Abstracts of Volume 1 (1962) to Volume 9 (1971)
Helictite - Journal of Australasian Speleological Research

Abstracts appear in reverse order of publishing sequence.

Title: A Preliminary Note On A Cave In Basalt, Bunya Mountains National park, Queensland
Authors: Graham, A.
Published: 1971, Helictite 9(4):73-76
Abstract by author: The existence of a small cave in Tertiary basalt in the Bunya Mountains, Queensland, has been known for some time, but has only recently come to the attention of speleologists. The origin of the cave is uncertain, although multi-process formation or modification of an original lava tube is suggested. The cave contains a small colony of Miniopterus schreibersii. An additional note appears in Helictite 9(4):90.
Includes: 1 figures, 1 ref
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Title: Further Caves of Kiriwina, Trobriand Islands, Papua
Authors: Ollier, C.D. ; Holdsworth, D.K.
Published: 1971, Helictite 9(4):77-84
Abstract by authors: Not yet available. Follows on from earlier papers published in Helcitite 9(3):61-70, 1971 and Helictite 9(2):29-48, 1970.
Includes: 7 figures, 2 photos, 3 refs
Reprint: In PDF of Helictite 9(4)

Title: The Use of Titanium Tetrachloride In The Visualisation Of Air Movement In Caves
Authors: Halbert, E.J. ; Michie, N.A.
Published: 1971, Helictite 9(4):85-88
Abstract by authors: The problems concerned with the visualisation of low-velocity air flow in caves are discussed. The behaviour of several chemical tracers in the Mammoth Cave, Jenolan, New South Wales, is described, in particular that of the compound titanium tetrachloride. A suitable method for the transport and use of this compound has been developed.
Includes: 1 ref
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Title: Resemblances Between the Extinct ''Cave Goat'' (Eutheria, Bovidae) of the Balearic Islands and Phalangeroid Marsupials
Authors: Merrilees, D.
Published: 1971, Helictite 9(3):51-60
Abstract by author: Information on the extinct ''cave goat'' (Myotragus balearicus Bate 1909) of the Balearic Islands is reviewed. Abundant remains of Myotragus balearicus are known from various deposits of late Quaternary (including Regent) ages. It had only a single pair of lower incisors, in this respect resembling Australian herbivorous marsupials, especially the bare nosed wombats.
Includes: 2 figures, 31 refs
Reprint: In PDF of Helictite 9(3)

Title: Further Caves of Kitava, Trobriand Islands, Papua
Authors: Ollier, C.D. ; Holdsworth, D.K. ; Heers, G.
Published: 1971, Helictite 9(3):61-70
Abstract by authors: In a previous paper (Caves of Kitava and Tuma, Trobriand Islands, Ollier and Holdsworth, Helictite 9(2):29-48, 1970) we described the island of Kitava and many of the caves on the island. This note supplements that account and describes caves and related features discovered during a brief expedition to the south of the island in 1971. Kitava is a coral island with a number of terraces and reaches a height of 466 feet. There is a central depression in the top of the island, the site of the lagoon before the reef was uplifted. Some caves are associated with the rim of the island, a few occur on mid-slopes, and others are found along the sea cliffs. Many of the caves have been used for burial of human remains, sometimes associated with pots, clam shells or canoe prows. Canoe prow burials are reported here for the first time. Some caves are associated with megalithic structures and legends of the origin of the various sub-clans (dala) of the island. A further paper was published in Helcitite 9(4):77-84, 1971.
Includes: 5 figures, 3 photos, 2 refs
Reprint: In PDF of Helictite 9(3)

Title: Caves of Kitava and Tuma, Trobriand Islands
Authors: Ollier, C.D. ; Holdsworth, D.K. ; Heers, G.
Published: 1971, Helictite 9(2):29-48
Abstract by authors: The Trobriand group of coral islands is situated a hundred miles off the north-east coast of Papua and north of the D 'Entr'ecasteaux Islands. In previous papers we have described caves on Kiriwina (the main island), Vakuta and Kitava (see References). We now describe caves of Kaileuna and Tuma (see Figures l and 2). In August 1970, we spent one week of intensive search for caves on these two islands, making our headquarters in the copra store in the village of Kadawaga. Kaileuna island is six miles long and almost four miles wide, and supports a population of 1,079 (1969 Census). It is separated from the large island of Kiriwina by a channel two miles wide between Mamamada Point and Boll Point, though the main village of Kadawaga on the west coast of Kaileuna is 18 miles from Losuia and 14 miles from Kaibola. The island is generally swampy in the centre with a rim of uplifted coral around the edge. We were assured that the correct name of the island is Laileula, but since Kaileuna is used on all previous maps it is retained here. However, we prefer Kadawaga to the Kudawaga or Kaduwaga that appear on some maps. The inhabitants are of mixed Melanesian-Polynesian Stock, who are almost totally self-supporting, being in the main farmers and fishermen. The yam (taitu) constitutes the staple crop and the harvest is still gathered in with ceremonies unchanged for centuries. There is great competition among families for the quantity and quality of the crop, which is displayed firstly in garden arbours (kalimonio), later in the village outside the houses; traditionally styled yam huts (bwaima) are then constructed to display the harvest until the next season. The transfer of yams from the garden to the village is occasion for a long procession of gatherers to parade through the village blowing conch shells and chanting traditional airs (sawili) to attract the attention of villagers to the harvesting party, After storage of the harvest, a period of dancing and feasting (milamala) continues for a month or more, Traditional clothing is the rule, Women and girls wear fibre skirts (doba), most of the men, especially the older ones, wear a pubic leaf (vivia) made from the sepal of the betel nut palm flower (Areca catechu Linn.). Tuma, the northernmost of the main islands in the Trobriand group, is six miles long and less than a mile wide. It is a low ridge of coral with swamps in the centre and along much of the western side. The island has been uninhabited since 1963 when the last few residents abandoned it and moved to Kiriwina, but it is still visited from time to time by other islanders who collect copra and fish. Tuma is believed by all Trobriand Islanders to be inhabited now by the spirits of the dead. It is also generally believed that Tuma is the original home of the TrobIiand ancestors; these ancestors are also said to have emerged at Labai Cave on Kiriwina Island, and from many other places of emergence or ''bwala''. Lack of consistency in the legends does not appear to concern the Trobrianders very much. The cave maps in this paper are sketches based mainly on estimated dimensions, with a few actual measurements and compass bearings. Bwabwatu was surveyed more accurately, using a 100 ft steel reinforced tape and prismatic compass throughout. Further papers were published in Helictite 9(3):61-70, 1971 and Helcitite 9(4):77-84, 1971.
Includes: 15 figures, 6 photos, 7 refs
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Title: The Clastic Sediments of the Wellington Caves, New South Wales
Authors: Frank, R.
Published: 1971, Helictite 9(1):3-26
Abstract by author: The Wellington Caves are about 8 km south of the town of Wellington, New South Wales. They were discovered in the 1820s and their long and varied history as a vertebrate palaeontological site began about 1830. Most of the early fossil collections were made by the explorer and surveyor-general, Major T.L. Mitchell, from an upper stratigraphic unit exposed in Mitchell's Cave and Cathedral Cave. Such venerable palaeontologists as Cuvier, Pentland, Jameson and Owen examined the material. Phosphate mining operations in the early 1900s exposed additional sedimentary sequences and most of the later vertebrate collections have come from these mines. A history of the discovery and exploration of the caves, as well as of the more important palaeontological aspects, is given by Lane and Richards (1963). A number of theories on the origin of the caves and especially on the depositional environment of the bone-bearing sediments, has been offered and some of these are summarised by Lane and Richards (1963). Most of these were conceived before 1900, none of them are detailed and they are generally speculations presented as minor portions of other articles dealing with a broader subject.
Includes: 4 figures, 5 photos, 32 refs, 1 appendix
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Title: Cooleman and Right Cooleman Caves, Kosciusko National Park, and the Shift of Risings
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1971, Helictite 8(4):71-77
Abstract by author: The Cooleman-Right Cooleman system is an abandoned, nearly horizontal outflow cave of shallow phreatic nature, modified by breakdown. It lies just inside and parallel to a gorge wall of Cave Creek. This relationship, and others like it here, are attributed to a greater water input into the limestone along the lines of dissection of Cooleman Plain rather than to the mechanical effects of slope retreat such as Renault has favoured. This outflow cave has been replaced as the major rising of this karst by the Blue Waterholes a short distance down valley; shallow incision of the valley has accompanied the shift of the rising. This down valley movement does not seem to be explicable by removal of overlying impervious beds in this direction to expose more limestone but by a displacement of the main artery feeding the risings in the course of the deepening of underground karst development as a result of incision. However, this displacement is not more favourable to the emergence of the underground drainage of the Plain as a whole. The downstream shift of the rising therefore remains problematic. Discussion favours interpretation of Cooleman Cave entrance as a secondary breach into the outflow cave previously emerging at Right Cooleman entrance, aided by lateral erosion of the surface stream, but it is recognised that the evidence is far from conclusive.
Includes: 2 figures, 6 refs
Reprint: In PDF of Helictite 8(4)

Title: Cave Paintings From Kitava, Trobriand Islands, Papua
Authors: Ollier, C.D. ; Holdsworth, D.K
Published: 1971, Helictite 8(4):79-93
Abstract by authors: Kitava is the most easterly island of the Trobriand group. It is an uplifted coral atoll, oval in plan, with a maximum diameter of 4 1/2 miles. The centre of the island is swampy and surrounded by a rim that reaches a height of 142 m. Caves occur in various parts of the rim and several have been described in a previous article (Ollier and Holdsworth, 1970). One of the caves, Inakebu, is especially important as it contains the first recorded cave drawings from the Trobriand Islands. Inakebu is situated on the inner edge of the island rim at the north-eastern end of the island. Map 1 shows the location of the cave on Kitava Island. Map 2 is a plan of the cave, surveyed by C.D. Ollier and G. Heers. The location of the cave drawings is shown on the plan. Inakebu is a ''bwala'', that is a place where the original ancestor of a sub-clan or dala is thought to have emerged from the ground. The bwala tradition is common throughout the Trobriands and neighbouring islands. It has been described by many writers on the anthropology of the area, and was summarised in Ollier and Holdsworth (1969). The people believe that if they enter such places they will become sick and die. Until November, 1968, no member of the present native population had been in the cave, though there is a rumour that a European had entered it about 20 years before, but turned back owing to lack of kerosene. It must be admitted that this tale sounds rather like the stories one hears in Australia that Aborigines were afraid of the dark caves and therefore did not go into them. In fact, the many discoveries in the Nullarbor Plain caves show that they did, and the cave drawings in Inakebu show that someone has been in this cave. The point is that it does not seem to be the present generations who entered the caves but earlier ones; people from ''time before'' as they say in New Guinea. The first known European to enter the cave was Gilbert Heers, a trader in copra and shell who lived on the nearby island of Vakuta. He went into the cave on 8 November 1968 accompanied by Meiwada, head of the sub-clan associated with Inakebu, who had never been inside before. Heers and Meiwada investigated the two outer chambers but then turned back because they had only poor lights. They returned with better light on 15 November. Since they had not become sick or died, they then found seven other men willing to accompany them. They found the narrow opening leading to the final chamber, and discovered the drawings. None of the men, many of whom were quite old, had ever seen the drawings or heard any mention of them before. The drawings are the only indication that people had previously been in this deep chamber. There are no ashes or soot marks, no footprints, and no pottery, bones or shells such as are commonly found in other Trobriand caves, though bones and shells occur in the chamber near the entrance. With one exception, the drawings are all on the same sort of surface, a clean bedrock surface on cream coloured, fairly dense and uniform limestone, with a suitably rough texture. Generally the surface has a slight overhang, and so is protected from flows or dripping water. On surfaces with dripstone shawls or stalactites, the drawings were always placed between the trickles, on the dry rock. We have found no examples that have been covered by a film of flow stone. The one drawing on a flow stone column is also still on the surface and not covered by later deposition. A film of later deposit would be good to show the age of the drawings, but since the drawings appear to have been deliberately located on dry sites the lack of cover does not indicate that they are necessarily young. There are stencil outlines of three hands, a few small patches of ochre which do not seem to have any form, numerous drawings in black line, and one small engraving.
Includes: 25 figures, 2 maps, 3 photos, 6 refs,
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Title: A Collection of the Bat, Chalinolobus Morio (Gray), From The Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia
Authors: Hall, Leslie S.
Published: 1970, Helictite 8(3):51-57
Abstract by author: A collection of 23 live specimens and 26 complete skeletons of the bat, Chalinolobus - (Gray), was taken from two caves on the Nullarbor Plain. Tables of their forearm and skull measurements are presented. A comparison of the forearm measurements of Nullarbor specimens of C. morio with those of eastern Australian specimens of this species revealed a statistically significant difference (p less than 0.01). In Western Australia, C. morio appears to roost and breed in caves, while in eastern Australia, it is generally recognised as a tree dweller. Records of other species of bats collected on the Nullarbor Plain are given.
Includes: 1 figure, 2 tables, 2 photos, 12 refs
Reprint: In PDF of Helictite 8(3)

Title: Lake Level Fluctuations In Cocklebiddy Cave, Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia
Authors: Lowry, David C.
Published: 1970, Helictite 8(3):58-62
Abstract by author: Changes in air pressure in Cocklebiddy Cave, Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia, cause the lake level to fluctuate by several centimetres. The relationship suggests that the explored part of Cocklebiddy Cave is part of a much larger system. Corrections to this paper are published in Helictite 8(4):78.
Includes: 3 figures, 1 ref
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Title: Notes On A Large Cave In The Keriaka Limestone, Bougainville Island, Solomon Islands
Authors: Parker, F.
Published: 1970, Helictite 8(3):61-67
Abstract by author: Not yet available.
Includes: 1 photo, 3 maps
Reprint: In PDF of Helictite 8(3)

Title: Some Caves of Kitava, Trobriand Islands, Papua
Authors: Ollier, C.D. ; Holdsworth, D.K
Published: 1970, Helictite 8(2):29-38
Abstract by authors: The Trobriand group of coral islands is situated 100 miles off the north-east coast of Papua, north of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands. Kitava, the most easterly island of the group, is approximately 4~ miles by 2~ miles. It is 15 miles east of Wawela on the main island of Kiriwina, though 50 miles by sea from Losuia around the north coast of Kiriwina. The population is approximately 2,000 natives, the majority being subsistence farmers and fishermen. No Europeans live on the island. Yams, taro, sweet potatoes and bananas are the main garden products. Fish, chickens and eggs are eaten, and pigs are used in ceremonial feasts or ''sing-sings''. Kitava is served by occasional boats, but cannot be reached by air. The Administration boat, ''The Pearl'', is based at Losuia and calls at irregular intervals of a few weeks, the journey from Losuia taking about five hours. Kitavans travel far in their canoes, and the ceremonial Kula trade involves journeys to other Trobriand islands, the Amphletts, Dobu and the Woodlark Islands. The authors spent four days on Kitava in May, 1969, and lived in a native house near the village of Bomapou in the north of the island. Trade tobacco was used as currency to pay for food, and to pay guides and carriers. A trade store has since been established near the beach, a mile from the main village of Kumwageya, and payment in cash may be more acceptable in future. Children appreciate being paid in chewing gum, known throughout the islands as ''P.K.''. Very little English is spoken on the island and we were fortunate in having the company of Mr. Gilbert Heers who speaks the Kiriwinan language fluently.
Includes: 4 figures, 4 photos, 6 refs
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Title: A Check on the Radiocarbon Dating of Dessicated Thylacine (Marsupial ''Wolf'') and Dog Tissue From Thylacine Hole, Nullarbor Region, Western Australia
Authors: Merrilees, D.
Published: 1970, Helictite 8(2):39-42
Abstract by author: A ''modern'' (180 + or - 76 years B.P.) radiocarbon date (N.S.W. 42) on dessicated rabbit flesh from Thylacine Hole (N63) suggests that dates N.S.W. 28c (4,650 + or - 153 radiocarbon years B.P.) on thylacine flesh and hair and N.S.W. 30 (2,200 + or - 96 radiocarbon years B.P.) on dog (dingo) flesh from the same cave are reliable within limits discussed.
Includes: 9 refs
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Title: Small Cavities In The Nullarbor Plain
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1970, Helictite 8(2):43-47
Abstract by author: Not yet available.
Includes: 9 refs
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Title: The Origin and Development of Mullamullang Cave N37, Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia
Authors: Hunt, G.S.
Published: 1970, Helictite 8(1):3-21
Abstract by author: Mullamullang Cave N37 is the longest and most complex cave on the Nullarbor Plain, Southern Australia. Unlike the other caves, it possesses extensive levels of phreatic solution tube passages which permit stronger inferences to be made on the development of the collapse passages constituting the bulk of Mullamullang Cave and other deep Nullarbor caves. These passages have been formed by collapse through overlying belts of solution tube networks along an elongated zone of cavitation in the limestone. Massive breakdown was probably initiated at depth within the zone, at least 50 feet below the present watertable level. Upward stoping of the collapse would have been facilitated by the higher network levels in the zone, such as the Ezam and Easter Extension. Channelling of groundwater flow under the Plain is suggested by the belt-like nature of the networks. An epiphreatic origin is proposed for the network levels though convincing morphological evidence is wanting. Eustatic changes in sea level have been of fundamental importance in the development of the multiple levels. Wetter periods in the past were probably important as little development is taking place under present-day dry conditions. Correlation of wetter periods with Pleistocene glacials would help explain the development of huge collapse passages, but such correlatien cannot be assumed on present evidence. Massive collapse and doline formation were followed by subaerial weathering and vadose activity which modified the cave - especially near the entrance. Correlation of levels in Mullamullang with those in other Nullarbor deep caves is attempted. However, Mullamullang Cave is unique probably due to the lithology of the Abrakurrie Limestone in which it is developed.
Includes: 6 photos, 36 refs
Reprint: In PDF of Helictite 8(1)

Title: River Cave, Cooleman Plain, Kosciusko National Park, And Its Hydrological Relationships
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1969, Helictite 7(4):69-85
Abstract by author: River Cave is a Zwischenhohle (between-cave) in which the active river passage is reached through a former tributary stream passage from a dry valley. Now vadose in character, it is of gentle gradient, with some normally and some temporarily water-filled reaches of shallow phreatic nature. There is only a single level of development. Water tracing has confirmed previous inferences that it is mainly fed from the South Branch watersink, that its normal flow goes to the Blue Waterholes, the main rising of the Plain, and that there is flood overflow to Murray Cave, which is shown to have been formerly the normal outflow cave of the system. In the changeover from one outflow point (Vorfluter) to another, a shorter, steeper cave and longer surface course has been replaced by a longer cave of shorter gradient. Ev's Cave, a flood inflow cave of the South Branch, may also feed River Cave and Keith's Faint Cave is inferred to be part of the link between South Branch Sink and River Cave. It has the aspect of an early stage of vadose development from phreatic conditions. Previous interpretation of Glop Pot as a true phreatic relic is maintained in the light of new facts. Evidence is lacking with which to date the caves at all reliably. Glop Pot possibly belongs to a phase of surface planation of Tertiary age whereas the other caves are likely to be consequent on Pleistocene dissection. The tributary passage of River Cave and its associated dry valley may have lost their stream in the Holocene when Murray Cave became intermittent in action also. The Murray Cave event is due to subterranean piracy associated with rejuvenation whereas the loss of the tributary stream is probably in part due to increasing warmth and less effective precipitation.
Includes: 3 figures, 1 table, 12 refs
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Title: Cave Microclimate: A Note on Moisture
Authors: Wigley, T.M.
Published: 1969, Helictite 7(3):43-49
Abstract by author: The moisture budget of a cave atmosphere is examined quantitatively. The results indicate that caves can be divided into two distinct classes depending on whether the cave atmosphere is or is not saturated. A further consequence of the theory is that greater climate fluctuations are to be expected in caves in which unsaturated conditions prevail. This generalisation may have significance in studies of cavern breakdown and in ecological studies in caves.
Includes: 7 refs
Reprint: In PDF of Helictite 7(3)

Title: Caves of Vakuta, Trobriand Islands, Papua
Authors: Ollier, C.D. ; Holdsworth, D.K
Published: 1969, Helictite 7(3):50-61
Abstract by authors: In a previous paper (1968a) we described caves of Kiriwina, the largest of the Trobriand Islands, a group of coral islands situated 100 miles off the north-east coast of Papua. This paper records caves of Vakuta, a smaller island south of Kiriwina. Vakuta is shaped like a boomerang (Figure 1) and is separated from the southern tip of Kiriwina by Kasilamaka Passage, about half a mile wide. The area of Vakuta Island is approximately 11 square miles. The island contains three villages, the most important being Vakuta Village which has a Methodist (now United Church) Mission. A track links Vakuta Village to Kasilamaka Passage which can be crossed by native canoe; the track continues on Kiriwina to Losuia, 40 miles north. Vakuta Island has a population of about 500. The Vakutans are of the same mixed Melanesian-Polynesian stock as the people of Kiriwina. Woodcarving is not practised to the same extent as in Kiriwina and the quality is generally low. However, some canoes have particularly well decorated prows. The influence of the Mission is very evident in the dress of the Vakutans and in the village, old cast-off clothing, often quite dirty, is the rule. In the fields the women wear grass and fibre skirts though the men were not seen to wear a pubic leaf as usual in Kiriwina, but shorts. Papuan Airlines operate a weekly flight between Port Moresby and Losuia, the Administration Centre, using Skyvan aircraft. Weekend tourist charter flights in DC-3 aircraft arrive frequently, but irregularly, from Port Moresby and occasionally from Lae and Rabual. The authors visited Vakuta Island in December, 1968. Guides were recruited locally and we were fortunate to be assisted by Mr. Gilbert Heers, the only European resident of the island, who speaks fluent Kiriwini which made communication with our guides relatively easy. With his help, we were able to obtain accounts of the legends and traditions associated with the caves on the island. We have also had valuable discussions about Vakuta and the customs and legends of the Trobriand Islands with Mr. Lepani Watson, M.H.A., who was born on Vakuta, and Mr. John Kasaipwalova, a Trobriand Islander now studying at the University of Queensland. We are most grateful for the assistance of these people. Although the most accurate map of the Trobriands is an Admiralty chart, the authors used an old U.S. Army map which was based on a pre-war Government survey. The caves were roughly surveyed using 100 ft tape, prismatic compass and abney level. The village rest-house became the social centre of the village during our stay. We had no difficulty in finding food. A surprising variety of foods such as yams, sweet potato, eggs, pineapples, soursop, tomatoes and fresh coconut appeared and payment was accepted eagerly in stick tobacco and newspaper. Payment in cash was rarely appreciated, though it will become more useful now that a trade store has been established by the Village Co-operative. To avoid repetitive explanations of features in the accounts of individual caves, various general topics will be discussed first.
Includes: 3 figures, 4 photos, 4 refs
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Title: Sporomorphs From The Dessicated Carcases of Mammals From Thylacine Hole, Western Australia
Authors: Ingram, B.S.
Published: 1969, Helictite 7(3):62-66
Abstract by author: Assemblages of sporomorphs have been recovered from the gut content of dessicated mammalian carcases of ages estimated up to 5,000 years BP, found in Thylacine Hole, a cave in the Eucla Basin. These assemblages suggest the animals lived in an area of vegetation similar to that existing around the cave at present.
Includes: 5 refs
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Title: Drought and Murray Cave, Cooleman Plain
Authors: Jennings, J.N. ; Nankivell, I. ; Pratt, C. ; Curtis, R. ; Mendum, J.
Published: 1969, Helictite 7(2):23-38
Abstract by authors: The drought culminating in 1967-68 opened water-traps in Murray Cave, thus permitting the re-exploration and survey in January 1968, of a further 1,000 feet of the main passage. Previous explorations, of which oral tradition persisted, are known to have taken place in 1902-3 and some details of the early visitors are presented. The characteristics of the extension are predominantly shallow phreatic in nature and about half of it episodically functioning in this way at the present time; the water-traps along it are inverted siphons in the strict sense and located at the sharpest changes in cave direction. The exploration limit consists of a rockfall beneath a doline, which appears, therefore, to be at least in part a collapse doline. Beneath two other dolines the cave has no sign of collapse, though tall avens reach towards the surface; these dolines are due to surface solution only. The forward part of the cave is overlain by a short, steep dry valley; the relationship between the two remains problematic but there is good reason not to regard the dry valley as the determinant of the cave's location. The evidence is now stronger for an earlier hypothesis that the cave was formerly the outflow cave of nearby River Cave, a perennially active stream cave. It also seems likely that the episodic activity of Murray Cave is due to flood overflow from River Cave. The hydrological regime of the cave is compared with precipitation records of the nearby stations. The episodic flow through the cave does not require an abnormally wet winter; it can follow fairly quickly after complete emptying of the water-traps and approaches an annual event. Draining of the water-traps is a much less frequent event, but whether a series of low rainfall years is necessary, or a single pronouncedly dry year is sufficient to achieve this, cannot be determined from available data. On either count, it seems probable that the cave opened up two or more times between the known occasions of 1902-3 and 1968 in the period 1909-53 when the cave was visited infrequently.
Includes: 4 figures, 1 photo, 8 refs
Reprint: In PDF of Helictite 7(2)

Title: The Clastic Sediments of Douglas Cave, Stuart Town, New South Wales
Authors: Frank, R.
Published: 1969, Helictite 7(1):3-13
Abstract by author: Douglas Cave is on the western slopes of central New South Wales about five miles south-west of Stuart Town. The cave was first discovered in 1896 by R. J. Wilson (Leigh, 1897). At the time of discovery, the accumulation of fossil bone in the Bone Room was noted and shortly afterwards some bone was collected by W. S. Leigh. Thylacinus spelaeus, Dasyurus sp. and Macropus sp. were included in the collection (Dun, 1897). The cave was not named when it was discovered, though Trickett does refer to it as ''the Stuart Town Caves'' in a later report (Trickett, 1898, p. 205). It will be referred to hereafter as the Douglas Cave in honour of the present owner.
Includes: 2 figures, 10 refs
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Title: Age Of The Desiccated Carcase Of A Thylacine (Marsupialia, Dasyuroidea) From Thylacine Hole, Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia
Authors: Jacoba W.J. Lowry ; D. Merrilees
Published: 1969, Helictite 7(1):15-16
Abstract by author: Not yet available.
Includes: 3 refs
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Title: Interpretation Of Data From McEachern's Cave, S.W. Victoria
Authors: Wakefield, N.A.
Published: 1969, Helictite 7(1):17-20
Abstract by author: Not yet available.
Includes: 1 table, 4 refs
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Title: Caves of Kiriwina, Trobriand Islands, Papua
Authors: Ollier, C.D. ; Holdsworth, D.K.
Published: 1968, Helictite 6(4):63-72
Abstract by authors: The Trobriand group of coral islands is situated 100 miles off the northeast coast of Papua and north of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands. The largest island, Kiriwina, is 30 miles long and 12 miles across at its widest point. The authors visited Kiriwina for two separate periods of one week in 1967 and 1968 to undertake a phytochemical survey and a reconnaissance exploration of the caves. They believe that they explored all the sizeable caves from Wawela north. A DC-3 aircraft of Papuan Airlines operates a weekly flight between Port Moresby and Losuia, the Administration centre. Accommodation is provided on the island at the Trobriand Hotel, conducted by Mr. T. Ward, whose two trucks are used for local transportation on roads engineered by the US Army during World War II.
Includes: 3 figures, 3 B&W plates, 1 ref
Reprint: In PDF of Helictite 6(4)

Title: Parietal Art in Koonalda Cave, Nullarbor Plain, South Australia
Authors: Gallus, Alexander
Published: 1968, Helictite 6(3):43-49
Abstract by author: This paper gives a first description of the engravings discovered on the walls of Koonalda Cave (N4), Nullarbor Plain, South Australia. It gives a typologic assessment with reference to known parietal art in the caves of Europe, and to cave engravings discovered in the Katherine area of the Northern Territory, Australia. It establishes the possibility of great antiquity and deals briefly with interpretation. This announcement lays no claim to conclusiveness in the argumentation offered as the facts relating to Australian Palaeolithic Man and his environment are as yet insufficiently known.
Includes: 6 figures, 9 refs
Reprint: In PDF of Helictite 6(3)

Title: Recent Australian Contributions On Pipes, Poibe, And Climatic History From Speleological Evidence
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1968, Helictite 6(3):50-56
Abstract by author: Not yet available
Includes: 1 table, 9 refs
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Title: Geomorphology of Barber Cave, Cooleman Plain, New South Wales
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1968, Helictite 6(2):23-29
Abstract by author: Barber Cave is one of the Cooleman Plain caves known for a long time. Inscriptions on the cave walls take white man's knowledge of it at least back to 1875 when it was visited by a party led by John Gale of Queanbeyan. However, the actual date of discovery remains obscure and may belong to the period of the late 1830s to the early 'fifties when there were convict and ex-convict stockmen looking after T.A. Murray's (later Sir Terence Murray) stock on the plain. It is of modest dimensions with about 335m (1,100 ft) of passage, some 25m (80 ft) of overall height, and no spaces worthy of the name chamber. Within this small compass, nevertheless, it possesses such a good range of cave forms that it was selected to represent ''karst cave'' in the series of landform prototypes being described and illustrated briefly for teaching purposes in the Australian Geographer (Jennings, 1967b). Here a fuller account of its morphology is presented for speleologists.
Includes: 2 figures, 7 refs
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Title: New Records of the False Vampire Bat in Queensland
Authors: Dwyer, P.D.
Published: 1968, Helictite 6(2) 36-40
Abstract by author: Four new distribution records of the false vampire bat in Queensland are recorded, and notes on the Mt. Etna population are given.
Includes: 1 figure, 2 refs
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Title: Further Remarks on the Big Hole, Near Braidwood, New South Wales
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1967, Helictite 6(1):3-9
Abstract by author: The new data from the Big Hole and its vicinity give some further support to the view maintained previously as to its origin, though an approach through water chemistry proved non-committal. Difficulties attaching to an origin by true phreatic solution of underlying limestone through circulations of groundwater of meteoric provenance remain however. Nevertheless, the possibility, not considered previously, that the Big Hole is due to hydrothermal solution in the manner of many collapse structures associated with uranium ore bodies in southwestern U.S.A. finds no support in the regional geology of the Shoalhaven valley, though it could produce features of the right dimensions. Previous lack of a complete parallel to the Big Hole has been removed by reference to the furnas of southern Brazil where a similar origin to the one proposed here is also inferred.
Includes: 1 figure, 6 refs
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Title: Elevations In The Madura Area, Western Australia
Authors: Wigley, T.M.L. ; Hill, A.L.
Published: 1967, Helictite 6(1):10-13
Abstract by author: Not yet available.
Includes: 1 table, 1 map, 1 ref
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Title: Halite Speleothems From the Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia
Authors: Lowry, D.C.
Published: 1967, Helictite 6(1):14-20
Abstract by author: Halite has been found in five caves on the Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia. It occurs as stalactites, stalagmites, crusts, or fibres. The climate of the plain is arid to semi-arid, and the halite is derived from wind-blown salts that accumulate in the soil. The halite forms in the caves under conditions of relatively low humidity (about 70%) and high temperature (about 67°F). Its association with older calcite deposits suggests the climate was once wetter or cooler than at present.
Includes: 3 B&W plates, 11 refs
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Title: Tasmanian Cave Fauna : Character and Distribution
Authors: Goede, A.
Published: 1967, Helictite 5(4):71-86
Abstract by author: The geology and nature of the caves is discussed. Cave development has been affected by glacial outwash and periglacial conditions which must be taken into account when considering the development and distribution of cave fauna. The food supply in the caves is limited by the absence of cave-inhabiting bats. Floods while adding to the food supply must be destructive to some forms of terrestrial cave life. The cave fauna consists entirely of invertebrates. The carab genus Idacarabus Lea contains the only troglobites found in Tasmania. A common troglophile throughout the island is Hickmania troglodytes (Higgins and Petterd) which belongs to a very small group of relict spiders. Five species of cave crickets are known from Tasmania and Flinders Island. Three species belong to the genus Micropathus Richards and show an interesting distribution pattern. A single species of glow-worm, Arachnocampa (Arachnocampa) tasmaniensis Ferguson occurs in a number of Tasmanian caves. It is more closely related to the New Zealand species than to glow worms found on the Australian mainland. Other terrestrial cave life is briefly discussed. Aquatic cave life is poorly known. The syncarid Anaspides tasmaniae (Thomson) has been recorded from several caves. It differs from epigean forms in reduction of pigment.
Includes: 2 figures, 3 photos, 22 refs
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Title: An Historical Sketch Of The Jenolan Caves, New South Wales, From Discovery To 1932
Authors: Dunlop, B.T.
Published: 1967, Helictite 5(3):47-61
Abstract by author: Not yet available.
Includes: 1 timeline, 1 photo, 24 refs
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Title: The Cave Spring Cave Systems, Kimberly Division of Western Australia
Authors: Lowry, David C.
Published: 1967, Helictite 5(3):62-68
Abstract by author: The three cave systems are developed along the course of a seasonal stream that has been superposed on a range of Devonian Limestone in north-western Australia. The cave system furthest upstream has the greatest known development of cave passages in the region (more than 2,300 yards) and is controlled by two sets of vertical joints approximately at right angles to each other.
Includes: 4 figures, 6 refs
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Title: Discovery of a Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) Carcase In a Cave Near Eucla, Western Australia
Authors: Lowry, David C. ; Lowry, Jacoba W.J.
Published: 1967, Helictite 5(2):25-29
Abstract by authors: A well preserved carcase of a Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus) was found in October, 1966, in Thylacine Hole (N63), a cave 68 miles west of Eucla in Western Australia.
Includes: 1 figure, 2 photos, 3 refs
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Title: Burramys Parvus Broom, A Living Fossil
Authors: Lane, E.A. ; Richards, Aola M.
Published: 1967, Helictite 5(2):30-34
Abstract by author: Not yet available
Includes: 1 photo, 13 refs
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Title: Cockroaches (Blattodea) From Australian Caves
Authors: Richards, Aola M.
Published: 1967, Helictite 5(2):35-44
Abstract by author: Ten species of Australian cockroaches are recorded from Australian caves and mines. Most are troglophiles or guanobia. Only one troglobitic species is known. The distribution of these species is given, and attention is drawn to their absence from south-eastern Australia and Tasmania. It is suggested that climatic changes in the Pleistocene and early Recent may have been responsible for this, and that the fauna found in many cave areas may be of comparatively recent origin.
Includes: 1 figure, 14 refs
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Title: Murray Cave, Cooleman Plain, New South Wales
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1966, Helictite 5(1):3-11
Abstract by author: Murray Cave is an almost horizontal former outflow cave, which is now on the brink of inactivity. A heavily decorated upper branch functioned during the first outflow phase and the present inactive entrance succeeded it as the outlet point. Both are at the level of a low aggradational terrace of the North Branch of Cave Creek outside the cave; this probably belongs to a Pleistocene cold period. An undecorated lower branch provided the third phase outlet, which still functions occasionally when water rises up a water trap at the inner end of the main passage and flows along that passage into it. The entrance chamber has angular gravel fill due to frost shattering, which post-dates the development of the lower branch passage and belongs to a late Pleistocene cold period. Evidence of free surface stream action predominates in the cave but shallow phreatic conditions must have contributed to its development.
Includes: 2 figures, 8 refs
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Title: Speleochronology
Authors: Ollier, C.D.
Published: 1966, Helictite 5(1):12-21
Abstract by author: Speleochronolgy is a study of the age of caves and their contents. At the present time the International Commission for Speleology is collecting data, and as the Australian representative on the Commission, the author would like to hear from anyone with information that may be relevant to speleochronology in Australia or in neighbouring countries. This paper shows some of the aims and methods of the subject and indicates the type of information that may be useful.
Includes: 1 figure, 1 table, 25 refs
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Title: Observations on the Eastern Horse-Shoe Bat in North-Eastern New South Wales
Authors: Dwyer, P.D.
Published: 1966, Helictite 4(4):73-82
Abstract by author: Between July, 1960, and December, 1963, observations were made on the natural history of Rhinolophus megaphyllus Gray in north-eastern New South Wales. Typically the species occurs as small colonies in a wide variety of cave and mine roosts. It appears to be absent from available roosting sites at higher altitudes in this area. Seasonal changes in the sizes of testes and epididymides suggest that mating occurs in May and June. The single young are born at maternity colonies through November, and nursing lasts about eight weeks. Field weights do not reflect seasonal variation other than that associated with pregnancy. However, seasonal differences in daytime level of activity are noted and these correlate with behavioural changes apparently related to temperature selection. Changes in colony size are described for several roosts and three movements made by marked individuals are recorded. Males appear to be more sedentary than females. Considerable aggregation of females and their young at maternity colonies (size, 15 to 1,5000 individuals) characterises the spring and summer population.
Includes: 1 figure, 3 tables,15 refs
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Title: Jiří V. Daneš And The Chillagoe Caves District
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1966, Helictite 4(4):83-87
Abstract by author: Not yet available.
Includes: 10 refs
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Title: Caves of the Chillagoe District, North Queensland
Authors: Hamilton-Smith, E.
Published: 1966, Helictite 4(3):53-59
Abstract by author: The caves of the Chillagoe District are well-known by repute, but have not been described in speleological literature to date. The author visited the area in April, 1964, in company with Mr. D. Fitzsimon, of Mareeba. This paper summarises the observations made on that occasion. Chillagoe is an almost deserted town, once the centre of an extensive mining industry, and is situated about 120 miles west of Cairns, North Queensland. Access may be gained either by road or rail from Cairns. It can be seen from Table 1 that the climate is monsoonal, with comparatively heavy summer rains, but with dry weather throughout the remainder of the year. The Silurian Limestone in which the caves occur forms a belt some 40 miles long by four miles wide, extending from Almaden in the south-east to the Walsh River in the north-west. Caves probably occur throughout much of this belt, but known caves are concentrated in the Chillagoe and Mungana areas. Mungana lies approximately ten miles north-west of Chillagoe.
Includes: 1 table, 3 photos, 6 refs
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Title: Gecko Cave (N51), Eucla Basin, Western Australia
Authors: Lowry, D.C.
Published: 1966, Helictite 4(3):60-62
Abstract by author: Not yet available.
Includes: 1 map, 1 ref
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Title: Activity Rhythms In Rhaphidophoridae (Orthoptera) From Australia And New Zealand
Authors: Richards, Aola M.
Published: 1966, Helictite 4(3):64-66
Abstract by author: Not yet available.
Includes: 1 ref
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Title: Old Napier Downs Cave, west Kimberly, Western Australia
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1966, Helictite 4(2):25-32
Abstract by author: Although small caves are numerous in the limestone Ranges of the Fitzroy Basin in West Kimberly, (sic, actually Kimberley) large and long caves are few on the basis of present knowledge, and reasons for this paucity are ready to find (Jennings, 1962). Of all the known caves, The Tunnel has probably the greatest geomorphological interest (Jennings and Sweeting, 1963a), though it offers little apparent prospect for further exploration. The string of caves ending in Cave Spring in Bugle Gap (Jennings and Sweeting, 1963b) seemed more promising in this latter respect when examined in 1959 and D.C. Lowry (Personal Communication) reports finding considerable extension to one of these caves in a recent visit. Although the cave to be discussed here - Old Napier Downs Cave - is not very large in terms of its known dimensions and a brief reference to it has already been made (Jennings and Sweeting, 1963b, p.27), fuller description in a journal more readily accessible to Australian speleologists and publication of a survey are justified because of the prospects for further exploration that the cave itself and its neighbourhood present.
Includes: 2 figures, 3 refs
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Title: Hand Paintings In Caves, With Special Reference to Aboriginal Hand Stencils From Caves on the Nullarbor Plain, Southern Australia
Authors: Lane, Edward A. ; Richards, Aola M.
Published: 1966, Helictite 4(2):33-50
Abstract by authors: This paper discusses hand stencils and imprints found in caves and rock shelters throughout the world, and considers their possible origin and significance. It discusses the paleolithic hand paintings of France and Spain, and presents some of the meanings attributed by various authors to this form of art. Particular mention is made to mutilation found in many of the hand stencils. Reference is made to historic and recent examples of these hand paintings. Australian aboriginal hand paintings in limestone caves and rock shelters are also considered and their meanings discussed. The similarity of Australian and European hand imprints is pointed out. Special reference is made to hand stencils found in caves on the Nullarbor Plain, Southern Australia. It appears that stencils in Abrakurrie Cave show the deepest penetration of aboriginal art yet recorded inside caves in Australia.
Includes: 1 photo, 30 refs
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Title: Breeding Caves and Maternity Colonies of the Bent-Winged Bat In South-Eastern Australia
Authors: Dwyer, P.D. ; Hamilton-Smith, E.
Published: 1966, Helictite 4(1):3-21
Abstract by authors: Eight breeding Caves of Miniopterus schreibersi (Kuhl) are described from South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Southern Queensland, in terms of their structure, the location of nursery areas at which juveniles are deposited after birth, and their physical environments. Maternity colonies are found at these caves through spring, summer and early autumn. Established colonies range from about 15,000 to 200,000 bats at peak size. These individuals are predominantly adult females and their young. Adult males are conspicuous only at the single South Australian breeding cave. Births occur from approximately the beginning of December to mid-January at all colonies except that in South Australia, where a birth period is evident between mid-October to late-November. Artificial warming, as a consequence of bat activity, appears to be characteristic of these Miniopterus schreibersi breeding caves. It is suggested that this may have functional significance in facilitating adequate development of juveniles, and that the habit could be a reflection of the tropical ancestry of this species.
Includes: 3 figures, 4 tables, 16 refs
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Title: Movements of Rhaphidophoridae (Orthoptera) In Caves At Waitomo, New Zealand
Authors: Richards, Aola M.
Published: 1965, Helictite 3(4):65-78
Abstract by author: Cavernicolous Rhaphidophoridae are very active insects, in spite of their immobile appearance on the walls of caves. Movement is continuous to a greater or lesser degree throughout the 24 hour period of each day. Through marking a representative sample of the total adult population of two species of Rhaphidophoridae in limestone caves in New Zealand, it was shown that several different types of movement occurred; that home ranges had no well-defined limits; and that there was no evidence of territorial behaviour. The technique of marking Rhaphidophoridae is discussed in some detail.
Includes: 5 figures, 2 tables, 12 refs
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Title: Bungonia Caves And Rejuvenation
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1965, Helictite 3(4):79-84
Abstract by author: Not yet available.
Includes: 9 refs
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Title: Bat Erosion in Australian Limestone Caves
Authors: Dwyer, P.D.
Published: 1965, Helictite 3(4):85-90
Abstract by author: The clustering areas of bent-winged bats in limestone caves are frequently stained and etched. This staining is very intense, and covers large areas at breeding caves present in Palaeozoic limestones. Erosion of limestone is very conspicuous in these caves. Staining is not intense at breeding caves in Tertiary limestones, but a combination of chemical and mechanical erosion may, in part, account for the depth of dome pits in which the bats cluster. Certain caves that are characterised by extensive guano deposits and by conspicuously eroded and/or stained limestone, but which are currently without large colonies of bats, may represent ancestral breeding caves.
Includes: 1 figure, 7 refs
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Title: Caves of the Coastal Areas of South Australia
Authors: Sexton, R.T.
Published: 1965, Helictite 3(3):45-59
Abstract by author: The majority of South Australian caves occur in the Tertiary and Quaternary limestones of the coastal areas. Their distribution is discussed here on a geological rather than a geographical basis. The most significant caves are briefly described and illustrated to indicate different types and related developments in the coastal limestones. The most notable feature of the limestones is their soft, porous nature. Caves also occur in South Australia in hard, massively bedded Cambrian and Pre-Cambrian limestones and dolomites. These are not discussed in the present paper. To facilitate recording, South Australia has been divided into six zones as shown in Figure 1, and the caves numbered in order of discovery in each area. In general, both the name and the number of the cave have been given, but unnamed caves are specified by number only. The cave maps have been chosen to give as wide a coverage as possible of the various types, or to illustrate points of particular interest. The arrows on the section lines show the direction of viewing, and the sections are numbered to relate them to the plans. Where a cross-section and longitudinal section intersect, the common line has been drawn to relate the sections. The same scale has been used throughout for ease of comparison.
Includes: 3 figures, 17 refs
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Title: Calcium and Magnesium In Karst Waters
Authors: Douglas, I.
Published: 1965, Helictite 3(2):23-36
Abstract by author: The basic textbooks and reference sources in speleology (Kunsky, 1954; Trombe, 1952 and Warwick, 1962) describe the process of solution of carbonate rocks in terms of the system CaCO3 - H20 - CO2, making little or no reference to the role of MgCO3 in the solution process. The widespread occurrence of dolomitic rocks amongst the older sedimentary formations of Australia, e.g., at Buchan, Victoria, and Camooweal, Queensland, makes some knowledge of the complexity of solution processes in rocks containing dolomite highly desirable for the understanding of the development of caves in this continent. This paper is intended to review the scattered literature on this topic and to describe what is known of the behaviour of the system CaO - Mg0 - CO2 - H20.
Includes: 2 figures, 5 tables, 23 refs
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Title: A Note On Cloudmaking By Caves
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1965, Helictite 3(2):37-38
Abstract : Not yet available.
Includes: 2 refs
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Title: Present-Day Cave Beetle Fauna in Australia A Pointer to Past Climatic Change
Authors: Moore, B.P.
Published: 1965, Helictite 3(1):3-9
Abstract by author: Beetles form an important element of life in caves, where they provide some of the most spectacular examples of adaptation to the environment. The troglobic forms are of greatest interest from the zoogeographical point of view and their present distributions, which are largely limited to the temperate regions of the world, appear to have been determined by the glaciations and later climatic changes of the Quaternary. Troglophiles, which are much more widespread, show little adaptation and are almost certainly recently evolved cavernicoles.
Includes: 1 figure, 1 photo, 12 refs
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Title: The Development of Cocklebiddy Cave Eucla Basin, Western Australia
Authors: Lowry, D.C.
Published: 1965, Helictite 3(1):15-19
Abstract by author: At present, the best account of cave formation in the Eucla Basin is that of Jennings (1961). However, the paper does not contain detailed information or maps of Cocklebiddy Cave, and this account should help to fill that need. The cave is the westernmost deep cave in the Eucla Basin (see area map in Anderson, 1964). It has received little attention from cave exploration parties from the Eastern States of Australia.
Includes: 3 figures, 3 refs
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Title: Morphology and Development of Caves In the South-west of Western Australia
Authors: Bastian, L.
Published: 1964, Helictite 2(4):105-119
Abstract by author: Caves in the coastal aeolian limestone of Western Australia show two major types of morphology due to different groundwater conditions. The first type comprises linear caves with streams, and develops on a watertable which has pronounced relief because of an undulating impervious substratum. Cave systems of this type are thought to start developing as soon as coherence begins to appear in unconsolidated dunes, and develop rapidly by collapse while the dunes are still weakly cemented, to assume more stable mature forms when the rock is strongly cemented.
Includes: 3 figures, 8 refs
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Title: Nullarbor Expedition 1963-4
Authors: Anderson, Edward G.
Published: 1964, Helictite 2(4):121-134
Abstract by author: The Nullarbor Plain, Australia's most extensive limestone region, consists of about 65,000 square miles of almost horizontal beds of Tertiary limestone. The Plain extends from near Fowlers Bay, South Australia, approximately 600 miles west across the head of the Great Australian Bight into Western Australia. However, for its size, the Nullarbor appears to be deficient in caves compared with other Australian cavernous limestones. The vastness of the area, isolation, and complete lack of surface water, makes speleological investigation difficult. Some of the most important caves are more than 100 miles apart. The 1963-4 Nullarbor Expedition was organised by members of the Sydney University Speleological Society (SUSS). Two major caves, as well as a number of smaller features were discovered in the western part of the Plain. One cave contains what is believed to be the longest single cave passage in Australia.
Includes: 5 figures, 1 table, 11 photos, 9 refs
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Title: Unexplained Markings in Kintore and Cutta Cutta Caves, Northern Territory, Australia
Authors: Walsh, W.P.
Published: 1964, Helictite 2(3):83-91
Abstract by author: During April 1963, a survey party of Darwin Speleological Group members discovered a series of incised lines on a rock face 600ft. beyond daylight in the Cutta Cutta Cave near Katherine, Northern Territory. A search revealed three more groups of lines in the same area, between 500 and 700ft. beyond daylight. In August the same year, lines were found up to 1,000ft. from daylight and further research could reveal more groups at this distance within the cave. Similar markings were subsequently located in the Kintore Cave, about 31 miles from Cutta Cutta. In Kintore Cave the lines exist both in the cave entrance in daylight, and well into the cave proper.
Includes: 2 photos
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Title: Carbonate Mineralogy In Caves
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1964, Helictite 2(3):95-99
Abstract by author: Not yet available.
Includes: 2 refs
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Title: Bat Echolocation - A Review
Authors: Lane, E.A.
Published: 1964, Helictite 2(3):100-102
Abstract by author: Not yet available.
Includes: 7 refs
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Title: Geomorphology of Punchbowl and Signature Caves, Wee Jasper, New South Wales
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1964, Helictite 2(2):57-71
Abstract by author: Because of the ease of its exploration, the Punchbowl-Signature system (Map reference 677587, Army 1/50,000 Sheet 8627-IV, Goodradigbee) is the most frequently visited of the Wee Jasper caves though it contains even less calcite decoration than does Dip Cave. On the other hand, the system is of considerable scientific interest, both biological and geomorphological. Biologically the interest centres on the long-term investigations of the colony of Bentwing Bats (Miniopterus schreibersii blepotis), initiated by G. Dunnet, sustained and enlarged by D. Purchase. On the geomorphological side, though it is now a dry inactive system like Dip Cave, it possesses a morphology which reveals much of the history of its excavation by a former underground river and so contrasts with its neighbour in the same geological formation only a mile away where there are many difficulties in the way of interpretation of its evolution (Jennings, 1963a).
Includes: 8 refs, 9 maps
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Title: The Discovery, Exploration and Scientific Investigation of the Wellington Caves, New South Wales
Authors: Lane, Edward A. ; Richards, Aola M.
Published: 1963, Helictite 2(1):3-53
Abstract by authors: Although research has been unable to establish a definite date of discovery for the limestone caves at Wellington, New South Wales, documentary evidence has placed it as 1828. The actual discovery could have been made earlier by soldiers or convicts from the Wellington Settlement, which dated from 1823. Whether the aborigines knew of the cave's existence before 1828 is uncertain, but likely, as in 1830 they referred to them as ''Mulwang''. A number of very small limestone caves were also discovered about the same time in the nearby Molong area. The Bungonia Caves, in the Marulan district near Goulburn, were first written about a short time later. On all the evidence available at present, the Wellington Caves can be considered to be the first of any size discovered on the mainland of Australia. The Wellington Caves are situated in a low, limestone outcrop about six miles south by road from the present town of Wellington, and approximately 190 miles west-north-west of Sydney. They are at an altitude of 1000 feet, about half a mile from the present bed of the Bell River, a tributary of the Macquarie River. One large cave and several small caves exist in the outcrop, and range in size from simple shafts to passages 200 to 300 feet long. Mining for phosphate has been carried out, resulting in extensive galleries, often unstable, at several levels. Two caves have been lit by electricity for the tourist trades; the Cathedral Cave, 400 feet long, maximum width 100 feet, and up to 50 feet high; and the smaller Gaden Cave. The Cathedral Cave contains what is believed to be the largest stalagmite in the world, ''The Altar'', which stands on a flat floor, is 100 feet round the base and almost touches the roof about 40 feet above. It appears that the name Cathedral was not applied to the cave until this century. The original names were ''The Great Cave'', ''The Large Cave'' or ''The Main Cave''. The Altar was named by Thomas Mitchell in 1830. See map of cave and Plate. Extensive Pleistocene bone deposits - a veritable mine of bone fragments - were found in 1830, and have been studied by palaeontologists almost continually ever since. These bone deposits introduced to the world the extinct marsupials of Australia, and have a special importance in view of the peculiar features of the living fauna of the continent. The names of many famous explorers and scientists are associated with this history, among the most prominent being Sir Thomas Mitchell and Sir Richard Owen. Anderson (1933) gives a brief outline of why the Wellington Caves fossil bone beds so rapidly attracted world-wide interest. During the 18th and early 19th Century, the great palaeontologist, Baron Georges Cuvier, and others, supposed that the earth had suffered a series of catastrophic changes in prehistoric times. As a result of each of these, the animals living in a certain area were destroyed, the area being repopulated from isolated portions of the earth that had escaped the catastrophe. The Bilical Deluge was believed to have been the most recent. Darwin, during the voyage of the Beagle around the world (1832-37), was struck by the abundance of Pleistocene mammalian fossils in South America, and also by the fact that, while these differed from living forms, and were in part of gigantic dimensions, they were closely related to present-day forms in that continent. Darwin's theory of descent with modification did not reconcile with the ideas of Cuvier and others. As the living mammalian fauna of Australia was even more distinctive than that of South America, it was a matter of importance and excitement to discover the nature of the mammals which had lived in Australia in the late Tertiary and Pleistocene.
Includes: 8 photos, 87 refs, 1 map
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Title: Morphology of New Zealand Limestone Caves
Authors: Laird, M.G.
Published: 1963, Helictite 1(4):63-68
Abstract by author: Limestone caves in New Zealand can be divided into two distinct groups : those developed in the nearby flat-lying limestone of Oligocene age, and those formed in the strongly folded Mt. Arthur Marble of Upper Ordovician age. Caves formed in Oligocene limestone are typically horizontal in development, often having passages at several levels, and are frequently of considerable length. Those formed in Mt. Arthur Marble have mainly vertical development, some reaching a depth of several hundred feet. Previous research into the formation and geological history of New Zealand cave systems is discussed briefly, and the need for further work is emphasised.
Includes: 6 refs
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Title: The Lava Caves of Victoria
Authors: Ollier, C.D.
Published: 1963, Helictite 1(4):69-77
Abstract by author: Many lava tunnels are found in the Western District of Victoria, associated with volcanic eruptions of Pleistocene to Recent age, and some are probably only a few thousand years old. All Australian volcanoes are now extinct, but the most recently active were probably erupting up to 5,000 years ago, that is after the arrival of the Australian aboriginal. The newness of the Victorian caves results in original features being preserved in fine detail. All known lava caves have now been surveyed, mainly by members of the Victorian Cave Exploration Society.
Includes: 2 figures, 4 refs
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Title: The Subterranean Freshwater Fauna Of North West Cape, Western Australia
Authors: Richards, Aola M.
Published: 1963, Helictite 1(4):78-82
Abstract by GNB: In Western Australia the occurrence of a specialised subterranean freshwater fauna in the western coastal plain of North West Cape has been known since 1944. An extensive flat stony platform contains many shallow sinkholes and artificial wells, about two metres above water level. Within the coral rock is an extensive network of waterways, the home of the cave fauna. Mr. G.P. Whitley obtained a specimen of a blind fish from Milyering Well on Yardie Creek station in 1944. Since then, numerous other specimens have been collected from Milyering and Kudumurra Wells. The structure of the wells and collected specimens of shrimps and eels is discussed.
Includes: 1 figures, 8 refs
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Title: Geomorpholgy Of The Dip Cave, Wee Jasper, New South Wales
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1963, Helictite 1(3):43-58
Abstract by author: The Dip Cave lies about three miles south of Wee Jasper on the western side of the Goodradigbee valley about 500 yards from the river. The cave underlies the nose of a spur running fairly steeply down from Wee Jasper range west of the valley. Only the terminal part of the spur is of limestone, the rest is of impervious rocks. In fact, shales outcrop along the road immediately above the cave. Below this spur there is a much more gently inclined bench in the limestone, trenched by steep-sided gullies coming down from the two flanks of the spur.
Includes: 5 refs
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Title: Water Sampling at Yarrangobilly, New South Wales
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1963, Helictite 1(2):3-7
Abstract by author: Various geomorphologists such as Bögli, Corbel and Lehmann have in recent years demonstrated the interest that certain simple chemical analyses of natural waters can have for the comparison of rates of limestone solution in different in different climatic conditions. They can also have their relevance for the tracing of underground water connections as Oertli (1953) has shown in the example of the Slovenian part of the classical Yugoslavian karst. Since 1957, the writer has therefore been making such analyses of waters from Australian limestone areas. The chief significance of these measurements comes when one caving area is compared with another. M.M. Sweeting (1960) has already commented briefly on observations from Mole Creek, Tasmania, Buchan, Victoria and the Fitzroy Basin, Western Australia, made in 1958-59 by herself and the writer; further discussion will appear in a forthcoming publication of ours on the Limestone Ranges of the Fitzroy Basin. Nevertheless measurements of this kind can have a certain intrinsic interest as it is hoped to show in the following notes on the few observations I made at Yarrangobilly. These observations are set out in tabular and Trombe graph forms; the locations of the collecting points are shown on the map.
Includes: 1 table, 4 refs
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Title: The Origin Of Limestone Caves
Authors: Ollier, C.D.
Published: 1963, Helictite 1(2):8-12
Abstract : Not yet available.
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Title: Ridge Mine Pot, Wyanbene, New South Wales
Authors: Jennings, J.N.
Published: 1963, Helictite 1(2):16-17
Abstract : Not yet available.
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Title: Cave Animals and Their Environment
Authors: Richards, Aola M.
Published: 1962, Helictite 1(1):3-13
Abstract by author: Caves can be divided into three distinct regions - the twilight zone, the transitional zone and the troglic zone. The main physical characters of caves - light, air currents, temperature and humidity - are discussed in relation to their effect on cave fauna. Various classifications of cave animals are mentioned, and those of Schiner and Jeannel discussed in detail. The paucity of food in caves, and its effect on the animal population is considered. Mention is made of the loss of secondary sexual characters and seasonal periodicity of breeding among true troglobites. Cave animals have undergone many adaptations to their environment, the most interesting of these being blindness and loss of pigment. Hyper-development of tactile, gustatory, olfactory and auditory organs and general slenderness of body, are correlated with eye degeneration. Several theories on the origin of cave fauna are discussed, and the importance of isolation on the development of cave fauna considered.
Includes: 11 refs
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Title: Observations on Caves, Particularly Those Of South Australia - 1862
Authors: Lane, Edward A.
Published: 1962, Helictite 1(1):15-20
Abstract by author: The historical study of Australian caves and caving areas is fascinating although involving the expenditure of vast amounts of time. Australia's early days are unusually well-documented, but in the case of caves the early history is usually wrapped up in rumour, hearsay and clouded by lack of written record. Most research work means long hours poring over old newspaper files, mine reports, land department records and so on, little of which is catalogued. A small number of exploration journals and scientific studies have extensive material on special cave areas, and of these, the volume by Rev. Julian Edmund Woods, F.G.S., F.R.S.V., F.P.S., etc., and is one of the most interesting. This book gives the ideas and beliefs of 100 years ago concerning the origin, development and bone contents of caves and makes interesting reading in the light of more recent studies of cave origins. Wood's study ''Geological Observations in South Australia : Principally in the District South-East of Adelaide'' was published in 1862 by Longman, Green, Roberts and Green, London. In a preface dated November 15, 1861, Rev. Woods points out that the book was written while he was serving as a missionary in a 22,000 square mile district, and ''without the benefit of reference, museum, library, or scientific men closer than England''. Up to the time of writing, almost no scientific or geological work had been done in South Australia and much of the area was completely unexplored. The book, also, contained the first detailed description of caves in the south-east of the state. Father Woods writes about many different types of caves in South Australia, for instance, the ''native wells'' in the Mt. Gambier/Mt. Shanck area. These are caves, rounded like pipes, and generally leading to water level. Woods points out their likeness to artificial wells. He also writes of sea cliff caves, particularly in the Guichen Bay area, and blow holes caused by the action of the waves on the limestone cliffs. Woods discusses many other types of caves found further inland, particularly bone caves. Father Woods discusses cave origins under two sub-heads: 1. Trap rock caves generally resulting from violent igneous action, and 2. Limestone caves resulting from infiltration of some kind. He is mainly concerned with limestone caves which he sub-divides into (a) crevice caves - caves which have arisen from fissures in the rock and are therefore wedge-shaped crevices, widest at the opening, (b) sea-beach caves, caves which face the seashore and are merely holes that have been worn by the dashing of the sea on the face of the cliff, (c) egress caves, or passages to give egress to subterranean streams, (d) ingress caves, or passages caused by water flowing into the holes of rocks and disappearing underground. These caves would have entrance holes in the ground, opening very wide underneath, and having the appearance of water having entered from above, (e) finally a group of caves which he lists by use as ''dens of animals''.
Includes: 4 refs
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72 abstracts.

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