Re: [Texascavers] article on Texas gypsum karst
--- Begin Message --- Thanks, Bill ! When would you be able to layout the GCSNA publication for the TSS ? No hurry; just want to know your schedule. Thanks ! Jerry. -Original Message- From: Mixon Bill via Texascavers To: Cavers Texas Cc: Mixon Bill Sent: Tue, Jan 16, 2018 8:03 pm Subject: [Texascavers] article on Texas gypsum karst http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/ijs/vol46/iss2/4/ -- Mixon A chicken is the egg's way of creating another egg. You may "reply" to the address this message (unless it's a TexasCavers list post) came from, but for long-term use, save: Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu AMCS: a...@mexicancaves.org or edi...@mexicancaves.org ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Lascaux Museum
--- Begin Message --- If only some of the wet and muddy crawlway caves were so easy to exit ! Jerry. -Original Message- From: John Brooks via Texascavers To: texascavers Cc: John Brooks Sent: Fri, Dec 22, 2017 8:52 am Subject: [Texascavers] Lascaux Museum https://www.archdaily.com/868408/lascaux-iv-snohetta-plus-casson-mann?ad_medium=adbo_17 New Lascaux Museum. This is what architects think caves look like. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] 2017 related
--- Begin Message --- Well said by both Geary and John ! Jerry Atkinson. -Original Message- From: John Brooks via Texascavers To: texascavers Cc: John Brooks Sent: Tue, Dec 12, 2017 1:01 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] 2017 related Well said Mr President Schindel. Keep on tweeting. My divisive fingers know where the delete button is when I feel the need to not read something. As for David - well I have said it before to him and will say it again to a wider audience. Write a freaking book. He is missing out on leveraging an obvious talent of gab and speaking from a unique voice about the world he sees. Sent from my iPhone > On Dec 12, 2017, at 1:42 PM, Geary Schindel via Texascavers > wrote: > > Folks, > > I enjoy reading most posts by David and have come to admire him for his > eccentric personality and heart felt writing. David has some time on his > hands because of the nature of his work. This allows him to explore topics > and ponder questions many of us never think about. David is an important part > of our caving community and deserves some respect. > > His posts reminds me of the monograph from Squire Lewis titled Chronicles of > the Old Reading Grotto which was published some years ago. It is about a trip > Squire and other cavers from Pennsylvania took to the 1968? NSS Convention in > California. The book wasn't so much about caving, though they did some as > they traveled to California and then back again by way of Mexico, Texas, TAG, > etc. but more about the road less traveled and personifies what it meant to > be a caver (and maybe still does). > > David is a kind and gentle soul and would do anything in his power to help > you out if you needed it. He has no ill will towards anyone. He sometimes > scrapes by in life and yet has one of the most positive attitudes of anyone I > know. > > The internet is a big and sometimes ugly place. Some people hide behind their > computer screens and write all kinds of nasty things about others, > distortions and even outright lies, play passive aggressive games, and bully > people. It can also be used to bridge cultural gaps, make friends you'll > never meet, educate yourself or hide from society, and it lets you explore > the world from your desktop. > > Charlie loves to tease David in a good natured way and I also enjoy his posts > but others go out of their way to harass and even bully. Maybe a little more > respect for others would be in order. > > Geary > > -Original Message- > From: Texascavers [mailto:texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com] On Behalf Of > JAMES JASEK via Texascavers > Sent: Sunday, December 10, 2017 6:46 PM > To: texascavers@texascavers.com > Cc: JAMES JASEK > Subject: Re: [Texascavers] 2017 related > > such crap > >> On Dec 10, 2017, at 5:49 PM, David via Texascavers >> wrote: >> >> This post is just an off-topic commentary, and probably is totally >> irrelevant, but I think some of it will affect caving in 2018 and beyond. >> >> >> >> 2017 is starting to look like 2016 - just a faded memory. >> >> There are just 21 days until the big New Year's Eve parties. The NSS >> is having one. [ contact: fennig...@gmail.com ] >> >> So it is almost time to reflect on the past 12 months, and ponder the future >> of 2018. >> >> Some of you may recall movies and books in the 1970s and 1980s about what >> 2018 would be like. Some of us, are about to find out for ourselves, in >> person. >> >> https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1289962600l/4339742.jpg >> >> >> >> Do not believe the media. There are things to look forward to in 2018. >> The computer and tech world is rapidly changing. Tiny computers called >> SBC's ( like the RaspberyPi ) are going to be a huge opportunity for the >> folks that are into that. Linux on the desktop computer is going to more >> user-friendly and work on more hardware. [ I am working on a blog about >> that: >> >> >> http://david-locklear.blogspot.com/2017/12/linux-opinions.html?m=1. ] >> >> Space companies are going to impress us with launches landings and videos. >> >> Sophia the Robot and her counterparts at Boston Dynamics are going to do >> more fascinating stuff - probably baton-twirling while doing cartwheels, or >> tap-dancing with Fred Astaire moves, or moonwalking like Michael Jackson, or >> doing the splits while jiving like James Brown. >> >> Talking computers is going to be a big deal in 2018. >> >> The internet will continue to degrade with so many advertisments and >> censorship that it will be almost worthless. >> >> A million people will spend over $ 1,000 on their cell-phone plus >> accessories. >> >> Millions of people will waste money on a 4K tv in 2018. >> >> 2018 will be the end of 720p. >> >> Thousands of people are going to die un-naturally in The Middle East in >> 2018, but the same thing can be said of Texas just in car accidents. >> >> It is possible the first 100 fee
Re: [Texascavers] Tom Meador related
--- Begin Message --- Thanks, David ! Jerry Atkinson. -Original Message- From: PRESTON FORSYTHE via Texascavers To: texascavers Cc: PRESTON FORSYTHE Sent: Fri, Dec 8, 2017 4:12 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Tom Meador related Tom Meador-Interesting and amazing David found that. Preston in KY On Friday, December 8, 2017 3:49 PM, David via Texascavers wrote: My Google settings notified me today that someone named Cecil Meador passed away. I thought that was worth looking into, and assumed it must somehow be related to Tom Meador. According to his obituary he was the father of noted speleologist Tom Meador http://www.gosanangelo.com/story/news/local/2017/12/05/homestead-rancher-oilman-cecil-meador-known-his-quick-wit/810114001/ ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Omega-Pacific carabiner recall :
--- Begin Message --- If you own this carabiner, send it back. https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2018/Omega-Pacific-Recalls-Carabiners-Due-to-Risk-of-Injury-or-Death Jerry Atkinson. Chairman - Southwestern Region of the NSS --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Has anyone got a copy of this cave book ?
--- Begin Message --- Hypogene Karst Regions and Caves of the World , 1st ed. 2017 Edition by Alexander Klimchouk (Editor), Arthur N. Palmer (Editor), Jo De Waele (Editor), Augusto S. Auler (Editor), Philippe Audra (Editor) It's available from about $202 - $232 on Amazon.com, and there is a eBook edition that isn't much cheaper. I'd like to look at a copy before spending the money. Jerry Atkinson. jerryat...@aol.com --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Sort of related to Gunnel's Cave
--- Begin Message --- Who cares? It's just fun to read ! Jerry. -Original Message- From: Charles Loving via Texascavers To: Cavers Texas Cc: Charles Loving Sent: Mon, Nov 6, 2017 6:05 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Sort of related to Gunnel's Cave Once again what is the relevance to this report? On Mon, Nov 6, 2017 at 2:18 PM, David via Texascavers wrote: http://www.shelbycountytexashistory.net/neuvillecave.htm The error in the height of the only room should read 20 feet. However the room is acute-trapezoid shaped with the top base being 3 feet, so there is only head-room for about 20 standing people in that room. Whatever trees they are referring to must have been removed. It is a pine-tree farm with about 15 year old trees all in rows. One serious cave trip took place in 1999. ( Which was the first attempt at The East Texas Caver's Cookout. ) A.S.S. had 4 trips in the late 80s, mostly just me and another caver. One of the few caves that my estranged-brother ever went in with me. I bet locals frequent this cave monthly and drink beer and smoke in it. 7 miles due south of the town of Center, just a 1/2 mile west of the highway to San Augustine. David Locklear ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers -- Charlie Loving ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Ambient Temperature of Deep Cave
--- Begin Message --- Depends on the area of the cave. The entrance hall can be up to 76 degF in the summer months. The deeper portions of the cave have a relatively constant temperature of 67 degF based on multi-year data. Jerry. -Original Message- From: Robert B via Texascavers To: Texascavers Cc: Robert B Sent: Tue, Oct 17, 2017 9:06 am Subject: [Texascavers] Ambient Temperature of Deep Cave What is the ambient temperature of deep cave ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] A landowner obituary
--- Begin Message --- Thanks, David. I wasn't aware that Mr. Hargrove had passed. Jerry. -Original Message- From: David via Texascavers To: CaveTex Cc: David Sent: Wed, Sep 27, 2017 8:12 am Subject: [Texascavers] A landowner obituary >From David Locklear I do not know how this got over-looked, but the landowner of the 3 big caves out in Langtry passed away in March of 2016 http://www.gwcoxmemorialfuneralhome.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=3634090&fh_id=14259 In the mid-1980's I was on very good terms with the previous owner of the ranch. He welcomed cavers with open-arms.There were many trips by lots of grotto's probably, but it was the Aggies place that we focused on. Sometime around 1989, the ranch was sold to Mr. Hargrove. He was real nice at first, but cavers were wanting to come out all the time, and he was not aware of the previous relationship, nor was he interested, and was worried about liability and stuff. he let us come out about 3 times, and then started asking for $ 100 per person. When I mentioned that at a TSA event, or through the grapevine, the attitude was screw him, cavers will just go to other caves like H.T. Myers Cave or Bustamante, or even Devil's Sinkhole ( I think ), maybe even to Valdina Farms Sinkhole. So I was getting into other stuff then, and was more interested in trips to Midnight Cave and to The Illusive Pit, in Coahuila.So I blew it off until the 94 NSS Convention came up. There was a lot going on back in 94, but I managed to leave the caves rigged thru the convention for free and 3 trips took place. ( at least 6 cavers got really sick, and I was one of them. ). Mr. Hargrove let me take another 2 or 3 trips of small groups of GHG cavers around 1995 or 1996, and I never went back. Joe Ivy had called me the week before he passed away, and asked for the landowner's info and that he wanted to re-ignite a project out there.I have no idea if any cavers have been out there in the last 20 years. I contacted the landowners's niece on Facebook about 2 years ago, and she said the caves were open only to paying customers. I know I shared that info with enough cavers that someone could have investigated the matter. In the so called "Golden Days of Texas Caving," cavers would have been pall-bearers at his funeral, or at least done something noteworthy. They would have at least published an article about him. Right ?? He has a large family of descendants on Facebook. I sent a note to about 20 of them on behalf of Texas cavers offering our condolences. Two of his grandkids responded with a thank you. I had unsubscribed from CaveTex about 6 weeks ago.I needed a hiatus. The realities of life are kicking me in the ***.But some of you might have noticed that I just vented in other places instead. I have spent most of 2017 in a cheap motel in Houston. For the past month, it was the Regency Inn on the northwest side of Houston. I have been affected by Tropical Storm Harvey due to the courthouse being closed for 32 plus days, and that is where I work out of delivering subpoenas for attorneys.Various storm-related services were worthless, especially the Red Cross, but I managed to get Bush Beans to send me 2 large cans of delicious baked beans, and Chicken-of-the-Sea sent me $ 3.00 worth of Albacore Tuna.So please buy their products when you go shopping for groceries. I am not hurting, but just digging deeper into debt and going stir-crazy insane from boredom. My recent obsession with Linux computers has helped me cope. David Locklear P.S. For you newbies, the 3 big caves are Emerald Sink, Langrtry Quarry Cave, and Langtry Lead Cave. Emerald Sink has lots of bats and dusty guanos and sections so filled with bats and guanos, that few cavers have been in them.The bottom of Emerald Sink seemed to have bad air when we were there in 1994. Langtry Quarry Cave has an unstable entrance, but there is a fun climb just passed the twilight zone.I have never been down in the Rift Passage, as we always ran out of time, trying to do the trips on a 2 day weekend. Langtry Lead Cave has several fun free-climbs, some walking passage, a small room full of breakdown, a long crawlway over pepples, and fun climb-down, and then a really cool but tiny room, "The Hall of Unicorns." Then it gets vertical with several back to back short 40 foot pits, that seem to go no where. There are likely lots of caves out in that area, especially shelter caves along the creek that runs thru Pandale, just north of Langtry. I have not been out there in 20 years. There is probably a wi-fi McDonalds on top of Langtry Quarry Cave, and a Dollar General Store next door.Right ?? ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texasca
Re: [Texascavers] New TCMA Website!!!
--- Begin Message --- Very nice job! Jerry. jerryat...@aol.com -Original Message- From: Bennett Lee via Texascavers To: 'texascavers@texascavers.com' ; bexargrotto Cc: Bennett Lee Sent: Fri, Sep 1, 2017 6:26 pm Subject: [Texascavers] New TCMA Website!!! I am pleased to announce a brand new TCMA website has launched! Yes, the 1990s website is gone, and TCMA now has a modern look and a plethora of new online features, including: Mobile-friendly! Looks great from your desktop down to your mobile device, complete with reduced bandwidth for mobile devices. Social media buttons! A single click of can share any page or post on your favorite social media platform. Facebook feeds! You don’t need Facebook to see what’s happening with the TCMA—recent posts show directly on the TCMA home page. Auto-renewing membership! Online memberships can now be optionally renewed each year! Finally! Sustaining donations! We can now accept monthly Sustaining Donations online. Sustaining Donations are a huge help to the TCMA both for budgeting and for establishing monthly revenue, which is fundamental to cave acquisitions. You can donate as little $5/month. Plus, TCMA membership is included with your Sustaining Donation! Start your Sustaining Donation today. See all these features and more at: https://www.tcmacaves.org Don’t forget to support the TCMA with our Amazon link at the top right of each page. Note that this link is different than Amazon Smile, and the link contributes 10x more than Smile. For details, see the bottom of the TCMA home page. Bennett Lee TCMA Webmaster ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Anyone know where caver Dale Ellison is living :
--- Begin Message --- Last I knew he was living in Fort Worth back in 2011. If you know how to get a hold of him, please contact me off list. Thanks ! Jerry Atkinson. jerryat...@aol.com --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Cave Diving in Budapest :
--- Begin Message --- What It's Like to Cave Dive in Budapest http://www.scubadiving.com/what-its-like-to-cave-dive-in-budapest Jerry jerryat...@aol.com --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] CAVERS
--- Begin Message --- Thanks, OMW ! Jerry. -Original Message- From: Charles Loving via Texascavers To: Cavers Texas Cc: Charles Loving Sent: Thu, Aug 3, 2017 3:04 pm Subject: [Texascavers] CAVERS -- Charlie Loving ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] NMSU professor, students assist with endangered bat species research :
--- Begin Message --- NMSU professor, students assist with endangered bat species research An endangered species of bat is being monitored by a team of researchers at New Mexico State University. Mexican long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris nivalis) pollinate agave plants used in Mexican tequila. Researchers are inserting small trackers under the skin of the bats to study their migration patterns from Mexico to caves in Southwestern New Mexico, Texas and California. Stoner, a faculty member in the NMSU College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, is part of the Nivalis Conservation Network, a binational group of researchers working to conserve this particular bat species. Bat Conservation International initiated this collaborative research effort last year. See complete article below. http://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/non-local-news-releases/38426-nmsu-professor-students-assist-with-endangered-bat-species-research Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] looking for tips - caving in Missouri
--- Begin Message --- While I personally agree with Dr. Tuttle's message regarding the effectiveness of current WNS decon protocols on reducing the spread rate of Pd and WNS in the US, I believe that it is somewhat irrelevant to the issue of whether we, as cavers should comply to mandated decon regulations. Cavers tend to chafe at being told to do things that they don't agree with, no matter how trivial or easy it is to comply with. Nonetheless, the NSS, as an organization that attempts to embody national recognition and respect amongst the different federal and state regulatory agencies that manage public lands, should maintain a hard line on caver and member compliance. -- Not start an online discussion about the relevancy of the protocols in the guise of educating the membership. It is disappointing that after the Ely debacle in 2016, and increased concern on the part of the federal agencies to address the WNS issue, that the leadership of the NSS continues to nibble at the edges of dissent, instead of guiding the NSS through a time of trouble. Jerry Atkinson Chairman - SWR of the National Speleological Society. -Original Message- From: C Tiderman via Texascavers To: texascavers Cc: C Tiderman ; greater_houston_grotto Sent: Tue, Jul 25, 2017 9:47 am Subject: Re: [Texascavers] looking for tips - caving in Missouri Attached Message From C Tiderman To texascavers@texascavers.com Cc Geary Schindel ; greater_houston_gro...@yahoogroups.com Subject Re: [Texascavers] looking for tips - caving in Missouri Date Tue, 25 Jul 2017 15:47:06 + (UTC) It is easier to blame the cavers than accept that we are not able to control a natural process. The decon mandate makes it look like we are doing something and gives some folks the warm fuzzies. Cleaning gear should be a normal process, kinda nice not dealing with the end result of wet muddy gear that was stuffed in a plastic bag and left there for a few weeks. Carol From: Geary Schindel via Texascavers To: "texascavers@texascavers.com" Cc: Geary Schindel ; "greater_houston_gro...@yahoogroups.com" Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2017 11:26 AM Subject: Re: [Texascavers] looking for tips - caving in Missouri Folks, While I think that cleaning gear is a great idea for a lot of reasons, it was very interesting to listen to Dr. Tuttle’s Keynote presentation on WNS and bats at the NSS Convention Friday Banquet. To paraphrase him, Deconning of equipment will do no good in preventing the spread of WNS. There has been no documented case of the transmittal of WNS by cavers and bats are doing a great job already. WNS will spread across the continent, killing an untold number of bats, and there is nothing that cavers can do about it. Any thought out there in caver land. Geary Schindel gschin...@edwardsaquifer.org From: Texascavers [mailto:texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com]On Behalf Of Galen Falgout via Texascavers Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2017 10:14 AM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Cc: Galen Falgout ; greater_houston_gro...@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Texascavers] looking for tips - caving in Missouri And make sure that gear gets decon after caving in the ozarks the have WNS very bad there! On Tue, Jul 25, 2017 at 9:30 AM Jim Kennedy via Texascavers wrote: Contact Jonathan Beard, and tell him Crash sent you. He's in the NSS Members Manual. Jim Mobile email from my iPhone > On Jul 25, 2017, at 9:21 AM, jaycc Jordan via Texascavers > wrote: > > > Hello cavers, > > I'm a member of the Greater Houston Grotto and I am visiting family in > Springfield Missouri until this Sunday. > > I know there are tons of caves in this area and the Ozark mountains > > I have my caving gear and I would love to do at least one wild cave while I > am here, I don't mind traveling a bit out of the way either. So, if anyone > has any tips on where I should go or if you want to go caving with me please > let me know. > > Thank you! > > - Jordan > ___ > Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com > Texascavers@texascavers.com | > Archives:http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ > http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives:http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http:
[Texascavers] Underground chamber world’s fourth largest - La Muñeca Fea in Puebla, Mexico :
--- Begin Message --- Underground chamber world’s fourth largest Expedition into La Muñeca Fea revealed the enormous size of Puebla cave room http://mexiconewsdaily.com/mexicolife/underground-chamber-worlds-fourth-largest/ Jerry Atkinson. --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] a grotto program suggestion
--- Begin Message --- That's a pretty cool video. Beautiful bedrock in the cave ! Jerry. -Original Message- From: David via Texascavers To: texascavers Cc: David Sent: Sat, Jun 10, 2017 2:47 pm Subject: [Texascavers] a grotto program suggestion A presentation about the cave in the link below would be noteworthy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zTO7CyirkY David Locklear NSS # 27639 P.S. I still have no idea if I will drive to the Howdy Party.Yesterday, my LG V10 smartphone, got super hot and locked up.I had some very important data on it that I should have backed up. Apparently, there are ways to get to that data. But I had to rush to the T-Mobile store and purchase a new phone without doing any research.I went with the LG G6, and have been tinkering with it for several hours. I can't yet see enough difference, to call it a noticeable upgrade, although it is the best phone I have ever had. I had left my old V10 phone in the car last night, while I slept, and decided I better go take the battery out of it, and I found the phone almost too hot to touch. I could have fried an egg on it. I have had the V10 phone about a year, I think. Before buying the G6, I went to Batteries-Plus store and tried a new battery in the old V10, but that did not help. YouTube shows the design flaw of the heat dispersion of the LG V10, and presumable the V20.Hopefully, the G6 is not the same. I have not yet check. I paid a whole lot of money for the V10, so I am disappointed in LG. If the G6 lets me down, they will have lost a customer. I have bought a lot of LG products over the years. If I do make it to the Howdy Party, I will be posting my stuff and photos using the LG G6, and will know in about a month whether it is a great phone or not. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Anybody out there still blogging ?
--- Begin Message --- Hear, Hear ! What would the world of caving be without the adventures of Locklear ! I hope that someone has archived the combined posts of our brethren caver David so that a future anthology can be written. "The book of David: Musings from the Zona de Silencio." Jerry. -Original Message- From: Marvin and Lisa via Texascavers To: texascavers Cc: Marvin and Lisa Sent: Thu, Jun 1, 2017 7:31 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Anybody out there still blogging ? Yeah. Despite his statements to the negative, I’m looking forward to reading David’s narrative of his dramatic, last-minute, desperate, midnight ramble across Texas and New Mexico to drink a few beers and take a few selfies at the Howdy Party. Marvin From: Texascavers [mailto:texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com] On Behalf Of Stefan Creaser via Texascavers Sent: Thursday, June 1, 2017 5:37 PM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Cc: Stefan Creaser Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Anybody out there still blogging ? Well at least *somebody* is posting something! Quit complaining and post something cave related then, it’s too quiet here. -Stefan (retired cook and now professional PITA) From: Texascavers [mailto:texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com] On Behalf Of James Jasek via Texascavers Sent: Thursday, June 1, 2017 5:10 PM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Cc: James Jasek Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Anybody out there still blogging ? It is more or less like he is the only one posting on CaveTex and is the reason I got off. Sent from my iPhone On Jun 1, 2017, at 3:06 PM, Louise Power via Texascavers wrote: I thought you said a couple of years ago that you were going to quit emailing because nobody answered. Now nobody is answering the blog. Does this tell you something? From: Texascavers on behalf of David via Texascavers Sent: Thursday, June 1, 2017 11:57 AM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Cc: David Subject: [Texascavers] Anybody out there still blogging ? I have decided to give blogging another try.My previous attempts failed miserably to annoy anybody. I am not sure how you find me on a blog, but I think the link below shows 10 post that I blogged over the last 4 years. https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6768672593579462012 Blogger www.blogger.com Free weblog publishing tool from Google, for sharing text, photos and video. Below is an example of a post that I added to my blog I today. http://david-locklear.blogspot.com/2017/06/mageia-6-release-candidate-may-2017.html I should I have another blog out there somewhere on the web that I have not used in years, from before the blog above started. The NSS Convention is just 19 days away. In order for me to attend that I would want to leave Houston by Thursday the 15th, or Friday the 16th. But knowing my past attempts, I will probably leave late, and arrive late. I have some new drama this year that I did not have on my road-trip to Nevada last summer. I ma living in a motel, and it would be stupid to pay for a motel here in Houston, during the days I am out of town.While that would only be about $ 280 thrown away, it is still just stupid. Moving out of the motel, would be complicated as I have most of my stuff here just as I would in a furnished apartment, It would take a full-day to pack up and store all my stuff in storage.That would just be inconvenient, as I would have to repeat the process when coming back.Plus I do not want to lose this particular room as it is the best one in the motel.My next issue is 2 shyster customers ripped me off and it is starting to look like I am going to lose about $ 1,400.My next issue, is my gas-guzzling Seqouia needs lots of maintenance. If I were a betting person, I would bet that I do not make it to the Howdy Party this year. So realistically, I need to lower my expectations, and just try to attend the Tuesday festivities only and just get a Day Pass. David Locklear ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers IMPORTANT NOTICE: The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential and may also be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose the contents to any other person, use it for any purpose, or store or copy the information in any medium. Thank you. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers --- End Message --- ___ Te
[Texascavers] Apache hires U.S. cave institute to study water in West Texas’ Alpine High oil field :
--- Begin Message --- Apache hires U.S. cave institute to study water in West Texas’ Alpine High oil field Posted by David Hunn Date: May 26, 2017 Houston oil and gas company Apache Corp. has hired the nation’s preeminent cave research institute to study the aquifers around Balmorhea State Park, home to the famous San Solomon Springs. In September, Apache announced it found 15 billion barrels of oil and gas in southern Reeves County. The company has promised to keep drilling out of the park and avoid sensitive ecologies. But the region is webbed with aquifers — water that filters through porous rock underground — and underground streams running through cave formations called karst. And no one really knows how those formations zig and zag. RELATED: State admits it doesn’t know if drilling will harm springs Apache says that it has a good grasp of the area’s geology, but that it wants to understand the aquifers better. So it hired the National Cave and Karst Research Institute to sift through any previous studies on West Texas aquifers and help Apache determine how to protect the water. The aquifers provide water for drinking, farmland, tourism and endangered species, like the Comanche Springs pupfish. Apache doesn’t want oil and water to mix, said institute director George Veni. “It’s not good for the people drinking the water,” he said. “It’s not good for business.” But to minimize or prevent impact, the region has to understand the aquifers better, he said. “We’ve know we’ve got some springs. We know we’ve got an aquifer,” he said. “But there’s very little known about it. And so identifying those crucial, vulnerable drainage areas, relative to the proposed drilling, is a big unknown. It needs to be done.” http://fuelfix.com/blog/2017/05/26/apache-corp-hires-u-s-cave-institute-to-study-water-in-west-texas-alpine-high-oil-field/ --- End Message --- ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Article on the old North Texas Speleological Society :
Back in the Day: North Texas Speleological Society Bridget Knight , Wichita Falls 1:00 a.m. CT Feb. 22, 2017 Times Record News (Photo: TRN Archives) Decades have passed since anyone passed along news about the North Texas Speleological Society, but the dedicated group of caving enthusiasts were routinely in the news from the 1960's to 1990. Wichita Falls apparently had a fascination with those who ventured toward the center of the earth. In 1973, 11 members traveled to Wilson Cave northwest of San Antonio, getting rare permission to explore the cave from landowner Elmo Wilson in exchange for helping Wilson enlarge the cave's entrance. During the first day of their visit, the men widened the entrance and a 12-foot crawlway leading to the main cavern, while the women and children camped out. When the families ventured into the cave on the second day, all heralded 2-year-old Joanna Hoffman as "the littlest speleologist." Among those participating were Joanna and her parents, Ann and Joe Hoffman; Bonnie, Andrea, Norman and John Jenkins; Joey and Stacy Hoffman, and Jerry David and Diane Metler. By the 1980's, the North Texas Speleological Society included members from around the region, and was organizing trips to caves as far as 1,000 miles away, as well as hosting classes to pass on their skills and love of below-ground exploration. http://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/life/back-in-the-day/2017/02/22/back-day-north-texas-speleological-society/98012162/ Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] [SWR CAVERS] How to photograph a cave
If you like Robbie's photos, then check out his portfolio gallery on his website. http://www.shonephotography.com/portfolios/ Jerry Atkinson. -Original Message- From: Lee H. Skinner To: SWR Mailing List ; texascavers list ; Sandia Grotto Sent: Tue, Feb 21, 2017 1:08 pm Subject: [SWR CAVERS] How to photograph a cave >From the National Geographic website today: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2017/02/how-to-photograph-a-cave/ Lee skinner -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Southwestern Cavers of the National Speleological Society" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to swrcavers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to swrcav...@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/swrcavers. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/swrcavers/62b15ae9-c79e-41b6-3642-255f857baf0a%40thuntek.net. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Why We Don't Share Cave Locations :
Chuck Sutherland A Tennessee naturalist's photography, maps, and projects. 2016/11/20 Why We Don't Share Cave Locations People often ask myself and other cavers to give them cave locations and cave information. I always reply, "I don't give out cave locations". Not knowing the history of reasons why I do this, I am often asked why. This is my response. We love to hang out with, and take new people caving. Some see us as stingy stodgy keepers of secrets (and some cavers are), but I see myself as a gate keeper. I am not all powerful, and I am fallible, but my knowledge extends far beyond what an inexperienced caver (or spelunker as they often call themselves) does. That is important because the conservation ethic we practice on the surface doesn't always work underground. Also the way we understand our environment to keep ourselves safe doesn't work the same way underground. These two key issues are the main reason why I won't give out cave locations. First, let's address the conservation issue. If you consider the combined historical, archaeological, paleontological, biological, and mineralogical resources of a cave to be finite (which they are), then they can be used up. We consume cave resources by destroying them. And history has shown us over and over again that is what happens when the general public is aware of a cave. Pictured below is a civil war ladder that was burned in a campfire inside a cave no doubt by fools burning their own cultural history. That ladder had been there from at least Civil War era, perhaps longer. https://www.flickr.com/photos/chucksutherland/6138611367 Geologic resources are vandalized. Folks spray paint on walls and formations. They break formations accidentally and on purpose and remove them from the cave. These resources do not renew on a timescale that humans can appreciate. In other words, they will not return in our lifetime. Bats and other critters in caves can be adversely affected by human presence. A recent cave I visited had an estimated 500 dead endangered gray bats laying on the ground because someone went through the cave during the wrong time of year. I think that if the person had been properly educated those bats lives would have been saved, and bats lives are worth saving. I have seen caves that have been dug up where people were pot hunting (looking for Native American artifacts). I have seen prehistoric Native American art covered with modern day spray paint. And in case you're wondering why the Native American's art is more important than modern spray paint (yes, this is a stupid question that I am frequently asked) then please bear with me while I use the rules of capitalism to assess the values of each. Spraypaint - common, easy to find and reproduce. The value of knowing who Johnny was with at this undisclosed period of time is virtually worthless because it is in such prolific quantity. It's less than worthless, because it's potentially obstructing other information of more value. See below. Native American art - rare, difficult to find, impossible to reproduce. The limited nature of this particular resource makes Native American art very valuable by supply and demand. No one is selling this stuff, but for the people who study it, it is highly valuable. Below is a photo of modern vandalism adjacent to bear claw marks. Bears haven't lived in caves in Tennessee for some time. I can't speculate as to the age of these claw marks, but they may be Pleistocene. I wonder if the vandal would have felt it so important to leave their mark in the mud if they knew what it was next to? https://www.flickr.com/photos/chucksutherland/30937515890 None of this even touches on the safety issues of caving. Briefly, we cave with helmets, three sources of light, changes of batteries, gloves, boots, elbow pads and knee pads, and a backpack with food, water, and a simple first aid kit. That's the basic stuff. Developing an understanding of what clothing to wear (hint: avoid cotton), and fine tuning your gear can be a long and expensive process unless you have a more experienced group of people who are willing to share their knowledge. We like to teach people the conservation ethic that we learned. And we like folks to be safe underground. This is no different than teaching your kid how to drive a car before giving them keys. You want your kid to be safe, and you don't want your kid to drive into someone's home and destroy it. If you're interested in getting involved in caving, don't ask where caves are, ask where cavers are. Many of us attend monthly meetings at local cave clubs called grottos. I am a member of the Upper Cumberland and Spencer Mountain Grottoes. This is where you want to cut your teeth in caving. You want to meet people, network, and go on caving trips. We hope one day you'll be the one finding new caves and leading caving trips. Here's where you can find you local g
[Texascavers] Volunteers needed for the 2017 NSS Convention, New Mexico :
Hi folks, It's 5 months until the 2017 NSS Convention in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, and time to get serious about the upcoming events. The Convention staff have been working diligently to make this a great Convention, but they need your help. As always, a conventions' success depends on the volunteers that make the gears and wheels of the convention actually turn. Volunteers are needed for a variety of jobs, both pre-, during-, and post-Convention, including Decon station volunteers for both full-day and 2-hourshifts, cave trip leaders, and for Registration andSecurity, among other duties. To date, approximately 200 people have pre-registered for the Convention. I've been told that the best way to get folks to volunteer for something is to directly contact them. People like to be told that their personal contributions are important, and that their commitment to the greater good is much appreciated. I agree with this view and wish that it was a totally viable method to recruit folks for this years' Convention. But the Convention staffers are not clairvoyant nor do they know everyone out in the caving community that may be able to help out. If you've never volunteered at an NSS Convention, or have in the past and found it to be both fun and educational, I hope that you will consider doing so again or will try it out for the first time. It's a great way to find out how your society actually works (or doesn't) and a way for you to become involved in the greater caving community. I encourage any and everyone that may be able to volunteer to contact Meg Sorensen (Convention volunteer coordinator) at volunteer2...@caves.org Meg can fill you in on what's needed and when, and help you figure out a schedule that fits your timeline. Registration for Convention can be done online at: http://nss2017.caves.org/index.php That link provides other Convention-related information as well. I hope to see you in Rio Rancho this summer ! Jerry Atkinson Chairman - Southwestern Region - National Speleological Society Please pass this email on to any individuals or groups that you feel is appropriate. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Green place in Mexico
Cuchillo de Picacho is indeed an igneous intrusive that is dated at 28.8 Ma. There is an associated mineralization region surrounding it that has been mined. It's located in the SW part of the Sierra de Tamaulipas that does have known caves as others have pointed out. One of the more famous caves is Poza Zacaton which has had much written about it. Jerry Atkinson. jerryat...@aol.com -Original Message- From: via Texascavers To: texascavers Sent: Sat, Jan 14, 2017 8:44 am Subject: [Texascavers] Green place in Mexico While cruising around on Google earth the Weazel noticed an interesting looking mountain range that I think is in Tamaulipas and is east of the main range. The peak (actually a valley) that piqued my interest is called El Picacho and is located at 23.397613, -98.563586 about 45 miles SE of Cuidad Victoria. The entire area is very green and undeveloped. Whoever lives in El Picacho probably doesn't get many visitors. Can any of y'all Texicans tell me anything about this mountain range? What is it called? Is it karst? (doesn't look like that to me) What can explain the strange cirque like valley? Is it certain death to go there? Sleaze ___Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.comtexascav...@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] A new children's book: A Dark, Dark Cave :
A Dark, Dark Cave byEric Hoffman, Corey R. Tabor (Illustrations) 3.48 · Rating Details · 130 Ratings · 38Reviews On a cold night, under a pale moon, a brother and sister explore a dark, dark cave. Strange creatures skitter along the walls while bats brush past. A wild howl makes the cave feel just a teensy bit darker. But readers are in for a delightful surprise when a beam of light reveals a softer side of the cave. Told in spare rhyming text alongside stunning illustrations, A Dark, Dark Cave will ignite a young reader's imagination and inspire creative play. This just-spooky-enough story is sure to become a read-aloud favorite. Hardcover, 40 pages PublishedMay 24th 2016 by Viking Books for Young Readers http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26192983-a-dark-dark-cave Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Nonprofit acquires 4-acre cave preserve in Cedar Park, Texas :
Nonprofit acquires 4-acre cave preserve in Cedar Park By Claire Osborn - American-Statesman Staff Posted: 11:00 p.m. Saturday, December 24, 2016 Highlights - The Wilcox Cave preserve has three caves, including two with an endangered beetle species. - The preserve will be open to public only at certain times of the year. There’s a new 4-acre cave preserve in Cedar Park. But it’s not ready for visitors. Fox River Austin Properties, a developer, donated the Wilcox Cave Preserve to the Texas Cave Management Association in early December. The nonprofit will open it up at certain times of the year to help educate the public about caves and the aquifer, said Jay Jorden, an association board member. “We are excited about managing this significant tract of land in an urban area,” Jorden said. The land includes three small caves, including two that are home to an endangered species, the tooth cave ground beetle, also known as Rhadine persephone, said Jim Kennedy, another board member. ”These are not the stand up and walk around caves,” said Kennedy. “They are the squirm and crawl through caves.” Only people with the right equipment and training will be allowed to enter the caves when the preserve is open. According to the Texas Cave Management Association, Fox River Austin Properties worked with another group that has since dissolved, the Texas Cave Conservancy, from 2003 to 2014 to protect and preserve the caves on the property, according to the cave management association. The owner of Fox River Austin Properties couldn’t be reached for comment. The preserve is located at the end of West Park Street in Cedar Park. The association doesn’t want to give its exact location, Kennedy said, because of a fear of trespassers and campers. “It’s a nice, little parcel of native vegetation surrounded by a whole bunch of development,” he said. The property was named after Bertha Wilcox, who used to own a house that still stands on the property. The cave management association hasn’t decided whether to use the home as its headquarters or as a rental. The association plans to eventually build a trail for the public around the preserve, Kennedy said. The land in the preserve is flat and has many types of local trees on it, including live oak, juniper and cedar elm, he said. The Texas Cave Management Association was founded in 1986 and owns nine cave preserves across Central and Southwest Texas. Those caves include the Avery Ranch Cave in Austin, the Robber Baron Cave in San Antonio, the Ezell’s Cave in San Marcos and the Deep and Punkin Cave Preserve in Edwards County. Exploring caves For training on how to become a caver and to eventually be able to visit the Wilcox Cave Preserve, visit the National Speleological Society website at caves.org. If you want to walk inside a cave owned by the Texas Cave Management Association, the group opens up the Avery Ranch Cave Preserve at 9420 Morgan Creek Drive in Northwest Austin at least once a year for a “cave day.” For more information, visit the association’s website at tcmacaves.org. Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com The gated entrance to A.J. & B.L. Wilcox Cave on the newly acquired Wilcox Cave Preserve. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Researchers "Translate" Bat Talk. Turns Out, They Argue—A Lot :
Researchers "Translate" Bat Talk. Turns Out, They Argue—A Lot A machine learning algorithm helped decode the squeaks Egyptian fruit bats make in their roost, revealing that they "speak" to one another as individuals Plenty of animals communicate with one another, at least in a general way—wolves howl to each other, birds sing and dance to attract mates and big cats mark their territory with urine. But researchers at Tel Aviv University recently discovered that when at least one species communicates, it gets very specific. Egyptian fruit bats, it turns out, aren’t just making high pitched squeals when they gather together in their roosts. They’re communicating specific problems, reports Bob Yirka at Phys.org. According to Ramin Skibba at Nature, neuroecologist Yossi Yovel and his colleagues recorded a group of 22 Egyptian fruit bats, Rousettus aegyptiacus, for 75 days. Using a modified machine learning algorithm originally designed for recognizing human voices, they fed 15,000 calls into the software. They then analyzed the corresponding video to see if they could match the calls to certain activities. They found that the bat noises are not just random, as previously thought, reports Skibba. They were able to classify 60 percent of the calls into four categories. One of the call types indicates the bats are arguing about food. Another indicates a dispute about their positions within the sleeping cluster. A third call is reserved for males making unwanted mating advances and the fourth happens when a bat argues with another bat sitting too close. In fact, the bats make slightly different versions of the calls when speaking to different individuals within the group, similar to a human using a different tone of voice when talking to different people. Skibba points out that besides humans, only dolphins and a handful of other species are known to address individuals rather than making broad communication sounds. The research appears in the journal Scientific Reports. “We have shown that a big bulk of bat vocalizations that previously were thought to all mean the same thing, something like ‘get out of here!’ actually contain a lot of information,” Yovel tells Nicola Davis at The Guardian. By looking even more carefully at stresses and patterns, Yovel says, researchers may be able to tease out even more subtleties in the bat calls. This isn't the end of the research, Yirka reports. Yovel and his team want to investigate whether bats are born knowing this “language” or if they learn it over time while living in their colonies. They also want to know if the bats use similar communication outside the roost. To understand that, they will attach microphones to some bats and release them into the wild. Kate Jones, professor of ecology and biodiversity at University College, London, tells Davis that the research is very interesting. “It is like a Rosetta stone to getting into [the bats’] social behaviors. I really like the fact that they have managed to decode some of this vocalization and there is much more information in these signals than we thought,” she says. She says that it might even be possible to use similar techniques to begin understanding nuanced communications in other species as well. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-translate-bat-talk-and-they-argue-lot-180961564/?utm_source=&utm_medium=smithsoniandaily&utm_campaign=email&spMailingID=27416568&spUserID=NzQwNDU4MTU4MjQS1&spJobID=944862046&spReportId=OTQ0ODYyMDQ2S0 Jerry Atkinson. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] David McKenzie - a giant among cavers, has passed :
It is with great sadness that I report the passing of David McKenzie, best known as the author of the Walls cave mapping program. David began exploring caves with the University of Texas Speleological Society in the early 1960’s. This quickly developed into his primary focus, and as mathematics was his field of study, be began to work on computer programs for plotting cave survey data. Cave archives contain many finely drawn maps by David from Texas and Mexico. The most notable among these are from the many expeditions that he made along with James Reddell to the Yucatan Peninsula starting in the early 1970’s, to such places as the Grutas de Balankanche. David drove his Blazer across Mexico, exploring caves such as Sistema Purificación in Tamaulipas, which became the longest known cave in Mexico. During that time, David had developed a computer program that he named Ellipse, which ran only on the mainframe computer at the University of Texas. This benefited many cave exploration projects that were ongoing in Texas and Mexico. By the 1990’s he was hard at work on a personal computer version of his program, which he named Walls. This was the pinnacle of his life’s work, and has been of tremendous benefit to hundreds. For the past 20 years he has constantly maintained and improved Walls, never with any financial benefit whatsoever. David long had an interest in supporting the Texas Speleological Survey, which maintains state cave data. In doing so, he saw the need to develop additional software to support their data gathering mission. So he created WallsMap, a simple and effective GIS program for cavers. David put an enormous amount of his time into gathering and organizing Texas cave data using WallsMap. David always made himself available to assist his user base in answering questions and solving problems. He worked nearly every day, serving the caving community, spending way too much time in front of a computer no doubt. We were so fortunate to have him with us, in so many ways. He will be missed. Peter Sprouse ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Report on Significant Scientific Research in Carlsbad Cavern National Park’s Lechuguilla Cave :
Report on Significant Scientific Research in Carlsbad Cavern National Park’s Lechuguilla Cave By NPS, 8 December 2016 Carlsbad, NM –Pioneering work being carried out in Lechuguilla Cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park by Gerry Wright, Ph.D., McMaster University, Ontario and Hazel Barton, Ph.D., University of Akron, Ohio, is changing the understanding of how antibiotic resistance may have originated. One of the results of this work is a scientific paper, released today, “A Diverse Intrinsic Antibiotic Resitome from a Cave Bacterium.”http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13803 Lechuguilla Cave is one of the longest caves in the world and deepest in the United States. Due to the fragile and highly technical nature of the cave, it has been closed to all except a few scientific researchers and cave experts since its original discovery in 1986. This restricted access makes it an ideal environment to study how microbes have evolved without the influence of humans. This study highlights the importance of caves in the Park and how protection of these irreplaceable resources has proved to be immensely valuable to the researchers studying these environments. Wright and Barton worked together in 2012 to examine microorganisms that had been isolated in the cave for over four million years. They found that these microorganisms were resistant to virtually every antibiotic used to treat disease. Their research suggests that antibiotic resistance has existed naturally for millions of years. Research in Lechuguilla Cave gives scientists time to develop new drugs to combat resistance, potentially decades before it becomes a problem. Carlsbad Cavern’s National Park’s visitor center winter hours are 8 a.m.to 5 p.m. For more information about park regulations, visitation or park tours, call 575-785-2232 or visit www.nps.gov/cave. http://krwg.org/post/report-significant-scientific-research-carlsbad-cavern-national-park-s-lechuguilla-cave Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Florida cave divers set world record for longest underwater cave dive :
Area cave divers set distance record The two divers were underwater for 16 1/2 hours and covered a total of 26,930 feet. By Nicole Wiesenthal Correspondent The Gainesville Sun, posted Nov 15, 2016 at 2:02 PM Two local divers set a new world record Nov. 5 for the longest dive into an underwater cave without resurfacing. Jon Bernot and Charlie Roberson spent about two-thirds of a day exploring Cathedral Sinkhole in Live Oak as part of a mapping project led by Karst Underwater Research. The project is an effort to learn more about the aquifer and impacts of surrounding developments. “By knowing where the system actually goes, it gives us a better idea of how the water is flowing underground,” said Bernot, the owner of Cave Country Dive Shop in Live Oak. “From a hydraulic standpoint, that gives a definitive idea of where the actual water is coming from and potentially what sources of pollution impact that system.” Bernot and Roberson, who lives in Gainesville, went on more than 20 dives in preparation for the explorative dive, Bernot said. The dive was 16½ hours long and covered about 5,500 feet of new passage, traveling a total of 26,930 feet. They beat the previous record of 25,776 feet. Because modern mapping techniques like GPS don't work in a submerged cave, the team had to use a more simple method of measurement. The divers measured the distance by the divers, who tied a knot in string every 10 feet and took a compass reading. During the trip, the pair used 23 SCUBA cylinders of air and 15 closed-circuit rebreathers, Bernot said. The duo used the knotted string to find their way back out of the cave. The dive went smoothly, they said. “We thought (the cave) was shutting down a couple of times and we would go through these lower bedding planes and every time, it would just open back up into this canyon-like passage,” Roberson said. “The cave just keeps going.” Bernot and Roberson both work with Karst Underwater Research, a nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting and researching Karst aquifer surface features and underwater caverns. From their dive, Bernot and Roberson learned that the visibility and conditions don’t improve further into the caves and that several aquatic species still exist in the system, which Bernot said was a good thing. In the future, Bernot said he would like to dive even further. “The cave passage is still going,” he said. “The next dive will probably be approaching 20 hours.” http://www.gainesville.com/news/20161115/area-cave-divers-set-distance-record Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Bacardi adds bat housing to Florida plant :
To the bat cave! Bacardi adds bat housing to Florida plant JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Bacardi has long used a bat as its company logo. Now the liquor industry giant has added bat habitats to its Jacksonville bottling facility. According to a statement from the Bermuda-based company, the three wooden "bat caves" that stand 20 feet off the ground are part of a partnership with Lubee Bat Conservancy. The conservancy's director says there are four bat species found on the Bacardi property. Wildlife experts will monitor the bat populations, but no cameras have been placed in the caves. The three habitats can house up to 500 bats. According to Bacardi's statement, the company has supported bat conservation since 1862 when the founder's wife spotted a colony of fruit bats in its first distillery in Cuba. A bat logo remains on every bottle of Bacardi rum. http://www.dailyprogress.com/to-the-bat-cave-bacardi-adds-bat-housing-to-florida/article_3304e38b-b124-523c-91a7-c0b7ea5fccb4.html Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Texas Caver Magazine Ready (for what...?)
et another hateful caver "family member" who has nothing nice to say, yet can't keep their mouth shut, who never offers positive criticism or maybe an offer to help those who need assistance with something they are new at doing. Sorry that so many people worked their butts off aside from their normal jobs and families to get a publication out that people have been griping about not getting, but not helping to produce, just to make you focus on spelling errors and publication inconsistencies that most people don't know about (yet don't get help finding). Man, I'm so glad to be a part of this group. -sincerely, your pissed off former secretary. On Oct 14, 2016, at 9:12 PM, Jerry via Texascavers wrote: I am in awe. Just a quick perusal of the cover says it all. I'll be waiting for Marvin to return from his time machine trip to 2105. And for grins, I did find that "Haule"is a village consisting of about 610 inhabitants in the municipality of Ooststellingwerf in the east of Friesland in the Netherlands I was astounded to find that I have been spelling "flow stone" incorrectly all these years. And who authored the "Forged in Fire" photo montage of some unknown cave(s) somewhere in Hawaii at some unknown date. At least there were photo captions identifying the people, if not the cave, unlike most of the other articles. I did enjoy the articles, and I appreciate the effort that the authors put forward for the enjoyment of us all. I hope you continue to submit articles in the future despite this issue. Really, folks, I understand that you all wanted to get this issue out before TCR and were probably rushed, but "Damn !" If the polished trappings and fancy layout are the reasons for the bargain basement editing, proofreading, and publication delays, let's consider going back to xerox copies with corner staples that are timely and actually appear to have been published by an organization that gave a hoot. Jerry Atkinson. -Original Message- From: Ellie Falgout To: undisclosed-recipients:; Sent: Fri, Oct 14, 2016 12:14 pm Subject: Texas Caver Magazine Ready TSA Members, The long awaited Texas Caver Magazine is printed and also available online in the members areahttp://www.cavetexas.org/members/index.php. I am bringing the printed magazines to TCR tonight and will have them at the Friday Wine Tasting and from then on I will probably leave them at registration. The magazines will finally be available at the TSA members meeting on Sunday, October 16th at 9am. I will mail any magazines that remain after TCR. Thanks to Jill for all your hard work on the magazine. Thanks to Linda Palit and Niki Lake for helping get the magazine ready from the printer. Hope to see you at TCR! Ellie ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives:http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives:http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.comtexascav...@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers___Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.comtexascav...@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Texas Caver Magazine Ready (for what...?)
I am in awe. Just a quick perusal of the cover says it all. I'll be waiting for Marvin to return from his time machine trip to 2105. And for grins, I did find that "Haule" is a village consisting of about 610 inhabitants in the municipality of Ooststellingwerf in the east of Friesland in the Netherlands I was astounded to find that I have been spelling "flow stone" incorrectly all these years. And who authored the "Forged in Fire" photo montage of some unknown cave(s) somewhere in Hawaii at some unknown date. At least there were photo captions identifying the people, if not the cave, unlike most of the other articles. I did enjoy the articles, and I appreciate the effort that the authors put forward for the enjoyment of us all. I hope you continue to submit articles in the future despite this issue. Really, folks, I understand that you all wanted to get this issue out before TCR and were probably rushed, but "Damn !" If the polished trappings and fancy layout are the reasons for the bargain basement editing, proofreading, and publication delays, let's consider going back to xerox copies with corner staples that are timely and actually appear to have been published by an organization that gave a hoot. Jerry Atkinson. -Original Message- From: Ellie Falgout To: undisclosed-recipients:; Sent: Fri, Oct 14, 2016 12:14 pm Subject: Texas Caver Magazine Ready TSA Members, The long awaited Texas Caver Magazine is printed and also available online in the members area http://www.cavetexas.org/members/index.php. I am bringing the printed magazines to TCR tonight and will have them at the Friday Wine Tasting and from then on I will probably leave them at registration. The magazines will finally be available at the TSA members meeting on Sunday, October 16th at 9am. I will mail any magazines that remain after TCR. Thanks to Jill for all your hard work on the magazine. Thanks to Linda Palit and Niki Lake for helping get the magazine ready from the printer. Hope to see you at TCR! Ellie ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] New novel on the market: The Devil's Sinkhole :
Book review by Michael Barnes of Austin360 : “The Devil’s Sinkhole.” by Bill Wittliff. University of Texas Press. Wittliff appears at BookPeople on Oct. 10. We can’t wait to bury ourselves deeper into this sequel to Witliff’s highly praised first novel, “The Devil’s Backbone.” Set in a rugged slash of Central Texas, both books follow the adventures of a frontier boy, Papa, told in irresistible dialect. Although it takes the loose form of a series of folktales — illustrated with bone-dry wit by Joe Ciardiello — one can also imagine the “Devil’s” duo as a movie or a mini-series, which shouldn’t surprise us, coming as they do from the Austin screenwriter who gave us the magnificent “Lonesome Dove” mini-series. We promise more reporting on Witliff and his spiky stories, rightly compared to Mark Twain’s and J. Frank Dobie’s." Another book review from the UT Press website : http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/wittliff-devils-sinkhole "In The Devil’s Sinkhole, the master storyteller Bill Wittliff takes us on another enthralling journey through wild and woolly Central Texas in the 1880s. When Papa and his o’amigo Calley Pearsall confront Pelo Blanco before he can ambush Papa, the encounter sets them on a pursuit with a promise of true love at the end, if only they can stay alive long enough for Calley to win the beautiful Pela Rosa, the captive/companion of Pelo Blanco. But before they can even hope to be united with Pela and Annie Oster, Papa’s plucky sweetheart, Papa and Calley have to defeat not only Pelo Blanco but also the evil, murdering Arlon Clavic and deliver Little Missey, the mysterious Wild Woman a’the Navidad, to the safe haven of the Choat farm. With dangers and emergencies around every bend, it’s a rough ride to the Devil’s Sinkhole, where this world and the next come together, bringing Papa and Calley, Pelo Blanco and Arlon to a climax that will leave readers clamoring for the next adventure." And a couple images for good effect : ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] James Estes has died :
I am sorry to report that James Estes has died. He was a prominent figure in early Texas caving and a founder of the Abilene Grotto. What follows is his obituary: http://elliott-hamil-hickory.tributes.com/dignitymemorial/obituary/James-Hillyer-Estes-103959716 In Memory of James Hillyer Estes October 10, 1928 - September 18, 2016 James Hillyer Estes died in Abilene, TX on September 18, 2016. Born October 10, 1928 in Centerville, TX, James attended Northside High School in Fort Worth. He graduated from Texas Wesleyan University on June 2, 1952 earning a Bachelor of Music degree. He served in the US Army from 1953 to 1955. After teaching middle school band in Ft. Worth for two years he came to Abilene to work for West Texas Utilities in 1957. He was employed for 33 years as editor of the WTU magazine The Electric Times. When he retired from WTU, he served as a seasonal Park Ranger in New Mexico and Utah from 1991 to 2008, serving in Bandelier, Natural Bridges, and Hovenweep National Parks. He was a member and past president of South Abilene Kiwanis (later the Greater Abilene club). James served two terms on the Board of Directors of the National Speleological Society and was involved in the early exploration of Caverns of Sonora and Inner Space Cavern at Georgetown, TX. He was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon and sang in the choir. His paintings both in oil and hatchwork are magnificent. He wrote and published several novels and composed short and long musical works. James was preceded in death by his parents, Hillyer Estes and Irene Ives Estes, his brother Jack Estes, his sister Barbara Estes Roycroft and her daughter Carol Ferguson Parmer. He is survived by one sister Lila Estes Curl, by nephews Warren Estes and children Jared and Hannah, Keith Curl and children Eric, Kevin, Daniel and Dalton, Kenneth Curl and daughter Cara, nephew Gary Ferguson and nephew Terry Vance. Surviving nieces are Carla Curl Wilkins, Jackie Estes Garwood, and Kathy Denise Gooch and several great nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be Friday September 23 at 11:00 AM in First Baptist Church, Abilene with Dr. Phil Christopher officiating. Interment will be in Myrtle Cemetery in Ennis, Texas Thursday September 22 alongside his mother and father. Family visitation is Thursday, September 22 from 6:30 - 8:00 PM at Elliot-Hamil funeral Home, 542 Hickory Street. He will be missed. Jerry Atkinson. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Cave Formations Carry Clues About Ancient Earthquakes :
Cave Formations Carry Clues About Ancient Earthquakes : http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/cave-formations-carry-clues-about-ancient-earthquakes-180960419/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&no-ist Jerry Atkinson. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Cave study designed to solve puzzle of prehistoric megadroughts in the western U.S. :
Cave study designed to solve puzzle of prehistoric megadroughts in the western U.S. http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2016/08/cave-study-designed-to-solve-puzzle-of-prehistoric-megadroughts-in-the-western-u-s/ Jerry Atkinson. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Trip Report #3 of 50
Au contraire mon ami ! Locklear provides entertainment to the masses and is easily deleted with little trouble or travail. Back to your cave ole surly hodag ! Jerry. -Original Message- From: Charles Loving via Texascavers To: Cavers Texas Sent: Sun, Jul 17, 2016 5:57 am Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Trip Report #3 of 50 Why do we need this silly useless commentary from Bockbeer. i could care less if he's in Slobovia or Beaumont and who gives a damn about Netflix for his daughter. You want dumb non caver comments Okley and I could fill the pages. Bockbeer has gone off the deep end with tee total what ever it is? On Sat, Jul 16, 2016 at 11:56 PM, David via Texascavers wrote: As you might have guessed, I ignored everybody's advice and trudged westward. I drove all day in the intense desert sun, stopping every hour and driving a safe speed. I arrived at a nice motel in Lordsburg, New Mexico and surprisingly, it is operated by Motel 6. I had 2 minor mishaps:I leaned up against a wall at a roadside park and was covered in fire-ants.But I don't think any bit me. But in the chaos, of dancing and brushing them off of me, I almost lost my charge-card in my pocket. Speaking of which, today was the first time in 26 years that I used a charge card. And I was driving down the highway for 30 minutes with the hood not fully shut. Good thing Toyota made that latch sturdy. As I write this ( 11 pm on Saturday ) and look at the map I am only half-way and have been on the road a day and a half. The hard part is still ahead. As I am typing this my daughter called me all hysterical in a fit of psychotic rage that she is about to take a sledgehammer to my fancy new Linux computer. I forgot that I broke Netflix by installing a new kernel. I was not expecting her to use it for another week or two. I didn't have time to fix it before I left. She was still supposed to be in Dallas. Anyways, I am going to get some sleep and ponder the reality of the drive home and how to salvage what is left of my mini-vacation. Kartchner Caverns is an hour west of here, but I have been to that groad-hole before. David Locklear ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers -- Charlie Loving ___Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.comtexascav...@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] away from e-mail
You get better, my man ! Keep us informed when you get out of the hospital. Jerry. jerryat...@aol.com -Original Message- From: Mixon Bill via Texascavers To: Cavers Texas Sent: Mon, Jun 27, 2016 11:19 am Subject: [Texascavers] away from e-mail I am going into hospital (never mind where) for treatment of pneumonia. I will not be seeing e-mail for the duration, and I'll miss at least one grotto meeting and the party this weekend.--MixonWhat great comfort is there to be derived from a wife well obeyed!—Anthony Trollope, Barchester TowersYou may "reply" to the address this message(unless it's a TexasCavers list post)came from, but for long-term use, save:Personal: bmixon@alumni.uchicago.eduAMCS: a...@mexicancaves.org or sales@mexicancaves.org___Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.comtexascav...@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] James Reddell receives 2016 KWI Karst Award :
James emailed me the other day and mentioned that had received the 2016 Karst Award from the Karst Waters Institute. There will be an award dinner sometime in March 2017 in Austin. The KWI Karst Award is given annually to an outstanding member of the cave and karst field. Previous recipients have included Art Palmer, Nicholas Crawford, Norm Pace, Ron Kerbo, Jim Goodbar, John R. Holsinger, Will White, Derek Ford, Patty Jo Watson, Tom Kunz, and David Culver, among others. Please extend a well earned congratulations to James the next time you see him ! Jerry. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Powell's Cave Gate Project update :
> On Jun 23, 2016, at 4:23 PM, Rafal Kedzierski via Texascavers > mailto:texascavers@texascavers.com>> > wrote: > > > >> No change in my statement. If someone is philanthropic in order to > gain access to the cave, that's a > >> wrong reason for generosity - but that's his/her issue, not yours. If > >> someone is taken through the cave as a thank you for helping to preserve > >> an incredible resource, that's your way of expressing generosity - not > >> the issue of the donor. > >> > >> RK > >> > >> > >>> Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2016 16:18:37 -0600 > >>> To: texascavers@texascavers.com<mailto:texascavers@texascavers.com> > >>> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Powell's Cave Gate Project update : > >>> From: texascavers@texascavers.com<mailto:texascavers@texascavers.com> > >>> > >>> When they ask ahead of actually donating, it's a tacit request. > That becomes my problem. > >>> > >>> Jerry. > >>> > >>> Sent from my iPhone > >>> > >>> On Jun 23, 2016, at 3:57 PM, Rafal Kedzierski via Texascavers > mailto:texascavers@texascavers.com>> > wrote: > >>> > >>>> If someone is philanthropic in order to gain access to the cave, > that's a wrong reason for generosity - but that's his/her issue, not > yours. If someone is taken through the cave as a thank you for helping > to preserve an incredible resource, that's your way of expressing > generosity - not the issue of the donor. > >>>> > >>>> RK > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>> Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2016 14:05:24 -0600 > >>>>> To: texascavers@texascavers.com<mailto:texascavers@texascavers.com> > >>>>> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Powell's Cave Gate Project update : > >>>>> From: texascavers@texascavers.com<mailto:texascavers@texascavers.com> > >>>>> > >>>>> Rafal, > >>>>> > >>>>> I'm not comfortable with donations for the greater good becoming > entitlements for special privileges. It would be unfortunate if that > becomes the principal reason for being philanthropic. > >>>>> > >>>>> As for resurveying Powell's Cave, there have been two survey > projects of the cave since the early 1960s, and one fairly decent map > made of the cave. Unfortunately, past efforts used whoever showed up at > trips as survey teams, with little to no quality control of survey > standards. The result was a mish-mash of excellent to awful surveys > that was nearly impossible to compile into a good map. Any future > effort will require a different strategy that may be too difficult to > complete given the lack of project leaders and cartographers we have > today. > >>>>> > >>>>> Jerry. > >>>>> > >>>>> Sent from my iPhone > >>>>> > >>>>> On Jun 23, 2016, at 8:01 AM, Rafal Kedzierski via Texascavers > mailto:texascavers@texascavers.com>> > wrote: > >>>>> > >>>>>> Further along those lines, do donors get a special thank you trip:)? > >>>>>> > >>>>>> When does the longest mostly dry cave in Texas get a more > perfect survey project and map? > >>>>>> > >>>>>> RK > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>>> Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2016 13:55:00 + > >>>>>>> To: texascavers@texascavers.com<mailto:texascavers@texascavers.com> > >>>>>>> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Powell's Cave Gate Project update : > >>>>>>> From: > texascavers@texascavers.com<mailto:texascavers@texascavers.com> > >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> How do we send in a contribution? Is there somewhere online I > can donate? > >>>>>>> > >>>>>>> --- > >>>>>>> Dessie Pierce, MA > >>>>>>> Licensed Professional Counselor > >>>>>>> Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor > >>>>>>> Certified Clinical Trauma Professional > >>>>>>> 11999 Katy
Re: [Texascavers] Powell's Cave Gate Project update :
0s, and one fairly decent map made of the > >>>> cave. Unfortunately, past efforts used whoever showed up at trips as > >>>> survey teams, with little to no quality control of survey standards. The > >>>> result was a mish-mash of excellent to awful surveys that was nearly > >>>> impossible to compile into a good map. Any future effort will require a > >>>> different strategy that may be too difficult to complete given the lack > >>>> of project leaders and cartographers we have today. > >>>> > >>>> Jerry. > >>>> > >>>> Sent from my iPhone > >>>> > >>>> On Jun 23, 2016, at 8:01 AM, Rafal Kedzierski via Texascavers > >>>> wrote: > >>>> > >>>>> Further along those lines, do donors get a special thank you trip:)? > >>>>> > >>>>> When does the longest mostly dry cave in Texas get a more perfect > >>>>> survey project and map? > >>>>> > >>>>> RK > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>>> Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2016 13:55:00 + > >>>>>> To: texascavers@texascavers.com > >>>>>> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Powell's Cave Gate Project update : > >>>>>> From: texascavers@texascavers.com > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> How do we send in a contribution? Is there somewhere online I can > >>>>>> donate? > >>>>>> > >>>>>> --- > >>>>>> Dessie Pierce, MA > >>>>>> Licensed Professional Counselor > >>>>>> Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor > >>>>>> Certified Clinical Trauma Professional > >>>>>> 11999 Katy Freeway > >>>>>> Suite 509 > >>>>>> Houston, TX 77079 > >>>>>> phone: 832-735-0065 > >>>>>> cell: 832-341-8880 > >>>>>> des...@dessiep.com<mailto:des...@dessiep.com>; > >>>>>> dessiep.com > >>>>>> It is important to be aware that e-mail communication can be relatively > >>>>>> easily accessed by unauthorized people and therefore can compromise the > >>>>>> privacy and confidentiality of such communication. Please notify me > >>>>>> (Dessie Pierce) if you decide to avoid or limit in anyway the use of > >>>>>> email. Please do not use email for emergencies. Any advice given > >>>>>> without a contract for professional services does not constitute > >>>>>> counseling in any manner and should not be relied upon. Information > >>>>>> contained within and accompanying this message is confidential, > >>>>>> intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If > >>>>>> the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are > >>>>>> hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copy of this > >>>>>> message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in > >>>>>> error, please immediately notify me by telephone at 832-735-0065 or > >>>>>> return the email and purge all copies of this message from your system. > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> On 2016-06-22 20:32, Jerry via Texascavers wrote: > >>>>>> > >>>>>> Powell's Cave Gate Project update > >>>>>> > >>>>>> Jim Kennedy and company have finished the gate on Powell's Cave, and > >>>>>> now it's time to pay for it. As you can see from the accompanying > >>>>>> graph, we've received $1200 of the approximately $2500 that has been > >>>>>> pledged thus far. Many thanks to all that have sent in their donations > >>>>>> or pledged to help! - If you haven't sent in your pledged donation, > >>>>>> please do so at your earliest convenience so we can pay the bills. > >>>>>> > >>>>>> The graph also shows that we are about $800 shy of our goal. If you are > >>>>>> thinking of helping out on the ga
[Texascavers] Server problems :
There seems to be an epidemic of server-related problems that are effecting several cave-related sites. Folks are having problems with the TCMA, TSS, TSA, and at least one out-of-state site. Please have your web IT folks have a look at it. Thanks ! Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Fwd: Powell’s Cave Gate Project Needs Your Help :
Scott, You are not alone; this has been an issue for decades. To find out about Texas caves in general, I suggest getting the guidebook "The Caves and Karst of Texas" which is available for $15to TSA and NSS members from the Texas Speleological Survey. Other county-specific publications on Texas caves are available for free download from the TSS website. To go caving, you have several options: 1.) Participate in TSA, TCMA, and TSS projects which are advertised on the various Facebook pages and the TexasCavers listserve. 2.) Get the elder members of your grotto to coordinate more trips for the members 3.) Mingle with folks at the TSA Convention and TCR that are involved with caving in areas and caves that you are interested in 4.) Directly ask specific cave landowner contacts for a trip. You probably will have to get out of your comfort zone a bit to get things moving, but your interest and motivation will win the hearts and minds of your fellow cavers. Jerry Atkinson Texas Speleological Survey -Original Message- From: Scott C via Texascavers To: texascavers Sent: Sat, Jun 11, 2016 12:18 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Fwd: Powell’s Cave Gate Project Needs Your Help : Carl, Very interesting article :) Thanks! Sounds like a cool cave I and others in our grotto would love to explore! I might be wrong in this, but it seems like to me there might be a number of these types of cool caves. Caves that were very popular in past years, but for some reason or another, currently, a lot of newer cavers never here about them anymore or don't seem to have access. I completely understand the issue of landowner relations that you brought up in your article. It's just kind of sad to me that more grotto members don't have access or knowledge of a lot of these caves. I really hope that we can move to increase knowledge and access to these awesome caves. I'd love to explore them, and I know a lot of other newer cavers would as well. I mean we regularly here about and plan trips to Robber Baron, Whirlpool, Logan's, Airman's, now O-9 Well, and Deep & Punkin' which are awesome! However, the same small slate of caves kind of get stale after a while. But then Midnight and others are right there in Carta Valley, and the majority of us can't get into them. Only a small group with special access visits them. That also happens with Perry Water Cave, and a number of other caves in Texas. However, when we take our yearly grotto trip up to TAG, even though we're total outsiders, we can get permits and visit tons of outstanding caves! I just wish that here in our home state it didn't feel so restricted, and like some sort of back-channel type of system for individuals or grottos to visit all the terrific caves our state has to offer. Thanks. Are you going to be at NSS this year? I'd like to check out your book. Sincerely, Scott Cogburn Greater Houston Grotto Treasurer On Saturday, June 11, 2016 12:44 PM, Scott C via Texascavers wrote: Carl, Thanks so much for the link! I'll check it out :) Cheers, Scott Cogburn Greater Houston Grotto Treasurer On Saturday, June 11, 2016 12:08 PM, Marvin and Lisa via Texascavers wrote: Jerry, I plan to make a motion at tommorrow’s grotto meeting to help fund this. Marvin From: Texascavers [mailto:texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com] On Behalf Of Jerryatkin via Texascavers Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2016 6:29 AM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] Fwd: Powell’s Cave Gate Project Needs Your Help : Just a reminder that the gate still needs funding. Jerry. Sent from my iPad Begin forwarded message: From: Jerry Date: June 9, 2016 at 3:21:56 AM MDT To: Texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: Powell’s Cave Gate Project Needs Your Help : Powell’s Cave Gate Project Needs Your Help Powell’s Cave is the second longest cave in Texas, with 26.1 km of surveyed passage. Treasure hunters dug the historic entrance open in the early 1900s and it is now stabilized with a concrete culvert installed by volunteer cavers in the late 1990s. The cave is used as a roost by a large colony of Cave Myotis (Myotis velifer). Recently, during a scheduled visit to the cave, it was discovered that trespassers had entered the cave and vandalized it, leaving cans, bottles, and other miscellaneous trash in the cave. Unfortunately, this also included spray-painting graffiti on the cave walls in the Crevice Passage (see attached photos). Concerns about protecting the integrity of the cave as well as the vulnerable bat colony (estimated at about 10,000 individuals) have led to the decision to install an above ground, bat-friendly, cupola-style gate, similar to the one recently built for Ezell’s Cave in Hays County. Jim Kennedy of Kennedy Above/Under Ground LLC has been contracted to build the gate and it is hoped that it will be completed sometime in the next month or so.
Re: [Texascavers] Fwd: Powell’s Cave Gate Project Needs Your Help :
Thanks, Marvin ! I appreciate the grotto's involvement. Jerry. -Original Message- From: Marvin and Lisa via Texascavers To: texascavers Sent: Sat, Jun 11, 2016 11:08 am Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Fwd: Powell’s Cave Gate Project Needs Your Help : Jerry, I plan to make a motion at tommorrow’s grotto meeting to help fund this. Marvin From: Texascavers [mailto:texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com] On Behalf Of Jerryatkin via Texascavers Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2016 6:29 AM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] Fwd: Powell’s Cave Gate Project Needs Your Help : Just a reminder that the gate still needs funding. Jerry. Sent from my iPad Begin forwarded message: From: Jerry Date: June 9, 2016 at 3:21:56 AM MDT To: Texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: Powell’s Cave Gate Project Needs Your Help : Powell’s Cave Gate Project Needs Your Help Powell’s Cave is the second longest cave in Texas, with 26.1 km of surveyed passage. Treasure hunters dug the historic entrance open in the early 1900s and it is now stabilized with a concrete culvert installed by volunteer cavers in the late 1990s. The cave is used as a roost by a large colony of Cave Myotis (Myotis velifer). Recently, during a scheduled visit to the cave, it was discovered that trespassers had entered the cave and vandalized it, leaving cans, bottles, and other miscellaneous trash in the cave. Unfortunately, this also included spray-painting graffiti on the cave walls in the Crevice Passage (see attached photos). Concerns about protecting the integrity of the cave as well as the vulnerable bat colony (estimated at about 10,000 individuals) have led to the decision to install an above ground, bat-friendly, cupola-style gate, similar to the one recently built for Ezell’s Cave in Hays County. Jim Kennedy of Kennedy Above/Under Ground LLC has been contracted to build the gate and it is hoped that it will be completed sometime in the next month or so. As part of the agreement with the landowner, cavers will be paying for the labor and ancillary costs of the gate construction, while the landowner will pay for the materials. This was done to support continuing landowner relations and demonstrate our commitment to the protection and stewardship of the cave. We need to raise approximately $3300 to cover our end of the deal. If you are interested in helping the project, please consider a cash pledge to help in alleviating the costs. Powell’s Cave has been an important part of Texas caving for more than 50 years, and hopefully will be open to recreational caving and research for many years to come. If all goes well, there will be clean up and restoration trips in the future that folks can volunteer for. Any and all donations of time and money are greatly appreciated. Pledges can be sent to: Gerald Atkinson – Powell’s Cave Liaison jerryat...@aol.com If you have any questions, please email me. Thanks ! Photos courtesy of Arron Wertheim (May 2016) ___Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.comtexascav...@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Insect found in one of deepest caves on the planet can fly in total darkness :
Bizarre insect found in one of deepest caves on the planet can fly in total darkness - and researchers think it may use its LEGS to feel the way New species has large wings and long front legs that may act as 'feelers' This suggests it can fly, which no obligatory cave-dwellers are known to do Before, it was long thought that only bats can fly in complete darkness ByCheyenne Macdonald For Dailymail.com Published: 16:15 EST, 30 May 2016 | Updated: 19:03 EST, 30 May 2016 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3616876/Bizarre-insect-one-deepest-caves-planet-fly-total-darkness-researchers-think-use-LEGS-feel-way.html A bizarre creature discovered deep in a Croatian cave could upend the long-held principles of subterranean flight. It's long been thought that bats are the only animals capable of flying in total darkness. Now, researchers have found an insect with a combination of features that all point to blind flight, suggesting it may be the first flying obligate cave-dweller in the world. The insect was discovered in the Lukina jama–Trojama cave system in Croatia, at a depth of nearly 1000 meters. Lukina jama is the 14th deepest cave in the world. In a recent paper the researchers explain that the discovery challenges previous beliefs that only bats can fly in complete darkness A bizarre creature discovered deep in a Croatian cave could upend the long-held principles of subterranean flight. With pale colour, reduced eyes, and long legs, the researchers explain that the insect is in many ways a 'typical cave animal.' But, the presence of large wings makes Troglocladius hajdi unique The insect was discovered in the Lukina jama–Trojama cave system in Croatia, at a depth of nearly 1000 meters. Lukina jama is the 14th deepest cave in the world. With pale colour, reduced eyes, and long legs, the researchers explain that the insect is in many ways a 'typical cave animal.' But, the presence of large wings makes Troglocladius hajdi unique. In a recent paper, published to the journal Plos One, the researchers from Norway, Germany, and Croatia explain that the discovery challenges previous beliefs that only bats can fly in complete darkness. Cave-dwelling creatures are divided among three categories: troglophiles, troglobionts, and trogloxenes. While trogloxenes are 'accidentally' found in caves, using them for shelter and staying close to the light, the other two types are specially adapted to subterranean life. Of the 21,000 cave-dwelling taxa in the world, there are no known flying troglobionts. These spend their entire lives in the caves, while troglophiles – like bats – are able to survive outside. The researchers haven't yet witnessed the creature in flight, but they say its physical features are indicative of this capability, despite its classification as a troglobiont. 'The combination of strongly reduced eyes and large, broad wings appears to be unique among troglobiotic organisms and might indicate that the species is able to fly slowly or hover in the total darkness of the cave,' the authors wrote. The long forelegs might serve as 'feelers' if they are stretched forward during flight and the large halteres might help the insect maintain balance.' For the most part, cave-dwelling insects either lack wings entirely, or have reduced wings. The researchers used sticky traps to collect the insects, and found that some of them ended up in the middle of the strips. This suggests that 'they fly at least occasionally,' the researchers explain. The species doesn't fit within any previously described genus, and researchers say T. hajdi may be parthenogenetic, reproducing asexually without the need for fertilization. These types of animals are typically found in harsh environments, where mating is difficult. In the expedition, the team only observed females. As T. hajdi was found deep within the cave in a highly isolated location, the researchers say there's little chance they could communicate with life on the outside. Though more research needs to be done to observe the creature's behaviour, the findings support theories that these caves are home to 'extreme subterranean biodiversity.' ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Univ. of Kentucky Archaeologists Protect and Restore Precious Artifacts Found in Mammoth Cave :
UK Archaeologists Protect and Restore Precious Artifacts Found in Mammoth Cave During Extensive Underground Renovations By Gail Hairston Published: May 27, 2016 University of Kentucky News http://uknow.uky.edu/content/uk-archaeologists-protect-and-restore-precious-artifacts-found-mammoth-cave-during-extensive LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 27, 2016) — George Crothers, a University of Kentucky expert in prehistoric archaeology, has spent the better part of 30 years in the shadow-draped, surreal underworld of Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave system, searching for prehistoric as well as historic treasures of humanity’s adventures underground. Although it’s one of those never-quite-finished projects — there are hundreds of miles of underground labyrinths and chambers, after all — the UK associate professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences said much of his work and an extensive trail reconstruction project has been completed, in time for this year’s celebrations marking Mammoth Cave National Park’s 75th anniversary, America's National Park Service’s 100th anniversary, and the bicentennial of the beginning of guided tours in “the Monarch of Caves” in 1816. The park was designated a World Heritage site in 1981. Recognizing his expertise as well as his familiarity with the caves, Crothers and Steve Ahler, director of UK’s Program for Archaeological Research, were invited two years ago to take part in the National Park Service’s ambitious $5.5 million renovation, refurbishment and preservation program of cave trails — the largest in-cave construction project Mammoth Cave has seen since it became a national park. “The project has been about preservation as much as renovation,” said Crothers, who is also director of UK’s William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology. In 2014, a year before the National Park System’s trail reconstruction began, Crothers and a UK support team of staff and students surveyed the anticipated construction area in search of historic and prehistoric materials scattered in passageways and buried along the trails. These surveys would eventually guide the construction crews away from sensitive areas. Crothers was also assigned to conserve and preserve the 200-year-old log pipes and wooden leaching vats that make up the cave’s abandoned saltpeter mining apparatus. The old mining equipment his team found and treated remain in situ, where they were originally installed in 1809 to process cave sediments, rich in nitrates used in the manufacture of gunpowder. The National Park System’s Mammoth Cave Trail Project has turned two miles of packed-dirt and gravel-and-dirt trails — many marking traces originally blazed by prehistoric miners as much as 5,000 years ago — into wide, level byways of pavers and concrete. The now completed project greatly improves visitor safety and accessibility, while reducing the damaging contaminants raised by thousands of visitors’ steps. In some off-trail locations deep inside the caves, park officials find as much as two inches of dust, hair, lint, bits of tobacco, threads and other foreign substances carried into the cave by humans. That sort of lightweight material never has a chance to disperse in the windless environment below ground. While workmen pushed handcarts and wielded hand tools to rebuild the trails — no heavy machinery was allowed underground — Crothers and his team worked alongside, seeking rare and priceless prehistoric and historic artifacts preserved by the cave’s climate. Often the relatively slight disturbance of soil — in depths ranging from as little as three inches to as much as two feet — uncovered precious, long-lost artifacts “It was the responsibility of UK archaeologists to monitor the digging and recover any historic or prehistoric artifacts that the construction work might uncover,” said Crothers, who helped oversee much of the work along the two-mile Historic Tour trail. One of the most fascinating sites along the historic trail, the saltpeter mining operation was first established in the 1790s to enable the manufacture of black gunpowder, a precious, rare commodity to the pioneers on the far western edge of the American frontier. Huge wooden pipes and vats were hewn from the surrounding forest in 1809 for an expanded mining operation that would provide saltpeter to the American military as the War of 1812 approached. The end of the wars on American soil by 1815, however, caused the demand and the price for Kentucky saltpeter to plummet, and brought an abrupt end to the commercial mining of caves. “We felt incredibly privileged to return to the caves and continue the process of preserving that unique site,” Crothers said. “Naturally decomposing items, like wood, animal hides and cloth, simply don’t deteriorate as much in the constant temperatures and humidity of a deep cave. However, with increasing human traff
Re: [Texascavers] valuable species
Cynicism is usually born from unfortunate experience. While I respect the research and interesting discoveries being made on the forefront of microbial studies in caves, I do believe that the "uniqueness" of what is being discovered is more a product of our ignorance of the greater world than it is the rarity of the individual genus and species. I have noted in the past, that if we just went out in the world and swabbed under a single rock per square mile of the land surface of the earth, we would most astonished at what we do not know. I believe most of the microbial biomass of the earth is actually underground, as we used to encounter well established microbial communities in drill wells thousands of feet deep. This truly is the beginning of the age of the microbe in biological sciences. Jerry. -Original Message- From: Andy Gluesenkamp via Texascavers To: texascavers Cc: andy Sent: Tue, Apr 5, 2016 5:19 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] valuable species That's our inquisitive Mixon. Like the Church in 1615. Sent from my iPhone> On Apr 5, 2016, at 5:56 PM, Mixon Bill via Texascavers wrote:> > But Andy, haven't you heard that all those cave bacteria that are being discovered have the potential to provide a cure for cancer? At least according to the people who find them. Biologists are the chief offenders.> > Be careful not to touch the floor, and don't bother the bacteria -- Mixon> > Considering what is done in the name of God, one wonders what is left for the devil.> > You may "reply" to the address this message> (unless it's a TexasCavers list post)> came from, but for long-term use, save:> Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu> AMCS: a...@mexicancaves.org or sa...@mexicancaves.org> > ___> Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com> Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/> http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers___Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.comtexascav...@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Unknown species hide among Texas cave crickets :
Unknown species hide among Texas cave crickets bySarah Zielinski 11:29am, March 24, 2016 There’s no need to trek to the wilds of Borneo or the deepest Amazon if you want to discover a new species. There is at least one — and perhaps more — hiding among Ceuthophilus cave crickets in Texas, a new study finds. Jason Weckstein of Drexel University in Philadelphia and colleagues weren’t looking for new species, and they haven’t definitively found any. But they have found some curious characteristics among the Texan crickets, as well as genetic evidence that there may be more species than science officially recognizes. Ceuthophilus cave crickets have split into two groups. One subgenus — also named Ceuthophilus — is full of species that are trogloxenes, meaning they live in caves and venture out at night to find food. (If they get caught outdoors during the day, they hide under rocks.) The other subgenus, Geotettix, are troglobites that can only survive if they never venture out into the light. Because crickets in the Ceuthophilus subgenus get out of the caves and perhaps even move between them, those crickets should be able to interbreed more, the researchers figured. Geotettix crickets would be stuck closer to home, and their populations would be more distinct from each other, the team predicted. And those differences should be detectable in the crickets’ DNA. So the team collected 179 Ceuthophilus and 122 Geotettix crickets from 43 caves in 20 Texas counties, as well as a few caves in Mexico and New Mexico. The researchers then obtained the sequences of two genes found on the crickets’ mitochondria. Mitochondrial DNA evolves rapidly and can be useful for studying populations of organisms. Crickets in the Ceuthophilus subgenus, the DNA analysis revealed, were not moving about nearly as much as the researchers had expected, they report March 3 in the Journal of Biogeography. The crickets might be limited by streams or other features of the landscape. Those in the Geotettix subgenus, meanwhile, are more homogeneous than expected. The genes from one population to the next are more similar than they should be if they were totally isolated from each other and couldn’t interbreed. Members of those populations may be able to travel underground between caves, the scientists suggest. The DNA also showed that there might be multiple species lurking in the caves that have not yet been officially recognized and named. At least one, nicknamed “species B,” has been known to cave researchers in central Texas for years, but no one has yet formally described it in a scientific article. Nearly all the currently known species in the Ceuthophilus genus, the researchers note, were described more than 75 years ago, and no one has added any new species to the genus in more than 50 years. So it looks like there is a good opportunity here for someone who loves caves and insects to make some discoveries — and perhaps name a cricket or two after themselves or someone they love. But more importantly, this shows how little we know about some of the species around us. https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/wild-things/unknown-species-hide-among-texas-cave-crickets ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Chichén Itzá article, Part I :
Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from The Man Who Owned a Wonder of the World written by Evan J. Albright. The book is an investigation into how Chichén Itzá became one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. http://www.yucatanliving.com/history/balankanche-cavern-part-one Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] New GSA publication on caves and karst :
Caves and karst: Worlds within worlds across time GSA Special Paper 516 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/gsoa-cak011416.php Karst aquifers are the world's most productive yet vulnerable groundwater systems, serving as the sole or primary water supply for more than one billion people worldwide. Karst systems have evolved dynamically across time, reflecting changes in climate and regional tectonism and the subsequent crustal scale hydrologic responses invoked by these processes. Caves are widely recognized as important geological features and, with karst, as distinctive and significant geologic systems covering approx. 20% of Earth's land surface. The appreciation and knowledge of cave and karst systems have evolved dramatically since the establishment of The Geological Society of America (GSA) in 1888. Across time, geoscientists' understanding of the complexity of groundwater flow within karst and epikarst systems drives them to examine more deeply such processes as heterogeneous flow processes, contamination studies, and hazard assessment. Cave deposits are some of the richest and most diverse sources for geological, archeological, and biological discoveries. Cave fauna and microorganisms offer startling insights into geological processes while pointing the way toward finding extraterrestrial life. This Special Paper, edited by Joshua M. Feinberg of the University of Minnesota, Yongli Gao of the University of Texas at San Antonio, and E. Calvin Alexander Jr. of the University of Minnesota, highlights the changes in the study and application of cave and karst systems since GSA's origin, while looking ahead to future advancements. ### Individual copies of the volume may be purchased through GSA's online store, http://rock.geosociety.org/store/ http://rock.geosociety.org/Store/detail.aspx?id=SPE516, or by contacting GSA Sales and Service, gsaserv...@geosociety.org. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Smithsonian article - A Journey to the Oldest Cave Paintings in the World :
Nice article on the oldest known cave art. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/journey-oldest-cave-paintings-world-180957685/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&no-ist Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] [SWR] Fwd: public lands encounter
Nicely said, Stephen. One of the great evils of the world is "belligerent ignorance." Neither the public nor, unfortunately, many of the public land use tenants, are really well educated on the issue of public lands. But most will argue with you on some facet of misuse in their opinion, whether or not they know what they are talking about. The BLM and other government agencies would do themselves and the the public a great service if they conducted an aggressive education program that addressed public lands. Jerry Atkinson. -Original Message- From: tornillo.creek To: texascavers ; NM Caver List Sent: Mon, Jan 4, 2016 4:24 pm Subject: Re: [SWR] [Texascavers] Fwd: public lands encounter On 1/4/2016 12:16, Diana Tomchick via Texascavers wrote: Begin forwarded message: From: Evelyn Townsend Subject: [SWR] public lands encounter Date: January 4, 2016 at 1:08:37 PM CST To: SWR Cavers Its not just Oregonand Nevada (a December 30, 2015 story.) However, I thinkthis lady rancher needed a catharsis and I was there.Here is an abbreviated account of the things we discussed. There were many different topics but the main one of interest was of BLM. She was very unhappywith BLM management. Yeah, a lot of folks are. That doesn't mean the management is bad(or that it can't be improved in places). When you hear these kindsof complaints, it almost always reflects the irritation that someone(and not just ranchers) cannot do whatever they want on public landand without regard to how it affects anyone else. She said the Fedswere taking over the lands.(I said I thought they tradedlands but did not buy very many new ones.) Her comment is a sweeping generalization, completely unsupported by facts. But, as too often seen, facts are completely irrelevant whenthey don't support what you want to believe. Examples of that areeverywhere. In the specific instance of BLM, the agency does not "take over"land. It administers the lands allocated to it by Congress. I havenever known of a single instance of BLM acquiring any land viacondemnation/eminent domain. It simply doesn't happen. Forty or soyears ago the NPS acquired some acreage in various states by eminentdomain and it went VERY badly for their image. Today, they rely onscraping acreages off other federal agencies to expand. As for BLM,it actively engages in land trades, sales and purchases from willingparties only, and at strictly fair market values (in itself a boneof contention as vacant land values are far lower than any emotional attachment that may have accrued). A good example was the 1987 creation of the combined El MalpaisNational Monument (NPS) and National Conservation Area (NCA--BLM).The NPS holdings came from BLM. The surrounding NCA included twowilderness area designations and enclosed numerous small privatetracts which had been sold decades earlier as recreational holdings(and many owners had never seen what they bought). The only authority BLM had (or has in any venue) to acquire any ofthe private land was to be open to offers to sell by owners. Everyquery about how the designations affected their ownership and accesswas answered the same way: it doesn't. Owners retained full propertyrights and full access, even when it meant that access was a drivethrough a new wilderness area (a bone of contention to thewilderness crowd...you never can please everyone). In the end 99% ofthe owners (generally of 5 acre tracts in lava...remember, mostbought sight unseen) sold to BLM over the following 10 years. The land was appraised at around $35/acre. No owner ever was coerced.The grazing permittees in the area were unaffected as they stillcould drive to range improvements in the wilderness areas under thegrandfathered activities clause. The public, of course, could not.And, perversely, neither could agency employees except under verylimited circumstances that were rigidly applied. She said the OrganMountains Monument was a shame and that it took away andhurt the ranchers.
[Texascavers] New owner of Avery Ranch Cave plans to continue educational mission :
New owner of Avery Ranch Cave plans to continue educational mission http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/new-owner-of-avery-ranch-cave-plans-to-continue-ed/nppZr/ Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Rope inquiry
A possible revisit to Big Bend, perhaps ? Jerry. -Original Message- From: Nico Escamilla via Texascavers To: Texascavers Mailing List Sent: Fri, Dec 11, 2015 12:55 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Rope inquiry It sure does.. Details provided on a “Need to Know” basis with proper clearances. All I can tell you is it’s big and it’s here in Texas. Geary El dic 11, 2015 1:53 PM, "Jon Cradit via Texascavers" escribió: Ahhh, but it didn’t say it’s in Texas. “…interesting domestic project.” From: Texascavers [mailto:texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com]On Behalf Of Nico Escamilla via Texascavers Sent: Friday, December 11, 2015 11:40 AM To: Texascavers Mailing List Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Rope inquiry Big and texas cant go together in a sentence if its cave related... I thought people knew that Nico El dic 11, 2015 11:21 AM, "Nancy Weaver via Texascavers" escribió: sounds fun. Nancy On Dec 11, 2015, at 10:05 AM, Geary Schindel via Texascavers wrote: Mark, Wanted, a few people for hazardous journey, no wages, bitter cold and wet, long hours of complete darkness, constant danger, advanced vertical skills and long hours of training required, must be strong like bull and smart like tractor, safe return doubtful, honor and recognition in case of success (with apologies to Ernest Shackleton). Details provided on a “Need to Know” basis with proper clearances. All I can tell you is it’s big and it’s here in Texas. Geary From: Texascavers [mailto:texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com] On Behalf Of via Texascavers Sent: Friday, December 11, 2015 9:09 AM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Rope inquiry What the hell are you and Sue up to, Geary?! J Mark Alman From: Texascavers [mailto:texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com] On Behalf Of Geary Schindel via Texascavers Sent: Friday, December 11, 2015 8:27 AM To: 'texascavers@texascavers.com' Subject: [Texascavers] Rope inquiry Folks, I was wondering if there is someone in Texas that might have 600 feet of 9 ml static rope and like to participate in an interesting domestic project. Thanks, Geary Schindel ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives:http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.comtexascav...@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] New update for TexBib available from the TSS website :
The Texas Speleological Survey has just released the newest update to TexBib, the digital bibliography of Texas caving. TexBib is a searchable bibliographic database for Texas caves. It is primarily the product of over 40 years of work by James Reddell withcontributions from other TSS directors. Jerry Atkinson currently manages the TexBib project. David McKenzie wrote Reselect, the search engine program whichis downloadable with the bibliography below. The bibliography can be searched by author, keywords, dates, or combinations. Examples of keywords used are : "cave name", "county", conservation, management, history, geology, hydrogeology, biology, archeology, paleoclimatology, dye tracing, geophysical survey, etc... TexBib entries are from all availableTexas caving newsletters, plus national and international newsletters, books, science journals, newspapers, magazines, theses, dissertations, and any otherpublished sources TSS can find. TexBib currently contains approximately 14,100 bibliographic entries dating from 1840, and approximately 91,000 assigned keywords. The bibliography is regularly updated as references become available. The program requires that you be runningMS Windows XP (or above) with MS Internet Explorer 5 (or above). To download the latest update go to: http://texasspeleologicalsurvey.org/software/texbib/texbib.php Jerry Atkinson TexBib editor ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Dr. Trevor Ford, 90, to be awarded honorary doctorate for services to cave science :
Geologist, 90, to be awarded honorary doctorate for services to cave science By Leicester Mercury | Posted: November 03, 2015 By Samantha Fisher http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Geologist-90-awarded-honorary-doctorate-services/story-28086080-detail/story.html A geologist who recorded evidence of the earliest forms life in fossils at sites as far apart as Leicestershire and the Grand Canyon is being awarded an honorary degree. Dr Trevor Ford, 90, of Oadby, is to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Derby for his exceptional services to cave science and outstanding contributions to the knowledge of cave systems, geology and lead mining history in Derbyshire and the Peak District, over more than 60 years. Dr Ford's fascination with rocks started as a boy and he is still publishing research. Dr Ford said: "I'm running out of steam, but I'm still doing a little bit. "If you make your work your play, you are always playing." After graduating in geology from the University of Sheffield in 1950, Trevor completed his PhD on the Ingleton coalfield, in North Yorkshire, and was appointed assistant lecturer at the University of Leicester in 1952. He became a lecturer, then a senior lecturer, before becoming the associate dean for combined studies in science, from 1986 to 1988. He retired in 1989 and was made an honorary research fellow. In 1997, he was awarded an OBE for services to geology and to cave science. One of his scientific achievements was naming a fossil found by a boy, Roger Mason, in Charnwood Forest. It was described by Professor Martin Brasier, from the University of Oxford, as identifying "a clear threshold for the study of early life on Earth". Describing Charnia masoni, Dr Ford said: "It's an unknown fossil mid-way between a plant and an animal. "Some people have described it as a sea feather. It's an impression of a frond-like organism and we don't know how it reproduced or fed." Dr Ford's name still appears among the credits on a geological map of the Grand Canyon, where he recorded evidence of early forms of life during rafting trips. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Jim McLane photo
Here's another photo of Jim in more recent years. I believe it was taken in 2006. Not sure by whom. Jerry. -Original Message- From: Carl Kunath via Texascavers To: TexasCavers Sent: Tue, Sep 22, 2015 10:19 pm Subject: [Texascavers] Jim McLane photo Like all of you, I was shocked to receive the news of Jim’s passing. He was an irrepressible adventurer with a extraordinary intellect. We will certainly miss his presence in the caving community. I don’t have too many photos of Jim but I especially like this one (photographer unknown) taken in his younger days on a visit to Gruta de Carrizal in November 1964. We are diminished. ===Carl Kunath ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] UNM researcher awarded National Speleological Society Science Award :
UNM researcher awarded National Speleological Society Science Award September 17, 2015 Victor Polyak, senior research scientist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UNM, was recently awarded the National Speleological Society (NSS) Science award for his dedication to the research of caves. Polyak manages the UNM Radiogenic Isotope Laboratory for Yemane Asmerom, professor of geochemistry. The award recognizes an NSS member who has shown impressive commitment to the scientific study of caves. Polyak has been a member of the NSS since 1986. “I’m honored to be awarded the NSS Science Award. It comes from my fellow cavers and scientists. It was a lot of fun receiving the award,” Polyak said. The citation reads in part: “[The] 2015 Science Award winner is characterized as a thorough, meticulous scientist who is willing to help other researchers and has been a great mentor to 10s of graduate students. “A Master’s and doctorate at Texas Tech University resulted in some of the most in-depth studies of cave minerals in the world. His dissertation work produced the age of formation of Carlsbad Cavern and Lechuguilla Cave, two New Mexico caves that are among the most famous caves in the world. While in Lubbock, Texas he co-started the Lubbock Area Grotto, a regional caver’s organization that is affiliated with the NSS. “Research interests are focused primarily on paleoclimatology of the Southwestern US using cave formations called speleothems. Stalagmites, a speleothem type, yield the best results, and New Mexico stalagmites from Fort Stanton Cave and Carlsbad Cavern are producing globally renowned paleoclimate records. Professor Yemane Asmerom (l.) and Research Scientist Victor Polyak examine a sample. Polyak manages the UNM Radiogenic Isotope Laboratory. “Another research interest is the timing of growth of speleothems from caves of Mallorca, Spain that are sea level high-stand indicators. This research is providing one of the most accurate sea level records for the last interglacial period, a period that extended from 127,000 to 75,000 years ago. Polyak also works in the area landscape evolution and has spent 16 years studying Grand Canyon caves, and is using the ages of water-table-type speleothems from those caves to make important contributions to the evolution of Grand Canyon. He and his wife Paula Provencio, part-time UNM-EPS employee, have had a long-standing interest in sulfur-related cave genesis, cave minerals and lava tube cave features. Additionally, Polyak has numerous publications that come from his research on New Mexico and Arizona caves, helping to make him the perfect candidate for the award. The NSS Board of Governors approves those nominated for the award after recommendation from the Awards Committee. The candidate must also be a good standing member two years prior to becoming a candidate. To learn more about the award or to see past recipients, visit caves.org. Sr. Research Scientist Victor Polyak was a recipient of the National Speleological Society (NSS) Science award for his dedication to the research of caves. Credit: Bill Frantz UNM Newsroom http://news.unm.edu/news/unm-researcher-awarded-national-speleological-society-science-award ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Only above-water microbes play a role in H2S cave development indicated in Frasassi Cave research :
Sorry, I thought that was included in the article. Yes, it appears that, at least in the Frasassi Caves in Italy, that microbial oxidation of H2S is a not a major contributor to the sulfuric acid speleogenesis of the cave. Direct out-gassing of H2S into the cave air is much more important, and only minor sulfuric acid is generated below the water table by microbes. Jerry. -Original Message- From: Josh Rubinstein via Texascavers To: Cavers Texas ; Paul Winter Sent: Thu, Sep 3, 2015 4:06 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Only above-water microbes play a role in H2S cave development indicated in Frasassi Cave research : Jerry, The article and the abstract are considerably different. What the paper shows is not that there are above-water microbes creating sulfuric acid but that microbial sulfuric acid contributes little to speleogensis. Josh On Thu, Sep 3, 2015 at 3:35 AM, Jerry via Texascavers wrote: Only above-water microbes play a role in cave development September 2, 2015 http://phys.org/news/2015-09-above-water-microbes-role-cave.html http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0009254115002880 Only the microbes located above the water's surface contribute to the development of hydrogen-sulfide-rich caves, suggests an international team of researchers. Since 2004, researchers have been studying the Frasassi cave system, an actively developing limestone cave system located 1500 feet underground in central Italy. Limestone caves can form when solid limestone dissolves after coming in contact with certain types of acids. The resulting void is the cave system. "We knew from previous research that microbes do play a role in cave development," said Jennifer Macalady, associate professor of geosciences, Penn State and co-author of a paper published today (Sept. 2) in Chemical Geology. "What we were trying to assess was the extent of that contribution, which would help us understand how caves all over the world, as well as on other worlds, form." In hydrogen-sulfide-rich caves, microbes "eat" the hydrogen sulfide through a process known as aerobic respiration, Macalady said. The byproduct of this process is the creation of sulfuric acid, which has the potential to dissolve limestone and contribute to cave growth. "The main goal of our study was to investigate what happened to hydrogen sulfide in the cave, because when the microbes use hydrogen sulfide for energy, this, along with oxygen, leads to the production of sulfuric acid," said Macalady. The researchers measured oxygen levels and the amount of chemicals degassing—changing from liquid to gas state—throughout several parts of the cave system. The Frasassi system has cave pathways that formed 10,000 to 100,000 years ago as well as currently actively forming cave pathways, allowing the researchers to compare their measurements and identify the factors contributing to active development. "What we found is that in certain conditions, the hydrogen sulfide in the water escapes as a gas into the air above the water instead of being 'eaten' by microbes below the water surface," said Macalady. "As a result, the underwater microbes only partially burned hydrogen sulfide. Instead of creating a byproduct of sulfuric acid, they created pure sulfur as a byproduct, which is not corrosive to limestone." In contrast, the microbes above the water's surface completely "ate" the hydrogen sulfide. This process results in the creation of sulfuric acid, which dissolves limestone and contributes to cave growth. Macalady says that the results would apply to all limestone caves that are rich in hydrogen sulfide, which includes more well-known caves such as Carlsbad Caverns and Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico and Kap-Kutan Cave in Turkmenistan. Explore further: Life beyond Earth? Underwater caves in Bahamas could give clues Journal reference: Chemical Geology Provided by: Pennsylvania State University ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-
[Texascavers] Only above-water microbes play a role in H2S cave development indicated in Frasassi Cave research :
Only above-water microbes play a role in cave development September 2, 2015 http://phys.org/news/2015-09-above-water-microbes-role-cave.html http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0009254115002880 Only the microbes located above the water's surface contribute to the development of hydrogen-sulfide-rich caves, suggests an international team of researchers. Since 2004, researchers have been studying the Frasassi cave system, an actively developing limestone cave system located 1500 feet underground in central Italy. Limestone caves can form when solid limestone dissolves after coming in contact with certain types of acids. The resulting void is the cave system. "We knew from previous research that microbes do play a role in cave development," said Jennifer Macalady, associate professor of geosciences, Penn State and co-author of a paper published today (Sept. 2) in Chemical Geology. "What we were trying to assess was the extent of that contribution, which would help us understand how caves all over the world, as well as on other worlds, form." In hydrogen-sulfide-rich caves, microbes "eat" the hydrogen sulfide through a process known as aerobic respiration, Macalady said. The byproduct of this process is the creation of sulfuric acid, which has the potential to dissolve limestone and contribute to cave growth. "The main goal of our study was to investigate what happened to hydrogen sulfide in the cave, because when the microbes use hydrogen sulfide for energy, this, along with oxygen, leads to the production of sulfuric acid," said Macalady. The researchers measured oxygen levels and the amount of chemicals degassing—changing from liquid to gas state—throughout several parts of the cave system. The Frasassi system has cave pathways that formed 10,000 to 100,000 years ago as well as currently actively forming cave pathways, allowing the researchers to compare their measurements and identify the factors contributing to active development. "What we found is that in certain conditions, the hydrogen sulfide in the water escapes as a gas into the air above the water instead of being 'eaten' by microbes below the water surface," said Macalady. "As a result, the underwater microbes only partially burned hydrogen sulfide. Instead of creating a byproduct of sulfuric acid, they created pure sulfur as a byproduct, which is not corrosive to limestone." In contrast, the microbes above the water's surface completely "ate" the hydrogen sulfide. This process results in the creation of sulfuric acid, which dissolves limestone and contributes to cave growth. Macalady says that the results would apply to all limestone caves that are rich in hydrogen sulfide, which includes more well-known caves such as Carlsbad Caverns and Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico and Kap-Kutan Cave in Turkmenistan. Explore further: Life beyond Earth? Underwater caves in Bahamas could give clues Journal reference: Chemical Geology Provided by: Pennsylvania State University___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Cave underneath Stagecoach Inn :
Cave underneath Stagecoach Inn Posted: Monday, July 30, 200712:00 am Clay Coppedge, TDT SALADO - Of the more than 3,000 caves dotting the subterranean landscape ofTexas are a few in which no one believes gold or other ill-gotten loot ishidden somewhere within. The cave underneath the Stagecoach Inn in Salado isnot one of those caves. Ever since Frank and Jesse James and Sam Bass firstmade appearances around here in the middle of the 19th century, rumors haveabounded, as rumors do, that there is gold in them thar caves. If even afraction of the rumors are true, the James brothers and Bass hid more loot thanthey ever could have possibly stolen. So many legends and so much folklore havecome out of the cave underneath the Stagecoach Inn that some people areskeptical about the existence of the cave at all, sort of like the smidgen ofskepticism that surrounds the tunnels that run underneath the city of Temple.The cave is there all right and it’s been there a long time. It’s not the caveit used to be - parts of it have been walled in at least once over the yearsand it is closed to the public due to safety concerns - but it’s typical ofhundreds of Central Texas caves in the Edwards Aquifer. The cave is a littlewaterlogged right now with maybe eight feet of standing water. That’s not a badthing because that is how aquifers get recharged, and aquifers are responsible,directly or indirectly, for most of the water that we use. John Anderson, CEOof the Stagecoach Inn and the Mill Creek golf course, showed the cave to aninquisitive reporter and photographer last week. From the top of the old,slippery stone stairs that lead down into the cave, he shined a flashlight onthe floor of the underground chamber. “Now you can see there’s definitely waterdown there,” he said. “I was showing this one time and stepped in water up tomy knees. Twice. The water is so clear and so still that you usually can’t seeit.” The last dozen or so steps leading to the cave floor are covered with thatclear spring water. In caves like these, surface runoff makes its way throughfractures, sinkholes and sinking streams within the recharge zone. Because ofthat the Edwards Aquifer is considered an unconfined aquifer because waterenters and exits freely. This year, more water is entering these caves than isleaving. A lot more. “Usually, if you’re standing on the floor, you have nosense of the roof of the cave directly above your head,” Anderson said. “Lookat it now. It looks like there’s not even room to walk around down there.” Thecave has a spring, one of a series of springs along Salado Creek and itstributaries that are part of an underground stream. One of the favoritepastimes of yore was dropping an apple in the cave’s spring and running to whatthey called Big Boiling Spring near where the Serena statue is now and watchingthe apple pop up at the top of that spring. Generations of children fortunateenough to enjoy a mostly unstructured childhood, including former Lady BirdJohnson press secretary Liz Carpenter, have talked and written about using thecave as a playground. Johnnie Gidley, 58, remembers taking FFA (Future Farmersof America) field trips to the cave in the early to mid-60s. “It went a lotfarther back in those days,” he said. “You could only go so far because thewater pooled up farther in.” Other stories persist, too. Gunpowder for theConfederate Army was supposedly buried there during the Civil War. A hundredyears later the cave is said to have been designated as a bomb shelter in caseof a Russian nuclear attack. The cave would have to be a lot bigger than it isnow to fulfill either of those purposes. Which leads to an interestingquestion: How big was the cave before it was walled in? The answer depends onwhom you ask. Anderson said a former maintenance director told him that heremembers a portion of the cave being filled in with dirt in the late 1970s.That jibes with Gidley’s recollection of exploring a much bigger cave there inthe mid-60s. But Anderson said 92-year-old Wilbur Foster, a maintenancedirector at the Stagecoach for many years, remembers part of the cave beingfilled in some time in the late 1950s. Both accounts could be right. Gidley’srecollections reflect other memories from the same era. And Foster probablyknows more about the Stagecoach Inn than anybody else alive because he spent somany decades intimately acquainted with its inner and outer workings. Withoutknowing for sure, there is no reason to dispute any of those accounts. Onething all accounts, both oral and written, share in common is that no one everfound any gold in the cave. If the gold was ever there in the first place,which is doubtful, somebody found it and never told anybody, or it washed awayin one of the periodic floods that occur on Salado Creek every few years. Eventhe hope of finding buried gold in the cave has all but disappeared now, butthe legends, stories and genuine memories of
Re: [Texascavers] Texas Caver
Hi Ben, Any cave info that needs to go in the database ? Jerry. -Original Message- From: Ben Hutchins via Texascavers To: texascavers Sent: Sun, Aug 23, 2015 3:10 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Texas Caver Jill, I'd like to write an article about Big Bend Ranch State Park. We just got an MOU between TSS and the parks to do a cave survey project. I'll make that announcement, advertise for the trip during thanksgiving, and give a brief summary of our previous efforts at the park. When do you need the article by? Shouldn't take long. Ben From: Jill Orr via Texascavers To: Texas Cavers Sent: Sunday, August 23, 2015 3:06 PM Subject: [Texascavers] Texas Caver The Texas Caver needs articles and photos for the September issue. Lots of interesting projects are going on and we’d like to include them. NSS convention After caving eateries Projects in Mexico and around Texas Thanks everyone! jill orr graphic design 210.931-4633 jillorr.businesscatalyst.com ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Underground gourmet: Selected terrestrial cave invertebrates and their meal preferences :
Underground gourmet: Selected terrestrial cave invertebrates and their meal preferences Doubting whether terrestrial cave invertebrates feed on just anything they can find in the harsh food-wise environment underground, Dr. Jaroslav Smrz, from Charles University, Vinicna, and his international team conducted a research in Slovakian and Romania caves. They tested the hypothesis that these species have rather negligible selection of food. Their microanatomical research into the gut content of several microwhip scorpions, oribatid mites, millipedes, springtails and crustaceans showed, however, that there is an evident meal preference among the species. The results confirmed that the studied groups can adapt and develop under the pressure of extreme environmental factors. Therefore, the researchers concluded a low level of food competition. The study is available in the Subterranean Biology open-access journal. The scientists studied the cells and tissues of the selected invertebrates and found out that the gut contents were nearly identical between the representatives of each group. This was the case even when the specimens had been collected from various locations. For instance, all microwhip scorpions proved a preference for cyanobacteria, while the mites favored the bacteria found in bat guano and the millipedes - fungi. "The limited food offer seems to be used very unambiguously and thoroughly by the invertebrate communities," the research team explained. "Therefore, the competition for food can be actually regarded as very low," they concluded. ### Original source: Smrz J, Kovac L, Mikes J, Sustr V, Lukesova A, Tajovsky K, Novakova A, Reznakova P (2015) Food sources of selected terrestrial cave arthropods. Subterranean Biology 16: 37-46. doi: 10.3897/subtbiol.16.8609 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-08/pp-ugs081015.php ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] New Zealand magical Hobbit-like Eco cave house :
I imagine many cavers would like this, if only as a visitor. Love the outdoor bath tub. Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/08/09/the-magical-hobbit-like-eco-cave-house/ ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Jacob's Well :
It is indeed the Jacob's Well near Wimberley that the diver is in.
Jerry Atkinson
jerryat...@aol.com
-Original Message-
From: Fritz Holt via Texascavers
To: texascavers
Cc: Cave NM ; TAG Net ; Mandy Holt
; June Levy
Sent: Thu, Jul 30, 2015 12:12 am
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Jacob's Well :
I would still like to know whether the Jacob's Well referred to by the reporter
was In Wimberley as opposed to San Antonio.
A friend and I explored the lake rooms in the Devil's Sinkhole in the summer of
1955 when the cable ladder in place afforded an easy climb in and out. This was
the same ladder shown in Jimmy Walker's sinkhole picture in Carl Kunath's "50
Years of Texas Caving". Jimmy said his picture was taken in 1952. Those were
the days my friend I knew would someday end. :(
Fritz Holt
fritz...@gmail.com
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 29, 2015, at 6:50 PM, via Texascavers < texascavers@texascavers.com>
wrote:
Ah,yes. To see what is beyond the gate, you should read Jacob's Well by Stephen
Harrigan. This is a fictional work, but was partially built on cavers that I
hired to work on the Texas Natural Areas Survey (which helped get Devil's
Sinkhole, the Lower Canyons, Mt. Livermore, Devil's River, Big Bend Ranch State
Park, Enchanted Rock, and other places in Texas set aside in the Public
Domain). Those old enough will recognize individuals who are
slightly-disguised cavers and their colleagues from the 70s. Not only is Dwight
Deal the heroic (although flawed) model for the geologist, you can recognize
parts of Ronnie Fieseler, Tom Byrd, and Ron Ralph, Gary Moore, and certainly
remember the Lady Archaeologist who was well known for doing field work in the
nude in West Texas.
DirtDoc
From: "Jerry via Texascavers" < texascavers@texascavers.com>
To: Texascavers@texascavers.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2015 12:23:34 AM
Subject: [Texascavers] Free diver captures terrifying moment he nearly
drowns in Jacobs Well :
Free diver captures terrifying moment he nearly drowns in underwater cave
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/viral-video/11767175/Free-diver-captures-terrifying-moment-he-nearly-drowns-in-underwater-cave.html
Young free diver is heard struggling to hold his breath in San Antonio's
Jacob's Well as he tries to reach the surface in a heart-stopping race against
time
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[Texascavers] Free diver captures terrifying moment he nearly drowns in Jcobs Well :
Free diver captures terrifying moment he nearly drowns in underwater cave http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/viral-video/11767175/Free-diver-captures-terrifying-moment-he-nearly-drowns-in-underwater-cave.html Young free diver is heard struggling to hold his breath in San Antonio's Jacob's Well as he tries to reach the surface in a heart-stopping race against tim By Charlotte Krol, video source Storyful / YouTube / DiegoA 10:11AM BST 28 Jul 2015 A young man who got into difficulties while diving in a deadly underwater well has lived to tell the tale of his brush with death. Diego Adame, 21, from Texas, US, caught every moment of his terrifying ordeal in San Antonio's Jacob's Well on his underwater camera. Footage shows Mr Adame free diving - where divers hold their breath underwater instead of using a breathing tank - at 100ft below the surface when he suddenly loses one of his flippers. Learning from one diver's fatal mistake of attempting to retrieve their flipper, Mr Adame said he knew he must leave the item behind and resurface immediately. Not doing so would have taken up more vital time and posed him at further risk. He was also force to cut off his weight belt in order to rise to the surface as quickly as possible. According to Mr Adame, the gasping for air heard throughout the resulting video is a natural occurrence called the mammalian dive reflex, which prevented his lungs from collapsing during the ordeal. Jacob's Well has reportedly claimed the lives of 12 divers in the past. Jerry Atkinson ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Bat mirror for all occasions :
http://the-gadgeteer.com/2015/07/25/this-batman-mirror-is-perfect-for-your-bat-man-cave/ Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Park worker's 'Persistence' led to cave find :
Nice article on the discovery up at Wind Cave NP in the Rapid City Journal. http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/park-worker-s-persistence-led-to-cave-find/article_fa92387f-2814-521f-898f-1866fcdd5888.html ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Now for something totally asinine :
Ruby Falls installs wireless Internet for cave visitors Don't bump into that stalagmite while you're Facebooking. Ruby Falls is installing Wi-Fi so visitors to the cave can stay connected on their underground trip to the waterfall. At 1,120 feet underneath Lookout Mountain, the attraction says it's the deepest Internet access available inside a commercial cave anywhere, and a first for Chattanooga. Visitors will be able to share their memories with loved ones in real-time. Staff will be able to use the wireless Internet to enhance safety in the cave, with 13 security cameras and 10 phones now installed, Ruby Falls said in a news release. The attraction says it partnered with EPB and InfoSystems to make the installation possible without detracting from the natural elements of the cave. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/story/2015/apr/29/ruby-falls-installs-wireless-internet-cave-visitors/301436/ ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Finally, the Beauty of France's Chauvet Cave Makes its Grand Public Debut :
A high-tech recreation of the immortal artworks shines a new light on the dawn of human imagination. (Complete with caver rivalry and egos). http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/france-chauvet-cave-makes-grand-debut-180954582/?utm_source=smithsoniantopic&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20150322-Weekender&spMailingID=22322331&spUserID=NzQwNDU4MTU4MjQS1&spJobID=522060268&spReportId=NTIyMDYwMjY4S0 ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Ezell's cave gating in the news:
Making a good entrance: Cavers hope new structure brings a colony back By Richard A. Marini March 8, 2015 http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Making-a-good-entrance-6122521.php ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Now here's any opportunity to get a head start in caving :
Idaho State to take part in cave search for human head Posted: Feb 25, 2015 9:44 AM MST Updated: Feb 25, 2015 9:45 AM MST POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) - The Idaho State University anthropology department plans to examine eastern Idaho caves in an attempt to find a missing human head that could help solve a cold-case killing. Clark County Sheriff Bart May tells KPVI-TV (http://bit.ly/1MRyuNH) that he asked the school for help. Authorities found a male torso in the Civil Defense Caves in 1979 and in 1991 found the arms and legs. The Civil Defense Caves are actually lava tubes that extend for several thousand feet. Kyra Stull of Idaho State says a team will go to the caves Friday to use a scanning device that can make a three-dimensional map. Authorities say the unidentified victim is a white male 25 to 45 years old and between 5-foot-6 and 6-foot-2. Information from: KPVI-TV, http://www.kpvi.com/ ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] New Braunfels guano kiln :
CONFEDERATEBAT GUANO KILN, NEW BRAUNFELS. The Texas HillCountry’s abundant caves withtheir significant bat populations furnished an important resource for theConfederacy during the Civil War.Bat guano’s high nitrate content provided a key ingredient for the productionof gunpowder, and by 1863 a shortage of munitions and other goods precipitatedby the Union blockade, prompted the South to seek alternative means of securingvarious supplies. The Nitre and Mining Bureau of the Confederacy authorizedlocal industrialists to mine bat guano from area caves in order to extractsaltpeter. The Thomas Anderson mill in northwest Travis County, for example,was designated the Travis Powder Company in 1863 and obtained guano from areacaves to extract saltpeter and mix it with sulfur and charcoal (produced byburning cedar trees) to manufacture gunpowder. A similar operation occurrednear Concan in Uvalde County where a cave and its resident bat populationfueled that region’s saltpeter industry. Miners utilized mule-drawn railcars totransport the guano. By summer 1863,the Nitre and Mining Bureau, Western District, Texas, authorized WilliamSeekatz and Associates to operate a guano kiln in New Braunfels in SouthCentral Texas. Capt. William Seekatz, one of the pioneers of New Braunfels,along with citizens Ed Braden, Ed Dreiss, Jack Marshall, and Joe Ney,constructed a limestone oven near the headwaters of the Comal River. On July17, 1863, the Neu-Braunfelser Zeitung statedthat the men were waiting for the Confederate government to supply kettles foroperations to begin. Guano was minedand hauled from Brehmer’s Cave, some three miles west of the oven as well asfrom a cave in the Cibolo area. From the guano, the kiln produced an output of100 pounds of pure saltpeter daily. According to the Neu-Braunfelser Zeitungon April 29, 1864, 100 pounds of guano were needed to produce four pounds ofsaltpeter—requiring the shoveling of 2,500 pounds of bat guano a day to fillthe quota of 100 pounds of saltpeter crystals. Regular production continuedpresumably until the end of the war. In 1938 FrankP. Seekatz, the son of William Seekatz, erected a granite marker to commemoratethe operations that had begun seventy-five years earlier. The marker stands bythe remnants of the guano kiln in present-day Landa Park. Jasinski, Laurie E. 2012. Confederate bat guano kiln,New Braunfels. Handbook of Texas Online, TexasState Historical Association, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/dkc09,[accessed 22 February 2015]. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Texas Caver volume and issue numbers :
Posted for Mimi Jasek: To All Current and Future Editors and Proofreaders of the Texas Caver: We really do have one of the finest caving magazines in the United States, but I would like to try to make you aware of something that needs to be put back on the Contents Page to make it complete, and to correct an error that is being perpetuated. In the past this information has been either there or on the combined Publication Data/Contents Page. There is plenty of room to add a text box above the word Contents with this information, or if it belongs on the Publication Data page, put it there. I would suggest checking with Logan McNatt as to correct placement. The Texas Caver January - March, 2015 Volume 61, Issue 1 I put this in the format that would be for the first issue of 2015. In many past issues, also, rather than Vol and Issue being put on the cover, it was simply the months involved. Correction that needs to be fixed: The Volume number is for a whole year! DO NOT increase this number with the isssue number increasement! Please see the wonderful spread sheet provided by Jerry Atkinson in his 11/13/14 post about the Texas Caver Publication List. If you have never worked on a magazine before, and have never paid attention to this, then this mistake can be understandable. But if we are still sending out issues to libraries and other important cave owner entities, this information matters. For all who may still get their hard copies bound into yearly volumes, this also matters. In 2014, the TC went from Vol 60 all the way to Vol 63, yet the whole year is Volume 60. To many who see this post, this request will seem frivolous and totally unimportant. But as someone who worked on the TC for untold years alongside James Jasek to edit, type, proofread, correct, print, collate, address and mail for any number of editors, besides working in a bookbinding company, this information really matters. Design is completely individual as to the editor of any magazine, but critical publication data is not, and is one of those things - like proper page numbers for the articles within - that should be carried forward from issue to issue for proper continuity. Sincerely, and with the best of nerdy, proofreading intentions, Mimi Jasek ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Spelunking draws tourists to caverns in Mexican Gulf state :
Tourism promotion in the Zongolica Sierra and the exploration of the region's deep caverns in the Mexican Gulf state of Veracruz will be part of the National Speleology Congress from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, organizers said. The deepest cavern in the Zongolica region reaches 375 meters (1,230 feet) down in the Sotano de Tomasa Quiahua, a shaft named for a woman who fell in and whose remains were recovered years later by French explorers, according to local lore. Zongolica is known as the "Himalaya of caverns" due to its challenging shafts, many of which have yet to be explored, Pedro Pablo Cruz Cano, of the organizing committee, told Efe. Participants will study the Zongolica area in general, will discuss technical issues and examine the adoption of safety measures in caverns to have sustainable tourism and prevent impacts on phreatic mantles, he said. "The goal is to show the general public the attraction caves have for visitors," Cruz said, referring to economic expectations in the region, one of Mexico's most marginalized areas. Currently, the Zongolica caves receive, on average, one group of visitors a month, and promoters hope to increase the number of spelunkers from Mexico and other countries. "There is a need for promotion since there is one visit per month, and that's why we brought the Congress to Zongolica, to make it better known," Cruz said. Cruz acknowledged the paucity of infrastructure since the municipality is small and there are few hotels. Tourism and spelunking could benefit hotels, restaurants and the communities in cities like Orizaba and Cordoba, the main access routes to the Zongolica Sierra, he said. Cruz emphasized that speleologists working in the region have the equipment required to safely guide tourists through the intricate network of caves and rivers on the Zongolica. EFE http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2015/01/27/spelunking-draws-tourists-to-caverns-in-mexican-gulf-state/ ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Speleo-confessions
You too ! I confess to smuggling cigarettes into underground camps that were longer than a couple of days. No need for matches back then with all the carbide lamps. Jerry. -Original Message- From: Don Arburn via Texascavers To: texascavers Sent: Mon, Dec 22, 2014 6:59 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Speleo-confessions Ok, who will confess to doing things in caves they weren't supposed to? Back in the day, we took cigarettes in ammo boxes into Honey Creek to get our fix while surveying. --Don > On Dec 22, 2014, at 7:49 PM, Charles Loving > > I saw you drink a margarita on a caving related event… ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Jerry Atkinson- Dye trace
Thanks, Julie ! Jerry. -Original Message- From: Julie Jenkins via Texascavers To: tex cave Sent: Mon, Dec 22, 2014 6:22 pm Subject: [Texascavers] Jerry Atkinson- Dye trace Jerry, June 1,2000 2nd trace June 16,2000 No hits on Northside of River at all. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Mike Boon
Any details or obituaries that you know of ? Jerry, -Original Message- From: Bill Steele via Texascavers To: Cavers Texas Sent: Mon, Dec 22, 2014 5:16 pm Subject: [Texascavers] Mike Boon I just learned that Mike Boon passed away yesterday. Bill Steele Sent from my iPhone ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Unbecoming conduct
Hear, hear ! The world's a more interesting place with characters like Locklear (=Bockbeer). Jerry Atkinson. -Original Message- From: Charles Loving via Texascavers To: Cavers Texas Sent: Mon, Dec 22, 2014 4:49 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Unbecoming conduct I have broken bread with Bockbeer and chased him around Acuna as he looked for a store that didn't exist while my other caver pal was shucking a dentist which was a real hoot. Bockbeer got lost but we found him and we all had a great time. Don't pick on one of the most entertaining caver type we have on the list. On Mon, Dec 22, 2014 at 5:05 PM, Julie Jenkins via Texascavers wrote: Who the hell decided that one? You ALL know from years of dealing with and all of u bitching about locklear that I said nothing hundreds of u haven't wanted to say out loud for years! I'm not gonna start down the caver list of those I've heard say much the same as I. Sadly 'the boys' have never had the balls to call dwn another male! Is there no male out there who is honest enough to call it like u see it w a male caver? Oh, but ever so ballsy to call my conduct unbecoming - yet, what I write was quite truthful. U boys just need to man up. The guy has always been a bullshitting menace and danger to cave with. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers -- Charlie Loving ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Austrian cave researchers find skeleton of skier :
Austrian cave researchers find skeleton of skier VIENNA Wed Nov 12, 2014 9:17am EST VIENNA (Reuters) - Cave researchers in Austria have stumbled across the skeleton of a skier who apparently fell to his death many decades ago. Geologist Georg Zagler made the grisly discovery last month while exploring the Alpine site on Untersberg peak near Salzburg. A recovery team brought out the remains on Wednesday, the Austria Press Agency reported. At first mistaking them for animal bones, Zagler realized his error when he found two boots and parts of a ski and pole. "It was a leather shoe cobbled with nails and with thick iron spikes," probably 70 to 80 years old, APA quoted him as saying. He suspected the skier fell around 50 meters (150 feet) to his death. Police think snowmelt and runoff then washed his bones to a depth as low as 300 meters from the cave opening. Prosecutors ordered an autopsy but it was unclear whether the victim would ever be identified, police said. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/12/us-austria-cave-idUSKCN0IW1MH20141112 ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Texas Cavers magazine archive
For those of you wondering if you have a complete set of Texas Cavers, attached is an Excel spreadsheet that documents all issues that were published. Also, if you are looking for information on a specific cave or caving area, the Texas Speleological Survey provides a downloadable and searchable bibliography of Texas caving (TexBib) on its website. Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com -Original Message- From: Mixon Bill via Texascavers To: Cavers Texas Sent: Wed, Nov 12, 2014 12:43 pm Subject: [Texascavers] Texas Cavers magazine archive Many thanks to the people at the Karst Information Portal for making image files of old Texas Cavers and to Mike what's-his-name for assembling them into a manageable number of large ZIP files for us to download. I have done that. My own collection of paper copies goes back to 1972. In the process of looking there for an issue missing from the on-line set, I noticed that two large, folded maps that had been included with 1986 number 4 were not in the file for that issue. That led me to do additional checks. Because the KIP scans (actually, photographs, I think) were made from copies bound in thick volumes, there were quite a few cases where large chunks of centerfold maps were missing because they got lost in the binding. There were a few other anomalies, such as foldouts that were incomplete or missing. The version of 1976 #12 I downloaded was a defective file, and I fetched a new copy from KIP. I scanned my own copies of a few missing issues. I have placed a very large (550MB) ZIP file of 28 issues at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/26580089/TC%20new.zip They will stay there for a couple of weeks. If these are used to supplement or replace the ones in the KIP set, they should add up to a complete set from 1972 on (assuming that there really were only two issues in 2004). The resulting collection of files are not, mostly, presentable enough to be put somewhere like the TSA web site, but they are complete and adequate for archival purposes. (Even the few issues I scanned are not the best I could have done.) I urge anyone who has downloaded the KIP versions to update the set from my ZIP file for his permanent collection. Maybe someone else can do something similar for issues earlier than 1972. -- Bill Mixon PS Don't tell me I need to get a life. Hardcore armchair caving _is_ a life. Ack! Christmas decorations already. This might be a good time to spend a couple of months in Saudi Arabia. You may "reply" to the address this message (unless it's a TexasCavers list post) came from, but for long-term use, save: Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu AMCS: a...@mexicancaves.org or sa...@mexicancaves.org ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers TexasCaverMasterList.xls Description: MS-Excel spreadsheet ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Texas Cavers magazine archive
Bill, If you have some maps that you need scanned for the AMCS, I have a complete set of TxCvrs that is essentially unbound. Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com -Original Message- From: Mixon Bill via Texascavers To: texascavers Sent: Wed, Nov 12, 2014 8:04 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Texas Cavers magazine archive Yes, it was #2. It was not in the set that Mike provided links to, I'm pretty sure. It stands out pretty well in a folder display because it is the one with color cover. Perhaps Mike had not downloaded it, seeing it as a duplicate. But also it was a membership list issue, and I see indications that there was a conspiracy against those issues getting on the web, although it was not done consistently. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to hide the addresses and phone numbers in the 1997 members manual; see 1997 #1. But some membership list issues were there, and some are on the TSA web site in the members' area. In addition to the things I put in the link in the message you saw, I also scanned the TSA members manuals for 2005, 2007, and 2009. Those were distributed by the TSA but not as numbered issues of the Texas Caver. I figured I'd humor the people who had obviously hidden that info. I did send a link to those scans to TSA and TSS leaders so they could archive them. If you're interested, that link is https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/26580089/TC%20secret.zip Now I have to go through all the Texas Cavers looking for maps that are not yet in the AMCS set on the web. I probably won't bother to add a Texas Caver credit at the bottom of the maps that are already on our web site; there would be an awful lot of them, because there was a good bit of duplication between the TC and the AMCS. It isn't easy to add a new line of text to an existing PDF. Hope I don't find too many maps in pre-1972 TCs that are bad because KIP used Veni's bound copies.-- Bill Ack! Christmas decorations already. This might be a good time to spend a couple of months in Saudi Arabia. You may "reply" to the address this message (unless it's a TexasCavers list post) came from, but for long-term use, save: Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu AMCS: a...@mexicancaves.org or sa...@mexicancaves.org ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Lechuguilla Cave in 3D exhibit Nov 22 - Jan 10 :
Underground of Enchantment: Lechuguilla Cave -- experience the natural wonder of Lechuguilla Cave in 3D Carlsbad Museum and Art Center, Carlsbad, NM This excellent photo exhibit will be returning to the Carlsbad Museum and Art Center beginning on November 22nd. It was on display at the Carlsbad Caverns visitor center and has been traveling for some time. This exhibit gives the public a chance to glimpse the varied forms and geologic features all in 3D photographs and films. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Dinosaur-Era Footprints Found In Angola Cave Include ‘Exceptionally Large’ Mystery Mammal :
http://www.ibtimes.com/dinosaur-era-footprints-found-angola-cave-include-exceptionally-large-mystery-mammal-1720985 7 November 2014 Nearly 70 distinct footprints from several prehistoric dinosaurs, mammals and a crocodile were recently unearthed at a diamond cave in Angola, making them the first tracks of their kind ever found in the African country. The impressions were left around 118 million years ago in sediment near what was once a lake and were probably left at different times, according to paleontologists who presented their findings Wednesday at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's annual meeting in Berlin. One of the most impressive finds were the tracks of a mammal with five distinct digits that measured about 0.6 inches (1.5 centimeters) long and would have belonged to an animal about the size of a modern-day raccoon, according to LiveScience. Most early mammals were no larger than rats, making the discovery of an animal “exceptionally large for its time” a very rare find, researchers told LiveScience. It wasn’t until about 65 million years ago, after the extinction of the dinosaurs, that mammals began to evolve into their modern descendants. Figuring out what kind of mammal made the rare footprints proved difficult. "We cannot narrow down to a species but we can say they do belong to – they were made by an exceptionally large mammal – that we can say for sure,” Marco Marzola, a paleontologist with the PaleoAngola Project, told IBTimes UK. Nearby, 18 sauropod tracks were discovered in the sediment. Sauropods were long-necked dinosaurs with relatively small skulls and brains. Their bones and footprints have been found on all continents, except Antarctica, indicating they were geographically widespread, according to the University of California, Berkeley. Scientists discovered the Angola diamond mine tracks in 2010 and 2011. "Incredibly, the society of Catoca [where the mine is located] stopped all activity in that sector of the mine," Marzola told Live Science. He said the miners “renounced potential income from their own mine just to promote science — to promote vertebrate paleontology in Angola and in Africa." ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Terry Plemons :
Terry Plemons, please contact me off-list. Thanks ! Jerry Atkinson jerryat...@aol.com -Original Message- From: Terry Plemons via Texascavers To: Cavers Texas Sent: Fri, Sep 19, 2014 12:11 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Devils River State Natural Area trip anouncement - November 8-9, 2014 : Jerry, Please add my name to the list. Thank you, Terry Plemons On Thu, Sep 18, 2014 at 1:57 AM, Jerry via Texascavers wrote: Devils River StateNatural Area (Satan Unit) Karst Project -- November 8-9, 2014 The Texas Speleological Survey will be conducting a karst survey trip at the Big Satan Unit of the Devils River State Natural Areain Val Verde County, Texas. Theapproximately 18,000-acre park contains a number of known cave and karstfeatures that have not been adequately explored, surveyed, or inventoried fortheir resource potential. In addition to the known karst features in the park,the area has excellent potential for new discoveries. The area consists of anupland plateau that is dissected by several steep-sided and relatively deepcanyons that are covered with rather vicious vegetation. We do have the use of a cabin with limited bedding and amenities, so most folks will need to plan on camping. High clearancevehicles are needed for traveling the back roads in the park and several milesof strenuous hiking are required to reach some of the caves and karst features.The park has several miles of riverfront on the Devils River affording some excellentswimming opportunities. The trip will be November 8-9th,2014. As this will be our second project trip to the park, the numberof folks participating will be kept low until all logistical issues have beenworked out. We anticipate that there will be a number of trips to the park overthe next year or two. If you are interested in participating on the November trip,please email me and I’ll put you on the list. We’ll probably have more thanenough volunteers so I’ll be keeping a backup list in case there are anycancellations. Please contact me if youhave any questions. Hope to see you out there! Jerry Atkinson – Project Coordinator Texas Speleological Survey ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Devils River State Natural Area (Satan Unit) Karst Project trip -- November 8-9, 2014 :
Devils River State Natural Area (Satan Unit) Karst Project -- November 8-9, 2014 The Texas Speleological Survey will be conducting a karst survey trip at the Big Satan Unit of the Devils River State Natural Area in Val Verde County, Texas. The approximately 18,000-acre park contains a number of known cave and karst features that have not been adequately explored, surveyed, or inventoried for their resource potential. In addition to the known karst features in the park, the area has excellent potential for new discoveries. The area consists of an upland plateau that is dissected by several steep-sided and relatively deep canyons that are covered with rather vicious vegetation. We do have the use of a cabin with limited bedding and amenities, so most folks will need to plan on camping. High clearance vehicles are needed for traveling the back roads in the park and several miles of strenuous hiking are required to reach some of the caves and karst features. The park has several miles of riverfront on the Devils River affording some excellent swimming opportunities. The trip will be November 8-9th, 2014. As this will be our second project trip to the park, the number of folks participating will be kept low until all logistical issues have been worked out. We anticipate that there will be a number of trips to the park over the next year or two. If you are interested in participating on the November trip, please email me and I’ll put you on the list. We’ll probably have more than enough volunteers so I’ll be keeping a backup list in case there are any cancellations. Please contact me if you have any questions. Hope to see you out there! Jerry Atkinson – Project Coordinator jerryat...@aol.com Texas Speleological Survey ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Devils River State Natural Area trip anouncement - November 8-9, 2014 :
Devils River StateNatural Area (Satan Unit) Karst Project -- November 8-9, 2014 The Texas Speleological Survey will be conducting a karst survey trip at the Big Satan Unit of the Devils River State Natural Areain Val Verde County, Texas. Theapproximately 18,000-acre park contains a number of known cave and karstfeatures that have not been adequately explored, surveyed, or inventoried fortheir resource potential. In addition to the known karst features in the park,the area has excellent potential for new discoveries. The area consists of anupland plateau that is dissected by several steep-sided and relatively deepcanyons that are covered with rather vicious vegetation. We do have the use of a cabin with limited bedding and amenities, so most folks will need to plan on camping. High clearancevehicles are needed for traveling the back roads in the park and several milesof strenuous hiking are required to reach some of the caves and karst features.The park has several miles of riverfront on the Devils River affording some excellentswimming opportunities. The trip will be November 8-9th,2014. As this will be our second project trip to the park, the numberof folks participating will be kept low until all logistical issues have beenworked out. We anticipate that there will be a number of trips to the park overthe next year or two. If you are interested in participating on the November trip,please email me and I’ll put you on the list. We’ll probably have more thanenough volunteers so I’ll be keeping a backup list in case there are anycancellations. Please contact me if youhave any questions. Hope to see you out there! Jerry Atkinson – Project Coordinator Texas Speleological Survey ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Mailing List update and bounce information
I'm with Marvin. And I think it's pretty low stuff to pick on someone just for laughs. Might actually hurt someone pretty bad. Jerry Atkinson. -Original Message- From: Marvin Miller via Texascavers To: texascavers Sent: Fri, Aug 22, 2014 5:56 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Mailing List update and bounce information I like to read Locklear. On Fri, Aug 22, 2014 at 9:25 AM, Don Cooper via Texascavers wrote: Thanks again for your help with the texas cavers remailer. In the past, I put a filter into my gmail profile to automatically dump all messages originated by David Locklear, However - with recent changes to the system - he seems to have gotten around it and - yeah, it's annoying to me that now I get these messages as 'David through Texascavers'... Tips? -Don C On Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 12:53 PM, caverarch via Texascavers wrote: I'm all with Jon in thanking you for your efforts, Charles! Roger Moore -Original Message- From: Jon Cradit via Texascavers To: Charles Goldsmith ; texascavers Sent: Thu, Jul 31, 2014 11:10 am Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Mailing List update and bounce information Charles, I think the work you do and amount of volunteer time you donate is great. I have no issue with these technical glitches that the computers feel they need to throw out at us humans from time to time. Many thanks for fighting them off, JC ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/cavetex http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] book review: Fern Cave
Kinda sounds like the pot calling the kettle black, Phil. ;>) Jerry. -Original Message- From: Phil Winkler via Texascavers To: texascavers Sent: Thu, Aug 14, 2014 9:10 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] book review: Fern Cave Gees, Bill, If you can't say something nice don't say anything at all. Jenn's book is a superb summary of the discovery and exploration of one of our greatest caves. Her writing is passionate and on topic, factual and timely. She brings everything up to date from Donal Myrick's classic publication from the early 70s. I've been in the cave dozens of times from the early 70s thru the 80s until even 2000 with JV. It is a major cave with so much diversity with formations, passage, pits and complexity, not to mention the huge colonies of grey bats in the Morgue section. Phil On Aug 14, 2014, at 10:41 PM, Mixon Bill via Texascavers wrote: > Fern Cave: The Discovery, Exploration, and History of Alabama's Greatest Cave. Jennifer Ellen Pinkley. Blue Bat Books, 2014. ISBN 978-0-9903547-0-3. 6.5 by 8.5 inches, 371 pages. Softbound $25, $10 for Kindle or Nook e-book from www.bluebatbooks.com. > When I visited Fern Cave, it consisted of a short stream passage and > Surprise Pit. By that time, the route to the new rigging point, which provided a dry 404-foot rappel, had been Toroded to the point that the step across the four-hundred-foot-deep gap in the ledge was only moderately scary. Nearby, New Fern was discovered and explored through several entrances. It was finally connected to Fern Cave, and the whole took over the name. So I'll have to call the original cave old Fern, I guess. > Fern Cave is more than fifteen miles long and is essentially a vertical > maze, with many levels connected by numerous drops. The part of the cave in the vicinity of the Morgue Entrance contains the largest hibernaculum of gray bats, which have been declared endangered by the feds. So most of the entrances to the cave were purchased by the Fish and Wildlife Service as a detached part of the nearby Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. The owner of old Fern was not interesting in selling, and the connections between it and the rest of the cave are obscure or dangerous, so the FWS didn't pursue the matter. Relations between the Huntsville Grotto and the FWS were good, and the grotto was allowed to manage the FWS parts of Fern, provided that no caving was done in the gray-bat section during the hibernating season. The grotto established a permit system, and exploration and mapping continued. Old Fern and Surprise Pit continued to be open without red tape, and eventually they were purchased by the Southeast Cave Conservancy. > Then white-nose syndrome appeared, and the Fish and Wildlife Service > declared that all caving should stop in states where it occurred and all adjacent states. Naturally this was ridiculed and widely ignored, but caves owned by the US Forest Service or the FWS and other parts of the Department of the Interior were declared closed, and the agreement with the Huntsville Grotto to manage Fern Cave ended. Even the Southeast Cave Conservancy jerked its knee, and old Fern was closed, although it has since reopened. When some research access by cavers to Fern Cave was allowed years later, it was found that, in the absence of the grotto's management and the monitoring that it allowed, some vandalism had occurred in Fern despite the official closure. (None of the entrances to the cave have been gated.) White-nose syndrome has affected tri-colored bats in New Fern, and sensitive tests have detected its DNA in swabs from hibernating gray bats, but so far they seem unharmed. > Pinkley's book is a very nice, reasonably priced summary of the history of the cave from the original discovery and descent of old Fern through today. There are numerous black-and-white photos, many of considerable historical interest. I initially found reading the book a bit tedious, but that turned out to be just because the prose would probably be recommended for middle-school students by those computer programs that rate the difficulty of a text. I got used to it, and certainly I can't claim the book is difficult to understand. Embedded are personal accounts of some of the author's own involvement in the cave. She is very bitter about the FWS's turning on the cavers that had done so much to help them before WNS appeared, but actually they had no choice but to march to the drums in DC. The limited vandalism, mainly spray-painted arrows and scratched names, that occurred during the time the cave was effectively unmanaged, if officially closed, distresses her greatly, although I'd say it wasn't that big a deal for a fifteen-mile cave. It is a lesson, though, that managing an open cave, even if not foolproof, can be better than an ineffective closure. > Bill Torode's map of Fern Cave has never be
