texascavers Digest 30 May 2009 07:15:57 -0000 Issue 765
Topics (messages 10781 through 10794):
book review: Biology of Caves
10781 by: Mixon Bill
Acid-loving Extremophiles
10782 by: Minton, Mark
book prices
10783 by: Mixon Bill
10785 by: Minton, Mark
10786 by: John Brooks
10789 by: ellie :)
Honey Creek Cave tank haul trip June 6
10784 by: speleosteele.tx.rr.com
WNS Meeting Report FYI
10787 by: Ronald Adams
WNS in Virginia
10788 by: Minton, Mark
caver in the news - old article
10790 by: David
Good Airflow!
10791 by: Minton, Mark
TX Convention Daily Schedule
10792 by: Preston Forsythe
Re: 15th ICS � Day passes
10793 by: Mixon Bill
Re: 2009 J2 Expedition Wrap]
10794 by: David Ochel
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--- Begin Message ---
"The Biology of Caves and Other Subterranean Habitats." David C.
Culver and Tanja Pipan. Oxford University Press, New York; 2009. 6 by
9 inches, 254 pages, softbound. $60. Biology of Habitats Series.
While there has been no lack of monographs on cave geology in recent
years, the situation in cave biology has been different. If someone
wanted to borrow a book on cave biology, I'd have most likely lent the
curiously named 1992 "Natural History of Biospeleology," a 675-page
collection of papers published by the Museo Nacional de Ciencias
Naturales in Madrid. Culver and Pipan's new book is a semi-technical
introduction to underground life. It covers not only cave life in the
usual sense but also fauna found in similar environments, such as
stream-bed gravels or the epikarst, the pitted and furrowed limestone
beneath the soil. It includes, of course, a summary of the main groups
of subterranean species, from microbes, through the twenty-one orders
of invertebrates with more than fifty troglobitic species, to
vertebrates such as bats, salamanders, and fish. In addition, there
are nice chapters on energy sources, communities, and other ecological
topics, as well as discussions of the evolution of troglomorphic
traits such as blindness. Most cavers should be able to read and
profit from it, but occasionally an unexplained word like "pleiotropy"
will send them to the glossary. One author is American and the other
is at a karst research institute in Slovenia, so both Europe and North
America are especially well covered, and the book is, of course, up to
date, with the latest trends in research covered.
Considering the pretensions of the publisher, the proofreading is
poor, but the glitches, such as where someone typed "but" for "by,"
are obvious and don't interfere with understanding. The many
illustrations and tables are clear. The book is a nice companion to
the recent "Cave Geology" by Art Palmer. It would be nicer, though, if
it hadn't fallen into the hands of a pricey European academic press.
The geology book is hardbound and has larger pages and two hundred
more of them. It was published by Cave Books, the publishing arm of
the Cave Research Foundation, and costs $37.95, less than two-thirds
what Oxford wants for "Biology of Caves." A companion volume on
biology from Cave Books has long been rumored. Until it appears,
Culver and Pipan's book is it. Whether the authors succeed in getting
people to use "speleobiology" instead of "biospeleology" remains to be
seen.--Bill Mixon
---------------------------------------------
He who renders warfare fatal to all engaged in it will be the greatest
benefactor the world has yet known. - Sir Richard Burton
----------------------------------------------
You may "reply" to the address this message
came from, but for long-term use, save:
Personal: [email protected]
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--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
For the biologists:
<http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-microbes-more-diverse-than-thought.aspx>
Mark Minton
Extreme Microbes More Diverse Than Thought
May 28, 2009
Researchers at the Univ. of Illinois report that microbes able to live in
boiling acid are more diverse than previously thought, and that their diversity
is driven largely by geographic isolation. Sulfolobus islandicus is offering up
its secrets to researchers hardy enough to capture it from the volcanic hot
springs where it thrives.
The findings open a new window on microbial evolution, demonstrating for the
first time that geography can trump other factors that influence the makeup of
genes an organism hosts. S. islandicus belongs to the archaea, a group of
single-celled organisms that live in a variety of habitats including some of
the most forbidding environments on the planet. Once lumped together with
bacteria, archaea are now classified as a separate domain of life.
"Archaea are really different from bacteria - as different from bacteria as we
are," said Rachel Whitaker, a professor of microbiology. Whitaker has spent
almost a decade studying the genetic characteristics of S. islandicus. The
extreme physical needs of S. islandicus make it an ideal organism for studying
the impact of geographic isolation. It can live only at temperatures that
approach the boiling point of water and in an environment that has the pH of
battery acid. It breathes oxygen, eats volcanic gases and expels sulfuric acid.
It is unlikely that it can survive even a short distance from the hot springs
where it is found.
By comparing the genetic characteristics of individuals from Yellowstone
National Park, Lassen Park, and a Russian volcano, Whitaker was able to see how
each of the populations had evolved since they were isolated from one another
more than 900,000 years ago.
The complete genome of S. islandicus contains a set of core genes that are
shared among all members of this group, with some minor differences in the
sequence of nucleotides that spell out individual genes. But it also contains a
variable genome, with groups of genes that differ - sometimes dramatically -
from one subset, or strain, to another.
Whitaker found that the variable genome in individual strains of S. islandicus
is evolving at a rapid rate, with high levels of variation even between two or
three individuals in the same location.
"Some people think that these variable genes are the way that microbes are
adapting to new environments," Whitaker said. "You land in a new place, you
need a new function in that new place, you pick up that set of genes from
whoever's there or we don't know who from, and now you can survive there. We've
shown that does not occur."
"This tells you that there's a lot more diversity than we thought," Whitaker
said. "Each hot spring region has its own genome and its own genome components
and is evolving in its own unique way. And if each place is evolving in its own
unique way, then each one is different and there's this amazing diversity. I
mean, beetles are nothing compared to the diversity of microbes."
These findings challenge the idea that microbes draw whatever they may need
from a near-universal pool of available genetic material, Whitaker said. It
appears instead that S. islandicus, at least, acquires new genes from a very
limited genetic reservoir stored in viruses and other genetic elements that are
constrained to each geographic location on Earth.
Source: Univ. of Illinois
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--- Begin Message ---
Here's a good one for suckers. Look up Art Palmer's "Cave Geology" at
amazon.com. They don't sell it themselves, evidently, but several
third parties are advertising "new and used" copies, the cheapest of
which is $121.60. The book is in print at the publisher for $37.95,
and available from places like the NSS Bookstore and Speleobooks for
about that.--Mixon
---------------------------------------------
He who renders warfare fatal to all engaged in it will be the greatest
benefactor the world has yet known. - Sir Richard Burton
----------------------------------------------
You may "reply" to the address this message
came from, but for long-term use, save:
Personal: [email protected]
AMCS: [email protected] or [email protected]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Bill Mixon said:
Here's a good one for suckers. Look up Art Palmer's "Cave Geology" at amazon.com. They
don't sell it themselves, evidently, but several third parties are advertising "new and
used" copies, the cheapest of which is $121.60. The book is in print at the publisher for
$37.95,
The really weird thing on Amazon is that in the Price at a Glance box in
the upper right corner of the Cave Geology sellers page, the list price of
$37.95 is given, with a line through it, and then the exorbitant resellers
prices are listed below. Normally the prices in the Price at a Glance box are
better deals than the list price, at least for books in print. It makes no
sense.
Mark Minton
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--- Begin Message ---
It's a conspiracy.....designed to enrage crudmudgeons everywhere.
I have a sinister plan to foil their evil plan...let's boycott and NOT buy it
at THAT price!
Sent from my iPhone
On May 28, 2009, at 10:21 PM, "Minton, Mark" <[email protected]> wrote:
Bill Mixon said:
>Here's a good one for suckers. Look up Art Palmer's "Cave Geology" at
>amazon.com. They don't sell it themselves, evidently, but several third
>parties are advertising "new and used" copies, the cheapest of which is
>$121.60. The book is in print at the publisher for $37.95,
The really weird thing on Amazon is that in the Price at a Glance box in
the upper right corner of the Cave Geology sellers page, the list price of
$37.95 is given, with a line through it, and then the exorbitant resellers
prices are listed below. Normally the prices in the Price at a Glance box are
better deals than the list price, at least for books in print. It makes no
sense.
Mark Minton
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I bought one a few months back from Amazon for $37.95 and they shipped it
for free. They must have instated their evil plan after I bought mine. Sorry
everyone else. Good thing we have the NSS Bookstore and Speleobooks.
On Fri, May 29, 2009 at 7:39 AM, John Brooks <[email protected]>wrote:
> It's a conspiracy.....designed to enrage crudmudgeons everywhere.
> I have a sinister plan to foil their evil plan...let's boycott and NOT buy
> it at THAT price!
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On May 28, 2009, at 10:21 PM, "Minton, Mark" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Bill Mixon said:
>
> >Here's a good one for suckers. Look up Art Palmer's "Cave Geology" at
> amazon.com. They don't sell it themselves, evidently, but several third
> parties are advertising "new and used" copies, the cheapest of which is
> $121.60. The book is in print at the publisher for $37.95,
>
> The really weird thing on Amazon is that in the Price at a Glance box
> in the upper right corner of the Cave Geology sellers page, the list price
> of $37.95 is given, with a line through it, and then the exorbitant
> resellers prices are listed below. Normally the prices in the Price at a
> Glance box are better deals than the list price, at least for books in
> print. It makes no sense.
>
> Mark Minton
>
>
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--- Begin Message ---
Hello Texas Cavers,
There will be an Epic, Historic, and quite possibly the Last, Honey Creek Cave
tank haul trip on Saturday, June 6. James Brown and Jean "Creature" Krejca will
dive the 1,435 foot long HS upstream sump (only Brown has reached the other
side), taking a cave radio to transmit to awaiting cavers on the surface. We
could still use some more members of the haul team.
So, if a 17 - 18 hour long wetsuit caving trip, wading and salamandering in 68
degree water, crawling, sinking in knee to thigh deep mud, and a hour of
stoop-walking, all with a piece of the dive gear (maybe even a tank), suits
your fancy, and you'd like to do some Epic, Historic, and likely the Last tank
haul trip into the far reaches of Texas' longest cave, then please e-mail me
before the handful of remaining slots are taken.
We could also use a handful more surface folk, too, to watch out that all is
conducted safely lowering and raising people in
the 145 foot deep shaft entrance.
Best regards,
Bill Steele
Irving, Texas
PS - It came to my attention at Honey Creek Cave last month that Puppy Lewis
may not really have inadvertently spent the
night in the cave on the January tank haul trip. It may have been a very well
executed, elaborate joke on me. If so,
good work, I fell for it.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Hi Texas Cavers!
I am forwarding this WNS meeting report for informational purposes, I know this
is somewhat Indiana specific, but this does have a lot of good info and
addresses many of the problems that many states are facing with this.
Have a great weekend!
Ron
To all concerned,
After talking with many cavers since the White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) meeting last
Thursday night (5/21) I have put together this summary of the meeting and the
perspectives of some of the cavers. The function of this letter is twofold, to
inform cavers about the meeting and WNS in general, and to summarize caver
views and give feedback in writing to the officials involved.
The IDNR and USFW informational meeting was well represented by several
concerned state and federal officials. DNR Deputy Director John Davis, who
made the decision to close all State owned cave resources, was there in person
to face all those impacted. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biologists Andrew
King and Scott Johnson, both out of Bloomington, IN presented info from their
side. They did a good job of inviting grottos, outdoor clubs, miners, loggers
and other stakeholders from Indiana and surrounding states. They all stayed
late until all questions were answered!
The Presentation
The first portion of the meeting was a video presentation showing the
investigation of bat fatalities in a Vermont cave. It was devastating to see
the huge amounts of little brown bats dead and dying from the effects of this
thing. A lot of them just froze by going to colder spots outside to try to slow
down their metabolisms in a desperate attempt to use as little energy as
possible. The scientists studying the carnage were the same folks who have
spent the last 40 or whatever years of their lives trying (successfully) to
boost the populations of these very animals. You could see the devastation
written all over their faces.
The History
Even though I thought I was well informed, there were several points that I
learned from the informational portion of the meeting. WNS was first documented
in a commercial cave (Howe Caverns) in New York State. Also further background
info stated that a similar looking fungus has been documented on bats seen in
Europe. The statement was also made that Europe does not have significant
numbers of bats with colonies of 50 or less seen at the most populous areas,
and I got the impression that for the amount of caves there are in Europe,
there should be a lot more bats. Cavers in Europe have seen a similar fungus on
an occasional bat and considered it normal for what they have seen over the
years. A photo showed a single bat with fungus growing on its nose within a
small cluster, and it was the only one in the cluster that had it. The European
fungus is currently being compared to the US version to see if it is the same
organism. If positive, the case could
be made that WNS was brought here by people who visited a cave in Europe and
then came to the US and visited Howe Caverns.
The Migration Patterns
After the video, several charts were put on the screen that showed the
migration and interaction routes of the bats as documented by tagging bats and
seeing how they migrate. The interaction patterns showed the bats mingling down
a main path from New York that paralleled the East Coast south through the
Virginias and then west into Kentucky. This was the main traffic route with
auxiliary routes going south to Tennessee and further and other auxiliary
routes coming up to Indiana from Kentucky. Sadly, Southern Indiana is not very
far from the main route going east / west through Kentucky.
The Spread
The next charts showed where WNS was known in 2006, 2007, and 2008. The
progress of the spread followed right along that main traffic pattern shown on
the charts. And while human transmission has been possibly documented in a
couple caves, WNS seems to be spreading rapidly right along the main migration
and interaction route that has been determined by research over the years. If
human transmission were a major factor, WNS should have shown up at several
places off of the main migration routes. Also, by looking at the distance it
has traveled since 2006, one could easily see that it could be in our state as
early as 2009 - 2010 hibernation period (this winter!), or almost certainly the
season after that. Not much time to do something about it!
Indiana Populations
Other charts showed info about the bat populations in Indiana, which are around
250,000 total (2007 estimate). Roughly 95% of our cave bats are the endangered
Indiana bats, and roughly 95% of those bats are in 30 caves in Indiana. And a
large portion of those bats (98%) are in 9 of those caves, with the other 21
caves containing 1000 or less each. Basically, our bats are mostly concentrated
in 9 caves... A comment was made during the slides that the Indiana bat was not
hit by WNS as quickly as the little browns. I was relieved to hear this, but I
asked about this after the meeting and was told that they are at just as much
risk as the other species, which left me a bit confused.
After viewing all the information presented and then hearing a discussion about
the government response of "risk management", there seemed to be some
contradictions within their responses. This is not a criticism, they do care
about the bats, the cavers, and are trying to balance everyone's concerns and
interests and make the right decisions. Their initial decision to close caves
was made quickly even though Indiana is outside the 17 state impacted / buffer
zone that the USFWS has asked for voluntary cooperation. The officials want
feedback from all concerned to help make informed decisions moving forward. The
caver perceived contradictions are listed as follows:
(1) The first place WNS was documented was a commercial cave, and with Mammoth
cave being right in the center of the main migration route, and with Kentucky
having way more bats than most states, one would think that officials would
close all state and federal commercial tours until some kind of decontamination
protocol could be found and implemented. These closures would greatly speed the
process of getting decon procedures in place. The need for decon protocol was
discussed but no decon action has been implemented yet, we were told this is
forthcoming. They also discussed the intent to recommend decon procedures for
privately owned commercial caves. Based on the info, my impression is that
commercial caves are ground zero for the possibility of human transmission. I
believe that Mammoth Cave National Park is visited by more folks than any other
NP in the US! The commercial caves remain open with no decon protocol in place.
One could argue that with all
the privately owned caves around MCNP, closing the park caves does not make
sense, but this emphasizes the great need for some kind of decon procedure to
be in place at the park and strongly suggested to the private operations.
(2) The one group which has implemented decon procedures is the organized
cavers. It is possible that cavers unknowingly spread WNS early on, but now
that this is known, the cavers as a group have taken the most action in
determining how to decontaminate, not using gear or clothes used in WNS states
in other areas, closing caves with major bat populations, changing the focus of
caving events all across the USA to protect bats, and many of those caves with
major bat populations were already protected from other risks by organized
cavers. Most of the data available about caves, bats, cave maps, cave locations
was supplied by volunteer groups of organized cavers. And when the blanket
closure policy was questioned, the officials even admitted that the caving
groups represented in the room were not the major concern, it was those who are
less in the know about WNS who visit caves who are considered the risk for
human transmission. The organized cavers are the
group doing the most to prevent the spread.
(3) "Risk management" is basically an attempt to avoid human transmission to
keep from speeding the transmission rate that the bats will do on their own, to
theoretically buy time to find a treatment. In our state this could be feasible
since the bats are so concentrated, but all admit that a human introduced
"cure" may be a long shot. One could assume that assessing the risks would
start with an estimate of how much time it will take for the bats to bring the
fungus to any particular region and then work backwards from there. A time
estimate for WNS spreading to Indiana was not mentioned, I had to ask for a
time estimate based on the known transmission rate. This topic was so
depressing that it was grudgingly addressed, and their best guess was in the
next 1 or 2 seasons it will be here. This is such a short amount of time that
bat transmission may work just as quickly as human transmission would at this
point in our state. I think that many cavers in
the room felt the following actions are appropriate: (1) closing the state and
federally owned bat caves, (2)contacting the owners of the remaining of the 30
prominent bat caves, (3) an education program to teach the public about the
great risk to our bat populations, the effects wiped out bat populations will
have on our eco system, and how important bats are to the chain of life, would
all be more effective than blanket closures. This would promote awareness and
compliance, while blanket closures would keep out the most informed (the
organized cavers) and the least informed (independent sport cavers and
spelunkers) would still be caving. Bats have had a bad rap in the public eye
for many, many years; a PR program could really help the public understand that
bats should be protected.
(4) Since the Daniels Administration was elected Governor in Indiana, logging
in our State Forests has greatly increased (as much as ten fold). The amount of
land being timbered increased and also the amount and variety of wood taken in
those tracts increased. This does have a negative impact on the bats. Bart Nott
had recently seen some freshly logged tracts above the caves and was disturbed
by the amount of cutting done. He asked if suspending such logging has been
considered and the response was a flat out no. This seemed inconsistent with an
all out policy to protect bats, but it does open another can of political
worms, groups do not like environmental restrictions that block profits from
natural resources and land development. State officials have to juggle all of
these groups. It is much easier to just tell cavers they cannot go to any
caves...
(5) The biologists on the panel were concerned greatly about the 20 privately
owned of the 30 notable bat caves and are in communication with those owners
regarding this issue. The cavers were very supportive of this stance. It was
obvious that the state and federal officials had not yet hammered out a solid
policy of how to handle the few thousand other privately owned caves in
Indiana. The bat biologists seemed to think that only the major bat cave owners
should be contacted, but others on the panel felt that press releases should be
made to ask all cave owners to close their caves. The cavers felt like this
would be very bad for many sensitive relationships developed with cave owners
over decades and that the single bat or 2 in isolated caves should not be
grouped with the populated bat caves when assessing the risk. The amount of
time it would take for someone's cousin from New York to infect a single cave
with 1 bat and then the amount of time it
would take for that bat to spread this to the major bat populations is a much
longer process than the obvious bat to bat transmission timeline will be. I
know this is some conjecture on my part, but so is risk management in general.
Here again, cavers felt that benefits of education would far outweigh voluntary
compliance to voluntary blanket closures that would create uncertainty in
landowner relations for possibly decades into the future.
In conclusion, after talking with several of the cavers present at the meeting,
the organized cavers are very concerned and want to do everything in their
power to prevent the spread of this devastating disease. I think that most of
the cavers feel that we are the backbone of everything that is known about
caves, bats, and karst in this country, and no one is paying us for this stuff;
it’s because we love caves and bats. The majority of cavers feel that a blanket
closure of state, private, and federal caves in the Eastern United States is a
prohibition that is unrealistic and not the best solution to the WNS problem.
They feel that identifying the major bat caves, protecting them, minimizing the
possibility of human transmission by cave tours with decontamination,
minimizing the possibility of human transmission by cavers with decontamination
and travel restrictions, and education of the public for (1) awareness of how
to prevent human transmission,
(2) for awareness of how important and beneficial bats are to our environment,
(3) and to communicate the need for funding for research; are the most
effective ways to move forward.
Thanks very much,
Ron Adams, NSS # 41114
Chairman, Central Indiana Grotto
Member, Indiana Karst Conservancy, Indiana Cave Survey
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--- Begin Message ---
Here are four brief reports on WNS in Virginia sent to VARList by Wil
Orndorff. The most interesting thing to me is that some of the affected bats
_do not_ show Geomyces infestation. This supports the hypothesis that the
underlying cause of WNS is something else, and the fungal infection is
secondary.
Mark Minton
1) Confirmation of Newberry-Banes Bats WNS
Results were received last week about the Newberry-Bane Cave bats
3 male Little browns were necropsied.
Geomyces sp. fungus was cultured from one of the three, while "mixed fungal
growth not consistent with Geomyces" was cultured from the other two. All three
bats were in good body condition.
Note that over 10% of the bats in areas the collecting team visited exhibited
fungus on their wings and muzzles consistent in appearance with WNS.
National Wildlife Health Center advises to proceed assuming the cave is
infected with WNS.
-----------------------------------
2) Endless Caverns Bats
from National Wildlife Health Center communique:
"3 bats were examined and all appeared in fair to good body conditions. No
significant internal lesions were observed. All had mixed fungal growth
on either their muzzle, wings or both but none appeared Geomyces-like. PCR
results and histopathology are also pending on these 3 bats."
So WNS, as defined by the presence of Geomyces sp. fungus, is NOT confirmed at
Endless Caverns. PCR and histopathology will tell us more.
---
Possible interpretations.
1 - Not WNS
2 - WNS is enabling growth of multiple fungal species on bats, and therefore
the fungus itself is not the primary culprit.
3 - ???
--------------------------------
3) Cumberland County Bat
The one bat submitted to date from the Virginia Piedmont for possible WNS did
not turn up positive for Geomyces sp.
It was in poor body condition, however, and did have a mixed fungal growth.
--------------------------------
4) Possible WNS in Smyth County
DGIF and DCR staff visited Hancock Cave on Thursday in response to caver
reports of WNS-like fungal growth on bats in the cave. A few pipistrelles with
significant fungal growth on wings and muzzles were collected fairly close to
the entrance and shipped to the National Wildlife Health Center for necropsy
and other analyses.
If this site turns out to indeed be WNS, and all indications are that it is,
the disease is now in the Upper Tennessee River Basin, no more than 6 miles
from the nearest Gray Bat summer colony in Marion, VA.
-----------------------------------
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--- Begin Message ---
I was in a re-sale shop yesterday and stumbled across an
issue of a magazine called "National Parks,"
http://www.npca.org/
I opened it up and there was the smiling face of a caver on
rope that I recognized.
The article was from June 2000, titled "Guardians of the Park."
The article devoted several paragraphs to her volunteer work with
the CRF and Carlsbad Caverns.
I got it for 17 cents. I will have it at my next yard sale.
Also,
The NPCA web-site has over 15 web-pages devoted to
caves, for example:
http://www.npca.org/parks/oregon-caves-national-monument.html
David Locklear
caver in Fort Bend county
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--- Begin Message ---
Here are a couple of short videos showing tremendous airflow from Crevice Cave, MO. Pretty amazing!
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jir34Ms-XwQ>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRLQoDsNQT8>
Mark Minton
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--- Begin Message ---
I am curious what is planned for the last day of convention-Sunday, July 26?
Is Sunday a full day?
The first day of the CRF-Mammoth Cave post convention field trip is Monday,
July 27 and without a jet plane the timing is tight.
I am guessing it is an 18 hour trip by truck between Kerrville and Hamilton
Valley.
If the schedule is not final and details are still being worked out, we can
manage ok. We'll arrive at MaCa a little late, that's all.
Preston in Outer Browder, KY
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Forwarded by Mixon:
Begin forwarded message:
From: ICS 2009 eList <[email protected]>
List-Post: [email protected]
Date: May 29, 2009 10:55:20 AM CDT
To: [email protected]
Subject: 15th ICS – Day passes
Dear Friends,
We have recently received some questions: Will day passes be available
for the 15th International Congress of Speleology (ICS)? Yes! You can
only register for day passes at the ICS, not in advance. The prices
will be:
Sunday, 19 July: $50
Monday, 20 July: $50 + optional Howdy Party for $35
Tuesday, 21 July: $50
Wednesday, 22 July: $50 + optional the trip expense which varies
according to the trip selected (no additional charge for the evening
campground party or auction) or $15 for the campground party and
auction only
Thursday, 23 July: $50
Friday, 24 July: $50 + optional NSS Banquet for $38
Saturday, 25 July: $50 + optional ICS Banquet for $38
Sunday, 26 July: $50
Except for the special Wednesday trips (and other trips throughout the
week), all of the optional items above are included within the price
of regular registration. The day passes will not include the guidebook
and proceedings which are also included with regular registration.
Copies will be available for sale.
Again, day passes can only be purchased at the ICS in Kerrville. If
you wish to register now before the price goes up on 1 June, or before
early registration closes on 8 June, go to https://secure.concentric.com/ics2009.us/register/
and visit our website, www.ics2009.us, for more information.
George
George Veni, Ph.D.
Chairman, 15th International Congress of Speleology
Adjunct Secretary, International Union of Speleology
Executive Director, U.S. National Cave and Karst Research Institute
----
You have received this message because you are subscribed to the 2009
ICS eList. To unsubscribe, please visit:
http://ics2009mail.nfshost.com/pommo/user/
---------------------------------------------
He who renders warfare fatal to all engaged in it will be the greatest
benefactor the world has yet known. - Sir Richard Burton
----------------------------------------------
You may "reply" to the address this message
came from, but for long-term use, save:
Personal: [email protected]
AMCS: [email protected] or [email protected]
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Hi,
I'm forwarding a summary from Bill Stone about the last few weeks
at J2.
Cheers,
David
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To all J2 2009 Participants:
The last of the derig crew for J2 2009 is down the mountain. All
personnel are out safely with no accidents, although there were a
harrowing 4 days when several team members were trapped beyond the
Surprise Sump and out of food -- 5 dived through the sump on Scuba after
3 days to get food and emergency rescue diving gear... but that's
another story.
The final push was 19 days underground, beginning on May 5. Jose
Morales and myself spent 7-1/2 days of that time at Camp 4. Quick
summary: Sump 3 was explored for 170 m and definitively connects to the
head of Sump 4, carrying flow into it.
Sump 4 saw 3 exploratory dives. The first surfaced into an infeeder
tunnel at 170m penetration but was not passable. The second dive
searched the north and east walls of this tunnel looking for possible
continuations. The main tunnel was 8 to 12 m wide by up to 12m tall.
The continuation was discovered by Jose in a 5x5m tunnel on the north
wall about 105m into the sump. On the third dive in Sump 4 this was
pushed to 350m penetration in 8 to 10m wide x 5 to 8m tall borehole.
Jose surfaced in an airbell but the tunnel continued shallow below and
appears to be rising. Another very large airbell was discovered at
about 200m penetration that appears to have dry borehole heading east
and west about 5m above the water surface. At that point we ran out of
diving consumables -- had we been able to muster two more duffels of
replacement gas, absorbent, and dive line from the surface I am certain
we would have cracked the sump. But by this time the team was down to 8
and there was no backup team on the surface.
The most striking thing about the final diving push from Camp 4,
and the reason it took us so long to figure out what was going on is
that the cave took a totally unexpected turn and now heads predominantly
on a 240 degree heading, almost perpendicular to Cheve... with a current
closure gap of less than 1 km !!!!! Altogether we mapped about 600 m
of underwater tunnels in addition to the dry cave surveyed by Matt
Covington and Marcin Gala. The result is a complete change in
direction to the cave.
Meanwhile, Yuri Schwartz and Sergey Tkachenko worked on climbing
leads from Camp 3. They climbed all of the major dome leads that
had remained from 2006. All either connected back into the main
passage or ended in breakdown.
While Yuri and Sergey were completing the final climb Jose and
I met with David Ochel, Vickie Siegel, and Nikki Green and began
the derig upwards to Camp 2A. It was after 2 days of hauling that
we reached Surprise Sump and found it closed.... Jonas later indicated
that he believes we had an early onset of the rainy season this year.
Rains persisted for four days and abated to heavy misting. By this
time Yuri and Sergey had packed Camp 3 and arrived at Camp 2A.
They and David Ochel graciously volunteered to return to Sump 2
and retrieve two of the side mount carbon tanks, hoods and masks
to allow for an emergency egress through Surprise Sump. I did the
exploratory upstream dive and set up a phone link. Then Jose and
I shuffled people through on the 9mm safety rope we had installed.
Sergey, Yuri, and Vickie dived through in addition to Jose and myself
and we then move the egress operation to Camp 1. We left
a drysuit for David Ochel and he and Nikki Green (who cannot dive)
remained at the bivouac while we sent a team to the surface
for a full helmet dive system and food. Thanks to the
new Michie phones we were able to keep hourly contact with the
entire team and just prior to the surface team returning with the
emergency dive gear the sump broke with 10 cm of air space. David
then pulled 9 duffels of derig gear (in addition to the four Jose hauled
earlier) and we had everyone out on the upstream side of the
ex sump. It took 2 more days to derig to the surface.
We expect to finalize the survey data in the next week and
will announce a new depth and length for the cave at that time -- we reached
a depth of 20 meters in Sump 4. Vickie Siegel will be drafting the
formal J2 map (with Last Bash) over the summer with help from
other team members who have interest.
I will be working over the next 8 months with Marcin Gala,
Matt Covington, and Jon Lilestollen as time permits to help with
planning a return effort, mainly to connect Last Bash and bypass the
Surprise Sump in 2010 in preparation for a more rigorous return
to Sump 4 in 2011. Before leaving we spent considerable effort
and successfully secured the political situation on the mountain
that should benefit the 2010 expedition.
Although 2009 extracted an extraordinary price in sweat for the
meters of passage gained, I am extremely optimistic that what
was done this year has set us up for a major breakthrough.
I would like to personally thank each and every one of the participants
who helped make the 2009 J2 project happen. The team dynamics
were excellent and I hope that we can maintain that achievement
in the future.
Sincerely,
Bill Stone
Leader
Proyecto Cheve
May 27, 2009
from Nautla, Mexico
--
David Ochel, mailto:[email protected]
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