中国岩溶洞穴数据库建设研究

为了有效地保护和利用洞穴这一具有多方面价值的、不可再生的国土资源而建立了中 国岩溶洞穴数据库,首期完成900个洞穴数据建库工作。数据库中含有图、文、声、 像等方面的数字化信息,数据容量2500MB,作为非商业数据,可通过授权共享,为 科研机构、旅游行业和公众提供服务。     

The South-East Karst Province of South Australia

The South-East Karst Province of South Australia is an extensive area of low relief with dolines, cenotes, uvalas, and a variety of cave types developed in the soft, porous, flat-lying Tertiary Gambier Limestone and also as syngenetic karst in the overlying calcarenite dunes of the Pleistocene Bridgewater Formation. The most spectacular surface karst features are the large collapse dolines, especially those that extend below the water table to form cenotes. Shallow swampy hollows occur in superficial Quaternary sediments. These are an enigmatic feature of the Bool Region, where all gradations appear to occur between definite karst dolines and nonkarstic hollows. Some depressions may be polygenetic—involving a combination of: (1) primary depositional hollows on coastal flats or in dune fields, (2) deflation, and (3) karst solution and subsidence. There are extensive underwater cave systems in the southern part of the province, and the bulk of the cave development there may well lie below the present water table, although these systems would have been at least partly drained during the lower sea levels of the last glacial period. Systematic variations within the province reflect differences in the parent rock types, the extent and nature of the cover and, most importantly, the hydrology—in particular the depth to the water table and its gradient.     

Lava tubes and basaltic caves as astrobiological targets on Earth and Mars: A review

Lava tubes and basaltic caves are common features in volcanic terrains on Earth. Lava tubes and cave-like features have also been identified on Mars based on orbital imagery and remote-sensing data. Caves are unique environments where both secondary mineral precipitation and microbial growth are enhanced by stable physico-chemical conditions. Thus, they represent excellent locations where traces of microbial life, or biosignatures, are formed and preserved in minerals. By analogy with terrestrial caves, caves on Mars may contain a record of secondary mineralization that would inform us on past aqueous activity. They may also represent the best locations to search for biosignatures. The study of caves on Earth can be used to test hypotheses and better understand biogeochemical processes, and the signatures that these processes leave in mineral deposits. Caves may also serve as test beds for the development of exploration strategies and novel technologies for future missions to Mars. Here we review recent evidence for the presence of caves or lava tubes on Mars, as well as the geomicrobiology of lava tubes and basaltic caves on Earth. We also propose future lines of investigation, including exploration strategies and relevant technologies.     

Variation and pattern in the responses of mammal faunas to Late Pleistocene climatic change in southeastern South Australia

We examined mammal occurrence and variability through the Late Pleistocene vertebrate fossil deposit of Grant Hall in Victoria Fossil Cave, Naracoorte, South Australia. To determine long‐term patterns of change, we compared the composition and relative abundance trends of the assemblage with a nearby Middle Pleistocene deposit in Cathedral Cave. Total species richness did not change through the Grant Hall sequence, dated from 93 ± 8 to 70 ± 5 ka. However, species relative abundances varied between ecologically divergent species, and in some cases between species that demonstrate similar environmental preferences. For some species this variation is comparable to that recorded in Cathedral Cave. Of those showing similar trends between the two deposits, the forest inhabitant, Pseudomys fumeus, recorded an 8.6% decline through Grant Hall, coincident with a 9.7% increase in the dry heath/mallee dweller Pseudomys apodemoides. These patterns indicate that climatic transition from relatively warm, moist to cooler, drier conditions impacted some species in similar ways through climatic cycles of the past. However, the majority of the fauna demonstrated complex responses that are individual and variable through time. Statistical tests of species trends from the Grant Hall assemblage caution that large fossil samples are required to validate patterns observed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

South Australian geology and the State Heritage Register: an example of geoconservation of the Naracoorte Caves complex and karst environment

South Australia’s State Heritage Register contains 2294 listed places, the majority of which are from the ‘Built’ environment, ranging from settlers’ huts, community buildings, historical industrial sites to magnificent stone mansions. Only 96 places are linked to the ‘Natural’ environment. The Register listings protect heritage places from alteration, damage or removal without formal prior consultation, compulsory under the South Australian Development Act. ‘Natural’ environments are landscape-based and oriented towards Geological, Archaeological, Palaeontological and Speleological heritage (‘GAPS heritage’). A process to provide a greater balance between ‘Natural’ and ‘Built’ listings has initiated a series of State Heritage ‘Natural’ environment assessments, mostly of single sites. Two individual caves in the Naracoorte Caves National Park are already entered in the State Heritage Register as single sites. However, an innovative broader multiple-site nomination has focused on the many different but significant GAPS features contained within the 25 caves of the Naracoorte Caves National Park, providing a further level of protection for the land and the caves’ exteriors and interiors. The example of the Naracoorte Caves draws attention to the number of important land and coastal karst (limestone) features across South Australia that were generated by steady geological uplift of three large sections of Oligocene–Miocene limestone—the Nullarbor Plain, the Murray Basin and the Gambier Karstfield (which includes Naracoorte and Mount Gambier), resulting in specific karst forms worthy of a broader coordinating management approach across South Australian karst parks.     

Electron spin resonance dating of the fossil deposits in the Naracoorte Caves,South Australia

The caves near Naracoorte, South Australia, contain one of the richest and most diverse fossil faunal assemblages on the Australian continent. Three sites were selected for electron spin resonance (ESR) dating because clastic, fossiliferous sediments were sandwiched between speleothem layers. This allows independent age control by highly precise thermal ionization mass‐spectrometry (TIMS) U‐series dating. We find that all ESR results agree within the constraints given by the U‐series dates, and allow further refinement of the age of the fauna analysed, indicating that most of the fauna in the large Victoria Cave Fossil Chamber is twice as old as reported previously. Our dating results, spanning from 280 to 500 ka for the Fossil Chamber, Victoria Cave, to about 125 ka for the Grant Hall, Victoria Cave, and 170 to 280 ka for the Fossil Chamber, Cathedral Cave, indicate little change, if any, in the megafaunal assemblage from the early Middle to the early Late Pleistocene. This changed dramatically after the last interglacial, when a large proportion of the megafauna suddenly disappeared. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Speleothems from Mawsmai and Krem Phyllut caves,Meghalaya, India: some evidences on biogenic activities

The Mawsmai cave and Krem Phyllut caves, East Khasi hills, Meghalaya, India has so far not yet attracted the attention of geomicrobiologists. Observations and hypotheses on the possible influence of identified microorganisms for speleothem formations in Meghalaya are reported for the first time. XRD studies identified calcite in speleothems and gypsum in cave wall deposits as the dominant minerals. SEM-EDAX showed interesting microfabric features showing strong resemblance with fossilised bacteria, calcified filaments, needle calcite and numerous nano scale calcite crystals, highly weathered and disintegrated crystals of calcite, that point towards a significant microbial influence in its genesis. Thin section petrography showed laminated stromatolitic features. The microorganisms identified by conventional isolation and further evaluation of isolates by molecular techniques include Bacillus cereus, Bacillus mycoides, Bacillus licheniformis, Micrococcus luteus, and Actinomycetes. Microscopic observations also showed unidentifiable cocci and four unidentifiable strains of CaSO₄ (gypsum) precipitating bacteria. Experimental studies confirmed that these bacteria are able to precipitate calcium minerals (calcite, gypsum, minor amounts of dolomite) in the laboratory. These results allow us to postulate that species like these may contribute to active biogenic influence in the cave formations at Meghalaya.     

埋藏岩溶洞穴垮塌深度定量图版及其在碳酸盐岩缝洞型储层地质评价预测中的意义

通过对岩溶洞穴垮塌的岩石力学原理及塔里木盆地奥陶系实钻资料的分析,基本明确了洞穴埋藏垮塌的控制因素是岩石抗弯强度、洞穴尺度、洞穴距风化暴露面的距离等,并得到了洞穴垮塌深度的定量图版。该图版对于钻前预测现今埋藏于地下的碳酸盐岩洞穴是否已经垮塌、洞穴埋藏演化史精确恢复以及对裂缝—洞穴型储层的评价预测具有较强的实践意义。     

The microtine distribution and its environmental significance since the Middle Pleistocene in Zhangping Caves of the Qinling Mountains

Three microtine species are recovered from the Zhangping Caves of the Qingling Mountains, namely Microtus oeconomus, Caryomys inez and Caryomys eva. They are climate-sensitive ones with different ecological habits, therefore their distribution well corresponds to environmental variations. Statistical comparison of the distribution of fossil microtines and their counterparts nowadays displays that the climate variation of the studied area and its contiguity since the middle Pleistocene are: warm and humid at 493 ka ago, cool and humid at 259 ka ago―cold and humid at 205 ka ago―cool and humid at 28 ka ago, and warm and dry at present.     

辽宁本溪晶花洞洞穴特征及形成时代

辽宁本溪晶花洞发育于中奥陶世马家沟组(O₂m)厚层灰岩中,主要受近SN、NE断裂控制,沿近SN断裂发育高度不同的4层洞穴。洞内沉积物以化学沉积为主,机械沉积较少。通过测定洞内外的温度、湿度及CO₂含量,对比研究发现洞穴封闭性较好,与外界大气循环较差。在与洞外干河河流阶地的高程及形成时代上的对比研究基础上,结合主洞所采年龄样的铀系法测年(111.5±5.3 ka),初步推断晶花洞主洞发育于晚更新世。