Speleology - Science topic

Eastern Almería in Spain offers a wealth of fascinating sites for geologists, including tectonic plate boundaries, faults, volcanic formations, and the remarkable gypsum karst of Sorbas. The Sorbas karst is one of the world’s most renowned, particularly from a speleological perspective. It is primarily developed in the Yesares Formation, an alterna...

This report provides a brief overview of our findings on volcanic caves during our geo-reconnaisance tour in 2024 in Armenia. As volcanic speleologists, we did not understand why the volcanoes in these regions had not produced any known subterranean lava cavities. This curiosity became the primary reason for our visit to Armenia: to explore the vol...

Exploring and using remote segments of complex karst systems represents the incorporation of one of the wildest and most demanding natural environments into the cultural fabric of Neolithic-Chalcolithic village-based communities in the Levant. The unique preservation of an early fifth-millennium bce activity phase in Har Sifsof Cave in northern Isr...

Caves record spatial changes in landscapes and environments over millennia. Although traditional cave surveys are conducted to explore cave morphology, these techniques provide inadequate and low-resolution details on the cave features and geometry. This study conducted a 3D LiDAR scanning with the speleological investigation on the unexplored Saen...

Since 2019 the CaveLife web app of the German Speleological Federation (VdHK) is used by cavers as a modern tool for standardized assessments of the status of a cave and recording of the cave and groundwater fauna. In 2024 the app has been extended to include springs and statistics. All necessary data on the surveyed objects and the species groups...

Caves have been and are being destroyed in every country where they exist, the vast majority through quarrying. Such cases are rarely documented. This means that in the perception of the public, politicians and authorities, every new case is viewed as an individual case. The initiative "List of Lost Caves" of the German Speleological Federation (Vd...

Začetki stikov in strokovnega sodelovanja med slovenskimi, češkimi in slovaškimi znanstveniki, kjer pomembno mesto zavzemajo predstavniki geoznanosti, segajo v čase nekdanjega Avstrijskega cesarstva oziroma Avstro-Ogr-ske. Sodobna doba medsebojnega sodelovanja, pogosto tudi osebnega, neformal-nega, sega v drugo polovico 20. stoletja. Na slovenski s...

This paper introduces the Cyrenaica Karst Project: a collaboration project between the University of Benghazi, Libya and the Hyblean Center of Speleo-hydrogeological of Ragusa, Italy. Among the objectives of the project there are: study the karst geomorphology and caves of Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar, construction of a speleological model consistent with th...

Tășad protected area includes geological, archaeological and speleological reserves with scientific, educational and tourism values. In the context of recently touristic development of Stracoș cave, our study aims to update the existing data. Following objectives were established: (1) geological re-mapping on surface and underground, (2) assessment...

János Tulogdy (1891–1979) was a geography university teacher of Hungarian descent, specialized in the fields of geographic and speleological studies. His works have enriched the geographic knowledge of Transylvania, yet he suffered from an injury on his leg because of a wound caused in World War I. Despite this, Tulogdy tirelessly traveled across T...

Following extensive bushfires in early 2020, during which just over 50% of Kangaroo Island (approximately 211,000 ha) was burnt, a project was established under the South Australian Speleological Council to relocate, document and map caves on Kangaroo Island. To date 100 caves have been relocated and 55 new caves found. This paper is based on the p...

Underground environments represent a hostile environment. The observation of underground cave systems is fundamental to protecting and understanding the dynamics of these delicate environments. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have been demonstrated to be a useful solution for data gathering and communication in harsh environments. This research pap...

Angel Ginés i Gracia, biologist by profession dedicated to teaching, and speleologist by vocation, passed away last January 2024 at the age of 74. He had an intense life dedicated to the study and dissemination of any branch related to karst sciences, which he entered at a very young age. His dedication was not limited to the strictly speleological...

A list of the bibliographical production on karst and speleology performed by Àngel Ginés is presented, including publications from 1971 until his death in 2024. This compilation includes a total of 212 references, ordered by year, that are grouped into five large categories: books and other works produced as the main author or editor (8), book cha...

Professor France Šušteršič dedicated his professional career to the study of karst, & caves. He is renowned for his original research achievements and insightful reflections on the challenges and role of karstology in science.

The presented study focuses on the Dobšiná Ice Cave, which is worldwide unique from the speleological viewpoint, belonging to the most famous caves in Europe. During the 20th century, the research of the cave was carried out within various scientific branches. In the last years, one important part of the survey is the geodetic monitoring of the ice...

The gypsum karst landscape of the southern Harz is a unique natural area that extends over around 100 km and includes parts of the German federal states of Lower Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. Resolutition for the protectition of the karst landscape in the southern Harz. Within this region there are 16 areas protected by European Union Natura...

The paper presents an experiment having the objective of verifying the use of low-cost sensors such as solid-state Lidar embedded in a smartphone for cave surveying. The case study is a micaelic hermitage in Montesano sulla Marcellana (Italy) and is part of a research that deals with the analysis and digitization of rupestrian architecture, especia...

Three new troglobitic amphibious species of Xangoniscus (Styloniscidae) have been described from limestone caves of the Bambui Group semiarid ecosystems (Chacoan subregion) in the state of Bahia: Xangoniscus antiquussp. nov., X. chaimowiczisp. nov., and X. jonasisp. nov. Natural history information is provided for X. chaimowiczisp. nov. and X. jona...

Many species of Neotropical snakes, especially boids, are known to prey on bats, although documentation is relatively uncommon. Epicrates cenchria have been observed foraging for bats in elevated vegetation or inside caves. Here, we report a predation event by E. cenchria on an emballonurid bat, Peropteryx kappleri, at 0915 h on 3 January 2019, dur...

Rescue is an activity consisting in providing assistance in situations of threat to life, health, property and the environment. In this respect, mountain rescue should be understood as acting for the benefit of people requiring such assistance in mountain areas. In this respect, the state does not have its own services, but uses the assistance of e...

A new species of Oniscidea, Trachelipus razzauti, and a new species of Diplopoda, Typhloiulus serborum, are recorded first time for the Romanian fauna. Both species have been "discovered" in the collection of the "Emil Racoviţă" Institute of Speleology.

The work presented is a review of modern research conducted in Divya Cave—the longest cave in Perm Region, the first mention of which dates back to the 70’s of the eighteenth century. The cave provides the richest material for geologists, karstologists and speleologists, since it is a relic of an ancient aquifer, in which almost all types of second...

The faunistic skeletal record was also examined during the explorations of underground spaces in Slovak territory of the Western Carpathians between 2017 and 2022. The discoveries come from 62 cave sites within 16 geomorphological units. A total of 9,218 osteological remains were analysed in detail. The material under examination belongs to at leas...

This study examines the evolution of areas surrounding the bat caves in the Ferruginous Geosystem of Carajás from 1985 to 2022, emphasising the significance of geodiversity conservation in this unique context. The land use and cover transformations analysis reveals critical insights into spatio-temporal changes and escalating environmental degradat...

The main operational infrastructure of oil & gas E&p developed since the 1970´s is developed on the shallow coastal karst aquifers underlying the Heavy Crude Oil Belt of Northern Habana-Matanzas. Depending on its mineralization, these ground waters supplies domestic and municipal supplies, irrigation, husbandry and familiar agriculture and along th...

Microplastic (MP) and microfiber (MF) pollution in karst areas is still poorly studied, especially in subterranean environments. MPs are a global issue, contaminating also remote areas, being them extremely mobile. In karst systems, MPs pollute waters, are assimilated and/or ingested by oganisms, and are an ecosystems threat. Adverse effects on eco...

Microplastic (MP) and microfiber (MF) pollution in karst areas is still poorly studied, especially in subterranean environments. MPs are a global issue, contaminating also remote areas, being them extremely mobile. In karst systems, MPs pollute waters, are assimilated and/or ingested by oganisms, and are an ecosystems threat. Adverse effects on eco...

The present study contributes to the morphogenesis of the Miresii Cave, located in Cheia Mare of Dâmbovița in the area of the Bran—Dragoslavele Corridor, an important tourist axis in Romania. The main aim of the research is the proposal to the Scientific Council of Piatra Craiului National Park to bring to the attention of the national decision-mak...

With an increasing awareness of biodiversity values there is now scope for us to include cave life in management programmes on private landholdings, and have funding to do so. Advances in data collection and analysis can also support conservation reporting and evidence based outcomes related to cave/cave entrance flora and fauna, even with limited...

The article describes the tunnel project drilled for the drainage of the marshy land Pantano di Roiate. It provides a compre- hensive literature review, including naturalistic studies on Pantano di Roiate, a detailed description of the drainage tunnel, a topographical survey, geological and bio-speleological insights, and a mineralogical analysis o...

Four species of echinoidea: Echinolampas (Echinolampas) hoffmanni Desor in Agassiz et Desor, 1847, Echinolampas (Echinolampas) algirus Pomel, 1887, Echinolampas (Echinolampas) hemisphaerica (Lamarck, 1816) and Clypeaster aichinoi Checchia -Rispoli, 1925, are described and figured. Of all these species, the finding of E. (E.) hoffmanni and E. (E.) a...

Erato Angelopoulou (or Aggelopoulou) was an extraordinary woman, remembered by many for her skill with the traditional Greek horizontal loom and her knowledge of the related techniques of creating loom-made textiles. Less well-known is that Erato, who spent most of her adult life living in France, was one of the pioneers of Greek speleology. In the...

Cave and karst monitoring is essential for understanding climate change, protecting water resources, and preserving fragile underground species and habitats. This activity largely depends on visits from highly specialized scientists. In Bulgaria, where there are over 6,000 caves, only about 2% are regularly monitored, with primary focus placed on b...

Somma-Vesuvius is well known for its powerful Plinian explosive eruptions, however during the last eruptive cycle (1631–1944), persistent activity took place on the stratovolcano as mild and violent Strombolian, and effusive eruptions, forming more than one hundred lava flow fields. An important mechanism of lava transport within lava flow fields i...

RESUMO Mapas espeleológicos vêm sendo produzidos por processos manuais desde meados do século XIX, no Brasil, a partir de levantamentos topográficos e croquis. Nas últimas décadas, inovações tecnoló-gicas como os medidores eletrônicos de distância e a comunicação com aplicativos de topografia de cavernas têm permitido a elaboração de mapas totalmen...

Relationships between geoheritage and cultural heritage are increasingly becoming a topic of study, especially in urban contexts. Their integrated reading adds value for educational and urban geotourism purpose, being the latter an emerging sector of sustainable tourism. The case study of the monumental complex of San Francesco le Moniche, built in...

Microplastics (MPs) are a global problem, contaminating remote areas too. However, different environments are poorly studied, such as subterranean ones and karst areas, despite the global drinking water sources and the environmental heritages. MPs can endanger the fragile subterranean ecosystems, be consumed or assimilated by animals, damage speleo...

Over the past decade, various methodologies have been developed to systematize, discuss, and propose measures for protecting and sustainably managing geological heritage. The Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park is a crucial component of the most significant network of protected areas in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. It has international recognition...

Introduction Mountain-therapy is a therapeutic-rehabilitative approach aimed at secondary prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of individuals with different pathologies or disabilities. Interventions in this field are based on potentially transformative dimensions of the mountain environment. Activities can include trekking, climbing, hiking,...

The precise geodetic documentation and 3D scanning of extensive and complex underground complexes have traditionally been associated with high investment and logistical costs. Over the past five years, applied research conducted by the organizations Naše historie, Geo-cz, the Administration of Caves of the Czech Republic, the Environmental Departme...

CALL FOR PAPERS This Special Issue is dedicated to the multifaceted field of Speleology. We invite researchers and scholars to contribute original research articles, reviews, and case studies that explore the diverse roles of speleology in geology, biology, paleontology, archaeology, and beyond. Caves are natural laboratories that offer unique ins...

The protected landscape (PL) of Biambare is one of the most famous green sites for local visitors and tourists of Sarajevo. This area is distinguished by beautiful Bosnian Alps (Dinarids) meadows and plenty of spectacular natural phenomena, especially caves; the Central Biambare Cave is currently the most popular. The terrain is situated at an elev...

The Ribeira of Iguape Valley, located in the southern region of the state of São Paulo, is known in the speleological and paleontological fields for its several caves and abysses with paleontological material. A part of this karstic complex is the Abismo Iguatemi cave, which provided a lot of osteological material from extant and extinct Quaternary...

The work sought to understand preliminary aspects in a general observation of a cave with sandstone lithology in the municipality of Guareí, São Paulo, in order to enrich the science and protection of speleological heritage, often neglected, enabling future research in this location. During three pre-established field trips with 5 participants, we...

Background: The municipality of Carolina, located in the southern region of Maranhão, features a terrain composed of hills and plateaus formed from sandstone lithology originating from the Balsas Group formations. This region houses geological features such as caves and speleothems, which pertain to endokarst, primarily formed through erosive proce...

Karst springs have always been very important water resources for many Mediterranean civilizations throughout history. There is a vast amount of hydraulic structures such as irrigation canals, qanats, cisterns, cave pools, and aqueducts in the karstic regions of the Anatolian peninsula. From the historical to the modern era, the scale of these engi...

An important geological risk to which many towns in Puglia are exposed is sinking cavities in urban areas. For urban centers, studying, mapping, providing geological and speleological descriptions, classifying, and cataloging the forms and types of cavities is essential because cavities are linked to past local anthropic and natural processes at di...

Karstic landscapes, shaped by water dissolving rocks, are unique ecosystems with complex water systems. Karst aquifers, vital for over 25% of the world’s drinking water, offer a sustainable resource but are vulnerable, such as pollution and over-extraction. Therefore, it’s important to understand the potential and capacity of karst springs in areas...

Polish Speleological School: “Later, experts from the West started to be invited to the schools.” Czechoslovak-Polish Entanglements after 1968 (article based on documents and interview with the geologist Prof. Pavel Bosák) Kristýna Kaucká – Tomáš W. Pavlíček This material study dedicated to scientific contacts of researchers in the natural science...

Karst and pseudokarst perform vital ecosystem functions, supplying natural resources and ensuring important economic activities, as well as providing important materials to understand paleoenvironments. However, these regions are intrinsically fragile, associated with mass movements or the maintenance of aquifer quality, and there are restricted fo...

Many caves have yet to be discovered and/or mapped in Brazil. Various socio-economic and accessibility factors may be responsible for biasing the knowledge of Brazilian caves geographical distribution. In this study, using Bayesian modeling techniques, it was predicted that knowledge about the Brazilian caves geographic distribution is strongly bia...

Caves develop in areas that are frequently used by humans, whether for farming, urbanization or mineral extraction. These activities have an impact on subterranean ecosystems. For this reason, efforts have been made in various regions of the world to preserve the speleological heritage. To this end, identifying priorities for the commitment of effo...

Speleological exploration took place on Kythera island (Greece) as part of the Cerigo Speleological Project, which was organized with the aim of recording and studying the many cave-forms on the Island. The approach included elements from the many different fields of cave science.Four expeditions between 2009–2012 recorded 64 cave-forms. During the...

__________________________________________________________________________________________ Resumo As rochas carbonáticas são os litotipos com maior volume de explotação e rentabilidade financeira na Região Metropolitana de Curitiba (RMC), representando a mais importante fonte mineral para a indústria cimentícia, agregados para a construção civil, c...

Carbonate rocks are the lithotypes with the highest volume of exploitation and financial profitability in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba (RMC), representing the most important mineral source for the cement industry, aggregates in construction, soil acidity correction, as well as housing the Karst Aquifer of the RMC, ornamental rock mines, and...

The key to protecting sensitive resources is to see its value and to understand our interdependence with it. The goal of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) education and outreach program is to provide interdisciplinary resources that illuminate these seldom seen, interconnected landforms while providing easily accessible informa...

Spring catchments in Austria are frequently located in alpine regions that are strongly exposed to the effects of global warming. To predict their impact on spring flow, the delineation of hydrological catchments establishes the link between atmospheric input, catchment characteristics, and aquifer properties. This study proposes a delineation meth...

Karst aquifers, vulnerable to salinization and overexploitation, experience unfavorable trends due to climate change, with significant socioeconomic and environmental consequences. A thorough understanding of the structure of a karst aquifer and its functioning is crucial for its effective protection. The most effective strategy to reduce the unpre...

RESUMEN: La educación espeleológica impartida en grupos recreativos en México, se caracteriza por ser heterogénea y fragmentada ya que no existen programas, contenidos y metodologías comunes. Con el fin de generar discusión, intercambio de ideas y consensos sobre el tema, se presenta una estructura para la impartición de educación en espeleología e...

A Caverna do Diabo é a primeira caverna oficialmente aberta para o turismo no Estado de São Paulo e uma das mais visitadas atualmente. A gestão de seu uso turístico é definida por um Plano de Manejo Espeleológico, o qual traz tanto os limites diários de visitação quanto diretrizes de monitoramento da visitação e do ambiente. De forma a atender as n...

This article studies the reasons that lead people to practise caving as a physical-sporting activity. To this end, the relationships between different motivations and variables of interest such as gender, academic studies, federation membership, caving level, and participation in “alpine” explorations were analysed. A cross-sectional study was carr...

Впервые на северо-восточном Байкале исследованы 6 пещер (гротов) выветривания в роговообманковых биотитовых гранитах баргузинского магматического комплекса на мысе Самдаки близ курорта Хакусы. Проведена их топосъёмка и предварительно изучены отложения пещер. Суммарная длина пещер составила 152 м, площадь 234 кв.м, объём 508 куб. м. В конце пещеры С...

Some caves of the central and southern coast of Chile: A contribution to the speleological inventory Given the scarcity of limestone bodies, Chile is the Andean country with the fewest karst caves, but it has a diversity of volcanic cavities (lava tubes) and other cavities formed along its long coastline due to wave action acting on very jointed r...

Speleological unblocking can lead to areas formerly frequented by prehistoric people. Indeed, unblocking could have been undertaken a few thousand years before the modern period. Three examples are presented to illustrate these facts.

Geodiversity refers to the number and variety of geological elements present in a region: rocks and sediments of the substrate, their geometry, structure and composition, minerals, fossils, relief forms and the processes that give rise to each of them; aquifers and water resources, etc. And among this diversity we include the caves. In 2020, the ev...

Caves are among the most common karst features within the Dinaric karst of Croatia, although only a few have been so far valorized for touristic purposes. Due to the complexity of their morphology, 3D mapping and inventorying of caves often poses a significant challenge (Silvestre et al., 2015; De Waele et al., 2018). However, detailed 3D mapping i...

In the “Newsletter of the Pseudokarst Commission of the UIS“ we presented a brief introduction to caves of two of the British Islands in the South Atlantic, namely Ascension Island and St. Helena (Pavuza, Cech 2014, 2019). Some additions are presented here as we visited Ascension Island again in 2015 after our first overview, otherwise we report on...

Karstic landscapes, shaped by water dissolving rock, are unique ecosystems with complex water systems. Karst aquifers, vital for over 25% of the world's drinking water, offer a sustainable resource but are vulnerable to human activities. Their diverse plant, animal, and geological features contribute significantly to our planet's ecosystem. Notably...

Radim Kettner, Professor of Geology at the Charles University in Prague is 70. Born in Prague, May 5th, 1891 he became a founder of our modern geology and of the modern geological school in Czechoslovakia. He is well known by his stratigraphical and tectonical work in the geology of the lower palaeozoic in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia of the Middle...

PhDr. Karel Absolon, professor at the Charles University in Prague, an outstanding natural historian and praehistorian died in Brno on October 6, 1960. He was born on June 16, 1877 in Boskovice, Moravia. He was deeply interested in speleological investigations of which he took active part, for the first time, in the Moravian Karst in 1897. In 1903...

One day in 1983 while walking in the desert north of Riyadh, John Pint came upon a hole the size of a serving plate, so he and his friend Dave Peters chiseled it open enough to squeeze into. Dangling from thirty feet of rope attached to the bumper of a truck, they descended into a cavern that had gone unnoticed for all of time. Thus began John Pint...

El valle de Ancón (figuras 1 y 2) es una forma de erosión diferencial, con rasgos muy marcados de fluviokarst, excavado entre las series terrígenas de la formación San Cayetano (Jurásico Inferior-Medio) y las carbonatadas de la formación Guasasa (Jurásico Superior-Cretácico Superior), a pocos kilómetros al noroeste del pueblo de Viñales, en la prov...

Trabajos de exploración espeleológica, arqueológica y topográfica en el Sistema de Espejares (Mancha Alta de Cuenca). Se trata de la mayor explotación romana de lapis specularis conocida a día de hoy. Se realiza una introducción al contexto histórico del complejo minero y se exponen brevemente aspectos sobre morfología y particularidades de la red...

The Amazon is renowned worldwide for its biological significance, but it also harbors substantial mineral reserves. Among these, the ferruginous geosystems of the region are critical for iron ore extraction, accounting for 10% of Brazil’s export revenue. Additionally, this region holds a significant speleological heritage with more than 1,000 caves...

Andrej Kranjc je bil eden vodilnih geografov svoje generacije na nacionalni in mednarodni ravni. Njegove raziskave zajemajo širok spekter tem, povezanih s kraško geomorfologijo, speleologijo in hidrologijo ter zgodovino krasoslovja in kraško terminologijo. V članku predstavljamo njegove plodne in aktivne raziskovalne dejavnosti, njegov prispevek h...

The Bue Marino is the most extensive coastal karst system in the Mediterranean so far explored and is considered by biologists as one of the most important biodiversity hot-spots of subterranean fauna in the world. The Italian Speleological Society' research project aims to investigate interactions between tidal fluctuations and main chemical and p...

Artificial cavities under worship places: case studies from the province of Caserta (Italy) In northern Campania (Southern Italy), the historic center of many towns is characterized by the widespread presence of cavities in the subsoil, excavated over the centuries for quarrying tuff blocks for buildings, along with cathedrals, churches and chapel...

Located in Lestelas-Balaguères massif, central northern Pyrenees, France, the Baget catchment covers 13.25 km2 and is highly karstified: so far, more than 80 caves have been recorded. The main outlet of the system, the exsurgence de Las Hountas, has an average flow of 550 L/s. Downstream, it is connected with the hyporheic of the Lachein stream. Th...

Biological research in caves, of different lithologies, has provided significant advances in the knowledge of the biodiversity and functioning of subterranean ecosystems. Such advances are crucial for the evolution of environmental analysis relevant to speleology, whether in the context of environmental licensing or that of scientific research in...

This study examines the evolution of areas surrounding the bat caves in the Ferruginous Geosystem of Carajás from 1985 to 2022, emphasising the significance of geodiversity conservation in this unique context. The land use and cover transformations analysis reveals critical insights into spatio-temporal changes and escalating environmental degradat...

In 1913, the Salzburg section of the Austrian Society for Speleology had organised an exhibition on caves. Inspired by the following positive feedback a plan was developed to erect a large cave museum which would be of importance even beyond the region of Salzburg. The outbreak of the First World War, however, prevented this undertaking. Post-war...

The paper presents the Nuna Cave, as one of the more than 20 documented caves in the karstic environment of Miroč Mt. in eastern Serbia. The wider surroundings encompass the 100 km long gorge of the Danube River (Iron Gates, Djerdap) in the segment where it is entrenched into the Southern Carpathian Mountains, with the Pannonian Basin upstream and...

La Paz is a municipality located in the Eastern Andes of Colombia and has a great variety of hipogean and epigean karstic environments. Different speleological explorations carried out in the last decades in La Paz region have reported the existence of at least 23 subterranean environments including caves, caverns, grottos, holes, and sinkholes, of...

The stable environment of subterranean realms is characterized by constant darkness, temperature and humidity, and scarcity of resources. This led to similar adaptations in different lineages of animals, such as the reduction of eyes and pigmentation. It is common textbook knowledge that blindness in cave insects is compensated for by transformatio...

Resumo: Dentro da noción de paisaxe cultural, neste traballo partimos da paisaxe percibida, e dos relatos e das narrativas que as sociedades crean sobre o territorio. No ámbito do noroeste peninsular, o mundo mitolóxico establece unha relación específica entre as paisaxes aéreas e o mundo subterráneo, na que están presentes as covas, os penedos, a...

This article identifies the Nongkhlieh area of eastern Meghalaya as a potential site for the development of karstic geopark or karstic national park since it is the largest karst system in the state (and also one of the best karst systems of the world) showing prominent surficial and sub-surficial karstic and speleological features. ~ 200 caves are...

In human cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology studies, laboratory-based research tasks have been important to establish principles of brain function and its relationship to behaviour; however, they differ greatly from real-life experiences. Several elements of real-life situations that impact human performance, such as stressors, are difficul...

The study of subterranean life in general and cave life in particular has been given several names, most especially biospeleology and speleobiology. Historically, biospeleology came first, and signalled that biological study was part of speleology, the science of caves. Speleology itself has come to have several meanings beyond the science of caves...

The Arcos-Pains Karst Region is approximately 850 km2, formed by massive carbonate rocks that host hundreds of caves, rock shelters and shafts. Many fossil discoveries exist in the region; one can also find rock paintings and other archaeological remains. A ruiniform landscape, weathered caves and continuous or isolated outcrops characterize the ka...

Chapada Diamantina is among the best known and most visited landscapes in Brazil. Located in the state of Bahia, Northeast region of the country, it is characterized by mountains and plateaus that developed on Proterozoic sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks. Much of its territory is covered by carbonate and siliciclastic rocks, where relevant kar...

Chapada Diamantina is among the best known and most visited landscapes in Brazil. Located in the state of Bahia, Northeast region of the country, it is characterized by mountains and plateaus that developed on Proterozoic sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks. Much of its territory is covered by carbonate and siliciclastic rocks, where relevant kar...

Se presenta la historia de los tres (3) minerales descubiertos en Venezuela, sus descubridores y los hechos sobre su descubrimiento, para lo cual se realizó una revisión de publicaciones. Este trabajo forma parte de una amplia investigación sobre el descubrimiento, primeros reportes y ocurrencia de minerales nuevos y de rara ocurrencia en Venezuela...

Hydrogeological conditions in karst areas reflect the high velocities of groundwater movement in open or material-filled channels. Usually they remain hidden under the ground, and only high flow rates of the flowing underground water reveal them. An example is one of the largest karst springs in Bulgaria – Glava Panega in the village of Zlatna Pane...

Report of a speleological expedition Franco-Peruvian in northern Peru (regions of Amazonas, San Martín and Loreto) from October 30 to December 2, 2023.

The article describes the concept of sports tourism. It was found that sports tourism is a type of active recreation, which is carried out by traveling along a route, testing one's own physical strength, moving on foot or on skis, bicycles or watercraft. To reveal methodological approaches to the study of the problems of the development of sports t...

The article explores the methods and potential applications of terrestrial laser scanning technology. It also presents the preliminary results of scanning the Bijambare cave, where a georeferenced three-dimensional model of the cave's interior was created. This model, based on available data, stands as the first accurate 3D representation of a spel...

A brief overview of cave life in New Zealand and the need for its conservation. Original article: https://bioheritage.nz/lightless-not-lifeless-cave-biodiversity-and-protection-in-aotearoa/ Published in the New Zealand Speleological Society Bulletin Vol.12// No.223

Research at the anonymous Cave of Schisto in Keratsini, Attica begun in 2006 and continues in the form of a rescue excavation of the Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology – Speleology of the Greek Ministry of Culture. The cave served as a Sanctuary during Historical times, while its utilization extends up to Byzantine and even more recent years. In Prehis...