Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2011
Keywords
non-scientists, karst science, speleogenetic theories, karst aquifers
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.17704/eshi.30.1.n76v556205141ux3
Abstract
The direction of cave and karst science throughout its history has been partly determined by communication—or, more commonly, the lack of communication—between non-scientist cavers and non-caving physical geologists writing about karst. Within each community, advancement of ‘cave awareness’ occurred through a hermeneutic circle in which ‘forestructures’ guided progress. One result was regionalism of speleo-genetic theories developed within karst science because of the weight of evidence placed upon local or regional observations. Many speleogenetic theories of the mid-1900s suffer from this parochialism, failing to take into account findings from karst of different geologic settings. During the past half-century, the accumulated worldwide data on caves and karst suggest larger, more encompassing theories of speleogenesis. One such example of how speleogenetic theories have changed, partly explored in this essay, is the relation of cave formation to the position of the water-table. In many karst aquifers, including but not limited to alpine systems, one modern view envisions the enlargement of caves to proceed in a punctuated manner, driven by floods.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Earth Sciences History, v. 30, issue 1, p. 85-105
Scholar Commons Citation
Florea, Lee J. and Vacher, H. L., "Communications and 'Forestructures' at the Geological Intersection of Caves and Subsurface Water Flow: Hermeneutics and Parochialism" (2011). Geology Faculty Publications. 47.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/gly_facpub/47
Comments
Earth Sciences History editor David Oldroyd graciously granted permission to include this article in the repository (email 2011-05-20).