texascavers Digest 18 Apr 2012 04:20:24 -0000 Issue 1531
Topics (messages 19851 through 19860):
April 14, 2012 CM Cave trip report (Comal Co TX)
19851 by: Ben Hutchins
salamanders and Andy Gluesenkamp in today's Austin American-Statesman
19852 by: Logan McNatt
19853 by: Preston Forsythe
New Petzl LED
19854 by: Preston Forsythe
19855 by: Justin Leigh Shaw
19856 by: Mark Minton
19857 by: Fofo
UT Grotto meeting Wed April 18
19858 by: Gary Franklin
Reminder: April 2012 Cowtown Grotto Meeting and Ladies Night
19859 by: R D Milhollin
New shrimp-like species found in SE New Mexico cave :
19860 by: JerryAtkin.aol.com
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By Ben Hutchins
At 10:00 AM, Marvin Miller, Tom Rogers, Mark Childres, Wade McDaniel, and I met
at the usual caver rendezvous for a trip into CM Cave on Joe Eisenhauer’s
property. The trip came together serendipitously as Mark was planning to go
that day for maintenance of some instruments installed in the cave, and I
independently was planning a survey trip. We all entered the vertical entrance
to the cave around 11:00AM. The second drop in the cave was, by most people’s
opinion, in need of some re-rigging. The previous rig was a large cedar post
lying across the drop to provide a stimple for the rope to hang off. The cedar
has been in there for years and the rope was fraying at a minor rub point. I’m
not sure about the age of either. Marvin and I set 2 stainless steel bolts and
anchors: a primary and backup. A redirect from the side of the pit opposite
the anchors will be needed for the rope to hang completely free. One by one,
we all
descended the drops and passed through the OMG crawl leading into Echo River:
the primary passage in the cave filled with thigh to chest deep water in most
places. In these wet conditions, we all provided Mark with semi-dry hands
while he checked cables and batteries in his water quality probe bolted to the
wall. At about 12:30 PM, Marvin, Tom and I said bye to Mark and Wade and
headed upstream to our survey objective. Not surprisingly, water was up 2 or 3
inches from what I had seen on all of my trips last year, making the low
airspace section a little sportier. Nevertheless, we all got through with only
small volumes of water ingested. In about 2 hours we reached our side lead.
Three previous survey trips had been conducted in the TS-survey side lead
(still without a name) for a total of 429 meters. What to say about this lead?
It’s not bad but not great: a wet and muddy infeeder. The passage is often 2+
meters high but the ceiling
is often offset from the floor with mounds of mud to slop over, so one is
rarely about to walk. Salamandering is the easiest way to travel but is often
impossible as the stream cuts very low meanders. The passage consistently
trends to the west by way of alternating north-west and south-west sections,
ultimately shaped in plan view like a stretched out “M”. It took us an hour to
get to station TS78: the beginning of our survey. We wasted no time in
beginning the survey with Marvin setting stations and reading back sites and
Tom reading tape and front sites. These two made a formidable survey machine,
agreeing with each other on the first try at almost every shot. If the passage
had not been a simple sketch, I would have had difficulty keeping up. Lucky
for us, the passage straightened out a bit from previous surveys allowing an
average shot length of 6.5m and a long shot of 19.7m. Furthermore, the mud
began to be replaced by coarser
sand and pebbles allowing for easy stoop walking and even a few spots where
you could stand and take a few steps. Alas, all good things must come to an
end, and after 13 shots the passage took a definitive turn for the worst,
degenerating into a belly crawl half full of water. After a short motivational
speech, we talked ourselves into pushing a bit farther to where Marvin thought
he could see it open up. After 124.4 m in 19 shots we found ourselves in a
modest room where we could comfortably sit. From this room, the passage
continued heading west but was too low for us to continue. A mound of gravel
in the room illustrates how fast flowing water coming from the too tight lead
loses velocity in the relatively spacious sit up room, causing the entrained
gravels to drop out. This gravel mound could easily be dug on, but as we
couldn’t see any sign that it opened back up and there was no noticeable air, I
would consider it a low priority dig
indeed. So, triumphantly, we mark this side lead off the to-do list after 4
survey trips, 97 shots and 553.6m of survey in what was, as far as we know,
virgin passage. We exited the cave at 9:50PM. Tom and I had a couple of
victory beers with Joe (the cave’s owner) who was, as always, very welcoming
and interested in our efforts despite his orphaned goat kid that kept trying to
eat our clothes. The current length for CM is 4.57km.
A note to anyone who may go into the cave soon: the 2nd drop IS NOT rigged.
The cedar stimple is still in place but the rope has been removed. If you
would prefer to use the anchors, you will need a rope, 2 screwlinks, and
webbing and a carabineer to make a redirect.
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Once again, salamanders and State Herpetologist Andy Gluesenkamp are in the
news.
http://www.statesman.com/news/williamson/long-lost-krienke-springs-is-haven-for-salamanders-2306944.html
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Ole Wag a Bag is at it again.
Preston in western KY
============================
----- Original Message -----
From: Logan McNatt
To: Texas Cavers
Cc: Bill Elliott
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 7:03 AM
Subject: [Texascavers] salamanders and Andy Gluesenkamp in today's Austin
American-Statesman
Once again, salamanders and State Herpetologist Andy Gluesenkamp are in the
news.
http://www.statesman.com/news/williamson/long-lost-krienke-springs-is-haven-for-salamanders-2306944.html
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In July Petzl will have a new LED out, the NAO, $175, 7 to 355 Lumens,
rechargeable Lithium-ion or two AAA in a pinch. That's all I know for now. Info
from Climbing magazine. It may give Sten a run for it's money.
Preston in western KY
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I found more info at www.petzl.com/nao
This is certainly an innovative idea for a headlamp.
It's pronounced "now", and features something they are calling
Reactive Lighting Technology.
The professional promo video is over 4 minuets long and includes no
footage of the headlamp being used in a cave.
I'm curious how well the Reactive Lighting Technology will work in a
cave. Could be awesome, or could be frustrating beyond usefulness.
Justin
On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 8:12 PM, Preston Forsythe <[email protected]> wrote:
> In July Petzl will have a new LED out, the NAO, $175, 7 to 355 Lumens,
> rechargeable Lithium-ion or two AAA in a pinch. That's all I know for now.
> Info from Climbing magazine. It may give Sten a run for it's money.
>
>
> Preston in western KY
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The big innovation of the NAO light is that it is supposed
to sense the environment and automatically adjust the light output to
match. <http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/headlamps/nao> So, for
example, if you're in a large passage looking around it will be on
high, but if you then look down at your survey book to sketch, it
will dim so that you're not blinded by the reflected light. Sounds
good in principle, but I suspect there will be situations where the
light will not adjust the way you want it to. Sounds like a case of
trying to design something to be too smart. What's wrong with
manually changing the output as you need to?
Mark
At 09:12 PM 4/16/2012, Preston Forsythe wrote:
In July Petzl will have a new LED out, the NAO, $175, 7 to 355
Lumens, rechargeable Lithium-ion or two AAA in a pinch. That's all I
know for now. Info from Climbing magazine. It may give Sten a run
for it's money.
Preston in western KY
Please reply to [email protected]
Permanent email address is [email protected]
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My guess is that it's going to be easy for the sensor to become muddy
and it would "think" that it needs more light, because it's not sensing
much (or any, if it's completely clogged).
I'll be curious to see what cavers think about it.
- Fofo
Mark Minton wrote, on 16/4/12 19:16 :
The big innovation of the NAO light is that it is supposed to sense the
environment and automatically adjust the light output to match. ...
> Sounds like a case of trying to design something to be
too smart. What's wrong with manually changing the output as you need to?
Mark
Justin Leigh Shaw wrote, on 16/4/12 19:06 :
>
> I'm curious how well the Reactive Lighting Technology will work in a
> cave. Could be awesome, or could be frustrating beyond usefulness.
>
> Justin
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Howdy Caver,
You are invited to the UT Grotto meeting - Wednesday April 18th from
7:45PM- 9:00PM
University of Texas Campus in 2.48 Painter Hall (156 West 24th Street,
Austin TX 78712) http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/pai.html
Jim Kennedy will present Gypsum Bat Caves of North Texas. Jim recently
visited bat caves in the Texas panhandle to gather basic population and
habitat data, and to look for signs of the approaching White Nose Syndrome.
This area is a vast gypsum plain, extending into Oklahoma, and seldom
visited by cavers. There are many undocumented caves, and even some of the
major known caves remain unmapped. Join him and your Austin Texas Caver
friends for a quick look at the bats and karst of this region.
For information on Underground Texas Grotto activities, please see
www.utgrotto.org
Officer contact, trip reports, event calendar, and new caver training links
to beginner trips or vertical rope training are available.
Before the meeting, take advantage of Sao Paulo www.saopaulos.net for
happy hour specials. This area is the best place to park and meet folks
walking over to the meeting. Then after the official meeting, we continue
with the decades long tradition to reconvene for burgers, beer, and tall
tales of caving at Posse East. www.posse-east.com
The UT Grotto Program calendar is wide open and needs you, the caver with
photos and a story to share about your adventures, scientific research, or
something else really cool. Contact me.
Sincerely,
Gary Franklin
UT Grotto Vice Chair & Program Organizer
512-585-6057
[email protected]
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Backwoods is having an annual "ladies night" event downstairs while the Cowtown
Grotto meets upstairs. Mingling between the two events is allowed and
encouraged. There will be a sale on selected women's outdoor apparel (Prana,
etc.) and drawings for prizes. Please come early for shopping so the meeting
can start at or about 7:00 PM.
Attention all Cowtowners, cave type peopleandwannabes.
The Aprilmeeting of the Cowtown Grotto will take place at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday,
April17that Backwoods Outfitters in Fort Worth.
Backwoods is located at: 2727 W. 7th Street, Fort Worth, Texas
http://www.backwoods.com/outdoor-gear-and-apparel-store-fort-worth-texas.html
Any and all are welcome! For more information about the Cowtown Grotto please
visit us at: www.cowtowngrotto.org.
Also check us out on Facebook.
The meeting will be in the upstairs portion of the store, and will begin at
7:00 PM. There will be a presentation on caving in Cambodia by Dennis and
Sharon Welch. We are very excited to get to see Dennis and
Sharon while they are here for a short period of time so be sure to join us
tomorrow night!
At 8:00 PM we will adjourn to the Pour House Pub next door. Check them out at:
http://www.pour-house.com/
National Speleological Society web page:
http://www.caves.org/
Texas Speleological Association web page:
http://www.cavetexas.org
Texas Cave Conservancy web page:
www.texascaves.org
TCMA web page:
www.tcmacaves.org
We hope to see you there!
Tammy Stiles
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New shrimp-like species found in New Mexico cave
*
This undated photo provided by the Bureau of Land Management shows a newly
discovered species of freshwater amphipod. The agency announced the
discovery Tuesday, April 17, 2012, saying the new species was recently found
in a
subterranean pool inside a gypsum cave near Carlsbad, N.M. (AP
Photo/Bureau of Land Management, Randy Gibson)
By Susan Montoya Bryan
Associated Press / April 17, 2012
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—Scientists have discovered a new shrimp-like species in
a gypsum cave in southeastern New Mexico, only a few dozen miles from the
famous caves at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
The species of amphipod was unknown before being discovered about a month
ago in the Burton Flats area east of Carlsbad, said Jim Goodbar, the Bureau
of Land Management's senior cave specialist. The agency announced the
discovery Tuesday.
Blind, about a half-inch long and almost translucent, the amphipod was
found in a subterranean pool inside a cave no more than 80 feet from the
surface. The cave had been explored before, but samples had never been taken
of
the water until a biological inventory was done as part of plans to expand
potash mining in the area.
For Goodbar and other cave researchers, short of rocketing into space, the
depths of the earth represent one of the last unexplored frontiers for
humankind.
"You never know what you're going to find down there," Goodbar said. "One
of the interesting things about this is these guys, these critters have been
down there for tens of thousands of years, millions of years and we're
just getting around to finding them."
More surveys of the area are planned, Goodbar said.
The new species has not been named, but officials said it has been grouped
with the Parabogidiella (para-bo-GIDDY-ella) genus, which was first
described in 1980 by John Holsinger with the Biological Sciences Department at
Old
Dominion University in Virginia.
An amphipod expert, Holsinger said Tuesday the species found near Carlsbad
is different from the other single species in the genus. He is currently
working on its complete description.
Members of the Bogidiellidea family have been documented in parts of
Mexico, but the new species represents the family's most northern extent, he
said.
Scientists know little about the new species. They're already making
guesses at whether it's carnivorous or feeds on bacteria, minerals or
vegetative
bits that find their way into the cave's water.
"They're very cryptic," Holsinger said. "These things are usually found in
groundwater and you can very rarely observe them firsthand."
Goodbar said the Bureau of Land Management is planning for a series of
monitoring wells near the Burton Flats caves to keep an eye on water levels
once the mining company begins pumping water for its proposed operations. The
agency is developing mitigation plans that call for an end to pumping in
the area if a certain threshold is reached.
The BLM is working on balancing protection of the new species and the
area's water supply with development of the region's vast potash resources,
Goodbar said.
The water in the caves is replenished by rainwater soaking down through
cracks and crevices in the Earth's surface and fresh water from a shallow
underground aquifer.
"I think the implications are that we really need to protect the
groundwater aquifers because there are species there that live nowhere else on
Earth," Goodbar said.
_http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2012/04/17/new_shrimp_like_spec
ies_found_in_new_mexico_cave/_
(http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2012/04/17/new_shrimp_like_species_found_in_new_mexico_cave/)
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