Abstracts of Volume 50 (2025) |
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Abstracts appear in reverse order of publishing sequence.
Title: Observations on the geology and geomorphology of a large doline in dolostone at Forest Hills, Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area
Authors: EBERHARD, Rolan ; SHARPLES, Chris
Published: Dec 2025, Helictite 50:75-95
Abstract by authors: The Forest Hills is a remote karst area in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The
principal evidence for karst at this location is the Forest Hills Depression – a large (80 ha) doline
and associated stream sink cave. The depression is formed in dolomitic strata, probably a correlate
of the Weld River Dolomite (Calver 1989). This paper provides an updated geological map of the
Forest Hills and upper New River Gorge plus the first descriptions of the associated karst features,
including the large Forest Hills Cave. The Forest Hills Depression is a significant example of an
enclosed depression that is noteworthy for its undisturbed condition and remote wilderness setting.
Compared to other large karst depressions in Tasmania, several of which are derived from glaciokarstic
interactions, the Forest Hills Depression stands out as a genetically less complex example
formed chiefly by conventional solution-driven karstification.
Includes: 19 figures (11 colour images, 8 maps), 2 tables, 9 refs
Keywords: karst, caves, dolostone, Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, Forest Hills
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Title: Military Impacts on Some Australian Karsts
Authors: KIERNAN, Kevin
Published: Dec 2025, Helictite 50:45-73
Abstract by author: Karst terrane provides a wide range of important environmental values but is both particularly
susceptible to environmental harm and also prominent among those environments where
environmentally damaging military activities have occurred globally. Although two Australian karst
sites were briefly subject to bombing attacks during World War 2, the most significant known
environmental harm caused to Australia’s karst by military activity has occurred during the Cold War
and in peacetime. This paper reviews persisting legacy issues arising from weapons testing during
the 1950s-1960s in two Australian karst areas. It also examines the damage that has resulted from
the siting in karst areas of two other military facilities that remain very active today. Further research
is desirable into environmental impacts of the operations described in this paper and also into
wider aspects of military impacts on Australia’s karst environments including offsite effects such as
disruption of natural karst process systems related to emissions into the atmosphere and impacts
generated by the wider defence industry that supplies and services both the Australian military and
weapons export markets.
Includes: 14 figures (12 colour images, 2 diagrams), 124 refs
Keywords:
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Title: Seri Thai System, a large cave in the quartz sandstones of North-east Thailand, geology, morphology and genesis
Authors: VALENAS, Liviu ; ELLIS, Martin ; VALENAS, Maliwan
Published: Dec 2025, Helictite 50:27-43
Abstract by author: North-east Thailand was considered relatively uninteresting from a karst and speleological point
of view until a few years ago, as 90% of its area is quartz sandstone, which was wrongly considered
to lack karst. In 2011, systematic research began in North-east Thailand, noting that the entire
area contains large caves in these sandstones, as well as other karst phenomena such as karren,
sinkholes, blind valleys, ponors and karst springs. Since 2023, the research has been supported by
the Technical University of Freiberg, Germany.
One of the caves studied for the first time was the Seri Thai System. This is a highly labyrinthine
underground complex, 1,124 m in total length, comprising three parallel branches, connected either
by extremely narrow joints or low galleries and has 28 entrances. The System is a good example of
a karst on sandstone, which may also be called “silicate karst”. It is a dendritic labyrinth, active only
during the monsoon season when it exhibits a complex hydrogeological organization, complete from
sink and resurgence. The formation of this system is the result of a combination of factors, primarily
the process of arenisation of quartz sandstones under monsoon climatic conditions, accentuated by
corrosive processes due to tropical vegetation. The Seri Thai System is also a lithological contact
cave, as it occurs between different layers of quartz sandstones and clay.
Includes: 27 figures (19 colour images, 5 diagrams, 3 maps), 2 tables, 39 refs
Keywords:
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Title: Physical evidence for past cold-climate events at Wombeyan Caves, NSW: Broken speleothems and other relict features within Fig Tree Cave and Victoria Arch
Authors: ROWLING, Jill
Published: Nov 2025, Helictite 50:1-25
Abstract by author: A preliminary study of broken speleothems and speleogens in Fig Tree Cave, Wombeyan Caves, NSW,
suggests that a combination of cave geometry, chimney effect and past climatic conditions caused ice build-up
in the cave during past ice ages. As temperatures fluctuated around freeze and thaw, stresses from ice expansion
broke large speleothems and fractured bedrock in flakes. This empirical approach is supported by physical
calculations of stress on a measured stalactite and extrapolated estimates of cave temperatures during the
last glacial maximum. Additional support for the argument is based on the appearance of possible cold-temperature
speleothems and bedrock grooves.
Includes: 36 figures (31 colour images, 3 maps), 2 tables, 22 refs
Keywords:
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4 abstracts.
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