DUES ANDSUBSCRIP­ TI ONS FOR 1979 ARE DUE NOW!I! THIS IS YOUR ONLY NO­ TICE! beguine passage "goethite gLory ~\\~~~~~\~~ 1 48 J ~ the e::cpressway ~\~\~~\~~, OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE CAVE DIVING SECTION OF THE NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY ~1978 by the Cave Diving Section vol.5, no.6 ( I rolaids road TELFORD SPRINGS CAVE SYSTEM SUWANNEE CO. ~ FLORIDA © 1978 by Sheck Exl ey Survey by Cave Diving Section of the National Speleological Society p. W. Smi th S. Exley B. Warner ftoor depths P. Meng in feet beLOIJJ ~[!ill oave oompLeteLy ~::::Ul'faoe totaL surveyed length~ 12/31/78- 4760 ft. a 200 400 ft. I " i'e a 60 120 m UNDERWATER WORKSHOP COMMrl"1'E'E -John Zumri ck, 2114 NW 55th Blvd., # 12-A, Gainesville SPELEOLOGY F1 32601 ' published bi-monthly SAFETY COMM.ll"1'EE' - Tom Cook beginning in February ( by PROSPECTIVE STUDENT, LIST - Karan Exl ey The Cave Diving Section of AWARDS COMMITTEE - Indi·a Young, Rt. 3, The National Speleological Society Box 119K, Byron, GA 31008 **************************************** Membership in the NSS Cave Diving Sec­ tion is open to any NSS member in good COVER standing that is interested in cave div­ ing and has paid the dues ($3.00 for The cover map is of Florida's 8th longest 1978). Immediate family of members not cave, the Telford Springs Cave System. wishing to receive a newsletter may also Te'lford ;s now threatening to go over a join for 51.50. Persons not wishing to mile in total passage surveyed, but 7 of Florida's caves, 6 of which are complete­ join may subscribe for $5.00 per year~ Checks should be made payable to "NSS ly underwater, are already there! See p.55. Cave Diving Section ll and sent to the treasurer, Stephen Maegerle;n. ELECTION RESULTS The late publication date of this issue Deadline is the second Friday of the has enabled us to include results of the oreceeding month. Send articles and cor­ recent election held by mail. Both amend­ respondence to the edi tor, Sheck Ex1 ey. ments were overwhelmingly passed (see re­ vised constitution, p. 60), so 1979's of­ Opinions expressedhere1n are not nec~ fi cers wi 11 be John Zumri ck , Chairman; essari 1y those of the NSSCave Diving Tom Cook, Vice Chairman; Stephen Maeger- Section. lein, Treasurer; Bill Fehring, Secretary; ("'" and Forrest Wilson, Training Chairman., CHAI.~V - Tom Cook, 378 Webster St., The Section would like to express its Manchester, NH 03104 sincere appreciation to the other nominees who expressed an interest in the Secti on VICE CEAI.RMAN - Gene Melton, Rt. 1, Box by consenting to run for office: Terry 175-M, Vera Beach, Fl 3296Q More and Jim Pisarowicz, both of whom nar­ rowly missed being elected. The actual fi- SEC~~ARY-TREASVRER - Stephen Maeger­ nal count is available from the editor. lein. P.O. Box 60, Williams, IN 47470 r4EMBERSHIP DUES ARE DUE EDITOR - Sheck Exley, 1591 Lane Ave. 5., --- Apt. l18C, Jacksonville, FL 32210 That's right, it's that time again. Fight inflation (rates same for 4th straight'" PUBLISHER - Stephen Maegerl.ein year) by sending Stephen Haegerlein your dues ($3.00) or subscription ($5.00) for SLIDE PROGM\{ COMMITl'!'E - Paul W. Sm1 th, 1979. See p. 59 for remewal blank. Thanks. 2842 NE l4thDr~, Gainesville, FL This is your on7..y notice~ and is the 7..ast 32601 ' 1978 issue! TRAINING COMMI"11'EE - Forrest M. Wi lson, ABE ;;.;DA..:.;:V..=,lS::::;.. CAVE DIVING SAFETY AWARD 2832 Concord Dr., Decatur, GA 30031 The NSS Cave Diving Section has created a new award for Americans who have com­ INTEENHIONAL COMMlTTJ1.'E' - Joseph Li e­ pleted 100 cave dives (or foreign divers ' .. berz, c/o Electroni c Product Tes t­ if· Secti on members). For app 1; ca ti ons, ... t;ng, 1905 Victory Blvd., Unit 13, contact India Young, chaif111an of the A­ Glendale, CA 91201 wards Committee (see address above) • 52 .. UNDERWATER SPELEOLOGY, December 1978 ,~ EXPLORATORY DIVES INTO ABACO'S ( by J. Billy Young (NSS 17268) On March 22, 1974, the limestone sinkhole known as Norman's Castle was pen­ etrated by Billy Young (NSS 17268) and Paul DeLoach (NSS 16517), two cave div­ ers from Athens, Georgia. The first of two dives occurred at approximately 11:30 PM on March 22. Because of the native superstitions surrounding the so­ called bottomless pit, the duo decided to install a permanent guideline in the sink as proof of penetration as well as a guide for future dives into the grotto. The line was tied to a large boulder just below the surface as the di­ vers entered the water. Visibility could have easily been over 100 ft. with a temperature of between 70-75·F., showing characteristics of a typical lime- s tone sink. However, the \'la 11 s of the vertical shaft, being almost perfectly round, con­ sisted of calcite limestone and large tubular stalactites, giving evidence of a once-dry pi t. ( At a depth of 50 ft .• the team encountered a heavy hy­ drogen sulphide solution as evi denced by di s ti nct vi s i bi 1- ity impairment and an odor and taste that can be slightly sensed underwater. This phe­ nomena \"as not unusual as the divers had encountered similar conditions in south Florida ......;-- - p,== sinks. However, a very unusual .II . '-t:>:-= ... characteristic about this lay­ \l-- er was that a reddish discol­ oration existed. This phenom­ ena was probably due to iron --~-=- oxide and other chemical con­ stituents in solution. )( At the 65 ft. level, the water cleared considerably and the bottom of the sink became visible. Very large stalactites adorned the walls and a very 1 arge "pocket" was noticed on the southeast • , ... , .... s side. The divers wrapped the line on a large stalactite. 53 UNDERWATER SPELEOLOGY, December 1978 continued to the east wall, surt-ace ft. then angled to the bottom and 0 tied the line on a log at a \- depth of 125 ft. At this point the bottom sloped con­ I-'- tinually and the southeast wall could be seen. Hydrogen 50 sulphide was still present at H2s this point and no life of any 65 " form was observed. A heavy layer of sediment covered the bottom as well as the sides. Young and Deloach ascended for decompression before sur­ facing. The second dive in Nor­ man1s Castle occurred on March 24, 1974 at approxi­ mately 5:30 PM for the pur- I~ pose of exploring the deep side of the sink in search of passages that supposedly connected the sink with the sea, After securing decom­ pression bottles, the divers descended on the line to the 15 80 ft. level and installed (~ an offshoot line into the pocket toward the sloping -' fig.~ Profile~ Norman's Castl.e bottom. The cavern was very large with stalactites still present. The rounded wall stretched as far as visibility would permit and the divers began a sweep to search for offshoots. The depth attai ned Itlas about 200 ft. as Deloach ran the reel and Young swam on and off the line searching for tunnels. The divers then moved in an eas­ terlydirection un'til the east side of the cavern became visible. At this point the divers were assured that no large passages existed, just a large water-filled grotto that pocketed out. The-team secured the line to a large rock at a depth of 210 ft. with a maximum attainable depth of 215 ft. Young and Deloach then began their diagonal ascent and some lengthy decompression before surfacing . ............ ....... ~ ...................... :1: .. _ ............................... _ .. __ ...... :I: .... :I::O: ............_~ MINUTES OF SECTION MEETING 6/3/78, BRANFORD FLORI DA A meeting of the NSS Cave Diving Section was held Saturday evening during the 8th NSS Cave Diving Workshop. Presiding was Gene Melton, Vice Chainnan of the Section. Among the 26 persons in attendance were the following members: Bill Porterfield, Mike Sanders, Bill Fehring, Paul Meng, larry Holland, David Taggart, r~onte Evans, Mary Melton, Paul Smith, Forrest Wilson, Karan Exley; Sheck Exley and Gene Melton. After lengthy discussion on training and how to ffflilll' best reach all potential cave and cavern divers, it was voted to have a certi- ~t fication program. Publications, cooperation with open water diving organiza- tions and the next Florida workshop were also discussed. ' 54 UNDERWATER SPElEOlOGY, December 1978 FLORIDA'S LONGEST CAVES, 12/31/78 ( compiled by Sheck Exley, NSS 13146 total passage surveyed * meters feet miles 1. Peacock Springs Cave System. Suwannee Co.1 p 5985 19630 3.72 2. Warren's Cave, Alachua Co.2 v 5549 18200 3.45 3. Green Sink Cave System, Lafayette co.3 P 3585 11758 2.23 4. Blue Springs Cave, Jackson Co.4 . P 3243 10638 2.01 5. Hole in the Wall Cave, Jackson Co.5 P 2870 9415 1.78 6. Devils Eye Cave System, Gilchrlst Co.6 p 2205 7232 1.37 7. Hornsby Springs Cave System, Alachua Co. 7 P 1610 5282 1.00 8. Telford Springs Cave System, Suwannee Co.8 p 1451 4760 0.90 9. Emerald Sink Cave System Wakulla Co. 9 p 1238 4062 0.77 10. Ellis Cave, Jackson Co.1 o v 1189 3900 0.74 * vadose (air-filled) or Rhreatic (water-filled) according to present water LeveLs ... no inference as to origin is intended 1 Survey by C. Smith, K. Hillier, J. Zumrick, L. Holtzendorff, R. Johnson, I. Young, T. Young, P. W. Smith &S. Exley 2 Smith, Paul W.(FSS & FUKS)- personal communication, 1/27/77 3 Survey by E.