News; January 2019

[David Gibson]

In this newsletter ...
* Membership Renewals
* Cryogenic Cave Calcite Competition
* British Cave Monitoring Centre
* Diary Dates for 2019

* Membership Renewals
If you have not yet renewed your BCRA membership for 2019, please go to http://bcra.org.uk/renew/ and complete the form. Even if you wish to pay by cheque, it is helpful if you complete the online form first. If you are a non-member subscriber to Cave & Karst Science, renewal information will be sent to you in the next few weeks.

* Cryogenic Cave Calcite Competition
In October 2017, we announced a competition for the reporting of cryogenic cave calcites (CCCs) in British caves. CCCs form when water enters a cave and turns to ice. As the water freezes, it becomes increasingly enriched in ions to the point of supersaturation and precipitation of calcite. Today, caves in Britain do not contain ice, but evidence that they once did can be found by the presence of CCCs. By dating CCCs, we can find out more about the environmental conditions at the time of formation and also when the cave was an ice cave.

The competition was organised by Gina Moseley, who writes... The response to the competition was amazing! So many cavers got behind the project and actively went out CCC hunting. In many instances, people already knew of caves containing CCCs; they had been recognised decades ago by eagle-eyed cavers as being something special that should be protected, but at the time, no one knew what they were. In total, ten caves with CCCs were discovered as part of the competition as well as another one after it closed. The caves included: five in Mendips (Banwell Stalactite Cave, Shatter Cave, Shute Shelve Cavern, Upper Canada Cave, Upper Flood Cave); four in South Wales (Agen Allwedd, Ogof Craig a Ffynnon, Ogof Daren Cilau, Ogof Draenen); one in the Peak District (Water Icicle Close Cavern); and one in Scotland (Claonite). So far none have been found in the Yorkshire Dales. Congratulations to the winners who were Julian Walford for Scotland, Andy Freem for the Peak District, Alan Gray and Tarquin Wilton-Jones for Mendips, and Tarquin Wilton-Jones for South Wales. To see the competition entries, please visit the BCRA forum at http://bcra.org.uk/calcite/ A report from Gina appears in Descent 265 (page 4); see https://darknessbelow.co.uk/descent-265-now-available/

* British Cave Monitoring Centre
Andi Smith's Cave monitoring project is now running at Poole's Cavern in Buxton. There are a number of reports on the web - try searching for "cave monitoring centre"; and also see Decent 245, page 20-21 and http://british-caving.org.uk/phpBB3/vie ... =27&t=1482. We are in the process of putting together our own web pages to describe the project. If anyone is interested in helping to put together some web pages, please get in touch. Data is now being collected from the cave and is uploaded to our server every few hours but obviously it is a major exercise to decide how to present this data. Further developments will take place during in 2019.

* Diary Dates for 2019
For details of BCRA events, including our annual Cave Science Symposium, please go to the BCRA News Forum at http://bcra.org.uk/forum where information will be posted as and when it becomes available. Also see the British Caving Association's Diary at http://british-caving.org.uk/wiki3/doku.php?id=diary

Sat, 16 Feb 2019. BCRA-CHECC workshops at BGS, Keyworth, Nottingham
This weekend is aimed primarily at students. We hope to have workshops to introduce students to the labs and other facilities at the BGS premises. Additionally, there may be workshops at Poole's Cavern, which will outline the facilities available at the new Cave Monitoring Centre. Further Info at http://facebook.com/groups/1485495795064870/ or contact Jo White or John Gunn (see http://bcra.org.uk/contact.html).

30-31 March. BCRA Cave Surveying Group at SWCC
2-3 March. BCRA Cave Surveying Group at CNCC
Paperless Surveying Courses.
To contact the CSG, see http://bcra.org.uk/contact.html

Sat 27 April 2019. BCRA Field Meeting at Poole's Cavern, Buxton
Date to be confirmed. Classroom, cave and field sessions on offer; in conjunction with BCRA's Special Interest Groups. Further info will be available in Spring 2019. BCRA News Forum at http://bcra.org.uk/forum

28-30 June 2019. BCRA Field Meeting, Alston, Cumbria
"Hypogenic Caves of the North Pennines UNESCO Global Geopark". There will be various field trips on offer. Bunkhouse accommodation will be available for the weekend. Further info will be available in Spring 2019 at BCRA News Forum at http://bcra.org.uk/forum

Sept 2019 (date t.b.a.). Hidden Earth
Annual Caving conference. Further info will be available in Spring/Summer 2019 at http://hidden.earth

Sat, 19 Oct 2019. BCRA Cave Science Symposium and AGM at Keyworth
Further info will be available in Spring 2019 on the BCRA News Forum