Molecular and distribution data on the poorly known,elusive, cave mysid Harmelinella mariannae (Crustacea: Mysida)

Mediterranean underwater marine caves harbour abundant populations of several species of mysids that are increasingly used as biological models in ecological and evolutionary studies. One exception is the species Harmelinella mariannae, described in 1989 and then hardly ever again reported in the literature. We here provide the first data on the distribution of this poorly known taxon that, contrary to expectations for a rare brooding cave dweller, we now report from Madeira Island in the nearby Atlantic, to the easternmost parts of the Mediterranean. Brief behavioural observations are added, particularly its atypical solitary habits and its feeding behaviour as a high trophic level carnivore. Molecular characterization of the different specimens captured provided three sorts of information. Mitochondrial COI and 16S haplotypes suggest different colonization waves in the Mediterranean, with one group in the Eastern Basin, two in the Marseille region in the NW part of this sea, and another group with a very wide extension from Madeira to Liguria and Malta. Mitochondrial data also support that one of the groups in Marseille might have diverged as a cryptic species of Harmelinella. 18S rRNA gene displays a single common sequence to all specimens from the four groups, and seems to confirm the original proposed placement of this taxon within the subfamily Heteromysinae, not Leptomysinae.     

山东省东平县大洪顶山地区岩溶洞穴景观资源评价

东平县大洪顶山岩溶地貌类型属岩溶山地地貌单元,山坡顶部及陡峭坡段岩石裸露,岩溶裂隙发育,岩体切割破碎,边坡陡立。区内岩溶洞穴发育,岩溶景观资源众多。目前已发现的溶洞有6处,大洪顶山南坡3处,北坡3处,溶洞口出露位置呈NWW向展布,北部九仙洞已探测长度1 862 m,南部神仙洞已探测长度2 052.50 m,溶洞内岩溶景观发育不均匀,发育有石笋、石钟乳、石幔、石帽、边石等。区内岩溶洞穴发育规模宏大,景观资源丰富,属鲁西地区发育规模最大的溶洞,在北方地区具代表性、典型性、稀有性,属我国北方地区不可多得的地质自然遗产,具有良好的开发前景及旅游价值。     

山东省东平县大洪顶山地区岩溶洞穴景观资源评价

东平县大洪顶山岩溶地貌类型属岩溶山地地貌单元,山坡顶部及陡峭坡段岩石裸露,岩溶裂隙发育,岩体切割破碎,边坡陡立。区内岩溶洞穴发育,岩溶景观资源众多。目前已发现的溶洞有6处,大洪顶山南坡3处,北坡3处,溶洞口出露位置呈NWW向展布,北部九仙洞已探测长度1862 m,南部神仙洞已探测长度2052．50 m,溶洞内岩溶景观发育不均匀,发育有石笋、石钟乳、石幔、石帽、边石等。区内岩溶洞穴发育规模宏大,景观资源丰富,属鲁西地区发育规模最大的溶洞,在北方地区具代表性、典型性、稀有性,属我国北方地区不可多得的地质自然遗产,具有良好的开发前景及旅游价值。     

Saving and conserving the caves: reflections on 37 years of listings,disputes, submissions and court cases

In order of impact, the main anthropogenic threats to caves in eastern Australia are and have been for the European history of Australia: mining, inundation, vandalism, wear and tear, lampenflora, lint and dust, scientists and poorly informed decisions. Destruction of caves by natural processes is not a focus of this paper as it occurs over a geological time scale and there are few historical accounts of natural catastrophic cave failure. Saving and protecting caves are difficult due to the reliance and insistence on conservation by secrecy used by cavers and the organisations that represent them. Other issues that inhibit cave conservation are: limited public exposure, perceptions of land managers and farmers about caves, a shortage of research-based information on caves and difficulties with establishing the significance of a cave. Cave monitoring and the education of managers and cave guides are known to enhance the conservation of show caves. Actions that would help to save and conserve caves throughout Australia include: changes to planning legislation, establishment of a cave conservation organisation, introduction of specific cave protection legislation and the establishment of a Research Centre for Caves, Karst and Geoheritage.     

Field survey and analysis of hillslopes on tower karst in Guilin,southern China

Limestone dissolution in tropical and subtropical humid southern China created residual hills with steep slopes, a landform that is referred to as tower karst. Two types of tower karst landform feature, fenglin or peak forest (isolated towers) and fengcong or peak cluster (linked‐base towers), were identified in Guilin. Previous studies proposed two hypotheses regarding their origin and evolution. One is the sequential evolution model from peak cluster to peak forest. The other is a parallel development model, which postulates that both peak cluster and peak forest have developed simultaneously. Through detailed field survey and analysis of slope forms on tower karst in Guilin, it was found that the mean slope angle of the towers is very high (62·4°) and ranges from 60° to 75°. There is no significant difference in mean slope angle and slope angle distribution between towers in the peak cluster basin and peak forest floodplain areas. Mean slope angle increases with intensified fluvial dissection. Three levels of caves in the towers of the peak forest in Guilin were identified in previous research. The isolated towers of the peak forest as well as scattered residuals of peak cluster are generally distributed in the centre of the Guilin syncline. Favourable circumstances of allogenic water concentration indicate that development of the peak forest resulted from the combined effects of subcutaneous and subterranean dissolution as well as subsequent collapse and recession by fluvial erosion after uplifting. By contrast, peak clusters generally occur on the limbs of the syncline or at the periphery of the Guilin basin with relatively higher elevations. The thick vadose zone and predominantly vertical flow suggests that peak clusters are mainly formed by the combination of intensive uplifting and the enhancement of original dolines. The evidence of slope survey and slope analysis suggests that both isolated towers and linked‐base towers developed simultaneously but by different mechanisms of formation and different combinations of development processes. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Morphometry and distribution of isolated caves as a guide for phreatic and confined paleohydrological conditions

Isolated caves are a special cave type common in most karst terrains, formed by prolonged slow water flow where aggressivity is locally boosted. The morphometry and distribution of isolated caves are used here to reconstruct the paleohydrology of a karstic mountain range. Within a homogenous karstic rock sequence, two main types of isolated caves are distinguished, and each is associated with a special hydrogeologic setting: maze caves form by rising water in the confined zone of the aquifer, under the Mt. Scopus Group (Israel) confinement, while chamber caves are formed in phreatic conditions, apparently by lateral flow mixing with a vadose input from above.     

Oxygen isotopes from Chinese caves: records not of monsoon rainfall but of circulation regime

Oxygen isotope variations in Chinese stalagmites have been widely interpreted as a record of the amount of East Asian summer monsoonal rainfall. This interpretation infers decreasing monsoonal rainfall from the mid‐Holocene and large, dipolar rainfall oscillations within glaciations. However, the speleothem δ¹⁸O variations conflict with independent palaeoclimate proxies (cave δ¹³C, loess/palaeosol magnetic properties, δ¹³C alkanes), which indicate no systematic decline in rainfall from the mid‐Holocene, and no glacial rainfall maxima. Using mass balance calculations (which incorporate seasonality effects in both δ¹⁸O concentration and amount of precipitation), we demonstrate that the cave δ¹⁸O variations cannot be accounted for by summer rainfall changes, or rainfall seasonality or winter cooling, but instead reflect changes in moisture source. A possible driver of the δ¹⁸O variations in Chinese stalagmites is precessional forcing of inter‐hemispheric temperature gradients, and resultant shifts in the position and intensity of the subtropical pressure cells. Through such forcing, Indian monsoon‐sourced δ¹⁸O may have dominated at times of high boreal summer insolation, and local Pacific‐sourced moisture at low insolation. Suppression of summer monsoonal rainfall during glacial stages may reflect diminished sea and land surface temperatures and the radiative impacts of increased regional dust fluxes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

常规直流电法在黄河水库南屯地质灾害评价中的应用

黄河水库南屯进行勘查的主要目的就是通过物探方法初步查明地下溶洞存在的情况以及区内的地质概况,为该区地质灾害的评价提供必要的参考依据。通过多种物探方法实验,发现激电中梯、激电联剖及视电阻率测深效果相对较好。由于区内地下水较发育,而且已知塌陷部位都不同程度的含水,水导电性能好.。因此,在地表观测时呈现视电阻率低阻趋势。当溶洞中没有地下水存在时,视电阻率呈现高阻异常。这样就可以通过视电阻率的反映来发现地下溶洞。     

河北省崆山白云洞成因与演化

河北省崆山白云洞发育在以中寒武统张夏组为主的碳酸盐岩地层中,平面形态主要受NNW向、NE向和近EW向断裂控制,垂向上可分为3层,各层洞穴以沿陡倾断裂侵蚀、溶蚀而成的通道相连.第一层厅堂状溶洞(天堂、人间和地府)沿NNW向断裂展布,形成于早更新世中晚期;第二层格网状洞穴(迷宫和龙宫上部)沿NNW.和NE向断裂发育,形成于中更新世中期—晚更新世初;第三层形态曲折的廊道形洞穴(龙宫下部)主要追踪NE和NNW向断裂延伸,形成于晚更新世晚期—早全新世初期.在白云洞形成发育过程中,曾经历了多次构造运动破坏.现今的白云洞,景观损毁、岩石破裂严重,灾害承受力低,因此洞穴结构稳定性保护和洞穴地质环境治理是当前重要而紧迫的任务.     

旅游溶洞内氡污染和从业人员的辐射防护

在我国南方许多已辟为旅游景区(点)的溶洞中,氡及其子体浓度严重偏高,有的甚至超过放射性矿区坑道作业面上最大容许浓度,危害旅游从业人员和游客的健康,应引起有关部门的重视。