BCRA Cave Science Seminar 10th February 2025
Posted: Mon 10 Feb 2025 14:36
The next BCRA Cave Science Seminar will be taking place this evening with a presentation from Professor Jo De Waele on Sulfuric Acid Speleogenesis: how can we recognize it and what can it teach us? The seminar will start at 7:30pm this evening Monday 10th February with details of how to join on the BCRA website: https://bcra.org.uk/seminars2025.html#talk2 . The abstract for the talk is as follows:
Although sulphuric acid caves (SAS Caves) have been known of for over two centuries (Socquet described a SAS cave in Aix-les-Bains in 1801), these caves were considered as "geological oddities". They rank among the "hypogene" caves, and are important for the understanding of void formation not directly connected to present-day meteorology and surface morphology (e.g., hydrocarbon reservoirs, Mississippi valley type Pb-Zn ore deposits). Since the discovery of Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico and Movile Cave in Romania (both in 1986) speleological and karstological research has intensified and many more SAS caves have been discovered and recognized.
Today over 90 SAS cave occurrences have been reported around the world, and their number is increasing steadily as cavers have started to recognize their typical morphologies and by-products. This talk, prepared in collaboration with Ilenia Maria D'Angeli, will show the distribution of SAS caves in the world, the different typologies, their unique morphology and by-products, their role in understanding landscape evolution, and their intriguing microbiology and biology.
All are welcome to join!
Although sulphuric acid caves (SAS Caves) have been known of for over two centuries (Socquet described a SAS cave in Aix-les-Bains in 1801), these caves were considered as "geological oddities". They rank among the "hypogene" caves, and are important for the understanding of void formation not directly connected to present-day meteorology and surface morphology (e.g., hydrocarbon reservoirs, Mississippi valley type Pb-Zn ore deposits). Since the discovery of Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico and Movile Cave in Romania (both in 1986) speleological and karstological research has intensified and many more SAS caves have been discovered and recognized.
Today over 90 SAS cave occurrences have been reported around the world, and their number is increasing steadily as cavers have started to recognize their typical morphologies and by-products. This talk, prepared in collaboration with Ilenia Maria D'Angeli, will show the distribution of SAS caves in the world, the different typologies, their unique morphology and by-products, their role in understanding landscape evolution, and their intriguing microbiology and biology.
All are welcome to join!