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Volume 47, Issue 2 (2018)

Cover and Front Matter

Articles

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New records of guano-associated minerals from caves in northwestern Borneo
Donald A. McFarlane and Joyce Lundberg

  • Guano decomposition minerals include a significant nano-particulate silica component
  • Berlinite is reported from a low temperature cave regime
  • Fluorapatite efflorescences highlight significant, mobile, fluorine content of ancient guano

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Moonmilk as a human and veterinary medicine: evidence of past artisan mining in caves of the Austrian Alps
Christoph Spötl

  • Moonmilk was previously mined in at least 18 caves in the Eastern Alps
  • Most of these mines were small and secret operations
  • Oldest reports go back to 1650 for Austria and 1555 for Switzerland
  • Moonmilk was used as a human and veterinary medicine but also for a variety of other purposes
  • Locally, these so-called Nixbergwerke were in operation until the first half of the 20th century

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Replication and reinsertion of stalagmites sampled for paleoclimatic purposes
Eleuterio Baeza, Rafael P. Lozano, and Carlos Rossi

  • Application of molding and casting laboratory techniques to create replicas of stalagmites
  • Technique is used to minimize the impact of stalagmites sampling for paleoclimatic purposes
  • The detailed technical description allows its application in stalagmites of any cave
  • The methodology to be used depends on the length of the stalagmite
  • The replicas are installed in the original places allowing the continuity of carbonatic growth

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Unusual internal structure of cm-sized coldwater calcite: Weichselian spars in former pools of the Zinnbergschacht Cave (Franconian Alb/SE Germany)
Detlev K. Richter, Rolf D. Neuser, Martin Harder, Hardy Schabdach, and Denis Scholz

  • Cryogenic cm-sized calcite spars are introduced from Zinnbergschacht cave in the Franconian Alb/Germany
  • Oxygen isotope composition suggests cold-water conditions until the initiation of cryogenesis
  • Three hierarchies of crystal habit could be distinguished within the crystals by their internal characteristics (BSE)
  • EBSD mapping reveals a divergent orientation of the c-axes within the calcite megacrystals

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The activity of saccharolytic enzymes in Collembola is associated with species affinity for caves
Andrea Parimuchová, Vladimír Šustr, Miloslav Devetter, Ondřej Vošta, Ionuţ Popa, and Ľubomír Kováč

  • Activity of tested enzymes was confirmed across all cave guilds of Collembola
  • Cellulolytic and chitinolytic activity showed a key role in species feeding habits
  • Ecological role of the species is not determined by its taxonomical category
  • Interspecific differences reflected the species-specific enzymatic equipment
  • Shift from cellulase activity in edaphic forms towards chitinases in cave forms

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Co-authorship analysis of the speleothem proxy-climate community: working together to tackle the big problems
Micheline L. Campbell, John N. Callow, Gavan S. McGrath, and Hamish A. McGowan

  • Co-authorship has increased in speleothem-derived palaeo-climate proxy methodological sub-communities
  • There is increased connectivity between the different methodological sub-communities
  • These methodological sub-communities are well connected to members of the broader speleothem palaeo-climate proxy community which were not represented in the methods-based data set
  • When networks are highly connected, information, ideas and methods are shared more efficiently – this bodes well for the ability of the speleothem-derived palaeo-climate proxy community to tackle emerging complex problems using inter-disciplinary tools

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Sulfur Cave (Romania), an extreme environment with microbial mats in a CO2-H2S/O2 gas chemocline dominated by mycobacteria
Serban M. Sarbu, Joost W. Aerts, Jean-François Flot, Rob J.M. Van Spanning, Calin Baciu, Artur Ionescu, Boglárka M. Kis, Reka Incze, Sándor Sikó-Barabási, Zoltan Para, Botond Hegyeli, Nicu-Viorel Atudorei, Casey Barr, Kenneth Nealson, Ferenc L. Forray, Cristian Lascu, Emily J. Fleming, Wilbert Bitter, and Radu Popa

  • Sulfur Cave (Romania) is fed by mofettic emissions of CO2, CH4, H2S, and water vapors
  • A redox gas chemocline (i.e. oxic/anoxic gas/gas interface) occurs in Sulfur Cave
  • Microbial biofilms colonize the cave walls at the gas/gas interface
  • Below the interface, rich deposits of twinned and elongated sulfur crystals are found
  • Sulfur Cave biofilms are important in the search for life in extreme environments

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Antimicrobial activities of culturable microorganisms (actinomycetes and fungi) isolated from Chaabe Cave, Algeria
Larbi Belyagoubi, Nabila Belyagoubi-Benhammou, Valme Jurado, Joëlle Dupont, Sandrine Lacoste, Fatima Djebbah, Fatima Z. Ounadjela, Souad Benaissa, Salim Habi, Djamel E. Abdelouahid, and Cesareo Saiz-Jimenez

  • No publication has investigated the microbial diversity in cave ecosystems in Africa (or Algeria)
  • Main aim of this study was the identification of microorganisms with antimicrobial potential
  • The isolates were identified by molecular tools and tested for their bioactive compounds
  • The data indicated that the majority (72.86%) of the 70 isolates were active
  • The Chaabe Cave possesses a diversity of organisms that could lead to fresh sources of antibiotics

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Drip water measurements from Carlsbad Cavern: implications towards paleoclimate records yielded from evaporative-zone stalagmites
Victor J. Polyak, Jessica B.T. Rasmussen, and Yemane Asmerom

  • Two-year drip water study of four drip sites in Carlsbad Cavern
  • Drip rates are tied to surface and cave climatology
  • Ca, Mg, Sr, Ba, U, and Th elemental concentrations of drip water are reported
  • U and Th isotopic ratios were measured
  • Drip rates differed from site to site in the same cave room

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Bacterial diversity associated with mineral substrates and hot springs from caves and tunnels of the Naica Underground System (Chihuahua, Mexico)
Adriana Espino del Castillo, Hugo Beraldi-Campesi, Patricia Amador-Lemus, Hiram Isaac Beltrán, and Sylvie Le Borgne

  • Bacterial communities present on mineral substrates and in hot springs were studied
  • DGGE showed communities grouping according to substrate type and sample location
  • Bacterial isolates included Firmicutes, Beta- and Gammaproteobacteria
  • Some strains could precipitate calcium carbonate and iron(III) in solid media
  • This study is the first reporting the isolation of microorganisms from Naica

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Extremely high diversity of sulfate minerals in caves of the Irazú Volcano (Costa Rica) related to crater lake and fumarolic activity
Andrés Ulloa, Fernando Gázquez, Aurelio Sanz-Arranz, Jesús Medina, Fernando Rull, José María Calaforra, Guillermo E. Alvarado, María Martínez, Geoffroy Avard, J. Maarten De Moor, and Jo De Waele

  • Mineralogical and geochemical studies of speleothems in caves of Irazú volcano were performed
  • Water and gas geochemistry of volcanic lake, infiltration waters and fumaroles are presented
  • Forty-eight different mineral phases were identified, mostly hydrated sulfates
  • We report the first occurrence of 13 minerals in cave environments, and 5 more yet to be confirmed
  • These caves are considered world-type locality for investigations of sulfate minerals

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A unique small-scale microclimatic gradient in a temperate karst harbours exceptionally high diversity of soil Collembola
Natália Raschmanová, Dana Miklisová, and Ľubomír Kováč

  • A karst doline with ice in a temperate zone harbours high diversity of Collembola
  • Cold zone of the doline provides climatic microrefugia for endemic and relict taxa
  • The doline serves as an ecotone between cave habitats and the surface environment
  • Cold microhabitats at the doline bottom are under the threat of climate warming