The focus of this book is on the more than 2000 caves of the Greenbrier Valley of West Virginia of which the 14 with lengths greater than 10 km have an aggregate length of 639 km. The major caves form the core part of sub-basins which drain to big springs and ultimately to the Greenbrier River. Individual chapters of this book describe each of the major caves and its associated drainage basin. The caves are formed in the Mississippian Greenbrier Limestone in a setting of undulating gentle folds. Fractures, lineaments and confining layers within the limestone are the main controlling factors. The caves underlie an extensive sinkhole plain which may relate to a major erosion surface. The caves are habitat for both aquatic and terrestrial organisms which are cataloged and described as are the paleontological remains found in some of the caves. The sinkhole plain of the Greenbrier karst and the underlying complex of cave systems are the end result of at least a ten million year history of landscape evolution which can be traced through the evolving sequence of cave passages and which is described in this book.

Encyclopedia of Caves, Third Edition, provides detailed background information to anyone with a serious interest in caves. This includes students, both undergraduate and graduate, in the earth, biological and environmental sciences, and consultants, environmental scientists, land managers and government agency staff whose work requires them to know something about caves and the biota that inhabit them. Caves touch on many scientific interests in geology, climate science, biology, hydrology, archaeology, and paleontology, as well as more popular interests in sport caving and cave exploration. Case studies and descriptions of specific caves selected for their special features and public interest are also included. This book will appeal to these audiences by providing in-depth essays written by expert authors chosen for their expertise in their assigned subject. - Features 14 new chapters and 13 completely rewritten chapters - Contains beautifully illustrated content, with more than 500 color images of cave life and features - Provides extensive bibliographies that allow readers to access their subject of interest in greater depth

People have been interested in caves for a very long time. Our distant ancestors used them for shelter, as sources of water, and as places in which to conduct essential rituals. They adorned their walls with quite sophisticated artwork depicting both their existential and spiritual concerns. Caves feature in our mythology, they are used as places of worship in many cultures, and they are used throughout the world as places in which to store prized foodstuffs and wine. For at least two hundred years they have attracted scientists, artists, photographers, and recreational cavers. This book aims examines how caves form, the light they shed on past environments and climates, and the values, both environmental and cultural, that they provide to humanity. This second edition of Caves: Processes, Development, and Management is a welcome revision of the author’s earlier treatment released over twenty years ago. It has been updated, significantly expanded, and largely rewritten. The intervening years have seen a dramatic increase in karst and cave research globally, with significant advances in our understanding of fundamental processes, in our ability to extract proxy climatic and environmental data from cave deposits, and in our understanding of the breadth of cave values and as a result the complexity of their management needs. This new edition adopts a broad international perspective in the research examples used and the cited literature, and has actively sought out material from the tropical world and the southern continents, thus avoiding the European and North American bias frequently found in speleological publications. Caves: Processes, Development, and Management, Second Edition, is organised into four sections. In the first section, contemporary processes of cave formation are examined. The second section of the book deals with past processes and their physical manifestation. In the third section, the use of caves by various organisms from bacteria to humans is explored. The final section of the book reviews our changing approaches to cave management and to catchment management on karst terrains. The book will be of use to anyone who is interested in caves and karst, or who wants to understand about cave formation, development, values and management.

The Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science contains 350 alphabetically arranged entries. The topics include cave and karst geoscience, cave archaeology and human use of caves, art in caves, hydrology and groundwater, cave and karst history, and conservation and management. The Encyclopedia is extensively illustrated with photographs, maps, diagrams, and tables, and has thematic content lists and a comprehensive index to facilitate searching and browsing.

Focusing specifically on the management of karst environments, this volume draws together the world’s leading karst experts to provide a vital source for the study and management of this unique physical setting. Although karst landscapes cover 12% of the Earth’s terrain and provide 25% of the world’s drinking water, the resource management of karst environments has only previously received indirect attention. Through a comprehensive approach, Karst Management focuses on engineering issues associated with surface karst such as quarries, dams, and agriculture, subsurface topics such as the management of groundwater, show caves, cave biota, and geo-archaeology projects. Chapters that focus on karst as an integrated system look at IUCN World Heritage sites, national parks, policy and regulation, measuring systematic disturbance, information management, and public environmental education. The text incorporates the most up-to-date research from leading karst scientists. This volume provides important perspectives for university students, educators, geoengineers, resource managers, and planners who are interested in or work with this unique physical landscape.

Rivers are the great shapers of terrestrial landscapes. Very few points on Earth above sea level do not lie within a drainage basin. Even points distant from the nearest channel are likely to be influenced by that channel. Tectonic uplift raises rock thousands of meters above sea level. Precipitation falling on the uplifted terrain concentrates into channels that carry sediment downward to the oceans and influence the steepness of adjacent hill slopes by governing the rate at which the landscape incises. Rivers migrate laterally across lowlands, creating a complex topography of terraces, floodplain wetlands and channels. Subtle differences in elevation, grain size, and soil moisture across this topography control the movement of ground water and the distribution of plants and animals. Rivers in the Landscape, Second Edition, emphasizes general principles and conceptual models, as well as concrete examples of each topic drawn from the extensive literature on river process and form. The book is suitable for use as a course text or a general reference on rivers. Aimed at advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and professionals looking for a concise summary of physical aspects of rivers, Rivers in the Landscape is designed to: emphasize the connectivity between rivers and the greater landscape by explicitly considering the interactions between rivers and tectonics, climate, biota, and human activities; provide a concise summary of the current state of knowledge for physical process and form in rivers; reflect the diversity of river environments, from mountainous, headwater channels to large, lowland, floodplain rivers and from the arctic to the tropics; reflect the diverse methods that scientists use to characterize and understand river process and form, including remote sensing, field measurements, physical experiments, and numerical simulations; reflect the increasing emphasis on quantification in fluvial geomorphology and the study of Earth surfaces in general; provide both an introduction to the classic, foundational papers on each topic, and a guide to the latest, particularly insightful and integrative references.

The second edition of this widely cited textbook continues to provide a concise but comprehensive introduction to cave and subterranean biology, describing this fascinating habitat and its biodiversity. It covers a range of biological processes including ecosystem function, evolution and adaptation, community ecology, biogeography, and conservation. The authors draw on a global range of examples and case studies from both caves and non-cave subterranean habitats. One of the barriers to the study of subterranean biology has been the extraordinarily large number of specialized terms used by researchers; the authors explain these terms clearly and minimize the number that they use. This new edition retains the same 10 chapter structure of the original, but the content has been thoroughly revised and updated throughout to reflect the huge increase in publications concerning subterranean biology over the last decade.