Epsomite is an ephemeral mineral, so it's absence from Cottonwood does not *necessarily* imply vandalism, only a change in relative humidity. (Having said that, I don't doubt that the formation could have been vandalized. I'm just saying it didn't have to be.)
Harvey From: swr-boun...@caver.net [mailto:swr-boun...@caver.net] On Behalf Of John Corcoran Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 5:46 PM To: 'Pete Lindsley'; gv...@nckri.org Cc: 'New Mexico Cavers' Subject: Re: [SWR] NCKRI cover photo correction Pete and George, Attached are some old photos of the chandeliers in the 2nd parallel passage in Cottonwood. One was taken by Carl Kunath and the other of the floor-level formation was taken by Sandy Szerlip. I think I have quite a few slides from Sandy (not yet digitized) that show other views of these formations, but will have to look through boxes of stuff to find them. Regards, John From: swr-boun...@caver.net [mailto:swr-boun...@caver.net] On Behalf Of Pete Lindsley Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 3:11 PM To: gv...@nckri.org Cc: 'New Mexico Cavers' Subject: Re: [SWR] NCKRI cover photo correction George, I have heard that same story over the years from the likes of Trout, Komensky, and others. I was first in the cave around 1963 and probably have some pictures of the chandelier from that time. It would be interesting to find some of the old photos of the chandelier over the years and see if we can actually determine if some of it is missing. - Pete On Jan 24, 2013, at 2:11 PM, George Veni wrote: Dear Friends, I have recently learned of an error in NCKRI's 2011-2012 Annual Report. The cover photo has the caption: "This 1963 photo of rare gypsum chandeliers in Cottonwood Cave, New Mexico, is one of many taken by the late Bob Trout and donated this year to NCKRI. Gifts such as this have incredible value, in this case because this spectacular speleothem was tragically destroyed by vandals. It now only exists in a few images like this, which NCKRI strives to collect, preserve, and make available for research and education." Many years ago Jerry Trout showed me a place in the cave where there is now bare wall and he described how a chandelier extended to the floor. I don't know if I was told that this cover photo was of that location or I misunderstood that it was, but in any case I wrote the photo caption based on what I understood to be true and accurate. I now know the chandelier in the photo still exists and is not the destroyed one. I am very sorry for the error. I will publish a correction in NCKRI's 2012-2013 Annual Report, which should be released in September or October. The one thing that remains true about the photo caption is that it is important for NCKRI and others to collect and archive cave photos to preserve them as historical and scientific records. I appreciate everyone's support in helping NCKRI achieve these and other goals. I also appreciate those cavers who delicately informed me of the error, not wanting to cause hurt feelings. Everyone at NCKRI works hard to do the best job possible, but we sometimes make mistakes we don't see. We welcome input that helps us fix those errors, prevent mistakes in the future, and improve our operations in general. For anyone wanting to see this or NCKRI's other annual reports and publications, visit http://nckri.org/about_nckri/nckri_publications.htm. George *************************** George Veni, Ph.D. Executive Director National Cave and Karst Research Institute 400-1 Cascades Avenue Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220-6215 USA Office: 575-887-5517 Mobile: 210-863-5919 Fax: 575-887-5523 gv...@nckri.org www.nckri.org _______________________________________________ SWR mailing list s...@caver.net http://lists.caver.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/swr _______________________________________________ This list is provided free as a courtesy of CAVERNET
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