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Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology). The term speleology is also sometimes applied to the recreational activity of exploring caves, but this is more properly known as caving, potholing, or spelunking. Speleology and caving are often connected, as the physical skills required for in situ study are the same.
Sheck Exley was an American cave diver. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of cave diving, and he wrote two major books on the subject: Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival and Caverns Measureless to Man. On February 6, 1974, Exley became the first chairman of the Cave Diving Section of the American National Speleological Society. During his career, he established many of the basic safety procedures used in cave and overhead diving today. Exley was also a pioneer of extreme deep scuba diving.
The National Speleological Society (NSS) is an organization formed in 1941 to advance the exploration, conservation, study, and understanding of caves in the United States. Originally headquartered in Washington D.C., its current offices are in Huntsville, Alabama. The organization engages in the research and scientific study, restoration, exploration, and protection of caves. It has more than 10,000 members in more than 250 grottos.
Harwoods Hole is a cave system located in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand, in the Abel Tasman National Park. At 183 metres (600 ft), it is New Zealand's deepest vertical shaft. It was first explored in 1958, long after it was discovered.
Flowstones are sheetlike deposits of calcite or other carbonate minerals, formed where water flows down the walls or along the floors of a cave. They are typically found in "solution caves", in limestone, where they are the most common speleothem. However, they may form in any type of cave where water enters that has picked up dissolved minerals. Flowstones are formed via the degassing of vadose percolation waters.
The Wombeyan Caves are caves that have formed in marble, in the Wombeyan Karst Conservation Reserve, New South Wales, Australia. Wombeyan Caves is a tourist attraction and local holiday area, as well as a reserve for endangered species, such as several species of wallaby, bird, possum, and wombat.
The Victorian Speleological Association Inc. (VSA) was created in 1967 by the merger of the Victorian Cave Exploration Society (1957) and the Sub Aqua Speleological Society (1960). It is a member of the Australian Speleological Federation (ASF) which is in turn part of the International Union of Speleology. The Association aims to explore and chart the extensive cave systems in Victoria (Australia) and elsewhere, represent the interests of Victorian cavers to the relevant authorities and to encourage the preservation of caves in their natural state. There are over 800 caves in Victoria, many of them on private property. In addition to its exploration, campaigning and conservation work the Association's members oversee recreational expeditions underground for the general public.
The Sinks of Gandy — also called the Sinks of Gandy Creek, or simply "The Sinks" — are a modestly celebrated cave and underground stream at Osceola in eastern Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. The Sinks are on private property within the Monongahela National Forest.
The Quintana Roo Speleological Survey (QRSS) was established in 1990 for the safe exploration, survey and cartography of the underwater and dry caves and cenotes of Quintana Roo, Mexico, supported by the National Speleological Society.
The West Virginia Speleological Survey (WVaSS) is a speleological organization and ongoing cave survey program that has gathered information and published about West Virginia caves and karst since 1967.
Agnes Milowka was an Australian technical diver, underwater photographer, author, maritime archaeologist and cave explorer. She gained international recognition for penetrating deeper than previous explorers into cave systems across Australia and Florida, and as a public speaker and author on the subjects of diving and maritime archaeology. She died aged 29 while diving in a confined space.
The Butler Cave Conservation Society (BCCS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Virginia corporation dedicated to the conservation, exploration, survey, preservation, and scientific study of the caves and karst in and around Burnsville Cove, Virginia.
Airman's Cave is a cave located adjacent to the portion of Barton Creek located in Travis County in south Austin, Texas. The cave is 3,444 metres (11,299 ft) long, and characterized by long crawls and tight passages. It lies inside the Barton Creek Greenbelt public park and is managed by the City of Austin's Parks and Recreation Department.
Cherney Maribel Caves County Park is a county park located near Maribel in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. The park occupies 75 acres along the West Twin River. Cherney Maribel Caves consists of eleven caves along a rugged cliff line that runs parallel with the West Twin River. Maribel New Hope Cave, Tartarus Cave, Sinkhole Cave and Split Rock Cave are all established gated caves that need guides to visit the entire caves, they are gated due to past vandalism to the Speleothems and protect the current Speleothems.
The Beaver Valley Rock Shelter Site is the only formally recognized caves in the US state of Delaware. It is located in New Castle County near Wilmington and the state line with Pennsylvania.
The Cliefden Caves ia heritage-listed geoheritage site in Mandurama, Cowra Shire, New South Wales, Australia. The caves comprises Ordovician fossil localities, limestone caves, a spring and tufa dams, and a site where limestone was first discovered in inland Australia.
Charles William Steele, Jr., known as “Bill Steele,” is a cave explorer. He is a speleologist who has led and participated in expeditions to many of the longest and deepest caves in the USA, Mexico, and China. He has explored more than 2,500 caves across North America and Asia and has written two books chronicling his expeditions: "Yochib: The River Cave", and "Huautla: Thirty Years in One of the World's Deepest Caves.” TV shows such as National Geographic Explorer, NOVA and How’d They Do That? have aired programs on his expeditions.
Sistema Huautla is a cave system in the Sierra Mazateca mountains of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. As of April 2021 it was the deepest cave system in the Western Hemisphere, 1,560 metres (5,120 ft) from top to bottom, with over 55 miles of mapped passageways.
Cave diving is underwater diving in water-filled caves. The equipment used varies depending on the circumstances, and ranges from breath hold to surface supplied, but almost all cave diving is done using scuba equipment, often in specialised configurations with redundancies such as sidemount or backmounted twinset. Recreational cave diving is generally considered to be a type of technical diving due to the lack of a free surface during large parts of the dive, and often involves planned decompression stops. A distinction is made by recreational diver training agencies between cave diving and cavern diving, where cavern diving is deemed to be diving in those parts of a cave where the exit to open water can be seen by natural light. An arbitrary distance limit to the open water surface may also be specified. Despite the risks, water-filled caves attract scuba divers, cavers, and speleologists due to their often unexplored nature, and present divers with a technical diving challenge.
References
- ↑ White, Patrick J. (April 1948). "Caves of Central Texas" (PDF). Bulletin of the National Speleological Society. Washington: National Speleological Society. 10: 54. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
- ↑ The Speleo Digest. Pittsburgh Grotto Press. 1959. pp. 1–303.
- ↑ The Texas Journal of Science. Vol. 19–20. Anchor Publishing Company. 1967. p. 219.
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