NSS EXECUTIVECOMMITTEE President N55 Nrws May 2016 Wm Shrewsbury 6609 Lasata Lane Harrison,TN 37341 pres¡dent@caves.org Volume74 Number5 (7271 424-2901 OperationsVP AdministrativeVP DavidHaun Katherine L. Crispin,Ph.D. PO Box 47961 756 Devonsh¡reDr Ind¡anapolis, lN 46247 {317)517-079s State College, PA 16803 (610) 504-0339 cell Searching - A Rapidil4ethod for LavaCaves .............. ovp@GVes.org avp@€ves.org Chuck Chaudarían and Greg Chaudarisn ' Executive VP SecretarylTreasurer lvleasuring StrÍkeandDipwith a DÍst0X2..... .............. Curt Harler GaryT. Barnes 12936 Falling Water Rd 2250 Shady Creek Trail Greg Springer Strongsville,OH44136 Bhm¡ngham, AL 35216 (440) 238-6339 evp@caves.org (2O5) 492-7555 Paleoseismology and Speleothems: Lookíngfor the Speleologica s-t@caves.org Record of Earthquakes in Western Cuba........ ............. National Speleological Society Office Leslie E Molerío-León . 6001 PulaskiPike NW, Huñtsville,AL 35810 Tel:(256)852-1300 lceland e-mail: nss@caves.org;Web site: M.caves.org Please contact the off¡ce for addross changes or back ¡ssues Surtshellir in Hallmundarhraun ...............L NSS NEWS EDITOR Arni B. Stefánsson and Gunnhildur Stefánsdóttr Dave Bunnell,Ph.D. Box 879 Angels Camp, AA95?22 nssnews@caves.org Please¡nclude "NSq News" in your subjéct l¡né when e-ma¡ling material to help me sort it from the spam. Thankst Questionsabout submittingfeatures and photos? Please see the style and subm¡ssiongu¡del¡nes:onthe NSS web site: w.caves.org/pubrnssnews/style.html ADVERTISING Completeadvertisinginformation,includingad mstq deadl¡nes,and guidel¡nesfor preparat¡on,are on the NSS wesite at: M.caves.org/ pub/nssnews/ads.html. New advertisersshouldContactJoe Horton, Market¡ngRepresentativefor the NSS News, at 678-467-3148or Panorama of the Gullborgcraterin lceland,sourceof severalmajorlavatubes.Note Hortonjoe24@yahoo.com if you wish to placean ad. figureon the highpointon the left. Pa y m e n ts fo r a d s sh o u l d b e sent to the NSS office. New advertiseGare expectedto pay for ads pr¡orto publ¡cation. Nevada DEPARTMENTEDITORS Goshute Cave,lvlaeWest,andCaveCoral .................. ASSISTAI'|T COPY IDITOR UNDTROROt,ND Ol.lTIt'lI Bruce Rogers GaryGibula BufordPruitt,Jr. garyg¡bula@aol.com bpruitt570@gma¡l.com fvtusic World-class at the 75thAnniversdry ConventÍont ............2 (O1'lSERVATION NEWSTITIER RI\,IElry Mqtt Bowers Jim & Val Hildreth-Werker JonahKidder GearReview PO Box 207 370 Paul Copas Road Hillsboro,NM 8A042-O2O7 (575)895-5050 W¡nchesterOH 45697 redonionprison@yahoo. TheChameleon: (5/5stars) A GreatSuitfor FemaleCavers com werks@cunacueva.com Catheríne Young üvEcHR0Nt(tEs 5PETEAN SPOTI.IGl|I Philip Rykwalder MichaelRayTaylor taylorm@hsu.edu philip@cavenowcom Deadline:Ads. art¡cles,and announ@mentsshould be sent to the iáffi* Ob i tuari es... .............. 11 tfqr¡É;qi{1bit U ndergroundOn1i ne.. . . . . . . . . . . . .28 .... ed¡tor by the 1st of the month, 1 months before the month of ¡ssue N e w s and N otes............................ 25 R eadi ng ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (e.9., mater¡alfor the March issue needs to be ¡n by Feb. 1). The NSS News (ISSN 0027-7010) is published monthly with U n dergroundU pdate.................... 26 Gl assi fi ed4ds........... . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 .... the MembersManual and AmericanCavingAccidentspubl¡shedas add¡tionalissues by the NationalSpeleolog¡calSociety,lnc, 6001 ¡'¡. Pulaski Pike NW Huntsville,AL 35810. Per¡odicalsPostage Paid at Huntsv¡lle,Al and additionalma¡lingoffices.Tel: (256)852-1300,e-mail: I'J nss@caves.org,web: w.caves.org '}¡ Regular membechip in the NSS ¡s $45 per year. Membe6 may FRoNTcovER: elect to rece¡vea dig¡tal NSS NEWS (only) for $35/yeal See http:// Chris Higginswon an HonorableMentionin the 2015 NSS PhotoSalonfor this caves.org¡nfo/membertypes.shtml for descr¡pt¡ons of other membership imageof Tennessee's KeystoneRiverCave in highflow conditions.AliciaNelson €tegories. Subscriptionsto the NSS News are $27 per year; ind¡vidual copies are $3.00 each. Contact the Huntsvilleoff¡ce for membersh¡p is in the foregroundand RobbyJonesis on rope,a drop of about246 feet. lt was applications,subscriptions,orders,ór for replacementof ¡ssuésmiss¡ng shot entirelywith flashbulbs. or damaged ¡n the mail. Mov¡ng?Please reportchanges of address to the offioe promptly or online at: lvww.caves.org/irifo/changeinfo.shtml Copyright @2016 Bacx covea: by the National Speleological Society, Inc. Right:Afragilecaveof glass,a hintof whathasbeenlostin Surtshellir/Stefánshe Víógelmir,Borgarhellir, and otherlcelandiccaves.Photoby Árni B. Stefánsson. r\ MIX r €s p o n s i b l e s o u r c 6 s Left: EileenBelanin GoshuteCave, Nevada,one of the featuredcavesfor this year'sconventionin Ely.Photoby dave Bunnell. FSC FSC @ C 1 2 5 3 3 6 Bottom: PeterBosted's"StripedCeiling"won an HonorableMentionin the 2015 PhotoSalon.lt's from a then-newlvdiscoveredarea in Lechuouilla Cave.NM.. NSSNrws,May2016  LookÍng andSpeleothems: Paleoseismology Record for theSpeleological of Ín Western Earthquakes Cuba Leslíe F. Molerio-Ledn NSSMember 66699 Former Senior Vice President, Cuban Speleological Society PO BOX 6246, Habqna 6, CP 10600, La Habana, Cuba, d-mail:especíalistaprincípal@gmqil.com In 1995, after some researchin the tion of the intensity of such a minimum or Fault and the Cochinos and North Cuban Santo Tomas Cave System (Plnar del Río, maximum paleoearthquakehas to be deter- zones. Minor blocks have been also identi- Cuba), we publisheda brief summary of mined, as Lacave,Lewet and Koller (2000) fied by several authors. Seismic activity the most important findings on the seismic have pointed out. This has been the aim of here belongsto the so-calledinternal plate history of Western Cuba derived from the dozensof studiesaround the world. This seismic-generating zones,differentfrom that studyof broken speleothems,mainly stalac- is also the main goal of a recent research of easternCuba,which is part of the so-called tites (Molerio, 1995). Almost 300 directions program carried out by our team in several plate limit tectonics.In westernCuba, some of the main axis of the collapsedstalactites cavesof westernCubawhere different indica- of the active faults are structuresreactivated were measuredand a dozen fragments of tions of pastearthquakes*notonly restricted by neotectonicactivity. soda-straw(climatic)stalactiteswere collected to broken,/unbrokenspeleothems--has been At the study area in western Cuba only and studiedin the lab in an attemptto obtain identified. four perceptibleearthquakeswere reported information on their physicalproperties.At in historical and instrumentaltimes: San that time almost 50 rheologicalparameters CASE STUDIES Cristobal (January 23, 1880); Torriente- were obtainedfrom eachsampleby a simple Specialattention is given to the different Jaguey Grande (December16, 1982) was BASIC program (FRACTUR Version 1.94) processesthat together or independentof reported as of Magnitude5 (Richter'sscale) developedin cooperation with our colleague earthquakesproducethe collapse,damping, at a depth of 30 km; Ganuza (March 9, VladimirOtero. displacement,jointing, and regrowing or 1995 and the last one located50 km south There is general agreementthat both recementing(in or ex-situ)of speleothems of Varadero(October9, 7999) but as Díaz broken and unbroken speleothemscan and their associationwith creeping,solifluc- et al. (1990) pointed out in western Cuba, provide information about past earthquakes, tion, breakdown, and gallery re-excavation weak and medium earthquakesdominate mainly those that took place before instru- in caves.All these phenomenaare present (MSK I-VI; M:6). In the last 300 years in mental and historical records. Although in the cavesand zonesselected. western Cuba, one earthquakehas been there is little knowledge about the behavior reportedof magnihrdeM=6.3; two of M:6; of caves and speleothemsrecorded by 1. Santo Tomás Cave System, 47 km 16 of M:5,and 23 of M:4. A slightincrease instruments,as reported by Gilli and his long, one of the largest Cuban cave in the actMty has been reported in the last collaborators(7999\ there is no doubt that systems 50 yearsin the westernmostpart of Cuba. the cave record is a particularly usefultool to 2. M aj aguas-C anteraC ave S ystem, reconstructthe seismichistoryof a particular almost 35 km long THE PALEOSIS.CUBA PROJECT region. The inclusionof long return periods 3. MesaGrandeCaveSystem,almost two The P al eoS i s-C u baPr oject is an as derivedfrom geological(speleologicalin kilometerslong in the confluenceof the attempt to reduce the gap between the this case)records proüde information help- Pinar and San Diego Faults historical-instrumentaland the geological ful for designand construcüonof buildings, 4. Boca de Jaruco karst area, a 5 kmz (speleological)records of earthquakesin roads and highways,tunnelsand contribute territory where almost 30 caveshave Cuba based on evidence from broken,/ to reducing the risk of these events. been exploredand mapped unbrokenspeleothemsin selectedcaves.Its 5. Bellamar-ElJarrito-Gato Jíbaro Cave main goalsare an approach to the solution THE DIRECTAND THE INVERSE System,almost 30 km long of the direct and inverse problem of the PROBLEM 6. Cueva Grande de Santa Catalina and associationof speleothemsand earthquakes The generalconceptualmodel that links its support system,also almost 30 km by measurementsboth in the field and lab, seismicand speleologicalinformation is as 7. Cueva Ambrosio, a small cave in the mathematicalmodeling, radiometricdating simple as this: active uplifting area of Varadero techniques, software development, and As broken speleothemsare eüdenceof 8. Cueva de El Pirata, also a small cave publicationof its results. past earthquakes,the age of these broken in the active uplifting area of Varadero A Cuban environmental consulting firm speleothemsmakesit possibleto date events 9. CuevaAzul, another small cave in an (INVERSIONESGAMMA, S.A.) included of this kind. active subsidencearea of southern our project in its 2016 investigation-devel- Rheologicalproperties of broken spele- Matanzasthat is part of the Ground opment-implementation program and we othems are evidenceof their resistanceto Water Monitoring System we have are also conductinga graduatestudent collapseand dampingand, consequently,of operatedin westernCubasince2004. thesis in geophysicsfrom the Cuban Higher seismiceventsof certain magnitude. Polytechnic Institute "J.A. Echeverría" The inverseproblem is also valid, that The selectedcavesare near activeseis- (Poleoseismicindicators deriued from unbroken speleothemsindicate that earth- motectoniczonesbut far (almost1000 km) broken speleothemsin couesof the oil quakes of a specific magnitude have not from the unstable zoneof Sanüagode Cuba & gasfield of Boca de Jaruco by Lisbeth taken placein the regionas derivedfrom the in easternCuba where, a few months ago, NúñezHaugh).Specificaimsof this research evidenceof specificcave(s)whilst no ampli- a bunch of perceptible but low magnitude are: a) improvement of the methodology for fication phenomenatook place in that time. earthquakeswas reported. Those active the identificationof paleoseismiceüdences But between the broken-unbroken zones belong to the North American plate in caves;b) upgradethe estimationsof Cuban extremesthe uncertaintyin the determina- and are mainly distinguishedby the Pinar constructionstandards,urbanplanning,and 8 NSS News, May 2016 Fractured,displaced and regrown stalagmite. Ser ies of h o r i z o n t a l f r a c t u r e s i n s e v e r a l S h e a r i n g s t r e s s m a y b e a sso ci a te d w i th At least fo ur ge ne ratio ns of s t alagm it ic columnsand stalagmitesfrom CuevaArriero, horizontaloscillationsfracturedthis column growth can be recorded ¡n this two meter M at anz as . T h i s i s a s i t e w h e r e s h e a r i n g from Santo TomasCave System,Pinar del Río high stalagmite(Photo RoberticoSanchez). s t r es s es h a v e d o m i n a t e d f r a c t u r i n g o f (Photo Clinche& Raymundo) speleothems(Photo RoberticoSanchez). t/ Column fracture d an d dis plac ed bot h C u b a n s p e l e o l o g i s t M a n u e l ( "M a n o l i to ") horizontally and vertically in the Santo Tomas V a l d é s d o c u m e n t i n g o n e o f th e co l l a p se d Cave System,Pinardel Río (PhotoClinche& stalagmitesfrom Gueva Segundo Cauce of Raymundo) Fractured stalact¡te with regrowing soda - Santo Tomas Gave System, Pinar del Rio straw stalactites in Cueva de Don Martin. The (Photo by LeslieMolerio) fracture is dipping 30oaligned with a likely neotectonicjoint dipping northwardwith the s am e inc lin a t i o n . Gollapsed soda straw stalactites from Cueva Antorchas from Collapsedstalagmitesin the water-filledgalleriesof Cueva t h e S anto To mas Ca ve S y s t em , Pinar del Rí o ( Phot o Cl i n c h e Juanelo,southern Havana.(Photo Clinche& Raymundo) & Raymun do ). Sa mple s f r om t his s ec t ion wer e s t udied i n a geotechnicallab to definetheir physicalandrheologicalproperties. NSS News, Mag 2016 Collapsed soda straw stalactites from Cueva Antorchas from the Santo Tomas Cave System,(PhotoGlinche& Raymundo).A meter- Section of a jointed stalagmitefrom CuevaAzul, Matanzas,fractured long soda straw stalactitehas collapsedover a displacedstalagmite. after a decalcificationprocess (Photo by LeslieMolerio) Stalactite collapsed from Cueva Antorchas, Santo Tomas Cave System,Pinar del Río (Photo by Leslie Molerio) torsion, traction, flexion, free and forced oscillations and equilibrium stability of the Different types of sampledspeleothems.A new friendly version stalactitescollapsed from as an Excel macro is being prepared by our Cueva Antorchas, Santo graduate studeni Lisbeth Nuñez Haugh. Tomas Cave System, Pinar del Río (Photo by In some of the srudycavesan important LeslieMolerio) activity of civil construciion has taken place inihe last40 years.The use ol explosivesfor excavations provokes speleothem rupture disaster prevention and c) incorporate long caves. There is no difference with what is i n a v e r y s i m i l a r f a s h i o n t o e a r r h q u a ke s. return periods of seismic events in Cuba. commonly reported in the literature except particularly in the intraplate tectonic zone. ¡ he las t one . T h e y c a n b e s u m m a r i z e d a s follows: MAIN FINDING S . Broken speleolhemswith slighl verli- In one of the western blocks, Habana cal,/horizontal displacement Matanzas. recent vertical movement has . Dev iat i o n o f t h e g r o w i n g a x i s o f / ^+^l^ -^:, been reported between-2 to +10 mm/year. sralacnres/ ^+^l^^+:+^^ slatagmlles The Bay of La Habana shows a descending . Differencesin the growing of flowstone trend of about -2.0 Io -2.5 mm,/year. No . Differences in the color of the growing reliable data is availableat the westernmost hands oI sneleothems part of Cuba, but in Varadero-Cárdenas,at . Displacementof the cave ceiling frac- +,,-i-^ the eastern limit of the study area, several LUI lr rg -+^l-^+i+^^ JLoroL Ltrg5 minor blocks show differentiated uplifting The breaking and/or collapseof speleo- and subsidence vertical movements rang thems (stalactitesand stalagmites)seems i n g betw een 2.2 to -2.4 m m / y ear . The to be independent ol its shape and size. It limiting siructures, are. in all cases,tectonic depends mostly on their natural frequency faults of the Cuban Orogenic Phases(Middle and t he s eis m i c e x c i r a t i o n o I a p a r r i c u l a r Eocene) reactivated and rejuvenated during ev ent . Anolh e r i n l e r e s t i n g f i n d i n g i s r h a r Upper Neogene-Quaternary (Molerio, Vigil, collapsedsoda-strawstalacriresshow rhree Balado. 2014). dom inant di r e c t i o n s : 1 0 e , 4 0 s a n d 3 5 0 a . A group of particular features has been FRACTUR program provided data for the Fractured,displaced, and regrown column systematically documented in the selected quantitative analysis of normal tensions, and stalagmitefrom CuevaArriero,Matanzas (Photo RoberticoSanchez). 10 NSS N¡ws. May 2016 This feature could hide some important conclusionsand it is being studiedwith some detail. In an attempt to prevent speleothem ruptureand for a proper designof the explo- (coNTTNUEDFROMPAGE2) Rescue sion shots the author and his collaborators breakfaston Saturdayfollowedby a group boat May 7-14,2016-The NationalCave Rescue tour ratefor SpookCave,Saturdaynightbanquet Commission(NCRC)Cave RescueOperations performed a group of controlledexplosions followedby a caver'sauction. Sundaymorning and ManagementSeminar¡nMentone,Alabama. in a pilot cave severalyearsago (Molerioet is t he Septe m b e r Wi s c o n s i n S p e l e o l o g i c a l Extensiveclassroominstructionand fieldworkin al., 1990) with interestingresultsregarding SocietyBoard of DirectorsMeeting. Everyone all phasesof cave rescueincludingunderground is welcome. Pre-registerand save, by goingto env¡ronment,vert¡calrescue,haulingsystems, the intensity,number of shots and limits of the WSS web site at w¡scons¡ncaves.org for a extricationtechniques,medical management, vulnerableareas. registrationform. For more informationcontact commun¡cationsystems,and the organizat¡on Gary K. Soule at garyksoule@hotmail.com. and managementof cave rescueoperations. REFERENCES October 6th - gth, 2016-39th AnnualTAG Fall For more informationpleasevisit our websiteat Diaz,J. L.;A. R Magaz; y J. Rodríguez Cave-ln hosted by the DogwoodCity Grotto A. Portela or facebookpage at https://www. http://ncrc.info (1990),El Relieve on LookoutMtn. Near Menlo,GA. (alwaysthe facebook.com/NCRCtraining. de Cuba.Revista Cienc.de weekendbeforeColumbusDay).NSSMembers la Tierray Espacio.No. 18. p.33-44 or guestsonly.No dOgS,no generators,no air Gilli,E., A. Levret,P SollogoubandP. Delange horns,no off-highwayvehicles. Foreign (1999):Research on the February18,1996 August'l 3-20, 20'lB-European Federation earthquake in the cavesof the SaintPaul- meetingin Ingleton,UK de-Fenouilletarea (easterPyrenees,France). Cave& KarstScience July 23-29,2017-17th InternationalCongress GeodinamicaActa, 12,2-4 :143-158 June 13-16, 2016 - The 23rd International of Speleology,Sydney,Australia. Facebook L acave, C., A. Le vre t, M . Koller ( 2000) , Conf er ence o n S u b t e r r a n e a n B i o l o g y i n page: https://www.facebook.com/Speleo2017. Fayetteville,Arkansas. lnformation: www. Official site: http://speleo2017.coml Contact Measurementsol natural frequency and speleobiology.com/icsb20 16/ speleo20't7@caves.org. au damping of speleothems.Proc. 12th World Conference on EarthquakeEngineering, Auckland,New Zealand,Paper 2178 Molerio León, LeslieF.; M. HernándezMoret; O.VelénquezSánchez;M. Guerra Oliva & M. LabradaCortés (1990): EstudioExperimental de Resistenciaa CargasDinámicasen la Bóvedade una Caverna.Congr. 50 Aniv.Soc. bourbon and the occasionalcigar. Many Espel.Cuba, La Habana:88 times he could be spotted in his Tilley Hat Molerio León, Leslie F. (1995): Distribución and Hawaiian shirt sitting and enjoying the del Campo de Tensionesen Espeleotemas moment. He lovedhis family, church,coun- Colapsadasde la Cueva de La Incógnita, try, and cavers. Gran Caverna de Santo Tomás, Pinar del He found work as a railroadworker and Río, Cuba. Resumen.Congr. Internac. LV lateras a tile setter.Joe foundedNew Albany Aniv. Soc. Espel. Cuba y Primera Reunión Iberoamericana,La Habana,:34-35 Tile and took much pride in his work. His Molerio León, L.F., V. Vigil-EscaleraRodríguez, son, Eric, carrieson with this occupation E.J. BaladoPiedra(2014): Desarrollogaso- and the caving tradition. He would have petrolíferoy gestiónde los recursoshidráulicos been very pleasedto see Eric follow in his subterráneosen el Area Cársica Protegida footsteps.His van was usedfor many road de Punta Guanos,Matanzas,Cuba. Gota a trips and had a layer of dust on everything gota, ne 6 (2074). Grupo de Espeleologíade but seemedclean at the same time. Truly a Villacarrillo, G.E.V. (ed.): 10-20 https:/ / sttes. google.com,/site,/espeleovillacarrillo mystery. Joe was a stapleat many caver events over the years including Karst-o-Ramaand Old Timers Reunion.At OTR, he could be found sitting in the river or paülion listen- ing to music. He loved music,all of it, from Joe Gibson classicrock to bluegrassand everything NSS #37353 in between. He also spent many, many weekends showing young people how Srpreuaen 24, 1956- Apnt 23, 2015 to cave responsibly.He was involved in Scoutsand was proud of his sons' Scouting JosephGibson,58, died on April 23, accomplishments. 2075 in Columbus,Ohio. Joe was born to Joe lives on in our hearts. Many a Richardand Monna Gibson.marriedto Lisa. bourbon toast have been consumed in and fathered two sons, Matt and Eric. Joe Joe's honor whenevera few COG'ers are startedcaüng with the Ohio StateUniversity together.A buckeyetree was plantedat the Outdoor Club in the Carter Cavesarea of Great Saltpetre Cave Preserve(GSP)near Kentucky. He became involved with the Mt. Vernon, KY. Joe loved spending time Central Ohio Grotto in the early 1990s. at GSP. He is memorialized at the NSS Joe serveil in nearly every leadershiprole Headquarterswith a brick and at OTR on the grotto had to offer; he was Treasurerup Fractured sta lactites an d hor iz ont ally the Lutz Rock. Drink a sip of bourbon for until his suddenpassing.He was instrumental fractured and cemented column in Cueva de Joe. He would like that. in reütalizing the grotto in the late 2000s. Don Martín,Boca de Jaruco. Calcite has filled Patrick Gibson in the fracture being pointed to, as well as at Joe wasa quiet,privateman and always NSS #56762 the base of the column. quick with a smile and ioke. He liked his NSS N¡ws.Mav2016 1i