Victoria Cave Research Articles

Tracing structural relicts of the ikaite-to-calcite transformation in cryogenic cave glendonite

Abstract Ikaite is a calcium carbonate hexahydrate that forms at temperatures close to the freezing point of water; thus, its occurrence is associated with cryogenic conditions. This mineral is metastable and quickly transforms to calcite at temperatures above 5 °C. Pseudomorphs of calcite after ikaite are known as glendonite. The nanostructure of 25 000–43 000 year old glendonite from Victoria cave (Southern Ural, Russia) was investigated in search of structural features indicative of the ikaite-to-calcite transformation. Scanning electron microscope images display several micrometer- to submicrometer-size pores and indicate high intergranular porosity among the loosely aggregated grains. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) data show evidence of 10–20 nm nanotwins [twin law (1014)] and 10–40 nm overlapping nanograins. Scanning TEM images reveal that the individual grains contain 5–10 nm long and 2–4 nm wide mesopores (sizes between 2 and 50 nm), which are aligned parallel to [1010] of calcite and might be associated with a crystallographically oriented dehydration of the precursor ikaite. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy reveals no evidence of structural water but absorption bands related to molecular water trapped in fluid inclusions are present. Nitrogen absorption/desorption measurements show that the specific surface area of 5.78 m2/g and the pore volume of ~0.07 cm3/g for calcite, the constituent of glendonite, are comparable to those of a common natural calcite. We suggest that the aligned mesopores, frequently occurring twins, small grain size, presence of aqueous inclusions and the high micrometer- to submicrometer-size intergranular porosity arise from the ikaite-to-calcite transformation and thus may be used as criteria for the former presence of ikaite and hence for cold paleotemperatures. However, since similar features might also be common in biogenic carbonates, the diagnostic macroscopic pseudomorphs after ikaite are equally important for identifying glendonites and inferring cryogenic conditions.

Diffraction Features from (101¯4) Calcite Twins Mimicking Crystallographic Ordering

During phase transitions the ordering of cations and/or anions along specific crystallographic directions can take place. As a result, extra reflections may occur in diffraction patterns, which can indicate cell doubling and the reduction of the crystallographic symmetry. However, similar features may also arise from twinning. Here the nanostructures of a glendonite, a calcite (CaCO3) pseudomorph after ikaite (CaCO3·6H2O), from Victoria Cave (Russia) were studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). This paper demonstrates the occurrence of extra reflections at positions halfway between the Bragg reflections of calcite in 0kl electron diffraction patterns and the doubling of d104 spacings (corresponding to 2∙3.03 Å) in high-resolution TEM images. Interestingly, these diffraction features match with the so-called carbonate c-type reflections, which are associated with Mg and Ca ordering, a phenomenon that cannot occur in pure calcite. TEM and crystallographic analysis suggests that, in fact, (101¯4) calcite twins and the orientation change of CO3 groups across the twin interface are responsible for the extra reflections.

The electrical resistivity tomography method in the detection of shallow mining cavities. A case study on the Victoria Cave, Cartagena (SE Spain)

Former mining areas which have been under intensive mining activity raise some geotechnical concerns. The main concerns that can arise are, for example, foundation problems on buildings placed on these mining areas, and the damage to roads resulting in potholes. These are due to the collapse of the mining cavities from natural alteration processes during the course of time. In order to check its reliability, the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) method was tried out on a selected area of La Sierra Minera, where the location and orientation of the main caves are well known. This technique was chosen because the climate of the study area is semi-arid and the cave space is occupied by air, so the electrical resistivity contrast between the cave itself and the host rock could be expected to be high. The geophysical results have shown a close correlation with the position of known caves but further have highlighted the position of new cavities previously unknown before employing the ERT method. The discovery has been corroborated by speleologists' inspection of the area. The ERT method has therefore proved to be very effective and suitable in providing sufficient subsurface information on shallow cavities.

Thermal ionization mass spectrometer U-Th dates on Pleistocene speleothems from Victoria Cave, North Yorkshire, UK: Implications for paleoenvironment and stratigraphy over multiple glacial cycles

We present 23 new thermal ionization mass spectrometric U-Th dates for Victoria Cave, North Yorkshire, UK. Victoria Cave underwent repeated glaciation during the late Pleistocene and contains one of the longest Quaternary cave sequences in Britain. The dates reveal that speleothem formation began beyond the range of the dating technique (before 600 ka). Finite reproducible dates of 490 −9/+10 ka confirm speleothem deposition during marine isotope stage (MIS) 13, the oldest date we know of for this part of Britain. Further speleothem formation was dated to MIS 11, MIS 9, MIS 7, and MIS 5. The results are the basis for a new chronology of Quaternary events for the cave and greatly enhance our understanding of the factors affecting the formation of the sedimentary sequence. Cyclical climatic and environmental change throughout the late Pleistocene triggered cyclical sedimentation events in the cave. All the interglacial periods show calcite deposition but with growth phases postdating the warmest events of MIS 11 and MIS 5e. The position of the cave halfway up the side of a glacial trough resulted in very distinctive sediment during the more extreme glacial maxima: ice-dammed lakes formed inside the cave and deposited varve-like clay rhythmites. The dates inferred for these deposits suggest that this locality underwent significant glaciation during MIS 12, MIS 10, MIS 6, and MIS 2, and that the ice was warm based. The absence of rhythmites during MIS 8 suggests minimal ice cover at that time. This is the most complete record for glacial events in the region; it is the only site where successive glacial maxima can be identified and dated. The record of large faunal remains indicates that the cave was open to the surface, only for relatively short times, during MIS 13, MIS 12, MIS 5e, the Late Glacial Interstadial, and parts of the Holocene. It is inferred that at other times the cave was closed because scree formation blocked the entrance. The record of vertebrate remains is therefore controlled by geomorphological processes. The deteriorating state of this unprotected site remains a cause for concern.

People and large carnivores as biostratinomic agents in Lateglacial cave assemblages

AbstractBiostratinomic analysis (processes acting between death and burial) of Lateglacial mammal bone assemblages from three caves in northern England demonstrates the value of re‐examining archived assemblages. With AMS radiocarbon dating of key specimens, these assemblages shed light on the ecology of a region at the northern limit of Lateglacial human activity in Britain. During the Lateglacial Interstadial bears, wolves and humans expanded into the region, bears by around 12 500 14C yr BP, and the earliest evidence for human presence is around 12 300 14C yr BP. At Victoria Cave, wolf activity included predation and scavenging of large ungulates and scavenging bear carcasses apparently resulting from hibernation deaths. The scavenging of bear carcasses is possibly confined to the first part of the Lateglacial Interstadial, whereas evidence for wolf scavenging large ungulates increases later in the Interstadial, after about 11 800 14C yr BP, perhaps reflecting changes in the productivity of the Lateglacial ecosystem, and in human subsistence patterns. The assemblage from Sewell's Cave is wolf den debris from the very end of the Lateglacial Interstadial around 10 800 14C yr BP, whilst that from Kinsey Cave is dominated by large‐bodied carnivores, and is argued to have a quite different taphonomic history. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Origin of the sedimentary deposits of the Naracoorte Caves, South Australia

The origin of the sediments located in the Naracoorte Caves (South Australia) was investigated via the analysis of strontium isotope ratios ( 87Sr/ 86Sr), elemental geochemistry, and mineralogy. Sedimentary deposits located in Robertson, Wet, Blanche and several other chambers in Victoria Cave are all variable mixes of fine sand and coarse silts, which display similar and consistent strontium isotope ratios (0.717–0.725). This suggests that over the 400 ka time frame that these deposits span there has been minimal variation in the source of the clastic sediments. Increased strontium concentrations for these cave sediments correspond with increasing silt content, yet there is no correlation between 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios and silt content. This implies that the silt-sized component of the sediments is the main contributor of strontium to the cave sediments. Comparisons of 87Sr/ 86Sr with regional surficial deposits show a significant correlation between the cave sediments (avg: 0.7228; n = 27), the fine silt lunettes of the Bool Lagoon area (avg: 0.7224; n = 4), the sandy A horizons of the Coonawarra Red Brown Earths (RBEs; avg: 0.726; n = 5), and Holocene age podsolic sand deposits (0.723). These data suggest that there has been substantial flux from this group of deposits to the caves, as would be expected considering prevailing winds. This relationship is further supported by a strong correlation between many trace elements, including Ti, Zr, Ce, and Y; however, variations in clay mineralogy suggest that the fine silt-dominated lunettes and Padthaway RBEs were not significant contributors to the cave deposits. Hence, the detritus entering the caves was more than likely from areas proximal to the cave entrance and was dominated by medium grain-sized materials. Major regional deposits, including the coarser-grained, calcite-rich Bridgewater Formation sands, basalts from the lower SE, Padthaway Horst granites, Gambier limestone, and metamorphics from the Adelaide geosyncline show minimal correlation in 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios, elemental geochemistry, and mineralogy with the cave sediments, and are discounted as significant sources. In comparison, 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios for the Coorong silty sands (0.717–0.724), Lower Murray sands (0.727–0.730), and the medium size silt component of the Murray–Darling River system (0.71–0.72), compare favourably with the cave sediments. This relationship is further supported by similarities in elemental chemistry and mineralogy. Thus, much of the strontium-rich silt that is now located in the Naracoorte Cave sediments likely originated from the Murray–Darling basin. Over time, this material has been transported to the SE of South Australia, where it mixed with the medium sand component of the regressive dune ridge sequence, locally derived organic matter, limestone fragments, and fossil material to produce the unique deposits that we see evident in many of the chambers of the Naracoorte Cave system today.

Electron spin resonance dating of the fossil deposits in the Naracoorte Caves, South Australia

The caves near Naracoorte, South Australia, contain one of the richest and most diverse fossil faunal assemblages on the Australian continent. Three sites were selected for electron spin resonance (ESR) dating because clastic, fossiliferous sediments were sandwiched between speleothem layers. This allows independent age control by highly precise thermal ionization mass-spectrometry (TIMS) U-series dating. We find that all ESR results agree within the constraints given by the U-series dates, and allow further refinement of the age of the fauna analysed, indicating that most of the fauna in the large Victoria Cave Fossil Chamber is twice as old as reported previously. Our dating results, spanning from 280 to 500 ka for the Fossil Chamber, Victoria Cave, to about 125 ka for the Grant Hall, Victoria Cave, and 170 to 280 ka for the Fossil Chamber, Cathedral Cave, indicate little change, if any, in the megafaunal assemblage from the early Middle to the early Late Pleistocene. This changed dramatically after the last interglacial, when a large proportion of the megafauna suddenly disappeared. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rates of cave and landform development in the Yorkshire Dales from speleothem age data

AbstractUranium‐series ages have been obtained for 87 speleothems collected from nine major cave systems in the Craven district of northern England. Large systems such as Ease Gill Caverns, the West Kingsdale caves, and Gaping Gill‐Ingleborough Cave, which contain relict high‐level tunnels, are found to be older than 350,000 years (the limit of the 230Th/234U dating method). There is little evidence to indicate a significant enlargement of these passages since this time. Estimates of the age of Victoria Cave from 234U/238U isotopic ratios suggest that the cave has been fully relict for more than 500,000 years. Ages of in situ speleothems immediately adjacent to local base level cave streams show that mean maximum downcutting rates in limestone channels are about 2 to 5 cm 1000 yr. These rates are significantly lower than those obtained from direct measurements on limestone bedrock in stream channels but are comparable to areal denudation rates based on solute budgets. Using the present elevation of caves with respect to adjacent valley floor levels, mean maximum valley entrenchment rates are found to range between 5 cm/ky and < 20cm/ky, which corresponds to 6 m to < 24 m of lowering per glacial/interglacial cycle. These rates suggest that upper beds of the limestone were incised to form the Yorkshire Dales between 1 and 2 million years ago.The results indicate that the erosional effects of individual glaciations are not as severe as previously proposed in the literature.

Ipswichian fauna of Victoria Cave and the marine palaeoclimatic record

The lack of age dating methods which can be applied beyond the limit of radiocarbon dating makes the global correlation of continental climatic events and stratigraphic sequences with the continuous palaeoclimate record, obtained by isotopic and faunal analysis of deep-sea sediment cores1–3, a difficult task; often only a relative time scale can be obtained using complex and perhaps tenuous litho- and biostratigraphical data. Speleothems may assist in this correlation, for embodied in their calcium carbonate structures are elemental and isotopic variations which indicate both their age and climatic conditions prevailing during their deposition. Speleothems may be reliably dated by the 230Th/ 234U method to an age of ∼350 kyr BP providing they consist of non-porous, unrecrystallized calcite which is essentially free of clastic detrital sediments4–6. They may also provide palaeoclimatic information for previously glaciated areas (1) because their presence indicates that groundwater movement was not prevented by ice formation at the surface, and CO2 was produced in the soil zone by root respiration and plant decay (limestone bedrock may then be dissolved and reprecipitated as speleothems in caves below the surface), and (2) because of the variations in stable isotopic content and fluid inclusion waters contained therein4,7,8. Additional climatic and chronological information may be obtained where speleothems are interstratified with deposits characteristic of a particular climatic regime, and with deposits containing organic remains. We describe here the results of dating speleothems encrusting the remains of mammals from Victoria Cave in northern England, and discuss their significance in terms of the correlation between continental and oceanic palaeoclimatic records.

A Lance-point of Upper Palaeolithic type from Victoria Cave, Settle, Yorkshire

A Lance-point of Upper Palaeolithic type from Victoria Cave, Settle, Yorkshire

Man and Bear in Europe

The faunal environment of man, as is well known, has profoundly affected his mental as well as his physical life. The Altamira and other animal-drawings made by Palaeolithic man, whether regarded as disinterested efforts at pure art or as magical symbols intended to ensure success in the chase, are sufficient evidence of the extent to which the cave bear, the bison, the mammoth, and other great beasts figured in the minds of their human contemporaries. Professor Othenio Abel considers that Mousterian man associated certain cult-conceptions with the bears he had killed, and kindred ideas are still found in remote parts of the world. Finds of actual bear remains in more or less clear association with human remains or artifacts are of course numerous. Confining ourselves to Great Britain, bones attributed to Ursus spelaeus were ‘ very common ’ at Paviland cave, Glamorgan, which yielded also artifacts covering the period from Mousterian to the end of Aurignacian times. Cat’s Hole, Long Hole, and Hoyle’s Mouth, all in South Wales ; Kent’s cavern in Devonshire ; King Arthur’s cave in the Wye valley ; Aveline’s Hole, Gough’s cave, and Wookey Hole in the Mendips ; Ffynnon Beuno cave in the vale of Clwyd ; the Victoria cave in Yorkshire ; Creswell Crags and Langwith cave in Derbyshire ; are other sites which have yielded both remains of bear and human artifacts of various periods.

An Introduction to Geology

MR. GARDINER is well known as a field-observer, and has added largely, both by himself and with Prof. S. H. Reynolds, to our knowledge of Silurian areas. He now attracts others to his favourite studies by a clearly written introduction to geology, which will be of especial interest to dwellers in the English midlands. General principles are supported by more detail than is usual in elementary works, and this method carries convic tion as to the reality of the facts described. For instance, both a map and a photograph are given of Churchdown, the conspicuous outlier that rises above the Lias plain near Gloucester; while the desription of the successive layers in the Victoria Cave furnishes an impressive picture of the history of British man. The statement of the loss of land along the Yorkshire coast demonstrates the effectiveness of forces now in action, and two successive views are given of the destruction of a chalk headland near Swanage. An Introduction to Geology. By C. I. Gardiner. Pp. xiv + 186. (London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.,. 1914.) Price 2s. 6d.

SOME UNDESCRIBED FAULTS IN THE SETTLE-MALHAM AREA

Read 12th November, 1908. Manuscript received 20th December, 1908. INTRODUCTION. The district about to be described may be considered as having the railway from Settle to Carlisle as its western boundary, the inner Craven fault, which runs from Great Stainforth by Black Hill and past the upper portion of Goredale, defines it to the north, while the more irregular line mapped, on Sheet 92 N.W. of the Geological Survey 1 in. map, as the outer Craven fault, might be taken as the southern limit (see Map, Fig. 1). It is a country of bare limestone scars, dry valleys, and deep-cut gorges. The scars have been carved into fantastic shapes, while screes cover the lower slopes. Immediately above Victoria Cave is the long line of scars known as Langcliffe Scar, and from the top, looking E. and N. can be seen the huge dip slope of the Great Scar Limestone, relieved only by the rounded eminence of Black Hill, with its Grit capping and attenuated representative of the Yoredale series. The continuity of this series of shales, and one, if not two, limestones with the Yoredale rocks of Fountains Fell immediately N. is perfectly clear. Their preservation is due to a complex series of faults tren ling N.W. and S.E., which have let them down in the Great Scar Limestone. The upper beds of the Great Scar have been denuded from the greater portion of the dip slope mentioned, but within the area covered by the Yoredale shales several stream sections ...

Notes on the Geology of Malham and Settle

The Spring General Meeting, May 8th, 1896, was held at Malham, under the presidency of Mr. Walter Morrison, M.P., and the area under investigation on May 8th and 9th included Gordale, the Malham Dry Valley, the Victoria Cave, and other interesting geological features of the district. The following notes were originally compiled for the use of Members during the Excursion, and form a record of the work done on that occasion. The party travelled to Bell Busk Station, where they were met by the leader, Mr. Walter Morrison, M.P., and proceeded by waggonettes to Malham. The road from Bell Busk follows the course of the River Aire, by Aire-Head Springs, to Malham, passing over beds of Carboniferous Limestone and Yoredale rocks. About one mile and a half from Bell Busk, a conspicuous white house on the east of the Aire, in the hamlet of Calton, marks the site of the house of General Lambert, who owned a large estate in the parish. After passing Airton, Kirkby Malham is reached, where a short halt was made to inspect the church, which is a noble specimen of North Country Perpendicular. The pillars have Saints’ niches on their western faces, said by Whitaker to characterize churches built by the great Craven Family of the Tempests. It contains a very ancient, curious, and probably unique font, and some monuments of the Lambert Family and of an unknown prior. The Register has entries of marriages celebrated by Oliver Cromwell; in one case the bridegroom was ...

Prehistoric Europe

I AM sorry to have to ask you again to allow me to correct some statements made by Prof. Dawkins in the matter of the Victoria Cave explorations (NATURE, vol. xxiii. p. 482).

Prehistoric Europe

As my name has been imported into the controversy between Prof. Dawkins and Dr. James Geikie, will you kindly permit me to state that I am quite prepared, after re-reading the account given by Dr. Geikie of the Victoria Cave, to accept all responsibility for its correctness.

On the Age of the Hyaena-Bed at the Victoria Cave, Settle, and Its Bearing on the Antiquity of Man.

On the Age of the Hyaena-Bed at the Victoria Cave, Settle, and Its Bearing on the Antiquity of Man.

Exploration of Victoria Cave, Settle, Yorkshire

Exploration of Victoria Cave, Settle, Yorkshire

Third Report of the Settle Cave Committee (Victoria Cave) *

WORK has been carried on almost uninterruptedly through out the year (except from March 20th to May 20th when it was stopped for want of funds), at a cost of 175l. 12s. 7d., Of this, 80l. 11s. 9d. was a balance in hand, 50l. the British Association grant, and 45l. 0s. 10d. raised by private subscription.

The Exhibition of Specimens and Apparatus at the British Association

IF no one else has already done so, will you permit me to call attention to the valuable feature of the Belfast meeting of the British Association presented by the exhibition of specimens, apparatus, and diagrams in the Anatomical Museum, due, it is understood, to the energy and perseverance of Mr. Ray Lankester. Here were to be seen, for instance, Mr. Symons's series of thermometers illustrating variations in sensibility, a collection of bones and other remains found in Kent's Hole and the Victoria Cave, during 1873–74, Dr. Pye Smith's large undescribed Medusa, the diagrams and plants which illustrated Dr. Hooker's address on Carnivorous Plants, specimens of breech-loading fire-arms, and many other objects of interest, all catalogued in each day's issue of the “Journal.” It is to be hoped that a similar collection, rendered still more complete through the cooperation of the authors of papers, will be an addition to the attractions of all future meetings of the Association.