Someone ought to post more on this subject because of the potential for Hazardous levels of Carbon Dioxide in many areas of Texas.
We seem to have been blessed with a lot of karst (Ellenberger primarily) prone to generating high levels of CO2 in the warmer months. I can tell you that it can certainly present a life threatening scenario where vertical caving is concerned. I have been in very low air while crawling around and it can be very disconcerting but one can generally evacuate to better air or be assisted. On rope in still air it can most certainly become life threatening very quickly when rappelling into a pool of Carbon Dioxide. I became severely disoriented and made an emergency egress after fast rappelling 75 feet into a cave in Cedar Park and hitting the bottom in what was probably life threatening levels of CO2. Had I not made it out it would probably have been a body recovery and could have involved more than one person if another caver had descended to aid me not knowing the nature of the emergency. You should be aware that CO2 is a common occurrence in many caves and if you are on rope descend with caution should you notice bad air. It doesn't mean it will be life threatening but the change can occur very quickly and one needs to be prepared, should the air suddenly become extremely bad, to change over and get the hell out post haste. I know decomposition of organic debris is the primary cause in most caves. Not sure what research has been done on this phenomena or why it seems to occur mainly in many Ellenberger caves. Want to say this is an oil bearing rock and CO2 may be the result of microbial activity? Any comments on this from someone in the know. Scott _____ From: Don Cooper [mailto:wavyca...@gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, June 13, 2010 4:36 PM To: Chris Vreeland Cc: Cavers, Texas Subject: Re: [Texascavers] carbide vs LED (attempt 2) Very similar experience in Midnight cave about 12 years ago on an aborted trip. I was first down. It seemed awful dank from the beginning but near touchdown on the garbage pile, it got so bad I was having trouble breathing - I could "feel" hyperventilation coming on . (No CO2 monitor, no lighter even - but that might have been a good idea).. Quickly changed over and ascended the hell outta there. It was one of those cases where you consider that if you hadn't acted fast, you might just not have had a happy ending! (And of course, fresh air on the surface was like a big cold glass of water after hiking out of the dessert - SWEET!) -WaV
