Got to do some biosurvey studies on a gorgeous property recently. It is nice to work with landowners who want to share their places, learn about the life and ecosystems they have, and work to properly maintain the ecology. Today they were also planting some native trees not seen around in recent years, and tackling invasive species. Caring for nature is bipartisan; keep fighting for our home, the Earth.
The Affordable DIY Mandeye Lidar System For Surveying Caves, And How To Convert 3D Clouds Into Traditional Cave Ground Plans And Extended Profiles
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https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.53.3.2535 <-- shared paper
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #LiDAR #cave #cavediving #cavemapping #speleology #workflow #survey #remotesensing #pointcloud #mobilemapping #3Dmapping #profile #model #modeling #3dmodel #opensource #openhardware #reproducible #affordable #DIY #Mandeye
Keep fighting for the Earth, it is our only home.
Caves are a space highly at risk, and many species in them can be "canaries in the coal mine". The water in them tells the tale of the surface above: pollution, fertilizer, pesticides, microplastics, and more. Too bad wealth doesn't trickle down like pollution into ecosystems. We should really swap those two...
GIS Corps Is Looking To Help Phreatic With Remote Spatial Volunteers
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https://www.phreatic.org/ <-- shared home page
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https://www.giscorps.org/become-a-volunteer/ <-- shared link to volunteer with GIS Corps
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[want to be a part of some super interesting (remote) GIS volunteer work?!]
#GIS #spatial #mapping #volunteer #phreatic #explore #protect #seacaves #Sardinia #cave #caving #Phreatic #GISCorps #Italy #Supramonte #GulfofOrosei #model #3dmapping #environmental #speleology #hypogene #groundwater #waterresources #marine #marinecaves #coast #coastal
@GISCorps @Phreatic
This is awesome! My colleagues and friends, Jiří Bruthans and Jakub Mareš, contributed to the discovery of the world's largest underground thermal lake and helped explain the complex water flow within the cave system.
For more details, check out this report: https://english.radio.cz/czech-scientists-albania-discover-worlds-largest-underground-thermal-lake-8842127
Seems I missed #WomenInSTEM day. Let's support each other, okay? Diversity is our strength.
#PaperClub is back for the start of 2025, and we're kicking off with Patterson et al (2024), who present a PCP-corrected stalagmite d18O record from Vietnam, spanning 45-4 ka. Interesting paper, and the whole 'PCP impacts on d18O' thing has been getting quite a lot of airtime in recent years. Hopefully without sounding like a hater, I remain a bit skeptical. In this instance, the model assumptions include a feeding stalactite drip rate of 1 drip/second, which seems too high for LGM (where PCP effect on the stal was greatest). For stalactite PCP to be recorded in a stalagmite, there must not be sufficient residence time for re-equilibration to occur. I would love to see a sensitivity test of the drip rate on the model.
Growth rates during the 'peak PCP' period were also extremely low (<5 um/yr), which suggests to me that growth was likely not continuous over the period. d18O vals were high, I assume there was greater opportunity for disequilibrium to drive the signal rather than PCP?
Anyway, I'm definitely no expert in d18O kinetics, and I'm looking forward to hearing the opinions of the group, and anyone else who has read the paper :) I am really happy to be wrong about this, as there are lots of clever people on the paper who know more than me about this stuff!
#Paleoclimate #Speleothems #speleology
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53422-y
Interested in spiders? Me too! While I am not on this paper, it is some of our lab's work in conjunction with a few others. 
Open Access 
https://subtbiol.pensoft.net/article/135200/
"Remarkably low genetic diversity in the widespread cave spider Phanetta subterranea (Araneae, Linyphiidae)"
Why is this interesting? Because usually karst species are pretty distinct, with defined ranges by geologic features and hydrology, and very limited methods of dispersal. In fact, in our region and neighboring, 31% (218/710) of troglobionts are known from just a single cave! Only *9* out of the 710 species are found in 30 or more counties. So to find that this spider has such low genetic diversity (and most definitely all the same species) across such a HUGE range - 40 caves in 37 counties across seven states - is unique and quite the outlier!
What is cave biology actually like? Laying in the mud in small spaces looking for tiny critters.
Have a bat! Looking happy, snuggley, and a wee bit smug, Big Brown Bats (Eptesicus fuscus) like little nooks n crannies.
Boost if you like bats!
Do you remember the Discovery Channel's "the world is just awesome (boom de yada)" song? Well, years ago I did a cave version of it! I just added subtitles to it and re-released it here: https://youtu.be/oPWO9FEAZNQ
I custom added the subtitles so they should be super accurate.
Yeah a lot is kinda crappy right now, but this world is amazing, so let's fight for it, okay?
(PS I have also uploaded it here in case you don't want to click to YouTube, but please go and give it a 'like' or something if you can! I don't know if the subtitles will work on here or not but I have confirmed they are up on youtube just fine!)
(PPS I'm not a videographer so be nice :) )
#karstmas day 23
This cave was small and crawling, barely could stand up once in it. But is has a lot of life. Being a cave biologist means I often go to the "crappy caves" that most people ignore because they are small, annoying, or not "well decorated". Me? These little ones often have the best overlooked things, both in features and in critters.
This is a natural rock bridge, just, left there by how the water worked when creating the passage. It goes from wall to wall. The water flows under it. Above it is anastomosis, my favourite speleogen, which reflects perfectly in the water surface below. While you may be familiar with the term speleothem which is a formation made by mineral deposition (ex: stalagmite); a speleogen is geological feature created by the dissolution of the rock. To be honest, as cool as speleothems are, I often am drawn more to speleogens!
#Karstmas day 16
Traditionally on this day in years past I enjoyed going to this cave, a lovely almost 300 foot rappel next to a waterfall. Easy rig. Fun cave. I hung over the edge with a tripod to take this photo from the top looking down, a lone figure on rope and a light shinning up from the depths below.
(PS - I hope you all have been enjoying Karstmas! However I am unlikely to be able to post for the next few days due to situation beyond my control. I hope you stay tuned! Follow me or the Karstmas hashtag to not miss anything when I'm able to be back!)
#Karstmas day 11
"Photographers Passage"
Notice anything...off? He is not wearing a helmet. Why? Because this little passage is *super* delicate. A head is softer than a helmet, and when not wearing one, we can be a little more aware of where our head is.
A helmets-off policy for delicate areas was started by JV Swearingen who was an excellent cave photographer and caretaker of the largest system in Alabama for many years. A delicate small chamber of that cave was what prompted him to institute a helmets-off policy. Groups entering were limited in size (ideally you don't even visit that room more than once in your lifetime), and everyone had to take helmets off before going into it. I learned about this guidance from the current caretaker; it has lasted half a century and passed on.
So in a totally different cave, in a totally different country, but yet an equally delicate small passage, I shared this concept with others. It's not like there is chance of falling or rock fall here, so instead, take your helmet off, be careful, slow, and thoughtful in movement.
Never go caving without a helmet...but sometimes, specific places perhaps dictate that taking it off is the safer thing for the environment. Hard and fast rules never work for conservation, there is always nuance.
#Karstmas day 6!
Today we celebrate the Tennessee Cave Salamander, Gyrinophilus palleucus. This is actually the state amphibian for Tennessee! It is a listed species, NatureServe G2 (Imperiled), IUCN B1ab(iii)(Near Threatened).
Back on FB, whenever I'd post photos of one, I'd get folk saying, "OMG an axolotl! How cute!". Nope, wrong country entirely. But similarly, G. palleucus do not typically undergo metamorphosis and they do reach sexual maturity in this larval phase. The fancy term is "paedomorphic", in case you are wondering.
And yes this is a FB link but it is direct to the video, you won't need to log in to see it; I can't find it elsewhere. It is a 3.5 minute long spotlight on the Tn Cave Sal that the TWRA filmed on a survey trip the other year. I'm in it. Look for purple! (If you are visually claustrophobic, may not want to watch, just listen) https://www.facebook.com/tnwildlife/videos/underground-wildlife-survey-tn-cave-salamander/496262361996796/
Remember to follow me or the #Karstmas for more fun cave info this month!
#cave #caves #caving #speleology #biology #karst #geology #ecology #nature #water #underground #ecosystems #herp #herps #herptology #salamander #amphibians
PS I promise I have more vertical and technical stuff to post in the future too!
#Karstmas day 4
For today, enjoy this image of a 586 ft (179 m) single pitch, put yer rack on and go, pit in the US. It's called Fantastic, and it really is! It is the longest cave rappel in the lower 48. (Alaska has one that beats it!)
The day we went it was high water, and as you can see there is a massive waterfall. Wind created by the falling water in the pit whipped it around, constantly shifting where it was landing. The rig is out of the water for safety reasons, but the bottom 200 ft we were getting soaked by spray nonetheless.
This is a lightpainted image, my partner (the dark spot on rope) and I communicated via radio as I directed where & when to paint with a very bright (1000+ lumen) light as I opened and closed the shutter as needed. As high as he looks in the image, he is only 200ft above me. There is another 400ft above him...notice the waterfall disappears before the pinpoint of light at the top. The waterfall faded, too small to see.
Remember I talked about rope weight on day 2? Rope also stretches some, even the super-static* kind we use. In 600 feet, this is not a negligible amount, there's about 10 feet of stretch that I had to 'climb' before I got off the ground. In that process, the wind in the pit shifted *whomp* shoving me down slamming my back onto the cobbles. *ouch* Twas a painful climb after that, with an epic bruise to show for it!
So. You'd better enjoy this photo! I suffered for it!
*For those curious, cave rope of choice for things like this in the US is PMI Pit Rope Max Wear, which has elongation at 300 lbf of only 1.8%.
#Karstmas day 3!
Yesterday was rappelling into caves, so now let's talk climbing! There are a couple of common climbing systems but the one used world wide is the Frog System, or "Frogging" (adj.). This is not necessarily "the best system" - after all that's subjective and depends on what you are doing in particular - but it is easily adaptable to many rigging styles, simple in concept, quick to learn, and requires fewer pieces of gear than most other systems which makes it the most affordable. Practically every caver knows how to Frog, even if they prefer something else.
As you may have guessed from the name, you kinda look like a frog when you climb this way. It is a sit-stand system. You put your feet in the footloops, raise the upper ascender which lifts your feet up to your bum (the "sit" part). Then you stand up in the footloops, which moves your croll up, and this captures your progress. Inchworm like this up the rope. Erm. Excuse me. FROG up the rope! :D
This works great in theory. But...try having a chest/breasts/belly...anything that would make you fall away from the rope, and it gets exponentially more difficult.
You see, this system was made by skinny tall athletic men. After all, that's mostly who was caving in the 1960's. It certainly is an optimal system easy to use with certain body types. If you don't fit into this category, it's more of a struggle.
Done right, the lift is mostly all in the legs which are much stronger than arms, your arms just hold the direction of motion for the most part (aka, keep you from falling away from the rope, and standing UP rather than kicking BACK - which backwards doesn't help to climb UP!).
Enter my own epiphany & invention of sorts back in 2012. I had to get my first harness *custom made*. Traditionally, caving harness were all made for Frogging and the doctrine was to make the croll very low, so you can get the longest stroke when you stand. However, if you make the rise of the harness taller, more of you is "in" the harness, and if you can get your 'center of balance' into that harness, you sit upright like the skinny folk without much trouble! PHYSICS!
I wrote an article about this for the National Speleological Society newsletter over a decade ago, and got a *LOT* of hate for it. I literally got hate mail saying I should just lose weight if I wanted to cave, so I could "do it right". Eesh!
Naw...what I did was I challenged the Norm as Made By Men ;)
If you'd like to watch a video about this I've made those! You can also see then how this Frog thing works. https://youtu.be/grvRSzhzAL8
(Boosts loved! Show everyone you don't have to be a skinny dude to enjoy the outdoors!)
Greg Cocks 
