texascavers Digest 30 Jan 2012 18:19:02 -0000 Issue 1482
Topics (messages 19415 through 19421):
Rain Helpful, But Not Enough to End Drought :
19415 by: JerryAtkin.aol.com
White Nose Syndrome confirmed in Europe
19416 by: germanyj.aol.com
Deep Cave Survey Report - Jan 6-7, 2012
19417 by: Joe & Evelynn Mitchell
19419 by: Mike Burrell
2012 NSS Members Manual--Photos Needed NOW Please
19418 by: R D Milhollin
Bat Presentations at the Space Coast Birding Festival, Tittisville, Florida
19420 by: PRESTON FORSYTHE
Re: new sinkhole drains pond in south Austin
19421 by: Fritz Holt
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Begin Message ---
Rain Helpful, But Not Enough to End Drought
Wed Jan 25 2012 05:10 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Roland Ruiz: (210) 477-5143, or mobile: (210) 416-6116
EAA Rain Gauge Network Shows Rainfall Across Region
SAN ANTONIO (January 25, 2012) – Rainfall amounts recorded across the
Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) rain gauge network between 7:00 p.m. Tuesday,
January 24, and 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, January 25, ranged from about 0.6
inches in Kinney and Uvalde counties to almost 7 inches in Comal County. The
rainfall amounts reported by the EAA, which are provisional, indicate that
varying amounts of rain fell across much of the Edwards region over the past
24 hours. It is likely the aquifer will experience a modest rise in level
over the next day or two. However, EAA officials caution that the region is
still under Stage I critical period pumping restrictions and will likely
remain so for the foreseeable future.
According to the EAA rain gauge network, the following rainfall totals (in
inches) were recorded as thunderstorms rolled through south-central Texas
late Tuesday and early Wednesday:
County Average Highest Gauge Reading
Bandera 2.23 0.90
Bexar 4.68 1.79
Blanco 0.97 0.97
Comal 6.83 3.87
Edwards 1.42 1.10
Hays 4.99 3.47
Kendall 1.22 1.18
Kinney 0.69 0.64
Medina 1.77 0.84
Real 0.98 0.74
Uvalde 0.94 0.60
The EAA operates 73 “real-time” precipitation gauges that record data on
six-minute intervals and transmit these data to the Authority’s office via a
radio-telemetry system. Rain gauges are located on the Edwards Aquifer
Recharge Zone, Drainage Area, and Artesian Zone. Precipitation data
acquired through the rain gauge network have many uses, including aquifer
recharge
calculations, production of rainfall maps, and use in a variety of
research projects.
The EAA manages, enhances, and protects the Edwards Aquifer, one of the
major groundwater systems in Texas serving approximately 2 million people.
More information on the Edwards Aquifer Authority is available at
_www.edwardsaquifer.org_ (http://edwardsaquifer.org/) or by calling
210-222-2204 or
1-800-292-1047.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
White Nose Syndrome confirmed in Europe
http://cavingnews.com/20120128-white-nose-syndrome-confirmed-in-europe-geomyces-destructans-stara-dratenicka-byci-skala-czech-republic
White Nose Syndrome Confirmed in Europe
January 28, 2012 / Czech Republic, Europe
Photo by Gilles San Martin/flickr
An article in the January 2012 issue of the Journal of Wildlife Diseases
confirms the discovery of white-nose syndrome in European bats.
Although European bats had been seen exhibiting the characteristic white
muzzles of WNS for decades, and identification of Geomyces destructans was made
in 2008, confirmation of WNS itself had not been made do it’s method of testing
that requires the bat to be euthanized, which is not allowed without a permit.
With the discovery of a dead greater mouse-eared bat in the Czech Republic’s
Stara Dratenicka cave in March 2010 and five more, found 12 days later in
nearby Bycı skala cave, scientists finally had what they needed to perform the
test.
The results from the histopathological examination confirm the presence of
white-nose syndrome in Europe, with two of the bats found dead testing positive
and exhibiting symptoms of the disease such as significantly lower weight.
While mortality rates have so far not affected the population size of Europe’s
bats, this conclusive proof of WNS and its ability to kill indicates the
importance of keeping a close eye on Europe’s bat populations in the future.
Histopathology Confirms White-Nose Syndrome in Bats in Europe [Journal of
Wildlife Diseases via the NSS WNS Page]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
The most recent Deep Cave Survey Trip was held on Jan 6-7, 2012. This was a
two-day trip to clean up some previous survey and continue the work from the
last two survey trips held in July and October of 2011.
On Friday, only 4 people were able to attend, myself, Don Arburn, Jill Orr, and
Mike Harris. Except for Don who had been out there most of the week for a trip
for cavers visiting from Tennessee, the rest of us arrived on Friday morning.
We got out to the cave before noon and began by working on the B-survey, which
is the high, and mid-level areas back to the right from the Entrance Room.
There were several sketch problems, which were resolved, and a few possible
leads were checked but none had any promise. Eventually we worked our way down
to the D-survey, which began small so only Jill, and I proceeded. This survey
from 2005 had extremely poor closure and has not been included in the length of
the cave previously. We were able to relocate 6 stations and reshoot them.
Though the shots each had problems, the biggest issue was found to be an
incorrect tie in point to the E-survey. Most interestingly, at the end of the
D-survey, many leads were seen heading off it multiple directions, so would be
an excellent location to send teams in the future. We were then planning to go
and tie in a hanging survey from a previous trip, but the wrong notes were
brought so, being tired from various illnesses and wanting to save energy for
Saturday, we exited the cave.
As we relaxed that evening, the remainder of the survey crew gradually filtered
in. Joe and Sara Ranzau along with Evelynn and Kayla Mitchell (who were staying
at the Ranzau’s) also came over to visit for the evening.
Saturday was the main survey day with 19 people on the property. Sue Schindel
had come to relax and hang out at the cabin so did not go into the cave. After
breakfast and getting organized, the teams entered the cave by 10:30 am with
two teams visiting the Helictite Room area and the others going out to the west
end of the cave.
Bennett Lee led a team that included Steve Gutting, and Geary Schindel. They
carried out a survey of the perimeter of the Helictite Room and to more
carefully check leads off of the room. Although this survey did not add much
length to the cave, it did provide a much better sketch of the room for map
drafting purposes. A previously unknown passage was found heading south from
the Helictite Room and is a good lead for future survey. This team also tied
into a hanging survey from the previous trip to add that length to the cave.
The team surveyed 11 shots for 86.13 m.
The next team consisted of Don Arburn and Gregg Williams. Mike Harris intended
to join this team but was unable to do so. This team continued the survey of
areas below the Helictite Room. They found it difficult to sketch. There were
several going leads that were found and a passage that led deep into a room
with a soft dirt floor, which is unusual for that part of the cave. The area
looks like it took a great deal of water flow showing water lines about 0.75 m
up the wall. The team surveyed 13 shots for 65.13 m.
My team consisted of Aspen Schindel, Jill Orr, and Tom Florer. Our goal was to
head out to Gotham City in the western part of the cave and continue working
the leads off this room. We traveled with Marvin and Ellie’s teams to the
Crystal Waterfall. Along the way we stopped at the obelisk rock to install a
permanent handline in preparation for establishing a new visitor route into
this section of the cave. After separating from the other teams, we reached
Gotham City. The right wall leads were not promising but Aspen found that the
straight ahead lead went, so we started surveying there. We went for 4 stations
into a room where the route ended with poor leads. Back in Gotham City, Jill
found a good lead on the west wall at the climb up to the LA survey. We
surveyed this lead for 5 stations, which went into a series of rooms that
corkscrewed above itself. Several of these rooms were well decorated. Aspen
then checked a lead opposite the LB survey down below Gotham City, which lead
to a coral crawl but the team decided to save it for another time. (Marvin's
team ended up surveying into it later from the opposite direction.) We then
proceeded up to the Junction Room, and after meeting Ellie's team in
Metropolis, we surveyed north from the Junction Room down a coral lined slope.
This led to a winding passage that eventually came up into the northern side of
Metropolis from below. Bat droppings and a flying bat were encountered in this
loop, which is rather far from the entrance by known routes, so was surprising
to see. Several holes lead down into a short series of rooms, which remain to
be surveyed. Just before the climb back up into Metropolis, Jill discovered a
steep climb down that goes into a complex maze with many leads and larger rooms
and no end in sight. The team surveyed 19 shots for 74.87 m.
The next team was led by Ellie Watson and included Galen Falgout, Joe Schaertl,
and Andy Edwards. Their goal was to connect the Sparing Cascade Maze to the
Metropolis Room and then to survey any of the maze leads beyond that point.
They made the connection successfully and ended up in the Metropolis Room. They
saw dozens of leads and explored a few of them but ended up ending their survey
early. A cave harvestman and cicurina were seen near the cascade waterfall
area. The team surveyed 7 shots for 28.37 m.
Finally, Marvin Miller led a team with Angela Edwards, Drew Munson, and Gerry
Geletzke. Their goal was to push the cave as far west as possible from the end
of the 2006 C-survey that went through and past the Lunchroom. They began at
the end of that survey at the “3 Dot Lead" which was the westernmost known
extent of the cave. However, their survey in this direction only went down into
the next room and no further leads were found there. They then backtracked to a
lead at an earlier point in the C-survey and followed it down to the southwest,
however it ended up tying into a location at the west end of the Lunchroom
after 4 stations. From this point, they saw another lead going north and
surveyed it for 8 stations to a pit. This lead down into the Moonmilk Battery
Room from the 2008 AR survey, which provided the first loop closure to that
survey. After this, they continued for 4 more stations until they came into the
bottom of Gotham City and tied onto the survey there. Along the way they passed
multiple going leads to the northeast and east and one digging lead to the
west. The team surveyed 20 shots for 53.45 m, connecting many previously
unconnected surveys and showing that the loop closure in the western portion of
the cave was good.
Marvin’s team was the last out of the cave, arriving back at the cabin by 9:30
pm, although Bennett stayed a bit later to do some photography in the Forest of
Columns. Dinner was the usual pot-luck affair with lots of food and drinks all
around.
Though this trip ended up mainly being about connections rather than new
directions, each team found new and promising leads on top of the many others
that still await exploration. This cave still has a lot remaining to be
explored and surveyed. After this trip, the new length of Deep Cave is 3378.0
m, barely surpassing Caverns of Sonora to move up from the 16th to the 14th
longest cave in Texas. The depth remains unchanged at 77.6 m. The next survey
trip is planned for the beginning of March.
Joe Mitchell
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Great report Joe!
Recent progress has also been made at CWAN and Spring Creek Cave. It
would be great to see posts on Texas Cavers from those surveys. I know
that the cavers involved are very busy people but the greater caving
community would be very excited to read these reports.
Mike Burrell
Manager
Cave Without a Name
On Jan 29, 2012, at 9:41 PM, Joe & Evelynn Mitchell wrote:
The most recent Deep Cave Survey Trip was held on Jan 6-7, 2012.
This was a two-day trip to clean up some previous survey and
continue the work from the last two survey trips held in July and
October of 2011.
On Friday, only 4 people were able to attend, myself, Don Arburn,
Jill Orr, and Mike Harris. Except for Don who had been out there
most of the week for a trip for cavers visiting from Tennessee, the
rest of us arrived on Friday morning. We got out to the cave before
noon and began by working on the B-survey, which is the high, and
mid-level areas back to the right from the Entrance Room. There were
several sketch problems, which were resolved, and a few possible
leads were checked but none had any promise. Eventually we worked
our way down to the D-survey, which began small so only Jill, and I
proceeded. This survey from 2005 had extremely poor closure and has
not been included in the length of the cave previously. We were able
to relocate 6 stations and reshoot them. Though the shots each had
problems, the biggest issue was found to be an incorrect tie in
point to the E-survey. Most interestingly, at the end of the D-
survey, many leads were seen heading off it multiple directions, so
would be an excellent location to send teams in the future. We were
then planning to go and tie in a hanging survey from a previous
trip, but the wrong notes were brought so, being tired from various
illnesses and wanting to save energy for Saturday, we exited the cave.
As we relaxed that evening, the remainder of the survey crew
gradually filtered in. Joe and Sara Ranzau along with Evelynn and
Kayla Mitchell (who were staying at the Ranzau’s) also came over to
visit for the evening.
Saturday was the main survey day with 19 people on the property. Sue
Schindel had come to relax and hang out at the cabin so did not go
into the cave. After breakfast and getting organized, the teams
entered the cave by 10:30 am with two teams visiting the Helictite
Room area and the others going out to the west end of the cave.
Bennett Lee led a team that included Steve Gutting, and Geary
Schindel. They carried out a survey of the perimeter of the
Helictite Room and to more carefully check leads off of the room.
Although this survey did not add much length to the cave, it did
provide a much better sketch of the room for map drafting purposes.
A previously unknown passage was found heading south from the
Helictite Room and is a good lead for future survey. This team also
tied into a hanging survey from the previous trip to add that length
to the cave. The team surveyed 11 shots for 86.13 m.
The next team consisted of Don Arburn and Gregg Williams. Mike
Harris intended to join this team but was unable to do so. This team
continued the survey of areas below the Helictite Room. They found
it difficult to sketch. There were several going leads that were
found and a passage that led deep into a room with a soft dirt
floor, which is unusual for that part of the cave. The area looks
like it took a great deal of water flow showing water lines about
0.75 m up the wall. The team surveyed 13 shots for 65.13 m.
My team consisted of Aspen Schindel, Jill Orr, and Tom Florer. Our
goal was to head out to Gotham City in the western part of the cave
and continue working the leads off this room. We traveled with
Marvin and Ellie’s teams to the Crystal Waterfall. Along the way we
stopped at the obelisk rock to install a permanent handline in
preparation for establishing a new visitor route into this section
of the cave. After separating from the other teams, we reached
Gotham City. The right wall leads were not promising but Aspen found
that the straight ahead lead went, so we started surveying there. We
went for 4 stations into a room where the route ended with poor
leads. Back in Gotham City, Jill found a good lead on the west wall
at the climb up to the LA survey. We surveyed this lead for 5
stations, which went into a series of rooms that corkscrewed above
itself. Several of these rooms were well decorated. Aspen then
checked a lead opposite the LB survey down below Gotham City, which
lead to a coral crawl but the team decided to save it for another
time. (Marvin's team ended up surveying into it later from the
opposite direction.) We then proceeded up to the Junction Room, and
after meeting Ellie's team in Metropolis, we surveyed north from the
Junction Room down a coral lined slope. This led to a winding
passage that eventually came up into the northern side of Metropolis
from below. Bat droppings and a flying bat were encountered in this
loop, which is rather far from the entrance by known routes, so was
surprising to see. Several holes lead down into a short series of
rooms, which remain to be surveyed. Just before the climb back up
into Metropolis, Jill discovered a steep climb down that goes into a
complex maze with many leads and larger rooms and no end in sight.
The team surveyed 19 shots for 74.87 m.
The next team was led by Ellie Watson and included Galen Falgout,
Joe Schaertl, and Andy Edwards. Their goal was to connect the
Sparing Cascade Maze to the Metropolis Room and then to survey any
of the maze leads beyond that point. They made the connection
successfully and ended up in the Metropolis Room. They saw dozens of
leads and explored a few of them but ended up ending their survey
early. A cave harvestman and cicurina were seen near the cascade
waterfall area. The team surveyed 7 shots for 28.37 m.
Finally, Marvin Miller led a team with Angela Edwards, Drew Munson,
and Gerry Geletzke. Their goal was to push the cave as far west as
possible from the end of the 2006 C-survey that went through and
past the Lunchroom. They began at the end of that survey at the “3
Dot Lead" which was the westernmost known extent of the cave.
However, their survey in this direction only went down into the next
room and no further leads were found there. They then backtracked to
a lead at an earlier point in the C-survey and followed it down to
the southwest, however it ended up tying into a location at the west
end of the Lunchroom after 4 stations. From this point, they saw
another lead going north and surveyed it for 8 stations to a pit.
This lead down into the Moonmilk Battery Room from the 2008 AR
survey, which provided the first loop closure to that survey. After
this, they continued for 4 more stations until they came into the
bottom of Gotham City and tied onto the survey there. Along the way
they passed multiple going leads to the northeast and east and one
digging lead to the west. The team surveyed 20 shots for 53.45 m,
connecting many previously unconnected surveys and showing that the
loop closure in the western portion of the cave was good.
Marvin’s team was the last out of the cave, arriving back at the
cabin by 9:30 pm, although Bennett stayed a bit later to do some
photography in the Forest of Columns. Dinner was the usual pot-luck
affair with lots of food and drinks all around.
Though this trip ended up mainly being about connections rather than
new directions, each team found new and promising leads on top of
the many others that still await exploration. This cave still has a
lot remaining to be explored and surveyed. After this trip, the new
length of Deep Cave is 3378.0 m, barely surpassing Caverns of Sonora
to move up from the 16th to the 14th longest cave in Texas. The
depth remains unchanged at 77.6 m. The next survey trip is planned
for the beginning of March.
Joe Mitchell
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Forwarded from the VA List:
Hi NSS,
I thought I posted this to Cavechat, but did not in reality. The request was
in the December (and I think January) NSS News, though. I need photos taken by
NSS members for the front and back covers. The deadline is Tuesday, January 31,
2012, but I'll probably let that slide a bit.
Please send no more than FIVE high-quality, vertically oriented, cave-related
photographs for possible use on the cover or back cover of the 2012 NSS Members
Manual. Send a small-sized photo first and be prepared to send a
high-resolution version if asked.
Send photos to me at mereca...@yahoo.com with the subject line: 2012 NSS
MM--Cover Photo Submission--xxx (xxx=your name).
Also, if you have not updated your information in the NSS database and things
have changed, fix it now! We should be taking the "snapshot" of the database
for the Members Manual in the next few weeks. You can update your own info and
should (!) at https://secure.caves.org/nssapps/changeinfo.shtml.
Thanks,
Meredith Hall Weberg
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Shari and I have been at the world's largest birding convention. 2000 plus
birders. We attended several bat presentations. Costa Rica and Panama each
have 114 species of bats! I think Florida has a dozen or so?
We are going to build some bat houses when we return to Browder.
Preston
________________________________
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
May this sinkhole be currently viewed? Will this water quality pond be repaired
or allowed to remain as a recharge circuit to the aquifer?
Whether it would have averted the problem or not, it seems the park authorities
should have forseen this possibility and kept the culverts clear of debris.
Fritz, with hindsight
________________________________
From: Logan McNatt [mailto:lmcn...@austin.rr.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012 4:49 PM
To: Texas Cavers
Subject: [Texascavers] new sinkhole drains pond in south Austin
Thanks to Peter Sprouse and Zara Environmental for forwarding this information;
original source unknown. The early morning storm of Jan 25th dumped 5 to 7
inches of rain over much of Travis and Bastrop counties in 6 to 10 hours. I
didn't see anything in the news about this sinkhole.
The huge water quality pond located at Mopac and William Cannon "Shops at Arbor
Trails" (inc. Costco, Target, Chuy's etc) went from full to empty during this
morning's storm. Over the past year, it was speculated that the pond was
leaking. Few storms had tested the pond over the last few months, but this one
clearly revealed the issue. The liner gave way (split) to reveal a large
sinkhole which slurped down all the water. Musta been one helluva whirlpool.
(not cave related) Bastrop State Park got hit real hard by the storm because
the fire removed all the ground cover. The old Civilian Conservation Corps
culverts had gotten clogged during the long drought, so the water overflowed
and took out large chunks of the park roads. See the following link for photos.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Friends-of-the-Lost-Pines-State-Parks-Bastrop-and-Buescher-State-Parks/313894840447
Logan
--- End Message ---
