it In conclusion onl y a word may be offered lies .

B ULLETIN NUMBER 13, DECEMBE R 1951 3.rJ Mechanics of Cavern Breakdown By WILLIAM E. DAVIES The fem'some f)ossibility of the collaps e of caves is one of the firs t thoughts of th e inexp e1'ienced jJe1"S on when contemj)lating th e activities of the speleolo­ gist. Cavern collal)se in th. e catastm phic ino/JO rlions mentally conceived by the un illitiated, howeve1', is pmctically tmknowu il1 th e /list01Y of subtenanean ex­ /)IOHlt io l1. The au thor shows lUTein that collapse, when it does OCCW', follows defi nite mechanica l laws and that its pro bability can, at least in some instances, be /nedicted suffi ciently in advance of actual occun ence as to i)1'eciu de the I)OS­ sibility of any great danger to th. e exjJloreL

R oof fa ll or breakdown is recognized a one where two passages lie parall el and close to one of the potential dangers of cavern exploration another. It is also common in areas adjacent to but speleologists have give n little attention to Lhe intersection or crossing of large passages but co nditions leading to cavern collapse. Similar is seldom .developed at the point of intersection failure of roofs and wall s in mines, however, or cross ll1g. have been studied by mining engineers through­ Breakdown is co nfined generally to passages ou t the world and several theories on the cause in which the dip of rocks is low. ' !\Th ere dips of roof falls have been arlva nced that are applic­ are steep it is usually abse nt except in passages able to cavern breakdown. that are developed along the strike. Rock fail­ Breakdown for the purpose of this paper is ure is not co nfined to any specific limes tone but defin ed as the failure en masse of the roof or is equally well developed in passages in lime­ walls of caverns. Occasional spalling or slabbing stone of all types and ages. of small rock fr agments is excluded fr om break­ Similarity of cavern breakdown and roof down although, over long periods of time, rock fa ilure in mines has been noted, and many of fragments accumulated from such action may the conclusions co ncerning co nditions in mines resemble breakdown. ca n be applied to caverns. Sys tematic studies of Breakdown has been cl assifi ed according to roof failure date b ack to 1885 when H. Fayol its phys ica l appearance I and at least four forms published his observa ti ons on co nditions in are recognized-Block, Slab, Plate, and Chip­ French mines. H e adva nced the idea that the but of these o" nly the first two are of direct inter­ ceiling of a mine tends to move into the open­ est in this discuss ion. Block brea kdown is the ing and that, in doing so, a zo ne of stress is fail ure en m asse of a portion of the ceiling and es tablished in the form' of a dome above the wall s extending short distances horizo ntally but opening. It is this theory of doming that forms of great verti ca l magnitude; slab breakdown is the bas is for many later theories concerning fa ilure ex tending great distances horizo ntally rock fa ilure. From 1885 to 1929 numerous bu t limited vertically to a single bed or a few papers were published describing rock fall s but beds at the ce iling face. T he other fo rms of few delved into the ca use. In 1929 H enry Briggs breakdown are not co nsidered with block and of Edinburgh, Scotland published a book e slab failure since they are of small magnitude which summarized the knowledge co ncerning in comparison to bl ock and slab fa ilures and rock fa ilure. This book, along with one by Lane invo lve less inte nse, loca l stresses. and R oberts,3 stimulated co nsidera ble in teres t Breakdown is found in practi cally all types in the subject a nd, during the 1930's, a number of cavern passages with low-arch ce ilings or in of papers were published on the cause of rock passages whi ch I ie cl ose to the surface. In the " Briggs, Henry. Mining Subsidence: Edward Arnold ~ low-arch passages breakdown is often developed Co., Lo ndo n, 1929.

I D~ v i es , \'Villia rn E. Fea lures of cave rn breakdo wn: :I Lane, W . T. and R o berts, J. H . T he principles of suh­ Nalio na l Speleological Sociely, 131111. II , Nov., 1949. sidence and the lall' of' sup porl: Alfred .-\. Knopf, Ltd., pp 3-1-35, 72. Lo ndon, 1929.

36 NATIONAL S P ELE OLOGICAL S OCIETY falls. P. J. Crowle and J ack Spalding working acting on cavern roofs and walls from the time in the Kolar Goldfields of India; C. J. Irving, of origin of the cave until collapse takes place. O. "'Te iss; and E. H . Joseph in the Rand, South Before a cavern is developed, there exists at Africa; and D. '''T. Phillips and J. R. Dinsdale depth within the earth a limes tone formation in England made important co ntributions to­ which is overlaid by s~ccessive series of other wards tht understanding of roof failures 111 rocks. ''''ithin the limes tone formation two dis­ mines.· tinct types of forces may exist. T he first is due Although general conditions of rock fall in to th e weight of the rock abo\'e the limestone shallow mines and in caverns are similar, there which will va ry with the depth to the limestone. are several important specific differences. The The second are stresses resulting from deforma­ most important difference is that the beds form­ tion of the limes tone by earth moyements. T he ing the ceilings and walls in caverns have not first type of stresses can be determined wi th been subjected to severe shocks of blasting as reasonable accuracy, bu t the second type varies have those in mines. As a result the conditions so greatly that no reasonable analysis can be in caves allow the study of rock in which only made. However, over the long period of time simple uniform stresses are operating. This is a necessary for cavern developmen t, stresses from grea t ad va n tage, for observa ti ons can be made earth rnovements reach equilibrium and play that approach co nditions assumed in mechanica l only a minor part, if any, in the ultimate ca use analys is of the forces acting on the ceiling and of breakdown. walls. A second difference is the element of Stresses res ulting from th e weight of rock time. Drifts and stopes in most mines have been above the limestone are always present and play opened a relatively short time, while cavern an important part in the development of break­ passages and rooms have existed in their present down. If a point is chosen at depth in the solid form for thousands and possibly millions of limestone before so lution effects develop, the years. As such, the stress-time factor is fully stresses acting will be a vertica l stress (P) due to developed. A third difference is the abse nce of the weight of the rock and a horizontal stress artificial supports in caves which, like the first (Q) which is the horizo ntal component of the difference. makes co nditions much simpler and vertical stress (ab"ou t 40% of the vertical stress). permits the application of simple mechanica l Since the limes tone is in equilibrium at depth analys is to cavern brea kdown. there are equal and opposite forces upwards and In analyzing the mechanics of breakdown, laterally (Figure 1). the strength of rocks is of utmost importance. T he strength of rock va ries considerably accord­ ing to the form and direction of stress applied. ? In compression, rocks exhibit co nsiderable strength and, in limestone, the crushing strength is in the order of 6,.000 to 12,000 pounds per square inch. In tension, however, the strength is much less and the modulus of rupture for lime­ stone is in the range of 1400 to 2800 pounds per square inch. Under co nditions of shear, rock is o ------~;.~ • -E:~------0' much weaker than in tension and shear strengths for limes tone vary from less than 150 pounds per square inch parallel to the bedding to about 1500 pounds per square inch at right angles to the bedding. To understand the mechanics involved in breakdown it is necessary to review the forces p'

., A summary of the ideas advanced by these authors is Fig. 1. Equilibrium of forces acting on solid limestone in: Jeppe, C. W. R eview of the rock pressure problem : at depth. (P) vertical force due to weight of rocl{s; (Q) J o ur. Chemical, Metallurgical and Mining Society of horizontal component of vertical forces. (P' ) and (Q' ) So uth Africa , vol. 44, no. I, July-August, 1943, pp 3-20. equal and opposite forces maintaining equilibrium.

BULLETIN NUMBER 13 , DECEMBER 1951 37 As the limestone is uplifted and the cover above the opening are not critical and the sag reduced by erosion it enters a zone in which of beds forms a zone in which vertical stresses solution and cavern development take place. are not transmitted. Therefore the term sag or With the development of large solution open­ tension dome is more sui'table. Since the beds ings, the equilibrium of stresses is upset and in the tension dome are not in contact they do new conditions of unstable equilibrium are not transmit the weight of the beds above them. established. The horizontal and vertical forces are rearranged so that they tend to move the walls and ceiling into the cavern opening but are J:es trained primarily by the strength of the rock. During this stage the vertical stresses can be resolved into two types. At the ceiling of the cavern the beds sag into the opening under their own weight. The area of sag is not con­ fined to a single bed but is ellipsoidal in shape, extending into the rock mass above where it becomes progressively less in each bed until a point is reached at which sag no longer takes place (Figure 2). In horizontal strata the maxi­ mum sag is near the center of the passage, but

/ / 1 \, ,

If /II \ '\ l\~\ 1\ I \ ------/~/~'i'~~=---=====/I=r \=! =====~--~~\\~~,~----- Fig. 3. Diag.·aJn of sag developed in inclined strata I \ ove.-Iying a cavern. Sag greatly exaggemted. I \ ------/~: f~" )~~--===f=If=' ="=\ ~~--~\\-\\~\----- The weight above the dome is transferred to the I , rock adjacent to the dome and to the walls of I ~~ ~\\\\!\ l 'l I lIt 1\ \ \ the C(lve (Figure 4). This greatly increases the I \ slress adjacent to the face of cavern walls and is important in the development of some forms CAVERN of breakdown. Since the weight of the overlying rock is not effective within the dome, it may be eliminated

38 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY solid a nd span the opening as a single unit they For practical purposes ' act as fix ed beams. G '''' here the rocks contain M W I - fi bt" open joints or cracks extending laterally through = - 8- 111 a xed beam; a nd I = f2 the beam , separa ting it into two distinct seg­ where b is the width of the beam , m ents, the beam acts as a cantilever.G is the thickness o[ the bea m, ~ STRESS LINES~ is the length of the beam, I I I I I I I I ' t\T is the total weight o n the beam. I T he m aximum distance y is eyua l to one half I I I I I I I the thickness of the beam a nd may be expressed I I I I I \ \ \ as I I I / / \ \ \ t I / / / \ \ \ t T h e stress (f) that will cause [a ilure as deter­ mined fm- limes tones ranges from 1400 to 2800 I \ \ \ ~ r / / / pounds per square inch a nd for m a ny limestones I I I / / ------\ \, \ avei'ages 2300 psi. W ith the equations outlined '""'" I I I a bove it is possible to es tablish the relation be­ tween the span of a beam a nd the minimum thickness of solid rock within the beam to sup­ I 1/ / / /lc ==-- =:\\ \ \ \ \ I port the span. For this the eyuation ca n be re­ 1/1/ / /Id ::::::::.::::: d~\ \ \ \ \ I arra nged to the fo llml' ing expression: III/ ((I. ~ .\\ \ \ 3" '1" III t = -=iT 11I 11! r -::.. 1 11 \ \ ..-.;; \111 11 where w is the unit weight of the ma teria l [orlll­ 111111 CA V ERN 111111 ing the beam. lUlU\. ; 11111 Application of the formula to P oorfarm Cave, '''' es t Virg inia, where the limes tone has a unit weight of 165 pounds per cubic foot and c c the rupture modulus (l) is ?pprox imately 2600 F ig. 4. Dhtgl'lunmatic dist.-ibution of stress lines al'ound :t Cltvel'n opening' and tension dome. (C) vertical com­ pounds per square inch shows the relatio nship pl'essive I'ol'ces; (:t-e) weig'ht of sagging beams t.-ans­ between span and minimum beam thickness as: mitted to cavel'n walls. Span l\[inill1l1l11 thichness of beal/1 Ceilings adjacent to large rockfalls in Patto n, 4 feet 0.0053 feet Laurel Creek, a nd oth er caves in vV es t Virginia 8 0.021 are formed b y continuous beds tha t act as uni­ 16 0.084 form ly loaded fix ed beam s with the walls serv­ 32 0. 33 ing as a nchor a butments. The stress that will 64 1. 35 cause failure under such conditions is obtained 100 3.3 1 from the formula: I[ the rock beam oyer the cayern IS a unt­ £ = M Y formly load ed ca ntile\'er s it will haye the same I rela tion of thickness a nd span o f a fi xed beam if where ]\![ is the m aximum bending moment each pair of opposing ca ntile\'ers span exactly of the beam, h alf the opening. The table below shows the y is the distance [rom the neutra l rela ti on of span a nd minimulll thickness o[ a plane to the edge of the beam, sing le cantilever eM in a ca ntile\'er is expressed I is the momen t of inertia of the WI 3wP) cross section of a rectangular beam, as 2-- and - f- ), is the stress applied to the beam. ; This is based on a slllllma tion of the negati ve a nd :; A fixed bcam is a sillg le beam \\'ilh bo th ends finnl " posit ive mom ents of the fi xed beam . anchored. , Ca ntilevers sp a ll passages ill pairs \dth o ne co m ponent o A ca lltilever is a beam with one end firml y a nchored a nchored in one wall and Ih e o pposite co mponent and Ih e o ther free of support. a nchored in the o ther wall.

B ULLETIN NUMBER 13, D ECEMBER 1951 39 Span Minimum thickness of beam The figures for sag, like those for thickness, 2 feet 0.0053 feet are not absolute since variation in the character­ istics of rock strata will produce variations in the 4 0.021 rnoduli of rupture and elasticity. In addition the 8 0.084 moduli determined by laboratory m ethods are 16 0.33 generall y less than under natural conditions: 32 1.35 However, the figures given indicate the order 64 5.40 of magnitude and are in agreement with condi­ 100 13. 24 tions observed in PoOt-farm Cave. Since the moduli of rupture and elasticity are relatively T he amounL of sag in a beam that will the same value for most cavern limestones, the cause rupture can be calculated from the follow­ figures for sag and beam thickness m ay be taken ing formulae : as typical for most caverns. Fixed Beams, uniformly loaded: The failure of rock beams within the tension ] \lVP dome occurs in several ways to form breakdown. d x -- ( 1 ) - 384 EI In the simples t case, the rock bea m forming the where \ I\T is the total weight on the beam= ceiling, either a fixed beam or cantilever, sags Ibtw, to the point of fai lure and falls. This failure is typical of cantilevers and, while generally con­ w ip the unit weight of the beam, fin ed to a single bed in depth, is of considerable is the length of the beam , extent horizontally. The breakdown in the cen­ t is the thickness of the beam, tral passage of Poorfarm Cave is of this type. b is the width of the beam, d is the defl ection (sag) of the beam , Massive block breakdowns arise from the E is Youngs (Elastic) Modulus, failure of successive cantilevers or fixed beams. I is the moment of inertia of a rec­ The failure may start in the lowes t cantilever bt'i and spread in rapid progression to the overlyin.g tangular beam = 12 beams. -Based on conditions observed in caves, this type of failure appears Lo be of minor im­ T h e equa tion can be rewritten as: pOt-tance. The progressive failure of cantilevers 12 wI· starting with a beam higher in the tension dome d = 384 x - ­ ( 2 ) Et" apparently is the more common cause of break­ The ultima te strength (modulus of rupture) of down. In this case a beam fails within the dome the material forming the beam is given by: and transfers its weight to the beam below which in turn fails and loads the next lower 3 1"w r = -4 x beam with its weight a nd the weight above. Unless this action is arres ted by the ja mming of By substituLing this into (2) .above: broken blocks to form a voussoir arch 9 the fail­ ure of bea ms by overloading from above wi ll I r ~ d = IS x Ew continue to the ceiling face where the mass will fall to form block breakdown. This develop­ Calculations for fix ed beams of minimum thick­ ment is confined to a short section of passage ness in Poorfarm Cave breakdown areas, where but generally ex tends a great distance vertically. E is approximately 6,300,000 pounds p er square The walls are involved in this form of break­ inch, show that a sag of 0.052 inch is the point down with passages widened a t the point of a L which coll apse occurs. failure as a res ult of the rock faces slabbing a nd Cantilever, uniformly loaded: Lhrusting into the passage. The failure of walls is prominently shown in the breakdown area on 1 x \lVI" or 48 x r" Lh e upper level of Laurel Creek Cave, \'Vest Vir­ d = 8 El T8 Ew ginia as indica ted in fi gure 5. The limiting sag of beams of minimum thick­ "Voll sso ir arch is a low arch formed by blocks held in ness in this case is 2.5 inches . posilion by friclio n and lateral restraint.

4C NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY down has developed on one side of the crack where the cantilever exceeds half the width of the passage. U ltimate failure of both fi xed and ca ntilever Lower leve I beams to form brea kdown takes place close to the wall where the shear is grea tes t (Figure 6). T he erratic fracture front of the trunca ted remnant of the beam at the face of the wall IS inclined over the passage at a steep angle,

Upper level rMOll lflum l ~ n S l on Mo .. mum I t nS l o n-; 1t lllJlI~tra \\pii Q _ - _- __ 0

I II \11 ~j 12,0 MOJl mum T ( n ~ lo n Of {tJ CAVER N

I'ig'. 6, Zones of str'ess in ,\ sagging beam , (B) bending for'ces; (S) s hear'ing' for'ces ; (Q) later'al ('oml)l'ession Rise of 30ft, : \ flJl'ces, rJ ~ ~ Block breakdown wi t h r1\!J Earthquakes are commonly cited as the cause lJI passage enlargement @ of breakdown and Gard ner 10 we nt so far as to [j speculate that mos t breakdown was brough t ~ about by an ancient quake of continental m ag­ ® o~\ ____~ 2~~ ____5~ ?ft nitude. O bserva ti ons in mines and cayerns do not support these ideas. T he New Madrid earth­ Fig, 5, L a Ul'el Cr'cell Cave, 'West V ir'ginia: Section of q uakes of 18 11 and 1812, quakes of severe Ill'eallllown n ear crossing of upper' and lower le\'els, intensity within 150 miles of ;\ Iammoth Caye, ErH'ir'('l eil number's ar'e ceiling h eights in feet . Kentucky, ca used no rock fa ll or other disturb­ ance in the cave, Saltpeter workmen in the ca\'e The conversion of fi xed beams to ca ll1ile\'ers at that time reported no rock failure. R ecent is a critical stage in cavern brea kdown. T he observations in Appalachian ca yes sh ow no rock conve rsion takes place when a fix ed beam sags fall s although local quakes haye taken place to the point of fa ilure and open tension cracks during the period of observa ti ons. develop se parating the bea m illlO distinct ca ll1i­ T he element of time is of considerable im­ levers, If the line of separati on divi des the beam portance in development of ca yern breakdown, into two rela ti ve ly equal ca ll1ilevers it will in all for the phys ical condition of rocks is altered probability rema in suspended since the sag that so mewhat if uniform stresses exist fo r long will C:1 use fa ilure of ::I ca ll1ilever is far greater periods. T he tim e-yield in rocks is proportional than tha t 01 a fi xed beam, If, however, the crack to the stress applied to a ce rta in poin t beyo nd se para ting the ca ntilevers is cl ose to one wa ll or wh ich the , res istance decreases ra pidly and fa il ­ diagonall y cuts across the passage it will Form ure occurs under loads appreciabl y less than if one ca ntilever of grea ter length which may ex­ stresses were a pplied for short peri ods. In ceed the length--thickness relation necessary to caverns, the time that the ce iling has been sub­ sustain the bea m and coll apse will occur. T his ject to stresses is thousa nds of tim es longer than relationship is clearl y seen in the central pas­ sage of Poorfann Cave where an open join t cuts '" Ga rd ner. J a mes 1-1 . O rigi n and developmenl of lime' sLO ne cavcrns: BII II. Ceol. Soc. .-\l1I er" \ '0 1. ,16, no, "I. diagonall y across a wide passage and slab brea k- Aug" 1935 , p p 1272- 1273.

B ULLETIN N UM BE R 13, D ECEM BE R 195 1 4 1 that experienced by any man-made opening. water to travel along bedding planes rather For this feflture caverns offer an opportunity to than along open vertical joints. Since the sag study the ultimate effects in time yield. causi ng failure of fix ed beams is very small it Indications are that even after extremely is probable tha t the co ndition described repre­ long periods (10,000 to possibly 500,000 years) se nts an area of possible rock fall. Cantilever of expos ure to uniform loads the rock beams beams that are "peeling" from the ceiling and forming the cavern roofs are far from the rup­ show distinct separati on should be avoided. ture point. Limestone, apparently, is more rigid In traversing passages where danger of rock and durable th an laboratory tests indicate pro­ fall is prevalent, it is best to stay close to the viding it has not been subject to severe shock cavern walls as few breakdowns, except those by blasti ng. resulting from failure of the entire tension dome, extend to the walls. T hose resulting from The time at which breakdown develops in ca ntilever failures, either singly or successively, a cavern is not well established. Few caves have have a fulcrom point a slight distance out from been observed where the process is in action to· the wall face. day. T he onl y active breakdown known to the author is that in Poorfarm Cave, ,,,Test Virginia, The interpreta tions presented in this paper where ce iling cantilevers are increasing in sag are the beginning rather than the end of re­ and slabs fall occasionall y. Extensive break­ search. More knowledge wi ll be gained concern­ downs generall y li e on clay fill s that have been ing the mechanics of rock failure and conclu­ considerabl y eroded. T he surfaces of blocks sions will be more pos itive. ' Vith a better within the rock fall are fr esh and show no effect understanding of rock fa ilure many lives as well of wealhering or solution action and seldom, as va luable property will be saved in mine oper­ with the exception of guano deposits and stalag­ ations. Caverns offer an excell en t opportunity mitic ma terial, are there any cavern deposits for study in this fi eld and may, in the long run, covering or lying on the breakdown. In a few hold the key to so lvi ng' the riddle of rock fall caves, however, rock falls are covered with ex­ and subsidence. H owever, work on this interest­ tensive deposits of flowstone and stalagmites ing subject will be hampered unless inves tigators which indicate that the fall took place a con­ ca n obtain data on the elastic and rupture siderable length of time ago and that roof con­ moduli of limestones which most laboratory di tions have been stable si nce. R ock falls of this tests generall y ignore. type are common in R apps Cave, West Virginia, SUMMARY Shenandoah Caverns, Virginia, and several other Appa lachi an caves. By application of knowledge gai ned in min­ In some caves rock falls, generally co nsisting ing it is possible to explain the 'causes of cavern of a few slabs or iso lated blocks, but no block breakdown based on the following: brea kdown, have been observed in the clay and I. The rock strata over the cavern act as gravel fill s. T his, however, is not common and uniformly loaded beams, either fix ed or ca nti­ most fills are free of brea kdown. Apparently the lever. ea rly stages of cavern development are relatively 2. T he beams sag under their own weight fr ee o[ extensive rock fall. Any that did occur to a point where fai lure takes place. has been removed by solution, a condition that 3. The critica l time in development of is not too probable if large masses fell and were breakdown is the point at which a fixed bea m covered by fill soon afterwards. sags and se parates in to cantilevers. If the ca nti­ T he detection of ce ilings tha t are nearing levers are developed in nearly equal proportions failure is all but imposs ible at this stage of across the passage it will generally stand; if it is i nves tiga tion. However, the following observa­ unequally developed, coll apse will take place tions may a id in preventing serious accidents. along the longer segment of the cantilever. Passages wi th broad, low-arched cei lings free of 4. The relati on of beam thickness to length, stalactites should be traversed with caution. as "veil as the sag causing failure, ca n be approx­ T his co ndition is generall y indicative of fi xed imated, by applying the engineering formulae beams in which some sag has occurred allowing developed for ordinary structural beams.

NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCrETY Blocl, Iwealulown ."esult ing from the failUl'e of a tension Slab brea\ulo\\"n resulting from t he failure of a group dome, Laurel C.·eel, Cave, \ \T. Va. of cantilevt'.·s, Poorfarm Cave, \-V. Va.

Sag in cantileve.· beam s diJ'ectly ove.· It b.·eal,down, Poor fa rm Cave~ \-V. Va.

1 Y:, inch sag in eantile\'eJ's, Pool"fal"lll CIWe, \-V. Va. ArnLllgemen t of bloel,s within It fallen mass of bloc I, Ve.·tical joints sepa.·ate t he .·oc\, beam s into eantileveJ's brealHlown, Poo..ra ."In Cave, "V. Va. of VltrioUS lengt hs.

BULLET! NUMBER 13, D ECEMBER 1951 43 IDYLL 'OF THE ENNESSBEE

\!\T here H ere we hasten to belie you: North thru Adirondacks sweeping, Gone's that byword of the past; \,Vinds R oute 9, a sil ver trace, Now that league-long stretch won't try you, Pas t blue lakes, green meadows sleeping, Safe and smooth from first to last! Emblems of this region's grace. From the east this road comes crawling; Saratoga scenes left lately, Northward rears the mountain ridge; \ !\T ith the pas t th at name recalls; \'Vest and south the brook goes bra'wling; Cross ing Hudson here still sta tely, 'Nea th us, quiet, and the Bridge. A t the ci ty of Glens Falls.

H ow is styled this site so sightly? T hen Lake George in lovely se uing, "Vhat occasions these conclaves? \!\Ta rr'nsburg, Chestertown, the hill, Both these queries answer rig'htly: 'R ound or over it we're getting N ATU RAL STONE BRIDGE AND CAVES! Ere we come to Pottersville.

On Pottersville, for us the locus, 'Frieda, Donald, David, Janet; On this highway of renown, Mother, sister, brothers twain; or our interests which fo cus All help do the job and plan it; Just outside this little town. Lydia Linda's loyal train.

Here, in bronze, 'mongs t names of other Boys long gone to fin al rest, Dwelling house and tourist cabin, Note lhat mid-name, N eubuck, brother Lydia's ca bin near the bluff; or th e Lydia we love best. T icket- . gift-shop for her gabbin', And the libr'y, that's enough! To :\1orth and left we leave this hi_gh.way With a shop-garage for J essie, On a road, by court'sy ca lled, . And a bin for storing ice, ' ''' hen 'twas nothing but a byway "Vhen the wea ther gelS quile messy, For the visitors it ga ll ed. And for use, when warm and ni ce.

Visitors to w h a l ~ they'd wo nder \'" estward of these str uctures I iSled, . .-\ s they first essa yed th is trek, Piney grove, with mingled birch, ' '\l ith their bones ha lf-shook as under Air like wine, and ofttimes misted ; ;\nd .t.heir car approaching' wreck. Finer ca mpsite, useless searchl

4-4 N ATIONAL S PELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Nodding treetops, stars atwinkled, ' I eath the green-fringed campgrove covering Sharp-etched dark or gl istening boles; Iv[ erging down in rock rimmed arc, Balsam scented, needle sprinkled , D ancing sunlit wa ters hovering Spri ngy ca rpet 'neath bed roll s. Ere en ve loped in the dark.

D own Flotsam jams this darkso me tunnel; From atop the Bridge we wander H alf-s ubmerged logs interlock; D own the rustic zigzag stair; Ceiling low'ring like a funnel, NIore we see, the more we're fonder Fathoms deep ere half a block. Of this paradise so fair. T hen, thru siphoned mystery coursing, D own, past cave mouths wide or hidcien, P;trL emerges far downstrea m ; Yawning chasms, d evil's slide, Other wa ter portions forcing Jutting ledges, tendr il -ridden, Channell ed passages abeam. R oots of gree nery topside. From T o the gorge, a water channel Gorge and Bridge-end merge together : Only when spring freshets rise; Lost Pool, Echo, Garnet Caves; For the rest, a brilliant panel Flooded dep ths, mouths op'n to weather ; Of wild bea uty 'fore our eyes. O\'er this, the tourist raves!

Canyo n walls, steep Bridge rock facing, Ca\'e, a lengthy half-fi ll ed boring, \IVith H er ca bill on th e cres t, Limpid strea m in gradual Aow; Hillside sheer, trees interlacing, H eard, a gentle rhyth m ic snoring; Towering high, in green full-d ressed. Seen, an eerie amber glo,,'.

Noisy Cave, its name well sui ted, Garnet Cave, its mouth smooth rounded, Torrents lUmbling thru pell-mell ; Metamorphosed sheh 'ing rock; Po tholes, 'Wh irl pool, convolu ted ; Thus, a wide deep pool is bounded ; .-\Iso here, J en's '\lV ishing-\IVell. H ere the ba thers reall y floc k!

U nder Downstream, wa lers reu ni ted, R ound a corner looms the arching Fairyland now left behind; Outline of the Bridge a t last, To this spo t our troth is plighted; Varicolored brilliance marching Surely here hath God been kind! In grada ti ons shadow- cast. Silhouetted 'gainst the skyline, L ydia's ca bin seems to me In this cavern jaw's a socket Castl e ot the radiant fralilein T wisting up forked like a tooth, Of the Caves of ENNESSBEE. Barrel Cave, so's named this pocket,

Cave within a cave, forsooth. J AY E SP EE

BULLETIN NUM BER 13, DECEMBE R 1951 45 The Cave Salamanders of California

By JOHN W. FUNKH0USER Natural History Museum, Stanford Univel'sity, California

Among the most interesting of the udatiuely few Cl'eat1.l1'es which inhabit caves the salam,ander is tJ1'Obably one of the 1IIost th01'Oughly studied. Thus the life history of this animal is cont1'l'buting an i'mportant phase to our still limited knowledge of the fauna of caves.

Organisms which are fitted to life in total loses its gills and metamorphoses into a terres­ darkness freq uen tly special ize in to bizaare forms lrial adult. Typhlotriton nerew, however, re­ which are no less fascinating in their relation­ tains its gills and remains permanently aquatic. ships to their environment than in their L1n­ Almost nothing is known about the ecology, the usual morphology. This is especially true of breeding habils, or the life histories of any of cave dwelling animals, among which various Lhese remarkable animals. sa lamanders adapted to a subterranean existence Aside from these highly specialized cavern i­ are of particular interest. Some salamanders are colous species, there are other sa lamanders so speci fi ca II y fi tted to ca ves tha t presu ma bl y which show no visible modifications for a sub­ they could ex ist nowhere else, while still others terranean life, but which spend most or all of occupy caves merely as one of several suitable their lives in caves. These are generally termed habitats. ere jJ'USc7licl1', or twiligh t-zone, species, even The Lru e cavernicolous salamanders are though they are frequently found well within highly specialized to fit an underground environ­ the zone of total darkness. Some members of the ment. They arc colorless and sightless. There genus Eu.rycea, for example, found in certain are [our such sa lamanders in North America, sections of the eastern and ce ntral United States, Lhr e ~ of which are permanently larval in form, are of this type, Another example is Plethodon These are Haideutlilun, wallacei, TyjJhlomolge dixi, which occurs in a limited area of the south­ mthlJ'uni, T yphlutliton spelaeus, and T. nere7ls. ern Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. ,-\n additional genus is known from Europe. In addition, there are visitant species which, J-iaideolriton, the Georgia blind salamander though usually found in non-cave habitats, occa­ known only from a single specimen recovered sionally enter caves when the opportunity pre­ from a well , and Typltlomolge, the Texas cave sents itself. salamander, have quite degenerate eyes, no pig­ Such a series, from visitant to cavernicolous menl, and are permanently larval. TyjJhlotl'iton species, probably represents the progress ive sjJela e'l.ls and T. ne'reus inhabit caves and under­ steps in the colonization of caves by sa lamand­ ground strea lll S in the Ozark Plateau. The crs. The exact mechanism in the production of adulls or both have degenerate eyes and are al- such bizarre forms as the cavernicolous species 1Il0st co lorl ess, but their larvae, which frequent­ is not yet well understood. Though it appears to ly occllr in surface waters, possess both eyes and be largel y governed by evolu tion and genetics, pigment. These larvae enter caves at a critical there is evidence LO show that the physiological point in their development, at "vhich time there reaction of the individual animal to its environ­ is a rudimentation of their eyes and a loss of mcnt plays some part. This is evident in the eye pigment. (Interes tingly, Noble (193 / : 34,94) degeneration and pigment loss of T yphlotn:ton has shown tha l T y jJ/ilotriton sjJelaeu.s will re­ sjJelael.ls and T . nereus. It should be borne in lain fun cti onal eyes and pigment if kept in lhe mind, however, that the ability to effect sLich li ght.) After its entrance into caves, T. spelaeus cha nges must be herecfitary.

46 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY That time and environmental stability are ing the wa ter table over large areas, thus depriv­ important would be indicated by the fact that ing sa lamanders of suffi cient ground moisture all cavernicolous species so far known come fo r their es tivation. from areas long geologically stable, where there "Vith the specifi c reference to Cali fo rnia are grea t expanses of limes tone co ntaining ex­ caves, it should further be borne in mind that tensive subsurface water systems. Also there is (1) there are no limes tone areas in the state a seeming correlation with Pleistocene glacia ti on as great as those in the eastern U nited States; inasmuch as the fo rms most highly specialized (2) the caves are relatively yo ung- or at least are the farthes t removed from the sce ne of have been subjected to the above-m entioned re­ glaciation, while in the great cave sys tems of the ce nt geologic changes; and (3) the largest cave Ohio Valley region, which were directly influ­ areas where climate permits sa lamanders to enced by glaciation, coloniza tion has gone no exist were influenced by Pleistocene glaciati on. fa rther than crepuscular spec ies (Eigenmann, Estin tion appears to be the mos t importan t 1909: 17). T his may be another indica tion that single factor leading sa lamanders into caves. time is an important fac tor and that cavernicol­ T he moist cave atmosphere provides an ideal ous species probably began evolving toward retreat during the dry season. In non-cave ·areas their presen t specializati on not later than the these animals must es ti va te in animal burrows, time of the last glacia ti on. mud cracks, or any other avail able crevice offer­ In the caves of Califo rnia, colonization has ing adequate moisture. On the other hand, some just begun; and those salamanders which have sa lamanders choose a cave habitat even though been observed or collected in California caves es ti va tion is not necessary. Ensatil1 a eschscholt­ are visitant surface forms. For various reasons zii IJlatensis has been noted to show such a pref­ this would be expected. The W est Coas t, unlike erence. Southeastern U nited States, h as not been a great T he following is a list of sa lamander species center of dispersa l for sa lamanders. Its present so fa r noted in California caves : species and genera have been derived from stocks COASTAL RECIO which originated in other places. For example, Santa Cruz Area: the larges t salamander family, Plethodontidae, Dicam ptodon ensa tus (larval) which includes many California forms, had its SIERRA N EVA DA RECIO center of distribution in the Southern Appa­ Sequoia National Park Area lachians. Ensa tina eschscholtzii platensis* Perhaps the main reason why this situation Batrachvseps attenuatus ssp.* exists in California is that the vVes t Coas t has Mother Lode Area not been, nor is it ye t, geologically stable. The Ensa tina eschscholtzii zan thoptica * climate is another limiting factor, being we t in Aneides lugubris lugubn:s* winter and dry in summer, with many areas T ,·itunls sienae showing varying degrees of aridity. Where sala­ ORT HERN CALIFOR! IA manders do exist, their breeding cycles must be Shas ta Area sy nchronized with a relatively short winter rainy H ydmmantes sp .· season, or to the brief period each spring when Most of these species belong to the family melting snows in the higher altitudes furnish Plethodontidae, as indica ted by asterisks in the moisture. T heir larval development must be above list. It is to this fa mily th a t the various completed in time for the young adult to seek North America n cavernicolous and crepuscular out a suitable spot in which to es tivate during species belong. All Plethodontid salamanders the long dry period. are lungless and absorb oxygen through their ' Vith the clima te tending to become even moist skins. T hey therefore require even more dryer, as is indica ted by distributional patterns moisture than most other ty pes of sa lamanders. of many plants and animals and by geologic Consequently, they find caves an ideal h abitat. evidence, many areas which formerly provided T he single larval specimen of Dicamptodon sa lamander habitats are no longer suitable. Man ensatus was collected in Empire Cave . Since the has also been res ponsible by appreciably lower- body of wa ter in which it was taken co mmuni-

B ULLETIN N UMBE R ]3, D ECEMBE R 1951 17 ca ted with the outside, it is not likely thaI. it T uolumne County record, substantiating the developed from an egg' laid in the cave. Prob­ occurrence of xantholJ tica in the Sierra region ably it swam or was washed in . and suggesting that its range in this region is It will be noted that mos t of the records more extensive than hither to suspected (Funk­ come from the Sierra 1 evada region, with but houser, 1950). a single specimen from the Coast R ange. T his Subsequently, members of the Stanford Grot­ pa ttern might be expected because of the larger to es tablished another record for xanthojJ/ica a t number of caves in the former region. "Ve ndler Cave, Calaveras County, which fa ll s T he pauci ty of records from the Shas ta area roug-hly on a line between the J awbone Ridge arises [rom the fact thal th ere has been little locality and Cave City. work done there during the spring, when sa la­ ma nders are mos t readily observed. My informa­ An interesting bi t of history is co nnected tion on H ydTomantes in that area comes from with the previously mentioned, Ensatina esch­ J oseph Gorman of the U ni ve rsity of California, scholl zii jJla.tensis. In 1875, Jimenez de la Es pada who is prese ntly engaged in studying the ecology described a new species of salamander as and taxonomic status of this animal. U1'O t1'O psis platensis, naming it for the Rio de la Pl ata, Uruguay. T his specimen was turned over R ecent discoveries o[ sa lamanders in caves to him with a collection of reptiles from· the have co ntributed to the general knowledge of vicinity of Montevideo. To judge from Espada's the group. T he first salamanders which the description and his figure of the specimen­ Stanford Grotto of the a ti onal Speleologica l both of which are exce lI ent-U1'O tTO psis platen­ Society coll ected in a cave were two specimens sis is identical with the above California sa la­ o( Ensa tina eschscholtzii xanthoptica from the mander. Cave City Cave, located near San Andreas, Cala­ Except in the Andean region, fr om Bol ivia veras County, California. Stebbins (1 949: 415, northward, salamanders are almost unknown in 449, 45 0) had recently revised the ge nus En­ South America; and from this area onl y the sa tina, making it a complex of seven subspecies, genus Oedipus occurs. The genus Ensalina. has all under the species eschscholtzii. His sub­ been recorded only from th e vV es t Coas t of the species, xanth optica, has as its main range the U nited States and the ve ry southernmost tip of Inner Coast Range of Cali[ornia, between the British ColumbIa; and it seems exceedingly great Central Valley and Sa n Francisco Bay, strange that something identical with one of the fr om east-cen tral Sonoma County on the north California forms should occur in Uruguay. to northern Santa Clara County on the so uth. Furthermore, no more specimens have turned T his subspecies appea rs, in the recent geo­ up in South America. logic pas t, to have crossed the Central Valley, According to Espada's own account, it does which now is no t a suitable habitat for Ensatina, not appear that his spec imen was se para tely and to have es tablished itself on the lower wes t­ labeled when he rece ived it, and the donor died ern [ooth il Is of the Sierra Nevada in the terri­ before inquiries about it could be made. Con­ tory o( Ensa tin rl eschscholtzii platensis, with sidering these facts, it has been postulated tha t which it has begun to interbreed. Stebbins based the type specimen of U1'O t1'O pis jJia tensis actu­ this remarkable distribution pattern on only two all y was collected in California. loca lity records: a supposedly reliable sight rec­ T his is not as improbable as it might seem. ord [rom the Berkeley T uolumne Camp, T uo­ Espada's description was published only twenty­ lumne County; and a coll ec ti on from J awbone fi ve years after the discovery of gold in Califor­ Ridge, T uolumne County. Ano ther specimen, nia, which precipitated the great Gold Rush poss ibl y o[ this subspecies, ta ken a t Bear Vall ey, and brough t people from all parts of the world ?vfariposa County, Cali fo rnia, was loaned to into the territory inhabited by the sa lamander Stebbin s by Sherman C. Bi shop. we know as E11Sa tina. eschscholtzii jJlale11Sis . T hese [a cts expl a in the in teres t in the record Sin ce these animals are striking in their appear­ 1'1'0 111 Cave City Cave, which ex tended the range ance, being jet bl ack wi th bright vermillion SO llI e forty miles beyond th e mos t northerl y spots, it is quite co nceiva bl e that so meone pre-

48 N ATIONAL SPE LEOLOGICAL S OCIETY served one-possibly in a bottle of whiskey­ Gold Rush did preserve a salamander. Though and that it found its wa y to Uruguay, as suggest­ I have not been able to ascertain how Mr. 'Baker ed by Myers and Carvalho (1945: 1-5). This returned to his home in Massachusetts after that explanation has been generall y accepted by summer in California, nor what he did with his herpetologists. salamander, I am sa tisfied that his specimen was In accordance with the International Rules an El1satina. No other sa lamander which occurs o f Zoological Nomenclature, the oldest name in that area fits his description. This first cave given to an animal has priority. The generic record could be Espada's specimen! name, E1lSatina, had been es tablished before Espada's description, but the specific name, REFERE:'\CES 1J/atensis, (now placed in subspecific status) was older and therefore had priority over the more BISHOP , SIIER .\I AN C. 1943. H andbook of Sa lmand· appropriate name, siel'me, which had been ap­ ers. Comstock Publishing Co.: 1·555. plied to these animals. - . - . - .. - . - 19·1·1. A nell' Neotenic Plethodon t Sa lamander, with Notes on R elated Sp ecies. ,.\. short time ago members of the Stanford Copeia I : 1·5.

Grotto ca me across what is probably the first EIGENMANN, CARL H . 1909. Cave Vertebrates of record of a Califo rnia cave salamander. It is North America, A SLUd y in Degenerati ve Evolu· recorded in the unpublished journal of Isaac tion . Carll egie IlI sl. lI'ash. Publ. :-.io. 104: 1·24 1. Baker, who visited California during the F UN KHOUSER , J OHN W. 1950. Further Evidence '''T. R egarding the Occurrence of the Sa lamander, Gold Rush. In the summer of 185 3 he explored EIISalina escschollzii xall ihoplica, in the Sierra a cave, now known as the Cave of Skulls, near Nevada of Cali fornia. Colleia I : 59.

Vallecito. His description of the cave includes i\[Y ERS , GEORCE S .. and C.~R I' ALI - I O . .-\ . L. DE. 194 5. the followillg passage: "There was a living in­ Notes o n Some Nell' or Lillle·Known Blaliliall Amphibialls. with an Examination of the History habitant of this dark abode, red as vermillion of the Pl ata Sa lain ander, Ellsalilla plalerlsis. and rather spiteful at first-tame enough at Bolelilll do J\Il/ sel/ N aciollal 35 : 1.. 1 2. Rio d e Janeiro. present." A sketch of a bottle of SpIrItS contain­ ing the sa lamander is included at the margin l\'OIlLE, G. KI NCS I. EY. 193 1. Bi ology of the A m · phibia. ~l cGraw· Hill: 1-5 77 , of h is journal. Mr. Baker's journal proves, if not-hing else, STEIIII INS. R . C. 1949. Specia tion in sala manders of the Plethodo nud genus Ensatina. V lliv . 01 that a t least one perso n who took part in the Calif. PI/V . lool. --18, 6: 377·526.

BULLEr!N NUMBER 13 , D ECEMBER 1951 49 Report on the Mineralogy of New River Cave By JOHN W. MURRAY All IJ/lOl os by tile (Il/liI o r Associate Professor of Chernistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute

This 1·eport froll1 the Comll1ittee Oil F01"lna tion and Nlineralogy of th e V.P.!. Grotto, suumitted I)y its Chairll1an, exce llently portrays th e importance of sjJe lelJlogica iresearch. A ll 171e ll1iJers of reg lllar grottoes of th e N.S.S., and lrI ell1- {Iers of student grottoes in prntiC1l la r, s//O uld realize after reading this article, that any nll/nber of scientific jJrojects cou ld be lIndertal< en to add to Ollr m 1l ch-n eeded l

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF CAVE a ta sh ale holds a perch ed water table in the New Ri\·e r Cave-also called Goodwins more porous Clinch which feeds the stream in h :rry C.l \·e a nd, rarely, Spruce Run Cave, is the cave. located nea r Goodwins Ferry, Giles CO UI1l Y, T he cave runs in to the mountain, wh ich is Vi rginia at La t. 37" 16' 02" N a nd Long. a long r idge, parallel to the axis of the ridge. It 80"36'00" \ '\T . It is at the south end of Spruce has been explored [or near! y 3000 feet. Passages Run Moun tai n where the New River, fl owing are developed on abollt four levels, the lowest northwest, se para tes that mountain from Buck­ of which is now occupied by a stream which eye Nfountain. T he entrance slopes downward reaches the surface in two spr ings on the end of sli ghtly a nd elllers the mountain at an eleva­ the mountain, as d emonstrated by fiu orescein ti on ot 20 15 [eet a bove sea level or abou t 235 tes ts. T h e stream passage h as been followed leet a bove the road through the gorge. T hese nearl y to the point where it emerges as the elevations are based on barometric measure­ upper spring. lvIost of the cave is now dead but nl en t'; made by H olden, Price and Stephenso n water enters the cave in several places and on Sept. n, 1942. T he cave is the subject of a depos its seem to be growing in the main passage pa per in the J ournal of Geology, Vol. 55, page within a few hundred fee t of the entrance, in 107- 11 9, 1947, by E. L. Krinitzsky who did grad­ the vicinity of the Attic R oom a nd Forest R oom uate work in geology at Virginia Polytechnic a nd along part of the lowest level. Dissolving of lnstilllte. T he geologic data in the following limes tone seems to be taking place loca ll y in the paragraph is based on thi s pa per. last two areas. vV a ter enters the cave in quantity T he Ca \"C is developed along the Sa ltville in a t least three pl aces. One of these is in the Fa ul t wh ich has bee n traced for 200 miles from A ttic room wh ich is the highes t part of the G l \ "C. Craig CouillY. Virg inia, into Tennessee. T he H ere ex tensive brea kdown of the roof has oc­ LllIlt is a n on;r-t brust which brought the Lower curred leaving piles of ve ry large blocks. Back Ca III bria n H ona ker Dololll i te northwes twa rd in the newer part of the ca ve , a waterfall some O\·e r the yo unger OrdO\·ician a nd Siluria n beds. for ty fe e l. or more in height is found. The water .-\ lesser [a ulL has brought a sliver of the Ordo­ fro 111 this source is less in vo lume than the \·ician Benbolt Limestone betwee n the younger strea m which it jo ins. This wa terfall is about beds a nc! the Honaker. T he fa ulting has over­ 2+00 feet from the cave entrance. A small er turned the Benbolt and Honaker and the fa ult wated a ll of about 8 or 10 fee t is found in t.h e plane dips to the so utheast at a n angle of abou t sa me stream as th e big one a little above it. The :i 3 degrees. T he cave is developed in the Ben­ lllain strea m has bee n followed for abou t (iOO bolt limes tone \,·ith the H onaker dolomite fo rm­ feet beyond the point where lhe waterFa ll drops ing th e roof whi ch is inclined 53 degrees from inlo it. th e hori zo ntal. The cave has been enlarged up­ FORMATIONS \\";Irc! in to th e c! Ololllit e by downfall of blocks A great variety of forlll ations is found in frolll the roof. Krinitzsky beli e\"Cs tha, t.h e OJuni- New Rive r Cave. Almost all of it is in the first

5C NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Flows tone ca scades in ma in passage of N ew Rivel' Cave, The SUl'face is cuvcred in places with It bhtcl{ coating', A small g l'otto is seen in the lower left comel' p.-obably ('lIused hy shl'inluige 01' washing out of the mud bani, on which the flowstone was dellOsited,

BULLETIN NUMBE R] 3, DECE MBE R 1951 51 third o( the part :w hich"ls now known. G ypsum a limited part of the lowes t level near the is' fO llli d as an i ncrusta ti on of crys tals up to stream. The Fores t R oom is the prize formaliol1 about a ce ntimeter in length on the walls of a exhibit of the cave. Stalactites and' stalagmites room upstrea m from the wa ted a l'!. T his is ca lled of both calcite and aragonite are found in, all of the Gy p s~lm R oom. T his is the onl y part of the these areas. Often bo th minera ls are found in cave in which gy psum has b ~e n found. T he the same deposit in alternating layers. Curtains, depos it' is dry and rather dirty looking. bacon and elephant ea r stalactites are developed in several pl aces. Flowstone shee ts have been laid down on mud banks in the main passage. In some instances the mud has shrunk or been washed out leaving small passages under the shee t. ' Anthodites of aragonite are found in the Fores t R oom, the Attic R oom and in the ma in passage. Mos t of this m aterial is dead and brownish but some live depos its which are pure white are found in and near the Attic R oom. In a la teral branch of the main passage, the a n tho­ dites seem to grade over or to be replaced b y an incrustati on of sma ll aragonite crys tals. O n so me 0[ the anthoclites, small stalactites of aragonite are pendant from the ends of the anthodite spurs which suggests tha t an increase in the ra te

Anthodites gTo\\'ing' 011 ealdte stalac·tites ill the Attic' Room or " e\\' Rivet· Ca ve. The area above the wa ted all conta ins a maze o f passages co ntaining a great d ea l of broken rock and mud. T he rocks a nd mud are coa ted in pl aces with a bl ack surface layer which has StalaC'tites ell ct'usted wi t h anthodites, New Rivet· Ca,ve. been tes teel chemica ll y and found to contaill ma nga nese. It is probabl y colored by an oxide o r manganese. T he p art or the cave nca r the entrance con­ ta ins fo rmati ons of calcite and aragonite in nea rl y equal abundance. The main passage near the en trance conta ins several spacious rooms we ll decora ted with forma ti ons. One of these rooms is about a hundred [eet in height and con ta ins some large co lumns. T he lower wall or this room is a tremendous mass of f-I owstone resem bling a [!'ozen wa ted a ll but having a bl ack surface coa ti ng. T he A ttic R oom a nd the F 0 1'- . cst R oom which are loca ted in ,the upper pas­ Heli ctites ILml :U1 t hoclites on ceiling" of -Attic Room sages of the ca v"e are a lso we Ll decorated as is ill New Rivet· Ca.ve.

52 N ATIONAL SPE LE OLOGICAL S O CIETY of feed of water to the formation has occurred. posit. A somewhat similar but more jagged These pendant stalactites have a rather coarse deposit is found in some of the active pools in structure of needle like crys tals radiating down­ the upper part of the cave. Some of the pools ward and outward from the axis. In some cases, contain a lining of small but well cr ys tallized anthodites are found growing from the sides or dog-tooth spur. A dried up pool at the bottom ends of calcite stalactites. of the Forest Room is covered on the bottom In close proximity to anthodites in the main with a friable sca ly mass containing calcite and passage and in the Attic Room, vermiform aragonite. The walls have remnants of horizo n­ helictites- of calcite are fo und. These have their tal sheets of calcite adhering in places which grea test development on the ce iling of the pas­ appear to have been crusts formed on the sur­ sage northeast of the Attic Room where medusa­ fa ce of the pool. T he upper surface of the crusts like groups, perhaps eight inches in length, are is fin ely granular while the lower surface is found. Vermiform helictites of aragonite are studded with rhombic calcite crystals. The low­ found in the stream passage. These are thinner er part of the walls of this pool is encrusted than the calci te helictites, some of them being with rounded coral knobs with a radiating only about a millimeter in diameter. The calcite structure. These contain both ca lcite and arago­ helictites have rather soft texture and are nite. friable. Cave pearls of aragonite coated on siliceous Flowstone pools are fo und in the main pas­ pebbles are found on ledges in the stream pas­ sage as well as in the Attic Room and the Forest sage. The outer coa ting is very fin e grained and Room. Most of these are formed of calcite and the pearls vary in size up to about an inch in contain calcite cave coral. A part of the main diameter. passage was formerly dammed to form an exten­ Temperature measurements have been taken sive pool. Old water levels are evident on the at numerous points in the cave both in air and walls. Below the old water level the walls are in water. The· results are given below. All read­ lined with masses of a rounded grape-like de- ings are degrees Centigrade.

AIR AND WATER TEMPERATUR ES, I N DEGREES CENTIGRADE, AT SELECTED STATIONS IN NEW RIVER CAVE,GIL ES COU TV, VIRGINIA DATE

STATION 8·5-45 9· 1-I- · ~ 5 1·27·-16 3-31·-1 6 2·25·5 1 Air I ' ,Va ter Air I \ Va ler Air I Waler Air I 'Va ler Air I Waler -

I Outside of cave - I - - I - - 5.0 I - - I - - I - Allie Room, south end + 12.6 I + Il..j + 11.8 I + 11 .4 + 11.5 I + 11.0 + 11 .8 I + 11.-1 + 11.9 I + 11.6 Allie R oom, north end - I - + 11.6 I + 11.5 - I - + 11.5 I - - I - Forest R oom - I - - I - + 11.5 I - - I - - I - Crack below Attic Room - I - - I -- I - + 12.1i I - - I '- Winter Forest R oom, olr main passage about - I - - I - - I - - I - + 6.9 I - '1:30' from entrance Main passage, about 50' - I - - I - - 2.5 I - - I - - , - from en tra nce Main passage, about - I - - I - +5.5 I - - I - - I - GOO' from entrance Lunch R oom , about - I - - I - +8.8 I - - I - - I - 1000' from entrance Stream at bottom oE - I + 12.2 - I - - I - I - I + 12.7 - I - china slide Stream below Lunch - I - - I - +9.0 I + 11.5 - I - + 10.6 I + 12.0 R oom I

B ULLETI N NUMBER I3, D ECEMBER 1951 l'vl easurements of relative humidity were culty of transporting large samples, most of the made by the V. P. 1. Grotto using a Hygrother­ determinations were made on a micro scale mograph. If and when these data are organized, sometimes by m ethods specially developed or a supplement to this report will be submitted adapted for the problem. Some of the r esults on this topic. are not very consistent and the results tabulated Samples of water have been taken [rom a below represent only a few of the more complete \'ariely of locations in the cave represe n ting the analyses. They wil l suffice to show the general main strea m, dripping water and pools in flow­ character of the water in the cave and its vari­ stone. About 27 samples in all have been ex­ ation [rom one situation to another. amined. The analyses ranged from single deter­ minaLions o[ pH to dcterminations of all eight It is hoped that when sufficient d ata of of the quantities listed in the table below. Due adequate precision is accumulated, the reasons to the difficulty of obtaining some of the [or some of the changes in the form of deposits samples such as dripping water, and the d iffi- in caves will become apparent.

COMPOS IT ION OF WATER IN NEW RIVER CAVE, GILES COUNTY, VIRGINIA All concen tmtions [l1'e expj'essed as parts per million.

I No, l Source I linityAlka I Free I CI- SO,= Ca++ Mg++ Solids I T; ~l.P· 1 pH CO \ I I I Total I (CaCO,) e :).-1 I Main Stream 3/ 31/ 46 12.7 7.5 90 I 0.4 24 II 11 0 5:1 I Main Stream 2/ 25 / 51 12.0 8.1 I 63 I 1.1 I 1.2 17 6 60 51 I Drip [rom Calci te I I I I flows tone sheet 6.5 8.0 I 230 I 3.3 I 2 15 46 30 ~9 I Dri p from ceiling I I I Attic Rm. 3/ 31/46 1l .8 7.5 I 122 I 1.3 27 28 23 Hi5 52 I Drip from ceiling I I Winter Forest Rm. 6.6 7.7 I 358 8 1.5 15 65 50 295 33 I Drip from aragonite I I stalactite 12.6 7.7 I 134 38 27 40 5-1 I Pool in Attic Rm. I below drip of I sample 29 8/ 19/ 51 11.3 7.8 134 1.5 17 18 25 156

54· NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Report on the Titus Canyon Expedition By RICHARD F. LOGAN Dej)(lrtment of Geogra.jJh y, Unive1'sity of California, Los Angeles

This tlnilling account of one experience of a large ,?xtJcdition organize d ay the South.em California. Grotto of the National SjJ eieoiogicai Society highlights the advcntt/.1"e and im/Jortant scientific work wh.ich awaits spcleologists with sirn i­ la1' quests in v iew. It was originally suamitted as a 1'eport to the Na tional Penh Service. T Il e fifty-seven jJe1'so11S who took 1)(nt in the ex1J loration here deso'ibed have each contriauted to 01lr growill g know ledge of the treasures w hich exist

1.1 n dergroun d.

During the Thanksgiving weekend o( 1950, feet [rom its entrance . .-\[t er the demise o( Lh e the Southern California GrOLto of the National town professional mineral coll ec tors had raided Speleological Society cooperated with the Na­ the cave, rcmovi ng large q uan Li ties of speci­ tional Park Service in the opening and explor­ mens from its walls and ce iling. The area ca me ation of an ex traordinary cave in Titus Canyon, under the jurisdiction o( Lh e N a Lional Park D eath Val ley National Monument. Service at the Lim e of the creation of Death The cave is loca ted on the west wall of the Valley National Monument, in 1933 . In 19-1O, ill va ll cy, at the north end of the abandoned town order to halt the va ndali sm and to protect un­ of Leadfield, and near the east entrance to wary wandercrs, Lh c minc and ca,'c wcrc scalcd Titus Canyon. off with masonry by Park Sen'ice employees.

Lead and si lve r ore had been discovered 111 Early on the morning of the day after the area as early as 1905, when Barney j"IcCann Thanksgiving, 1950, two panies I of members and Seaman fil ed a doze n cl aims ( I). Some ore of the National Speleological Society attempted was sortcd, but it proved to be too low-grade to an exploration of the ca ' ·e. It \I'as (ound that the warrant packing OUL o( the va ll ey. There was mine had two horizo nral tunnels, one a hundred no road at the time. feet aboye the othcr. Stan Kahan of Los Angeles City Col lege led a party into the upper mine­ During J\ilarch of 192'1, Ben Chambers and Lunnel (formerly known as the "Clark" or F. J. Metz loca ted sixteen cl aims which were "NlImber One" tunnel), and found that it con­ taken over in July of the following yea r by the tacted the cave about one hundred (eet insidc "Vestern Lead Mines Company . .- \t a cost of $60,- the entrance. Climbing do\l"n two short lengths 000 a road was literally ca rved out of the moun­ of old ladder they reached Lh e top of a steep tains, permitting access from Lh e older mining slope. Roping down it they cmerged in the low­ ce nters of Rhyolite and Beatty, just o,'er the er tunnel in thc midst of the second pan y o( line in Ncvada; and the town of Leadfield can: explorers. sprang into existence. From here on, the second pan y, headed by It was essc ntially a waterl ess town ..- \ spring .-\1 Hildinger, also of Los .-\ngeles City College, of sorts a quarter-mile east pro"ided some water, took the lead. Equipped with ropes, wire-rope but most of the camp supply had to be hauled ladders, ca rbide lamps and oLhcr cquipment, lip a nine-hundred foot rise from a spring they made the descent of Lh c Gl,'e shaft Lh at (Klare Spring) two miles down ca nyon . .-\nd so dropped steeply (rom the Hoor of the lower it was not surprising that, when the mining boom collapsed the following year (thanks to I ORGANIZATION OF EX PEDIT IO:,\: L ('ad",' - Dr. Ri c hal ~d F. Logan, U ni v~rs il Y of California, Los .-\ng· watering of stock and the lack of ore), the place eles. lo xl)lo~ ' nl~oll - Sta n Kahan. Los Angeles Cily Col· became a ghost town. lege; AI Hdc\Jnger, Los .-\ngeles Ci ly College. Rndio­ Walter Cha mbcrlin, Pasa d ena, Calir.; Ed Simmo ns. During the 1925-26 opera tions, one of the Pasaden a, Ca li f. Trallsporlalioll- Lillian Casler , Pasa­ "March Storm" group of mines on the wes t wall dena. Ca lif. Fillall("('s-Dorolh y Chamberl in. Pasad en ;J , Calif. Door CO ll slmclion-William I3roll'n , Pasadena. of the va ll ey interce pted a cave LW O hundred Calif.; Donald Emcrson. " ronro"ia, Calir.

BULLETIN NUMBER] 3, D ECEMBER] 951 55 LUnn el. T he main part of the cave lay entirely enels of m any of the crystals tiny droplets of below the len:1 of this LUnn el (formerl y known moisture glistened. as the "S taun ton" or "N umber Two" tunnel). Most of the usual cave formations were ab­ Nearly fift y persons made the trip through the se nl. Only in one place were good developments cavern in the neX l twe llly- (our h ours over the of stalacti tes, stalagmites, Howstone and drap er y rou te they scouled. found. The stumps of a few others marked By means of a wire-ro pe ladder secured to specimens r emoved by collectors before the a ring boll in the ce iling of the mine tunnel sealing of the cave. Apparently this lack of nor­ they made the desce n t or a 60" shaft to a crude mal formations is the res ult of the absence of pla tform a pparenll y erected by the miners some running water or even o( dripping waler since fift y feet belo" · the lunnel. Ducking under the the exca va lion of the cavern ceased . plalform spelunkers emerged in to a slot elong­ The (ave itseH seems to have been formed a ted a l the sa me 60" a ng le a bout fifteen [ee t in in the usual m anner by the solu tion o( lime­ heighl, a nd about three feet wide. Sidling a long ~to n e by ground water. T he solution took place this visitors bel ly-c rawled lhrough a narrow along beds o( the dark-gray, medium-grained throa t scarcely larger lha n a person 's bod y a nd Pogonip limes lone (2) which occurs in a long emerged into a larger room . Down a steep, mud­ north·south belt through the Grapevine mOlln­ co,·ered slo pe beyond footholds had been lains, as well as a t o lher scatterecl loca ti ons in chopped ena bling a n easy descen t. the general area eas t of Death Va ll ey. H ere the Up lO lhis point the cave had been uninter­ steeply- folded beds dip northward a t a n a ngle es ting-a mud-Hoored a perture in solid rock. of 60". In some places a bed was entirely re­ But suddenl y, in descending the footholds in the moved by solution leaving a slot the thickness muddy slope, onc enlered a "' '''inter '<\' onder­ of the bed. Of such origin was the slol jusl land!" On al l sides the rays (rom the headlamps beyond the miner "s platform . Elsewhere, strea m disclosed greal areas o f wa ll s coa ted with crystals erosion had, by a brasion, cu t lhrough inten "C n­ sp;lrkling in pristine whiteness. Ever ywhere that ing beds of less-soluble ma terial, making a nar­ one looked pin-poinls o( light shone back from row, twisting throat like thal of the bell y-crawl grea l ba nks of "snow" seemingly drifted into passage. e,·ery nook a nd cranny o( the cave. Inspection In conjuncti on with the fo lding of the beds showed them to be radiating crystals of arago­ there appears to ha' ·e bee n some slipping along nite often attached lO the \va ll by merely a the bedding pla nes res ulting in fa ulting parall el single thin-sha fted need le. Many were so fin e lO the bedding. T his was indi<;a ted by the pres­ a nd sharp lha l they penetrated the skin o( un­ ence of fa ult gouge at ~ eve ral places in the tun­ wary spelunkers who unwittingly leaned against nel wa ll s. them causing irritalion similar lo that res ulting Since there is insufficient groundwater in the rrom the ca reless ha "dl i ng o( rock-wool i nsula­ area today to accom pI ish (e ven over a very long li on. peri od) the removal in solulion of enough lime­ .-\ t the [OOl of the stee p slope the cave stone to form the cave, il seems likely lhat it opened up inlO a se r ies or interconnecting was fo rmed during the Pleistocene. T ha t peri od, chambers up lO thirty fe el in length and fifteen sy nonomous with the Icc Age of more poleward feel in width wilh ce ilings ten feet above the and more humid areas, was one of h eavier rain­ Il oor. E,·erywhere their walls and ce ilings were fall in the western deserts. Many of the present radiant wi lh clear while crystals. arid basins were partiall y occupied by lakes in Des pit e th e fr osty appearance the hea t a nd whose waters li ved cl a ms a nd fish . Death Va ll e)' humidity were o ppress ive . The temperature was itself was partl y inundated by the waters o t: 70" with a relalive humidity o( 96% . The ex­ "Lake Manly". ertion o( climbing, crawling, a nd squeezing Fo ll owing the lermination of the rain y lhrough narrow passages made one perspire Pl eistocene the amount of ground wa ter dimin­ freely. In the humid a ir perspiration would not ished lo the present sta te of aridi ty . Consc­ eva porale but rcma ined annoy ingly on the skin. <{u ently the bulk of the ex isting formations Even the walls seemecl lO perspire for on the (s talactites a nd the like) were pro bably formed

56 NATIO;\I AL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCI ETY during the period of excavation; although at Since nothing of any significa nce or beauty especially- favored locati ons, where strong JOll1 t­ lay abow the lower lUnnel it was decided to re­ ing admi ts a weak fl ow of seepage, growth of cement the en trance La the u pper shaft in a such formati ons still co ntinues in a li mited fi xed and permanent manner . In order to con­ m anner. trol access 10 the entrance to the lower lUnnel In pl ace o[ the usual forma ti ons the bundles members of the Grotto erected a metal door on of neeedle-like aragonite crystals have d evelop­ the entrance and locked it with a padlock su p­ eeL To their appearance, two similar-sounding plied by the Park Service. terms m ay be applied: "fascicular", (from Latin, T he Sou thern California Grotto was greatly fasces, a bundle of rods) to their collecti ve radi­ pleased by the fr iendly cooperati on of the mem­ ating growth habit; and "acicular" (from Latin, bers of the Nati onal Park Service staff with acus, needle) in reference to their individual whom they came in contact. Superintendent shapes. In m os t cases both terms are applicable. T. R . Good win made poss ible the entire under­ T he develop men t of the crys tals m ay possi­ taking by his interest and understanding in the bly be related to the closed (pre-19 25, pos t-1 940) early stages of negotiati ons between the Grotto nature of the cavern and the high humidities and the Park Service. Park Naturalist L. Floyd tha t prevail therein. Being located in a middle­ Keller, Chief R anger E. E. Ogston, and R anger latitude desert environment the outside atmos­ Lewis Kirk demonstra ted the keen acti ve in ter­ phere experiences grea t seasonal yariati ons in es t of the Service in the work at the cave by temperature. Average dail y temperatures in making the long journey to the area and care­ m id-s um mer approach 110°; 111 mid-winter, fully exploring the cave with members of the 50°. Some of this great seasonal va ria ti on must Grotto. be felt within as shallow-d epth a cavity as this T here is no question concerning the unique one. W ith relative humidity in the middle­ fea tures of the cave. Its display of aragonite nineti es onl y a slight drop thermall y would pro­ crys tals is unsurpassed in the U nited States, if duce a sa tura ted co ndition within the cave re­ not in the world. T he " normal" formations­ sulting in condensa ti on on the walls. Such con­ stalactites, stalagmites, HowsLO ne, drapery- are densed droplets might accomplish a minute not spectacular but are preselH in sufficien t amoun t of solmion of the limes tone. W ith a amounts to be of use fo r demonstration pur­ return of higher temperatures and a consequent poses. To an yone interes ted in speleology, ml11- reducti on in the relati ve humidity the droplet eralogy, geology or just plain beauty the cave would be re-eva porated leaving the dissolved has grea t attracti on. m atter behind in the crys talline form. At the time of the visi t d roplets were visible every­ H owever, serious though t should be give n to where, at all pos itions on the ex isting cr ys tals, both sides of the q ues ti on before any decision including some points that it would have been is made to open the cave to the general public. impossible for seepage water to reach . Most of T he cr ys tals (the m os t a Ltracti\·e part of the the few stalactites had their surfaces bristling caye) are fragil e and easil y destroyed ; and also wi th fascicl es of aragoni te crys tals. are subject to easy rem oyal from the cave. For As was to be expected from a cave that h ad this reason no group should be all owed in the been long sea led no ev idence of animal life was cave without proper supervision. T his is es peci­ fo und. On the other hand a m os t remarkable all y the case with mineral-co ll ecting societi es. type of plant life was see n. T he first 60° shaft For several reasons there is considerable in the cave d id not end a t the miners' pla tform doubt as to whether opening the cave to the but con tinued downward to dead-end a short public would be worthwhile. T hey are: distance below. Into the small chamber a t the (A) the cave would ha\·e to have a large end a mining timber had fall en from above and amount of wo rk done in it to make it ac­ res ted against the wall. T he ti m ber was h alf­ cessible: encased in a grey-white mold and long "stalac­ ti tes" of the mold hung pendulously from it, 1. A stairway [r0 111 the miners pla tform one swelling bulbously at the lower extremity, to the tunnel is a necessity. others m erging to form a "drapery" of mold. 2. T he passage [rom the miners' platform

B ULLETI N N UMBE R 13, D E CEMBE R 1951 57 to the 60" slot should be enlarged. (C) That access be made readily available 3. T he bell y·crawl passage would have to to reputable societies or groups. In most be greatl y enlarged. This would have to be cases a ranger should be on duty with the an all·hand operation since blasting so group throughout the time they are in the cl ose to the main ce nter of interest might cave. Certain organizations such as the Sierra have a damaging effect on the crystals. Club would require no such supervision ow­ 4. A long sta irway and ramp down the ing to their high standards for membership. mud-covered passage to the lower cham­ Others such as mineral-collecting groups bers would have to be constructed. Such should be carefully supervised for obvious stairways and ramps would have to be of reasons. meta l to prevent the growth of organisms (D) That on certain occasions a "tour" on them as has occurred on the mll1l11g might be run with a cavalcade of cars organ­ timber mentioned above. ized at Furnace Creek, the drivers properly (B) it would be bes t to h ave the cave flood­ advised of road conditions beforehand, and lighted in order to bring out the bes t effects the whole trip in charge of a ranger or of the minera l display. However, this is not ranger-naturalist. So that the interes ted seg­ a vital necessity, and the public might enjoy ment of the public could be notified such the novelty or wearing electric miners' head­ tours might be announced well in advance lamps. through the press, and more especially (C) it would be imperative that a National through such publications as "Desert ]\II aga­ Park Service representative be on duty all of ·zine". Persons inquiring about entry as a the time that the cave is open and that he result of the sign at the cave entrance then accompany all parties through the cave to could be notified regarding the nex t da te of prevelll vandalism. vVh ether such expense a public tour. would be justifl ed is doubted in view of the (E) To provide lighting the National Park small number of persons who would visit the Service might purchase a number of miners' cave due to the condition of the road. lamps to be rented to the public on such oc­

In li ~ u o[ general public admittance to the casions. Such tours would, of course, necess i­ cave it is suggested that the following policy be tate belly-crawling; and th e public should be adhered to: fully waTn ed of the discomforts involved and the soiling of clothing that is the inevitable (A) That th e cave be kept locked at all result of the trip. The Service should also times; protect itself in some way against possible (B) ThaL a sign be placed there indica ting suits for personal injury or damage to that the Na ti onal Park Service has jurisdic­ clothing. tion over it. Since there is no sign indicating the point at which the Monument boundary REFERENCES is crossed on th e road in, some members of T UC KER , W. BURLI NG . " The Lead fi eld Mining the pu bl ic III igh t not be aware tha tit lies District", ill R elJort of the Sla le M il/ era/ogist, within the monument; and even if such a 1926 San Francisco, 1926. boundary sign is placed the cave-jurisdiction 2 BALL, SYDNEY H. "A Geological R econnaissance in Southwestern Nevada and Eastern Califor­ sign should still be set in place. nia", U. S. Geological Survey B u. lIetin 308, 1907.

58 NATION AL SPELE OLOGICAL SOCI ETY CAVE IN ROCK

By GEORGE F. JACKSON All 1)/10/05 by the GII/hor

This tlnilling account of piwry U I1 the Ohio R iver illustrates ti, e adage that " tmth is stHl17 geT than fi ction" find highliglils the fact that a.fJjJ(I1-e nliy C((1les have been the centeT of in teTcst f01- nul ol1 ly th e sfJcleologist iJut, in this instance at least, 101- as rn unlemus a gang of cu lll, roa ls as eveT jn-eyed lI}J on th e 1Inwary t-ra vclel-!

Ca ve in R ock on the 0 hio R i vel' in so ulhern and parts of neigh bori ng sla tes were terrorized Illino is has neither the !!reat size nor the lo\-e ly by the criminals from Cave in Rock_ T heir bea uty of lTl an y caves, but few, if any, caverns deeds read like the wi ldes t fiction , and if they on the America n continent have a more fasci­ were not verified by authoritative sources would n ating, colorful or bloody history than this huge hardl y be belie\-e d_ rock-ribbed vault. Speleologicall y the ca ve is something of a I-lome and hiding place of mound builders, puzzle_ Located in Illinois on the nonh bank of Indians, early French voyagell n , and pioneers, the Ohio River, iL is about eighty- fi ve miles be­ it also housed and was the headquarters [or low Evansville, Indiana, and fift y miles above some of the most bloodthirsty des peradoes in Paducah, Kentucky_ The entrance is in the St. American frontier histor y_ In fact, there was a Louis limestone and resembles more the" tory time when the whole o[ Kentucky, T ennessee book" idea of a cave entrance L1lan lhat of any

A stl"i ld ng view just outs ide t he entnuH'e to en ve in Rod, showing- the hol"i w ntal natlll'e of the St. Louis linH'stone.

B U LLETIN N U MBER 13, DECEMBE R 19 .5 1 59 other which the author has seen. The rocky erosion from surface water entering through the cliffs along the river's banks here are high and "smoke" outlet a t the rear of the cave, and pos­ sheer and, [rom a distance, appear to be smooth. sibly the waves of the river during times of Prominently located in a grey limes tone wall is extreme fl oods. It is almos t inconce iva ble to the huge arched, tunnel-like opening, seeming think that men, red or white, co uld h ave h ad almos t too regular to be entirely natural. But it any incentive for all the back-breaking toil is, and although the giant fores ts around it have necessary to dig this big trench through solid disappeared it must look today not greatly rock. A puzzling fact against the erosion theory, different from when first seen by white men. ho"vever, is that the drainage area above the crack is hardly large enough to permit much Otto A. Rothert,. an authority on the cave, of a stream to enter, even in wet weather. This whose book about it is the result of many years is only one of many puzzling things about the of study and research, says that the first recorel fo rmation of Cave in Rock. of it is in The H islO1Y of New Fmnce by Charlevoix in 1744. This account includes BeI­ Tha t this cave is the result of erosion by an lin's Map of Louisiana, showing the general underground river, like most other caves, would course of "La Belle Riviere" fr om observations seem to be the logical theory in regard to its made by M. de Lery when he explored it in forma tion-until it is examined closely. T he 1729. On this map the cave is referred to as the front part has this appearance, but such a "Caverne dans Ie R oc". Afterwards the place theory does not explain the solid limes tone wall was give n various names, all of them but one at the end. The p assageway simply slojJs. It has ("House of ature") contal11l11g the word definitely not been closed by breakdown, and "cave". Apparently the name, Cave in R ock, has there is no evidence of a continuation. Neither been the only one applied since the beginning is there any indication of the entrance or exit or the 19th ce ntury. of a large stream. T here has been some erosion T h e cave itself has a uniform width of fifty from the water which enters the ceiling crack feet and extends back into the hillside approxi­ during wet weather but, as mentioned previous­ mately two hundred fee t. Although there is a ly, the small sink hole on the surface above it sligh t incline of the fl oor toward the back, the does not drain a large enough area to have fur­ ce iling is level throughout its entire length. nished a water supply of sufficient quantity to form a large cave. Then, too, great virgin fores ts Some eighty feet back is a narrow crack in here in times pas t retarded the water of heavy the roof about fifteen fee t long which connec ts rains. Consequently the flow through the crack with the surface. During the time of occupancy years ago must have bee n a very small strea m. by river pirates this crack se rved as both an out­ let for smoke fr om fires and also as an escape So me theorists have said that upheavals dur­ route if necessary. On one side at the back is a ing the pas t have sealed off the res t of the cave. small room, at one time rather difficult of Since mos t of the limes tones of the middle wes t entrance but now completely dug out. This ex­ are more or less horizo n tal, this ex planation is cavating may have bee n done when the state of not satisfactory. U pheavals great enough to Illinois took over the area and made it a state co lTl[)letely close a huge cave would hardly leave park. the mass ive stra ta in their original position. T he fl oor a t the entrance is split by a wedge­ Others argue that " the pounding of the shaped channel extending alm os t entirely across river" may h ave made the cave. Along sea it and about fi ve fee t lower than the rest of the coasts where there is co nstant bea ting of wind cave. It continues rearward into the cave, nar­ and waters, grottoes are consta ntly being formed rowing and sloping upward until it merges with and broken down aga in by such forces. It is the general fl oor level about thirty fee t back, doubtful if such an age ncy formed Cave in (see accompanying photographs) . Some histor­ R ock, for, although the Ohio does go on terrific ians seem to think that this crack may h ave rampages at times of heavy storms and great bee n dug by Indians or early white men, and fl oods, it is ordinarily too peaceful to have disco unt the poss ib ili ty or erosion. However, the formed the whole of Cave in R ock by such a author can see no other poss ibility than that of process. For one thing the cave is too deep. For

60 N ATIONAL S PELEOLOGICAL SOCIET Y another it is an entirely different type fr om wishing to visit or to ship goods to any point "pounded out" coastal grottoes. T here are many west or so uth of the present middle west was other theories as to how this cave was fo rmed forced to travel the stream. It was a place of but a complete discussion could go on endlessly. dangerous curren ts, treacherous shifting sand Almost all of the early western travelers on bars, isla nds and rapids. No man knew it thor­ the Ohio River wrote descrip tions of the cave oughly. Some of th e more dangerous spots were a nd of their impress ions of it. T hese accounts, listed on the crude charts then avail able, but at sometimes greatly exaggerated, were either writ­ some pl aces it was the custom to engage local ten before the time of the pira tes who made the guides to pilot boats through intricate ch annels cave their headquarters, or during brief periods and rapids. Such a dangerous place was the when it was unoccupied . Certainly during the Hurricane Island rapids, just below Cave in reign of the outlaws few hones t persons saw the R ock. It may be that some boats stopped at cave close up and lived to tell or write of it. Mason's "H ouse of Entertainment" for a brief rest before entering the rapids; others may have No m an knows when it first became a rendez­ sought guidance, still others the dubious "enter­ vous for desperate criminals, but one of the first tainmen t" offered. At any rate there is no doubt such criminals was Samuel Mason, former offi cer that crews and passengers wo uld ordinarily look of the Continental Army, who served with dis­ fo rward to a stop-over at such an interes ting tinction through the R evolu tion. It is interes t­ place as Cave in R ock seemed to be when ing to speculate on how an army offi cer from viewed from the river. T he last important a distinguished family and with a promising stopping pl ace had been the "Falls of the Ohio" future fin ally came to be a rive r pirate. Many (now Louisv ille, Kentucky) some distance thousands of words. have been written tracing above. his history and th e possible reasons for his abrupt ch ange to a life of robbery and murder, Mason operated at the cave fo r some time, but no one seems to have determined what and while there he did something that has caused this change except that it was an easy caused co nsiderable confusion among historians way to get quantities of money . of the place. H e changed his name to W ilso n. T he fact that la ter there was another ' !\Tilson He arrived in the vicinity of Cave in R ock operating th e cave has resulted in many inac­ around 1797. At the cave he pos ted a large sign curacies among the chroniclers of the pirates of on the river bank reading "Liquor Vault and Cave in Rock. House for Entertainment." His carefully worked-out plan was based on Mason (or Wilso n) fin ally left the cave, be­ the theory that river boat personnel seeing the gan opera ting along the Natchez Trace, and was sign would disembark fo r res t and entertain­ eventually slain and decapitated. His head was ment and, while being "entertained" by mem­ encased in cl ay to preserve it while the slayer bers of his band, could be dispatched with ease. took it to proper authorities for identification Also the boats could be looted at will. T he plan and reward. This seems to have been an ac­ worked beautifully. If any prospective victim cepted procedure along the frontier, fo r it susp ected that the sign was a ruse there is no happened in the cases of several Cave in Rock record of it today. Strange tales of va nished criminals. river craft and unusual doings at the cave drift­ "Vhether or not Mason instigated the plan ed back to the more civilized points along the of having outlaws stati on themse lves at va rious Ohio, but it was some time befo re n ver men strategic points along the rive r and offer to bega n to avoid the place. pilot boats through the Hurrica ne Island rapids If it seems strange that ca ptains and crews is unknown, but this was ano ther ruse followed of early river boats, themselves a pretty tough successfully by pira tes a long this stretch of the and wary group, could be enticed to ti e up at ri ver. If one pilot was refu sed by the boa t's such a spot, consider the following. T here were ca pta in, there were always others farther down no adequate roads through the wilderness. The to entice him. Once aboard the boat, the bes t artery to the wes t and sou th was via the " pilots" would ei ther run the craft ashore for Ohio to the Mississippi. Any traveler or shipper the looting and slaying of the crew or, if the

BULLE TIN N UMBER 13, D ECEMBE R 1951 61 ca rgo was insignificant, actually run it through jai led for the brutal murder of a Virginian who the rapids for legitimate money. had asked their company through the wilder­ Another character operating along this ness. The H arpes escaped, leaving their "wives" stretch of the Ohio River was a Colonel Fluger, in jail where, before they came to trial, a child who used an entirely different approach. He was born to each woman. The entire account of would wait until a boat had tied up along the this affair and the cost to the county may be banks and then, stealthily boarding it, would [ound in the old Lincoln County R ecords. bore holes in the bottom. When the boat began Eventually all three women were set free and to sink,- he and his confederates would murder met the H arpes at Cave in Rock. the passe ngers and crew and take whatever A large group of outlaws had bee n living goods they co uld use [or profit. here prior to the time of the H arpes' arriva l. Fantastic as these tales seem they are quite One historian says that, since most of this grollp true and are undeniably substantiated by reli­ had been chased Ollt of the so-called "law abid­ able accou n ts and old coun records. ing" communities (which in themselves were Of all the brutal outlaws who infes ted the pretty rough and hard gatherings), it ca n be river a nd its environs, the most terrible and imagined that the band at Cave in Rock was bloodthirsty were the two H arpe brothers. One mighty tough indeed. But even these unscrupu­ historian refers to them as the "most brutal lous cutthroats fo und the Harpes too much for monsters of the human race." The recorded them! h istory of their deeds is astounding. "\Then one One story relates how the H arpes had considers that most of the travelers who actuall y hardly arrived a t the cave when a fl atboat ca me faced them never lived to give an account of down the river and landed not far above a t a what happened , it m akes their unwritten his­ place known as Cedar Point. The passe ngers, tory one o[ m ys tifying horror. not knowing they were near the ga thering spot T he Harpes ca me from North Carolina. of outlaws, had gone ashore and were strolling Micajah, known as "Big" Harpe was born about along the river banks. Among them was a young 1768, while ' !\T il ey, known as "Little" Harpe man and his bride-to-be. These two strolled to was born about 1770. Their earl y history is not the top of a bluff and sat down looking out too well ·known, but about 1795 they left North across the river. T he Hat-pes, who had been Carolina with two women, both of whom were watching the scene, sneaked up behind the two cl aimed by Big H arpe as wives. lovers a nd · unceremoniously pushed them over They roamed central T ennessee for several the high clifL To them this was a great joke and years, spending some time with Indians who they returned to the cave laughing abou t the were committing outrages against their own trick they had played , but it did not have quite people as well as against the whi te man. Not the same effect on the others of the bane!. Ap­ onl y did the H arpes help the Indians, but also parently they did not like it and told the they added so me embellishments of their own brothers so. to the Indian's brutal practi ces. Shortly afterward the H arpes saw what they T heir progress from this part of T ennessee thought to be an opportunity to make amends. to Kentucky ca n be followed by their trail of A boat had been ca ptured and most of its pas­ murders. Apparently they never made any a t­ sengers slain and their goods stolen. One or two tempt to hide their tra il nor to disguise them­ of the men, however, had not been killed , bu r se lves once they came upon an unwary traveler. were tied up as captives while the outlaws de­ "\Th en they met large parties of travelers, or bated what to do with them. T he H arpes quiet­ wh en they were in communities and settlements, ly took one of the ca ptives, stripped him, tied they simply foll owed what they probably him to the back of a horse a nd led the animal though t to be common sense and refr ained to the top of the cliff one hundred feet above from killings in pl ain view of others. the cave. Belo·w, the rest of the band was O nce, as they foll owed the "Vilderness R oad gathered around a grea t fire, talking. Sudden ly into Kentucky at D anville, the entire party-­ the Hat-pes drove horse and bound rider over both H arpes and 11/"1"('c women now-were the cliff's edge and both [ell , screa ming and

62 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY thrashing, directly upon the fire and outlaws bandits. T hus ended the ca reers of the two gathered around it. The other outlaws found most famous Cave in R ock pirates. this feat a little too much for them and actuall y Although Mason and the H arpes were the drove the Harpes away from their hangout. most notorious of the Cave in Rock criminals, there were many lesser ones who used the spot After this the Harpes committed twenty-two for a hideout or for headquarters. Their length y known murders (i ncluding those of several >lories are of interest because they are a part of women and children) while wandering in ce n­ the history of our country. They were men who, tra l Kentucky. It must have been during this indirectly but none the less surely, helped to period that Big Harpe took one of his own off­ bring law and order to the country. spring and dashed its head against a convenient Cave in R ock today is the chief attraction of rock because its crying bothered him. When he Cave in R ock State Park, and although the was d ying he sa id this was the only one of his grounds have been cleared of their underbrush acts he regretted. and probably appear more pleasing than when Big Harpe was killed and beheaded near first seen by the pioneers, the great cave still R oberson's Lick, Kentucky, by a man whose looks the same as when the first French explorer wife he had earlier slai n in her sleep. Little glimpsed it from the blue waters of "La Belle Harpe, though wounded , escaped to resume his Riviere". It stands above the peaceful river life of outlawry in another part of the country where power boats cut the waves at speeds the but was eventually also killed. His brother's old-t ime river pilots wo uld have thought un­ head was m ounted on a pole and for many beli evable. And it keeps its enigmatic silence yea rs served as a revolting warning to other about its formation and about its bloody history.

This view inside Cltve in R{)cl{ shows the flv e -foot high eha.nnel whil'h extends I'eal'ward into the cave for som e distance.

BULLETIN NUMBER 13 , DECEMBER 1951 63 Who~s l1'ho in Bulletin Thirteen

D ENN IS J. BATI"I-:1\ is connected with the Civil Engine.ering JOH N \ ,V. FUNKHOUSER was born at Beaverdam, Virginia, Department of the Iraq Petroleum Company. He IS reo in 1926. Entering Washington and Lee U niversity in 1943 h e had his first taste of caving in the Cave Springs Cave sponsible for the organization of the Iraq Potholers ~nade (Spring Hill) located a short distance from the university up of a group of employes of his company who are IIlter· ca mpus. His studies were interrupted by naval service ested in cavern ex ploration. Through the courtesy of the but he returned to \Vashington and Lee in 1946 with IPC's General Manager at Tripoli he was granted three new enthusiasm for caving and was influential in estab­ weeks' leave of absence without pay to join the expedi. lishing the Lexington Grotto, of which he was the first tion headed by Henry Field whose article entitled "Caves president. In 1948 he graduated with a B. A., majoring and R ockshelters in Southwestern Asia" appears in this in biology and minoring in geology, and entered Stan· issue of the Bulletin. In addition to his caving equipment ford U niversity for graduate study in ecology a nd syste­ matics, specializing in South American amphibiology. Ballen contributed a good technical knowledge of cave There he joined forces with other N. S. S. members to exploration and the ability to speak Arabic fl~lentl y and stir up interest in caving and helped to found the Stan­ to deal effectively with Arabs, Kurds and Assynans. ford Grotto, of which he was also the first president. He received a predoctoral travel grant to study the ecolog" of Ecuadorian amphibians in the field and spent half of DONALI) M. BLA CK was born in 1921 at Vincennes, Indi· 1950 on this assignment. R eturning to Stanford he com­ ana. He received his elementary education a t 'West T erre pleted his Ph. D. in 1951 and is now instructing in the Haute, Indiana and studied forestry at Purdue University School of Biology at that institution. He is also con­ tinuing his resea rch on tropical American amphibians. and Utah State Agricultural College from 1940 to 1942 . His main interests in speleology are the tracing of the After serving as seasonal Ranger National Park Service geologic history of individual caves, cave photography, at Yellowstone National Park in the latter year, he en· and cave vertebrates. tered the U. S. Army as a private in 1943 and was released from active duty in 1946 with the grade of captain. In MARK RA YM0 1\1) HARRI NGTON was born at Ann Arbor. Michigan, July 6, 1882, the son of Professor Mark "V. December 194 6 he received his MS degree in Geology Harrington, at that time professor of astronomy and from the Utah State Agricultural College and enrolled in director of the observatory at the U ni versi ty of Michigan. the University of Arizona in 1947 as a graduate student, "M. R." attended school at An n Arbor, at Washington, minoring in education and biological sciences. A seasonal D. C., Seattle, 'Washington, and Mt. Vernon, New York, Naturalist at Yellowstone National Park in the summer with college work at Ann Arbor and at Columbia U ni­ of 19'18, Black accepted a permanent appointment in the versity, where he graduated and took his A.M. degree. National Park Service in February, 1950. First acting as Always interested in the America n Indian, a ncient and guide at Carlsbad Caverns National Park he was trans· modern, Harri ngton specialized in anthropology. H e has \I'O!'ked at different times for the American Muse ulll of ferred as a R anger to Grand Canyon National Park in Natural History, the Peabody Museum of H arvard, the 195 1. University of Pennsy lvania Museum, and for the Museum of the America n Indian, H eye Foundation. Except for a brief period when he was borrowed by the National \ VILLl AM E. DAVIES was horn in Cleveland, Ohio in 1917. Park Service, he has been Curator of the Southwest H e is a professional geologist now with the U. S. Geolog· Museum of Los Angeles for the past 23 years. Ethnologi . ica l Survey in Washington after having been with the ca l work has taken him to more than 35 Indian trib ~ s , Army Map Service for three years. Before that he was in anr! archeological expeditions to New York, Florida, Ten· the Army. Davies became interested in caves in 1940 while nessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Ne\l' working with the Pennsy lvania Geological Survey (influ­ Mexico, Nevada, California and Cuba. H e is the author ence of Dr. Stone obvious) . Since then he has covered of a number of books, most of them of a more or less the caves of Maryland and authored a report entitled: technical nature and of many shorter articles and some The Caves of Maryland for the Maryland Geological Sur· fi ction. "M. R." is married, lives a t San Fernando, Cali­ \'ay. He has also been with the West Virginia Geological fornia, and is still Curat.or of the Southwest Museum Survey a nd inves ti gated the caves of that State for a re­ at Los Angeles. He has one son and two grandchildren. port since iss ued, entitled: Caverns of \'Vest Virginia. H e has done work on the terraces of the Potomac river in­ GEORGE F. JACKSON, of Evansville, Indiana, specializes in cluding data on the relation of caves to them. His true cave photography. His hobby is Indiana caves, his favor­ interest is the application of electrica l surveys to the ite one being the huge Wyandotte Cavern. Over 125 of mapping o[ cavern systems from the surface. T hi.s work his articles on caves and cave photography have been pub­ gO I under wa y in 19·17 but with the other comnlltments lished . For the past three years he h as been a member of co ming along it has been sidetracked. His article on the the Board of Governors of the NSS. At present he is mechanics of cavern breakdown is the result of studies working on a detail ed map of Indiana cave loca tions and ca rried on during the past 3 years primarily in the caves completely re-writing his book-length "Cave R egion of of Virginia and West Virginia. Indiana" which will contain all known facts about Hoos­ ier caverns. His collection of cave pictures includes dozens of color 51idcs and hundreds of black and white negatives. HENRY FIELI), rcno\\'ned archaeologist, was born in Chi­ He does free lance writing as a "sideline" in addition to cago, llIinois in 1902. He received degrees of BA, MA and his voluminous writing on the subject of caves. During DSC at Oxford, England, and began the study of caves the course of his speleological exploration all over the country he has used all kinds and sizes of ca meras and for archaeology, anthropology and primitive art in 1926 with Abbe \3reuil in Spain and France. Since then he even thc smallest of them has often been too large for has heen on 5 expeditions to the Near East and was comfo rt in some of the small holes he has explored. He is now tryi ng to desigll one to fit his particular needs. leader of the Peabody Museum-Harvard Expedition to Jackson was responsible for the formation of the Indiana that part of the world in 1950. He resides in Washington, Grotto which, according to him is apparently the most D. C. lIllllsual of all of the NSS Grottoes. Only two members

64 NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY of it live all year in Indiana. Of the others, two live in VPI Grotto Committee on Formations and Mineralogy the state of Washington, one in Colorado, and one in and represents that committee on the corresponding Ohio. This, jackson says, causes considerable confusion National Committee. He is also a fa culty advisor to the at headquarters of the NSS and gives rise to the rumor VPI Grotto and as such tries to keep the members con· that he is The Indiana Grotto. He is one of our most scious of safety and conservation and to interest them in active members and carries on a voluminous correspond­ the scientific aspects of cave exploration. H e is a native ence pertaining to Indiana caverns and to Grotto affairs. of Flushing, N. Y. and got his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins in 1933, but he has long since migrated to a land where RICHARD F. LOGAN was born at Great Barrington, Massa­ the mountains are higher and the caves more numerous. chusetts in 1914. After attending school in Massachusetts and Connecticut, he received his BA and MA from Clark University in 1936 and 1937 respectively. Degrees of MA G. ALExA NDER ROBERTSO N has been associated with the Department of Public Utilities, City of Richmond, since and PhD were received from Harvard in 1948 and 1949 1925, during which time he has been responsible for the respectively. He was first chairman of the reorganized (after installation and maintenance of generators, water wheels, the war) New England Grotto of the NSS. Along with pumping and other heavy equipment used in water William B. Halliday he assisted in organizing the South­ purification, gas and water pumping, and electric gener· ern California Grotto in 1948 and has served as its chair­ ating stations. Mr. Robertson has been engaged in work man. Before associating himself with the University of of an engineering nature since completing his schooling. California at Los Angeles, where he is now an Assistant He has been interested in photography since his early Professor, he taught at Clark, Yale, Harvard, and Can· boyhood and for the past five years has been Chairman of the Photographic Committee of the National Speleo­ necticut College for Women. logical Society. It was through his interest in photography that he was introduced to spelunking and because of h is JEROME M. LUDLOW, NSS Vice President for Publications engineering experience and extensive use of rigging, it and Editor of the Bulletin, was connected with the Brook· was only natural that he became alarmed at numerous ings Institution at Washington, D. C. when that economic caving practices which he considers dangerous. A mem­ and governmental research organization was founded. H e ber of the Archeological Institute of America, the Archeological Society of Virginia, and the Central Vir­ spent two years with a Chicago firm of consultants in ginia Engineers' Club he has been a member of the municipal administration and seven years as chief clerk Board of Governors of the National Speleological Society and research assistant with the New jersey Taxpayers since 1946. Association before joining the U. S. Geological Survey in january, 1940. An invitation from Charles E. Mohr to participate in an NSS field trip in April, 1947 resulted in IVA N T . SA NDERSON was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1932 he received degrees in Zoology, Geology, and Botany his gradual change from a somewhat normal individual from Cambridge University, England. His interest in to a speleoeditor. speleology developed as a sideline from his work during nine zoological expeditions to the Orient, Africa, and CLYDE A. MALOTI, who died on August 26, 1950 was a South America on behalf of American and British native Hoosier and long was connec ted with Indiana Uni· scientific societies and museums. His major work has versity. He had made special studies of the karst features been tropical ecology and the relationships between the and underground drainage phenomena of the limestone distribution of animals and plants on a worldwide basis. belt of southern Indiana. He was familiar with its many He published a number of papers on this subject before caverns and had given special attention to their connec· the war. After a period with British Naval Intelligence tions with water sources which were responsible for their and in wartime propaganda he became a resident of the development. Among them is the noted Lost River region United States. His efforts to popularize the natural of Orange County which offers unusual opportunities for sciences through books, magazine articles, lectures, radio the study of cavern phenomena and the relations of cav­ and television have resulted in his forming the only erns to the subterranean waters which develop them. Out company in America incorporated solely for this purpose. of these studies has come his invasion theory of cavern He joined the National Speleological Society in 1948, and development, in which accent is placed upon cavern is now president of the Metropolitan Grotto of New development by rain born surface waters which ream out York, and national Vice·President in charge of Public and align initial and rudimentary sub-surface joint open· Relations. He plans to initiate a palaeontological explor· ings into long and integrated cavern systems at or near ation of eastern caves, using color-film as a recording the watertable. The present paper, previously unpub­ medium in such a manner that it may be applied to lished, was graciously given by his family to the National color-television. In the latter field he recently started the Speleological Society for publication. first regular broadcast for the Columbia Television Net­ work. His hobby is firsthand investigation of reports of JOHN W . MURRAY is associate professor of Chemistry at monsters and other weird animals. He has actually found Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He is chairman of the several of the latter, some of which are named after him.

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