Search

The active management of air-filled cave systems is virtually non-existent within the karst landscape of west-central Florida. As in every karst landscape, caves are important because they contain a wide variety of resources (e.g., biota, speleothems) and can act as direct connections between surface and subsurface hydrological processes, potentially exacerbating the pollution of groundwater. Before sound management policies can be drafted, implemented, and enforced, stakeholders must first have knowledge of the management requirements of each cave. However, there is an informational disconnect between researchers, stakeholders, and the recreational caving community. Here, we present a cave inventory system that simplifies the dissemination of resource knowledge to stakeholders so that cave management and protection policies can be drafted and implemented at the state and local level. We inventoried 36 caves in west-central Florida, located on both public and private land, and analyzed cave resource data to provide insights on cave sensitivity and disturbance using two standardized indices. The data revealed that both public and private caves exhibit a wide range of sensitivity and disturbance, and before management strategies can be drafted, the ownership of each cave must be considered. Our inventory geodatabase serves as a link between researchers, landowners, and the public. To ensure the conservation and protection of caves, support from county or state government, combined with cave inventory data, is crucial in developing sound management policy.

The type of data collected during cave inventories includes a myriad of different parameters; however, the actual practice of field data collection lacks a modern, standardized method. The integration of GIS with methods associated with the inventory of cave resources and utilization patterns improve upon the previously utilized paper-form of inventory. This article discusses the development of a GIS-based method of cave inventory and how its implementation advanced cave management protocols in Withlacoochee State Forest (WSF), Florida. After realizing the need for a more sophisticated and secure method to inventory caves in WSF, an alternative data collection, storage, and manipulation method was expanded that allowed the input and storage of large amounts of spatially-referenced data. The overarching purpose of this study was to create a modernized and user-friendly GIS-based method of cave inventory that encompassed all aspects of the inventory (i.e., data collection, storage, manipulation, and post-processing) for the efficient management of caves in WSF. The GIS-based inventory developed for WSF caves is easily applied by state forest personnel and is aiding in the drafting of management plans for each cave they manage. Having rigorously tested this method in 19 caves, we feel it is applicable to cave systems in all karst areas.

Cave sediments collected from Reflection Cave on the Vaca Plateau, Belize show variations in the δ13C values of their fulvic acids (FAs), which indicate periods of vegetation change caused by climatic and Maya influences during the late Holocene. The δ13C values range from − 27.11‰ to − 21.52‰, a shift of ∼ 5.59‰, which suggests fluctuating contributions of C3 and C4 plants throughout the last 2.5 ka, with C4 plant input reflecting periods of Maya agriculture. Maya activity in the study area occurred at different intensities from ∼ 2600 cal yr BP until ∼ 1500 cal yr BP, after which agricultural practices waned as the Maya depopulated the area. These changes in plant assemblages were in response to changes in available water resources, with increased aridity leading to the eventual abandonment of agricultural areas. The Ix Chel archaeological site, located in the study area, is a highland site that would have been among the first agricultural settlements to be affected during periods of aridity. During these periods, minimal water resources would have been available in this highly karstified, well-drained area, and supplemental groundwater extraction would have been difficult due to the extreme depth of the water table.

Paleoenvironmental data from a stalagmite from western Belize provide a 3300-year record of droughts that impacted the Maya civilization at least four times across a span of 1500 years, and the most sustained period of drought coincided with the collapse of Classic Maya civilization. The stalagmite, which comes from Macal Chasm in the Vaca Plateau, provides reliably dated reflectance, color, luminescence, and C and O stable isotope records for the period from 1225 B.C. to the present. The record thus encompasses the Maya Preclassic, Classic, and Postclassic periods. The Maya civilization peaked in population density and socioeconomic complexity during the Classic period extending from A.D. 25 to 900, but it declined abruptly over the years from A.D. 750 and 900. The stalagmite record indicates that a series of droughts, which collectively form the most prolonged dry interval in the 3300-year record, lasted from A.D. 700 to 1135 and thus coincided with the collapse of the Maya civilization. In addition, two earlier droughts evident in the stalagmite record coincided with the Preclassic Abandonment and the Maya Hiatus, two earlier declines in Maya civilization. A drought in the mid-1400s recorded in post-Classic documents is also evident in the stalagmite record. Collectively, these findings illustrate the dependence of Mayan civilization on water supplies and the impact of declining water resources on a vibrant civilization.

This study addresses anthropogenic and ecological factors affecting a 50 hectare farmer-managed reforestation project in the cone karst of the central Philippine island of Bohol. Climate, soil moisture, micro-topographic features, soil fertility, management practices, and pre-plantation land use history are all related to, and assist in explaining the variability in, gmelina and mahogany survival and growth rates. Pre-plantation land use affects soil fertility and structure (affecting moisture-holding capacity), and micro-geomorphologic features such as slope angle, slope length, breaks in slope, and size and distribution of talus influenced tree growth and survival rates because of their relationship to soil erosion and deposition.

The formation of caves in a portion of Citrus County, Florida is controlled structurally by northwest-southeast-trending joints that formed in the Suwannee Limestone during the uplift of Ocala Arch in the Miocene Epoch. The caves developed in a zone where saline water from the Gulf of Mexico and fresh water from the Ocala Uplift mixed. Further uplift elevated the caves above the mixing zone. Following subsequent lowering of regional baselevel, erosion caused sections of cave passages to collapse and/or be filled with sediment. The caves are fossil segments of a formerly larger, interconnected cave system.

In the context of karst-related research, the multidisciplinary approach is necessary and the paradigms of the emerging field of geoarchaeology provide a new perspective for completing studies that contains the human-element. Research completed at the Cave of Letters (COL) and the Qumran Archaeological Site in Israel and on the Vaca Plateau in Belize, utilizes the multidisciplinary approach endemic to geoarchaeology. By creating a series of digital, updatable maps for the COL and Qumran, spatial trends in and relationships between the physical and cultural landscapes become apparent. Additionally, through the use of geophysics (ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electro-resistivity tomography (ERT)), an ancient living surface (the Bar Kokhba layer) was delineated in the COL, and potentially collapsed caves, that may contain archaeological remains, were located at Qumran. GPR also delineated possible grave sites at the cemeteries of Qumran. In Belize, petrographic analysis of rock samples determined that the physical landscape is dominated by limestone breccias, which are mostly depositional in origin. Comparison of these results, with data collected related to quarried and cut stones used to face structures at the Ix Chel Archaeological Site, suggested some stones were quarried locally but, due to the sheer number of stones required to build the site, dictates that other regional sources were required. The studies detailed in this chapter point to the need for continued karst-based research within the multidisciplinary realm of geoarchaeology, because this marriage only enhances the quest for new knowledge and understanding.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the greatest manuscript discoveries of the twentieth century. Since 1947 the Qumran region, the site of the Scrolls discovery on the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea, Israel, has been subject to countless probes. In 2001, ground penetrating radar (GPR) was used in an expedition that was initiated to better understand the Qumran site. Primarily, GPR was used to aid in identifying unmarked graves in the Qumran cemetery, and secondly, to determine if there were more caves in the marl cliffs that might contain artifacts associated with Qumran. In regards to the first GPR objective, two patterns emerged as burial signatures - a hyperbolic feature and/or a "V" shape. An extensive GPR survey was conducted along the outer edges of the presently exposed cemetery as well as empty patches of ground within the present cemetery. Over 100 potential graves were located that did not show surficial expressions. The second objective was achieved by running GPR surveys along the cliff faces and tops. Two sites were then chosen for excavation based on GPR images that showed hyperbolic features between 0.5 and 1 .0 m depth. Artifacts were recovered at one site.

The interpretation and reconstruction of subsurface environments is an important task continually facing archaeologists. Of the various geophysical techniques employed in such work, GPR is increasingly being used to image and assess archaeological sites in a noninvasive manner. The Cave of Letters located in the Judean Desert of Israel provided the first site to successfully conduct a GPR experiment inside a cave environment. Upon entry to the Cave (Chamber B) a series of experimental grid lines were chosen to test a range of frequencies (100 - 450 MHz). The GPR results, with depths ranging from 2 - 8 m, directed subsurface endoscopic viewing and initial archaeological probing. Even with minimal probing many significant artifacts were located.