bcra 12-1-1985
TRANSCRIPT
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a
e
Science
The
Transactions
o the
British Cave
Research ssociation
seR
[
Volume
2
Number 1
March
985
Amorphous speleothems
peleology in
the
U S S R
B C R A Symposium
abstracts
Percolation water at Altamira
The
earliest cave
photograph
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aveScience
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TRANSACTIONS OF
THE BRITISH CAVE
RESEARCH ASSOCIATION
Volume 12
Number
1
March
1985
Contents
Amorphous Speleothems
Brian L.
Findlayson and
John A. Webb
Speleology in the U.S.S.R
V.N. Dublyansky,
A
.B.
Klimchouk
and
V.E.
Kisse l
y ov
B.C.R.A.
Cave
Science
Symposium, November 1984
Abst r ac t s
Natura l Evolu t ion of
Perco la t ion Water
in Altamira Cave
E. Vi l l a r e t a l
The
World s E a r l i e s t Underground Cave Ph o tograp h
by
Alf r e d Bro ther s F.R.A.S .
Chr is
Howes
3
9
19
21
25
Cover:
A s t a l agmi te gr o t t o in the Archery cave, a 3000 metr e l on g
system
in th e
Malyykavkaz
mountains
near
T b i l i s i in th e
southern U.S.S.R
. .
By
A.B. Klimchouk
Edi to r : Dr . T . D. Ford Geology Dept
.
Leices te r Univer s i ty Leices te r
LEi
7RH
Product ion Edi to r
: Dr . A. C. Waltham
Ci v
.
Eng.
Dept. Trent Poly techn ic Nottingham
NG1
4BU
Cave Science i s pub l i shed by
the
Bri t i sh Cave
Research
Assoc ia t ion and i s i s sued
to
a l l
paid up members of the Assoc ia t ion .
1985
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r a t e s are
: Indiv i dual - £10 . 00
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Cave Science
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TA7 OEB
Copyright
the Br i t i sh Cave Research Assoc ia t ion 1
98 5
. No
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l
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without the
pr i o r wr i t t en
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e
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and
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Assoc ia t
i
on
.
S S ~
0263
-7 6 X
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CAVE
SCIENCE
Vol. 12
,
No
. 1,
March 1985
Transac t ions
of
the Br i t i sh
Cave
Research
Associa t ion
morphous
Speleothems
Brian L . FINLAYSON and
John
A.
WEBB
Abstrac t
:
Attent ion is
drawn to
three
amorphous mineral
groups which
may
be more widely represented
in
speleothems than speleolog i c a l litera ture
suggests .
Opal is
hydrous
s i l i c a ,
in three
s t r uc t u r a l
groups
(opal
-C
,
opal - CT and opal - A) ,
usua l ly
ident i f i ed
using
X-
ray
d i f f r ac t i on . Opal
speleothems
are r e l a t i ve l y
common
in
lava caves and
have a l so been
ident i f i ed in
l imestone
and
gran i t e caves . The cond i t ions under which
opal
prec ip i t a tes from
solut ion
are l ike ly to be cont r o l l ed by
temperature
and
evaporat ion . Allophane i s amorphous
a luminos i l i ca te
clay
mineral
of widely
varing composition . I t can be ident i f i ed
using
the
t e s t
of
Fieldes
and
Per ro t t 1966)
, confirmed
by
IR spectroscopy.
Allophane
speleothems
have
been pos i t i ve ly
ident i f i ed
in grani te
caves
and
may
a l so be present
elsewhere . Prec ip i t a t i on of
al lophane
i s most l i ke l y due to a
r i se in
pH
produced
by CO, outgassing .
The
i ron -
r i ch mineral
ser ies
fe r r ihydr i t e - his inger i t e has
not been pos i t i ve ly
ident i f i ed in speleothems
but may
have been
misident i f ied
as goe thi t e in some cases . These
minerals
can be
ident i f i ed
using IR spectroscopy .
INTRODUCT I ON
Speleothems secondary
mineral deposi ts
formed
in
caves ) may be composed of a
wide
var ie ty
of minera ls ,
the
vas t major i ty
of them
c r ys t a l l i ne
(Hi l l , 1976 ) . Only two amorphous minerals , opal
and al lophane ,
have been
posi t ive l y ident i f i ed in
speleolog i ca l l i t e r a t u r e . Furthermore , the
names
ap p
l
ied to these
minerals
have of ten been
co n t radic tory and i nco r r ec t , and the methods of
i den t i f i c a t i on
have
f r equent ly
been f a r
from
r igorous .
The
purpose
of t h i s paper i s to draw
a t t en t ion
to opal
and
al lophane
as
speleothem
minerals , to
s e t out
c lear ly the
bes t
minera logica l nomenclature for them , and to list
the most r e l i ab l e methods of ident i f i ca t ion .
I n add i t i on , the
i ron
-
r i ch
mi
nera l
se r i es
f e r r i hyd r i t e - h i s i nge r i t e
i s br i e f l y d iscussed .
Although no posi t ive
ident i f i ca t ions
of these
minerals
have
be
en made in speleothems, perusal o f
the l i t e r a t u r e suggests t ha t
they
may have been
misident i f ied
as goe thi t e
in
some
cases .
AMORPHOUS MINERALS
Amorphous minerals are no n - c r ys t a l l i n e (i . e .
they have littl or no s t r uc t u r a l organi sa t ion ,
and thus do not form
c rys t a l s )
.
These
minerals
are
op t i ca l
l y iso t
ropic
in th i n
sec t ion dark
under
crossed
polars
)
and they
do
not
d i f f r ac t
X-
rays
. As a r esu l t ,
t he i r
X-
ray
d i f f r ac t ion
pat te rns lack sharp , well - defined peaks , a l
though
they may show one or
more broad
re f lec t ions .
Amphorous minerals
can
form e i ther
by rapid
c o o l i n g rom
th e mol t en
st te
e g silic
g l a s s
) ,
.or
by slow hardening and
dehydrat ion of
gels
prec ip i t a t ed from
col lo ida l solu t ions .
The la
t
t e r
process
i s
the
more
important ,
as
a
number
of
natura l ly occur r ing
substances
can
form
co l lo ida l
so lu t ions : hydrated s i l i c a , hydrated
a luminos i l i ca te s
, and hydrated i ron , manganese and
a lumini urn oxides and hydroxides (Mason and Berry,
1968) The
ge l s
formed
from
many
of
thes e
solut ions wi l l
t ransform to c r ys t a l l i ne minerals
with in a comparatively shor t period of ti m e , given
the
correc t
chemical
condi t ions
. However , in
th
e
case
of
the
s i l i c a and
a luminos i l i ca te
gels , the
amorphous minerals formed (
opal
and
allophane
respect ive ly ) may pe r s i s t for long
time spans
.
OPAL
Terminology
and
St ruc ture
Si l i c a
d i s t inc t
(
SiO,
) occurs
minerals :
in na tu re
quar tz ,
as
se\·en
tr idym i t e ,
3
cr i s toba l i t e , opal ,
coes i te ,
s t i shovi te
and
lecha
te
l i e r i
te
;
each
of
these
polymorphs has
i t s
own d i s t inc t
morphology
and c e l l dimensions. The
th r ee pr inc ipa l c r ys t a l l i ne forms
of s i l i c a
are
quartz
,
t r idymi te and
cr i s toba l i t e ,
and each has
a
low temperature and high
temperature
phase,
designated and respect ive ly . These three
minerals
have
qui te d i s t inc t crys ta l s t ruc tures ,
which are t r i gona l
, orthorhombic and t e t ragonal
respect ive ly for the
low temperature
( )
phases.
The high
temperature phases,
along with coes i t e ,
s t i shovi te and l echa te l i e r i t e , cannot form a t
atmospheric temp era tures and pressures and wi l l
not be considered
fur the r
.
Quartz
i t s
e l f occurs as
two d i s t inc t
var ie t i es
:
macrocrysta l l ine
and
cryptocrys ta l l ine
submicrocrysta l l in e ) . The l a t t e r
i s
normally
classed as
the
subspecies chalcedony, and cons is t s
of
quartz c r y s t a l l i t e s ,
of ten
f ib rous in
form
,
sep
ara ted
by submicroscopic pores .
Two
of the
s i l i c a
minerals
are amphorous
:
l echa te l i e r i t e s i l i ca
glass)
and
opal .
The
term
opal i s gene ra l ly used for the compact,
vi t r eous
forms of na tu ra l l y occurr ing
hydrous
s i l i cas ; the
f r i ab le or
dispersed
forms (
e .g
. geyser i te ,
d i a t
omite
)
have been termed
opaline
s i l i c a
(Jo n es and Segnit , 1971).
However
, many authors
use
opal
as an a l l -enc
ompassing
term for
na tura l
hydr ous s i l i c a .
His to r i ca l l y
opal
has been
considered
an
amorphous mineralo id
without
crys ta l
s t ruc tu re
,
but recent work has indica ted t ha t there are
seve ra l va r i e t i e s with di f fe rent
degrees
of
s t r uc t u r a l order . Jones and
Segni
t 1971)
have
shown
th a t natura l hydrous s i l i c a s
can
be
subdivided
in to
three
s t ruc tura l
groups
: o pal-C
(
well
ordered
<
cr i s toba l i t e
) , opal -C
T d is
ordered
c r i s t o l i t e and
opal -A
(highly
disorde red) .
Although
the
X-ray
d i f f r ac t i on
pa t t e rn of
opa
l -C
is
very s imi lar to t ha t
of
< cr i s toba l ite , it i s
not appropr ia te to r e f e r to opal - C
as
C cr is tobal i t e
because
opal - C (and
opal
- CT) shows
evidence of t r idymit ic s tack ing (Jones and Segni t ,
1971, p .
57
) .
Furthermore
, <
cr i s toba l i t e
contains littl or
no
wa t e r ,
whereas
opal contains
a t l eas t
3
water
J
ones and Segnit ,
1971
; Wilding
e t
a l
. ,
1977)
.
Thus
the three va r i e t i e s
of
opal are
s t r uc t u r a l l y d i s t inc t
from
eac h other and
from
t he i r r e l a t i ve
cr i s toba l i t e .
Previously some
minera logis ts had
regarded
op a l
as
a form of
cr i s toba l i t e (e . g . Frondel , 1962 ) , and some
spe leogica l
workers (e . g . Hil l , 1976; White 1976)
have cont inued to use the tw o terms synonymously
when desc r ib ing opal ine speleothems.
However
,
pure
c r ys t a l l i ne cr i s toba l i t e
has ye t
to be
pos i t i ve ly
ident i f i ed
as
a
spe l
eo
them
mineral
.
High magnif ica t ion transmission
e lec t ron
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microscopy
has shown tha t
some
var i e t i es
of
opal
- A,
in par t i cu la r
gem
opals from
volcanic
host
rocks , are
not ent i r
ely amorphous , but conta in
extremely
smal l
crys ta l s
of t r idymite
embedded
in
an amorphous
matrix
(S anders , 1975 ) .
The presence
of
the c r ys t a l l i ne
phase
tridym
te
in some va r i e t
i
es of opal has been
a t t r i bu t ed e i t he r to
opal
diagenesis upon ag e ing
or
to coprec ip i ta t ion
during
formation of the opal
(Wi lding
e t
a l . ,
1977)
.
On
a
macromo
l
ec u l ar sca le
,
opal i s composed
of
close -
packed ag g
r egates of s i l i c a
spheres
ranging
from
1 5 0 0 S O O ~
i n diameter , arranged
hexagonally
in layers (Jones e t a l . ,
1964)
. In
precious opal these
l aye r s
serve as gra t ing
surfaces tha t d i f f r a c t l ght and
r esu l t
in a play
of
colou
r
s .
Composit ion
Opal i s hydrous s i l i c a (S iO,
.nH,
0) . The
water content commonly var ies
between
3 and
11
,
a lt
hough
t
can
occas iona l ly
be
much
higher
(Segni t
e t
a l . , 1965; Wilding e t
a l
, . 1977 ) . Opal
may a l s o include s i gn i f i c an t amo
unts
of occluded ,
chemisorbed or so l id solut ion impur i t i e s including
Al ,
O,
(u p to
3
) Fe,O, (
up
to 2 ),
MgO
(
up to
1.S ),
CaO
, Na,O and K,O (
a l l
l
ess than
1 ;
Frondel,
1962 ) . Opal
in plants
and
so i l s
may
contain higher l eve ls of some of these impur i t ies
(
Wilding
e t
a l .
,
1977).
Ident i f i ca t ion
In
hand specimen opal
i s
dis t inguised by i t s
vi t reous or waxy
l u s t r e ,
moderate
hardness
(S . 5-
6.S ) , low dens i ty (2 .0-
2 . 2)
and i t s
common
occurrence in
rounded or bot ryodia l forms .
Opaline speleothems may be almost
ident ica l in
gross morphology
to
calcareous ones , but can
be
readi ly d is t inguised by h
ardness
(
ca lc i t e
- 3 ) or
reac t ion with d i l u t e
hydrochoric
ac
id
(
ca lc i t e
ef fervesces vigorously
,
whereas opal
sh ows
no
reac t ion a t a l l
) .
Chacedony
,
the
c ryp toc rys t a l l i ne va r i e ty of quar
tz ,
may be
very
s imi lar in appearence to opal ,
but
t i s harder
(7)
and
denser
(
about
2 . 6) ,
and usual ly has
a
dul l
lus t re
.
In th in
sec t ion opal
i s i so t ropic (dark under
crossed nicols) , and
i s
also
dis t inguished
by i t s
low
index
of
re f rac t ion
(usual ly about 1 . 4S),
giving
t
a
moderate
-
high
r e l ie f .
Of
the
othe r
minerals tha t
can
occur
in
speleothems
,
on
l y
f luor i te , ha l i t e , al lophane
,
hal loys i t e
and
l imoni te are
i so t ropic
. Fluor i te and
ha l i t e
are
readi ly d is t inguished from
opal
by
t he i r
obvious
crys t a l l i n i ty , al lophane and ha l loys i t e are c lay
A
________
I
50
I
40
30
20
Figure 1. X-ray di f fr c t ion p tterns for the structur l
s ubd i v i s i ons o f
opa l
( f rom
Jones
and
Se gn i t ,
1
97
J ) . A:
opa l
- C
B :
opa l
- CT .
C: opal-A
.
(Q
-
qua r t z
peaks= T -
peaks due
to
tr idymit ic stacking
4
minerals and occur only as sof t
, opaque deposi ts ,
and l imoni te
i s
always
brown
or
yel low
in
colour
and has an
ear thy
lus t re
.
The
ana ly t i ca l
technique tha t
most
eas i ly
dis t inguishes
the
d i f f e r en t va r i e t i e s of op a l
i s
X
- r ay di f f rac t ion
(XRD). As
Fig.
1 shows,
the XRD
pat te rns
of
opal
- C,
opal
-
CT and opal
- A
are qui te
d i f f e r en t
from each
othe r and
XRD provides
a
rapid , r e l i ab l e way of ident i fy ing the
opal
type
present in
a
speleothem
. The cent re
of the broad
,
di f fuse peak cha r ac t e r i s t i c s of opal-A
may
vary
s l i gh t l y in
wave
l
ength
,
from
a n
ormal posi t ion
of
about
4 . 3 ~
(J
ones and
Se2ni t ,
1971
;
Wilding
e t
a
1. ,
1977 ) to
as low as
7J\ (Webb and Finlayson,
1984) .
Chalcedony can
be
readi ly dis t inguished from
opal using XRD.
Because
chalcedony i s an
extremely f ine -
grained form
of
quar tz , t gives
the quar tz
XRD
pat te rn ,
with prominent
peaks a t
. 3 4 ~ and 4 . 26Jt.
Other ana ly t i ca l
techniques, e . g .
in f ra - red
absorpt ion spectroscopy (Plyusnina
,
1979),
can
be
used to dis t inguish the
opal
var i
e t i es from
each
othe r and
from
the othe r s i l i c a minerals.
However, such techniques are usual ly l e s s widely
avai lable than XRD
.
Opal in Speleothems
Opal has been
recorded
in
lava caves and grani te caves
,
sandstone overhangs .
speleothems
and also
form
from
Opal
speleothems
are most
abundant in lava
caves
, where
they
occur
as cora l lo ids ,
flows tone ,
s t a l a c t i t e s ,
s ta lagmi te s
amd he l i c i t i t e s ,
sometimes
intergrown with chalcedony Hil l , 1976
) .
Cora l lo ida l
opal
appears to be
the commonest form
;
of ten laye r s o f bot ryoida l
opal
coa t lava
s ta lac t i t e s
or
globules (Sw artz low and Keller ,
1937 ) .
Most opal
speleothems in lava caves are
qui te small
less
than
S
cm in
maximum
dimension
) ,
a l
th
ough Bartrum
(
1930
)
recorded
a 30
cm high opal
and clay s ta lagmi te in a New
Zealand
lava
cave
) .
In
li m
estone caves opal
i s
uncommon,
but
does
occur occasiona l l y as
wall
and f loor encrus ta t ions
(Hil l , 1976) . Opal has also been found in
limestone
caves in te r layered with ca lc i t e and
gypsum
in
cave b l i s t e r s (Siegal
e t a l . ,
1968;
Hil l ,
1976)
.
Al
though speleothems
are
qui te
r a r e
in
grani te
caves ,
small opal ine cora l lo ids (P1.2)
have
been
descr i bed from an eas tern Austra l ian
grani te cave by
Webb
and Finlayson (1984)
.
Sma
l l opal ine
cor ra l lo ids
,
s t a l a c t i t e s
,
s ta lagmi te s and bot ryoida l coat ings have been
recorded on
exposures of quar tz
sandstone
a t
l oca l i t i es
in
U
.S .
A. and
Aust ra l ia
(Por t e r , 1979 ;
Lassak ,
1970)
. The Austra l ian examples are
act ive ly
growing,
and cons is t
of
a l te rna t ing
l aye r s of
opal
and a mixture of l imoni te
and
s ider i t e
(Lassak , 1970 ) .
Very few s tudies of opal ine speleothems have
included
X-
ray
d i f f r a c t i
on
data , but in
a l l cases
these have
shown tha t the speleothems
are
composed
o f one of the
var i e t i es
of op a l and
not
cr i s toba l i t e . Siegel e t a1. (1968) descr ibed
s ta lac t i t e s of in tergrown
ca lc i t e and
opal from
a
l imestone cave
i n
Argent ina
.
The
X-
ray
d i f f r ac t i on
pat te rn
published in
t he i r
paper
c lear ly i den t i f i es the opal as opal -A
(
although
White (19
76 ) e
r r oneously
re fer red to t
as
c r i s t oba l
te ) . Webb (
1979)
used
XRD
to i den t i fy
chalcedony , opal - CT amd opal - A from a lava cave in
eas tern
Aus t ra l i a .
The opal-A occurred as
bot ryoida l
crus t s
where
as
th e
chalcedony and
opal - CT formed f lowstone , s ta lac t i t e s ,
vein
i n f i l l i ngs and ?zeol i te pseudomorphs .
Cody (1980)
descr ibed opal
s ta lagmi t
es and
f loor
encrus ta t ions
from lava caves in
New Zealand ;
al though he
performed XRD analyses , he
did
not use
Jones
and
Segni t ' s s t ruc tu ra 1
groups
,
or reproduce
the
di f f rac t ion
pat te rns ,
so
t
i s not
poss ib le
to
i den t i fy the
opal types
present
in his
specimens .
The
cave
cora l (P1.1)
descr ibed by Webb and
Finlayson (1984) from
two grani te caves in eas tern
Aust ra l ia was ident i f i ed as opal
- A
by XRD;
chemical
ana lys i s indica ted
tha t
these
speleothems
a l so had a
small a l lophane
component . Opaline
-
8/21/2019 BCRA 12-1-1985
7/36
em
P late 1. pa l -A
co ra ll
o ids fr om
South Bald
Ro ck Cave, a
gr a
n
i te ca
ve
in
Gi r
ra
we e n
Na t
i o
nal Park,
s o uth-east
Q
ueen s la
nd.
outgrowths
on
sands tone exposures in Vir g in i a ,
U.
S.
A . , we
re shown by
XRD to be
amorphous
, i . e .
o p a l - A (
Por te r
, 1979 ) .
Format ion o f opal speleothems
The c o n c e n t r a t io n o f d i s s o l v e d s i l i c a in
groundwater
i s determined l a r g e l y
by the rock type
in
con tac t
with
t he
water
(
Davis
,
1964 ) .
Because
conver s ion o f
fe ld spa r
p a r t i c u l a r l y
p lag ioc la se
)
t o c l ay i s more im por tan t in r e l e a s i n g
s i l i c a
than
d i r ec t s o l u t i o n o f quar t z (Gar r e l s and
MacKenzie
,
1967) ,
groundwater
assoc ia ted wi th
p l g i o c l s e ~ i c h rocks (p y r o c l a s t i c s , l avas ,
i n t r u s i v e s
o r sediments ) has t he h ighes t
s i l i c a
c o n t e n t . Thus groundwater in
carbonate rocks has
very low
s i l i c a
c o n c e n t r a t i o n s (1 0 - 15 ppm ) ,
whereas
t h a t
from
b a s a l t
t e r r a i n s may con ta in
40 - 50 ppm s i l i c a , and water from
se d ime n t s
r i c h
in
bas i c pyroc l a s t i c s
may
have up
to
85 ppm si
l i ca
(White
e t
a l . ,
1963
; Davis ,
19 6 4) . As l ava caves
a r e almost
always
formed in b a s a l t , t h i s chemical
d a t a shows why opa l ine speleothems are common in
l ava caves .
It
a l s o exp la ins why
the l a r g e s t
known s i l i c a
spe l e o the ms
(
c ha l c e dony
f l
ows tone up
to
30
mm t h i c k and
s t a l a c t i t e s up to 40 cm long )
a r e
presen t
in
a cave
in
l im es tone
o v e r l a i n by
p y r o c l a s t i c s
depos i t s
(
Broughton
, 1974 ) .
In t he
f r ee a tmosphere amorphous
s i l i c a
pr e c i p i t a te s more r ead i l y than c r y s t a l l i n e s i l i c a
from
supe rsa tu r
a
t ed s o l u t i o n s
. Apar t from
ov e rgrowths on quar t z
gra ins
in s ands tones ,
ev idence f o r t he d i r e c t prec i p i t a t i ons of quar t z
a t e a r t h - s u r f a c e
c o n d i t i o n s
i s very
meagre
(Wilding e t al. 1977 ) .
Thus groundwater
so lu t ions supe rsa tu ra ted with re spec t to
s i l i c a
w i l l
initia
l l y
p r ec i p i t a t e
an amorphous s i l i c a
g e l ;
t h i s gr adua l ly d e
hydr a t es
and harderns
to
form opa l (Ei t e l , 1954) .
Secondary
t r ans f o r mat ion
from o p a l - A
to
opa l - CT to
c ha l c e dony
to
quar t z ,
r e f l e c t i n g
pr ogr ess ive
c r y s t a l l i a t i o n
, has been
commo
n ly
o
bserv
e d e .g .
Markova, 1978
) ,
and
t he
form a t i o n o f
qu
a
r t z
a t t he e a r t h ' s su r face
i s
gene ra l ly
a t r r i b u t e d
to
t h i s proces s
(Wilding e t
a l .
,
1977-).
A
f a i r l y
long t ime
per iod
(
mil l ions
o f
ye a r s )
i s
b e
l i eved to be
neces sa ry
for
t h i s
c o nv e
r s i
o n (Mizu tan i , 1970) . This exp la ins why
c ha l c e dony
speleothems a r e r a r e and usua l ly
i n a c t i v e (Brough ton , 1974
) .
The
f ac
t o r s caus ing p r e c i p i t a t i
o ns o f s i l i c a
g e l
in ca
ves a r e
unknown, bu t
could i nc lude
ev a po ra ti o n , lo w e r termpera
tu re s
and
changes
in
pH
. The s o l u b i l i t y o f a morphous
s i l i c a
i n c r e a s e s
1 i nea r ly with
tempera tu re
from 0 C , bu t
i s
i nd ep e
nd en
t o f pH b e l o w 9 (Wilding e t a l . ,
1977
) ,
so
e v a
po r
a t i o n a nd
t em pera tu re
a r e
l i k e l y
to
be
th e c o n t r o l l i n g f ac t o r s . Evapora t ion
i s
probably
mo s t im
por
t a n t i n th e fo rm at i o n o f
co ra l10 ida l
opa l in e s
pe
l e o th e ms (P o
r t e r ,
19 7 9) .
The fo rm t a
ken by
o pa l ine
spe l e o the ms seems
t o de pend o n
th
e same f a c t o rs t h a t a f f e c t
t he
sh ape o f ca l c a r eo us sp e l eo
thems,
p a r t i c u l a r l y the
t
ype an
d r a t e o f
th
e wa t e r
supply
.
Thus
c o r a l l o i d s a ppea r to form from
the
t h i n f i lms o f
s e e p i ng f ro m or
f l
owing o ver
t he
w a l l
rock
,
5
whereas s t a l a c t i t e s and
s ta lagmi te s
a r e depos i t ed
by
water dr ipp ing from a
p a r t i c u l a r
spo t on t he
cave
r oo f . Undoub ted ly o the r fac to r s e . g.
shape
o f
the
cave wal l s o r r oo f , and compos i t i o n and
dynamics
o f the
cave
atm
o sphere , a l so
p l a y a pa r t .
ALLOPHANE
Termino logy
and
s t r u c t u r e
The c l ay miner a l s a r e a complex
and
l o o s e l y
def ined
group o f f ine ly c r y s t a l l i n e ,
metacol
l o ida l
o r amorphous
hydrous s i l i c a t e s , es sen t i a l l y o f
aluminium
,
with
a
monocl in ic
c r y s t a l
l a t t i c e
o f
the two or
th ree
l a y e r type (
Bates
and Jackson ,
1980
) .
Based on s t ruc t u re and
c ompos i t i on
, t he
c r y s t a l l i n e c l ay miner a l s can be d iv ided i n t o
seve ra l groups , e . g . illite group ,
kao l i n i t e
group.
The name a l lophane has been in use s ince
1816
to
desc r ibe a c l a y mineral
t h a t
i s na t u ra l l y
occur r ing
amorphous
hydrous a luminos i l i ca te o f
wi de ly vary ing
composi t ion
(
Frye
, 1981 ) . Many
authors
(e . g . Weaver and Po l l a r d , 1973 ; Pyman
e t
a l. ,
1979
) have
used
t he name in t h i s genera 1
sense . Allophane has been shown
to
be randomly
s t r u c t u r e d r a t he r than amorphous ,
with
a bas i c
s t r u
c t ur
e
composed o f A1
- 0 ,
Al-O
-
OH and
A1 - 0-
S i
bonds
(
Fielded
, 1966 ; Wells e t a l . , 1977
) .
High
r e so l u t i on e l e c t r o n microscopy has ind ica ted
t h a t
a l lophane
con s i s t s o f hol low spher u l es with
d i
ameter s
o f
35
- 55.8. (
Wada
,
1980 ) .
Wada
(1980
) subd iv ided
a l lophane
(
sensu l a t o
)
i n t o a l lophane (sensu s t r i c t o ) and a l lophane - l i ke
c o n s t i t u e n t s . The
d i s t i n c t i o n
was made in t e rms
o f d i f f e r ences
in
t he IR spec t ra (see F i g . 2 ) and
t he molar
Si O
, jA1, 0) r a t i o s (
a l lophane
0 . 8-
2.5
;
a l lophane
-
l i ke cons t i t uen t s
0 . 2 - 1 . 4
) .
Allophane
c o n s t i t u e n t s a r e d i sso lved by d i t h i on i t e - c i t r a t e
and 2
Na,
CO ) s o l u t i o n , whereas a l lophane i s
no t
(Wada and Greenland , 1970
) .
Some workers have
found
d i f f i c u l t y
in matching t h e i r samples to
t h i s
c l a s s i f i c a t i o n
(e . g . Young
e t a l .
,
1980
;
Webb and
Fi
nlayson
, 1984 ) , and Wada (1 98 2 ) adm i t t ed t h a t
A
B
c
13
12
1 B
x100 c m·
1
Fi
gure 2 . In f r a - red
abso
r pt ion spe c tra fo r al lophanc
and
a l l
ophane l kc co
ns
t i t uen t s . A : al
lophane
, preCipitated
in
s ide
g
ra n
i t e
ca v
e ,
easte
r n Aus
tr
a l
i a fr
om e b b
and
Fi n d l a y s
on
, 1984). B: a
l lop hane- l ik
e c
on s t i
t uen t , d
er
i ved
from
we athere d
pumic
e , Japan f rom Wad a , 198 0 . C: a l
lopha
ne ,
de r
ived from we
ath
ered p u n i cc , Ja pan f r om Wad a , 1
980)
.
-
8/21/2019 BCRA 12-1-1985
8/36
the d i s t i nc t i on may be debatable . Fieldes
(1966)
argued
tha t the
dis t ingui shing
proper ty o f
al lophanes i s the i r s t ruc tura l randomness , which
enables them
to
be recognised
as
a group desp i t e
var ia t ions
in
composi t ion.
Lassak (1 970 ) s tudied some ac t ive ly grow ing
opa l / l imoni te
s t a l a c t i t e s i n
eas te rn
Aust ra l ia ,
and
found
tha t these
were always assoc ia ted
with
ex tens ive
areas
of decaying
vegeta t ion .
He
pos tula ted
tha t
organic matter
in
the f r e shly
prec ip i t a t ed l imon i te caused it to r e t a i n a
negative charge . Once ox i dation had destroyed
th i s
organic
mat te r
, the l imonite
surface
would
become
ca t ion i c and so
prec ip i t a t e the
negat ively
charged s i l i c a
so l .
Composit ion
Allophane
i s
noted
for
i t s rang e of
compostion . Besides the
var iable
SiO,
/Al,
0,
ra t ios mentioned
above
(0 .2-2. 5 ) , the amoun t of
water can vary
grea t ly
(up to 40%; Wells e t a l.
1977) .
Phosphate-bearing a l lophane with
7-10
phosphate has
been
desc r ibed
by
a number of
authors (see Weaver and Pol la rd , 1973 ) and organic
carbon
may
a l so
be a r e l a t i ve l y major cons t i tuent
(u p to 13 . 2%; Young e t a l . ,
1980)
. The Fe, Ca and
Mg contents of
most
al lophanes
a re
low,
a
l th
o
ugh
the percentage
o f Fe can be as high as 8 (Young
e t
a l
. ,
1980). Other elements , e . g. Mn, Ca , K and
Na,
are
usual ly present in
minor amounts 0.5 ).
Ident i f i ca t ion
Allophane has no r e l i ab l e
dis t inguishing
cha r c t e r i s t i c s in
hand
specimen and
i s
very s imlar
to other c lay minerals and l imonite .
Pure
al lophane i s very
b r i t t l e
with a hardness of 3 or
l ess , a
conchoidal
to
ear thy
f rac ture and a
res inous , w
axy or
ear thy l u s t r e . Allophane may be
t r anspa rent
to t rans lucent
but i s
more usua l ly
opaque , with a wide
range
of colours (c olour less ,
white , green,
blui sh
,
y el
l ow , brown
and pink) ,
which
r derived from impur i t ies .
The spec i f i c
gravi ty
var ies
from 1. 85
to
1.9 .
In
t h in sec t ion
al lophane i s
i so t rop i c and
has
a var iable r e f r ac t i ve index
(1.
39-1. 49) .
Allophane in
speleothems is f requent ly th in ly
banded
and
may occur
in
assoc ia t ion
with
othe r
minerals
such
as
opal (Webb
and
Finlayson ,
1984).
I t i s c l ea r t ha t r e l i ab l e i d e n t i f i c a t ion of
allophane
in hand speciment
or
th in
sec t ion i s not
poss ib le
and
othe r diagnos t i c
t e s t s
must
be used .
Fieldes
and
Per ro t t
(1966)
proposed a rapid
f i e ld
and l abora tory t e s t for
a l lophane
.
This
t
e s t
i s
based on the pr inc ip l e t ha t aqueous
solu t ions
of
f luor ides a t pH higher
than
7 reac t a t the
hydroxy-aluminium s i t e s , re l e ase hydroxyl
ions
and
cause a r i se
in
pH with a s imultaneous formation
of f luoaluminate . In the
t e s t
for a l lophane
in
s o i l s a smal l
quant i ty (10
mg) of so i l
i s
placed
on
dry
f i
1
t e r paper (previously
soaked with
phenolphthale in
ind ica tor ) ,
and wetted wi th a drop
of sa t
ura ted NaF solu t ion .
I f
appreciable
al lophane
i s present
the
f i l t e r
paper
wi l l turn
red .
Brydon and Day (1 97 0 ) have shown t ha t t h i s
t e s t cannot
be
used
as a
spec i f i c t e s t
for
a
ll
ophanes
in so i l s ,
s ince other
mater ia l s ,
such
as ground
gibbs i te , amorphous
Al
(OH)
synthe t i c
dioctahedra l
ch l o r i t e
and
so i l s
with more than 1
oxala te - ext rac table aluminium a l l produce posi t ive
resu l t s . In speleothems these
mate r ia l s
are
unl ike ly to be present and the t e s t could be used
to dis t inguish
al lophane from
othe r c lay
minerals
and l imoni te .
The XRD pat te rn of al lophane lacks
well-def ined peaks,
having broad bands
centered a t
about
and 2 . 2 ~ the second being the weaker.
This pat te rn i s r e l a t i ve l y cons is tent (Wada, 1977;
Wells
e t
a l .
, 1977; Webb and Fin
la yson
, 1984) but
not diagnos t i c .
The
bes t
ana ly t i ca l technique for
th e
ident i f i ca t ion of a ll ophane i s IR spectroscopy,
and Fig . 2 shows IR
spec t ra
for a ll
ophanes
from
widely di f fe r ing
loca t ions
and paren t mater ia l s .
Two
peaks
a re d iagnos t i c
,
one
around 9S0-l000/cm
and the othe r a t SSO -
S80/cm
.
The
former peak i s
due to Si - O s t re tching vibra t ions and the
l a t t e r
6
to Si - 0
bending
vibra t ions and
i t s
pos i
t ion
i s
al te red
by
the
presence
of
Al
in the framework ; in
the absence of Al the
peak
i s
close
to 1100/cm .
Wada ' s (1 980 )
suggest ion tha t
var ia t ions
in
the
IR
spec t ra can
be
used to dis t inguish
two
types of
a ll ophane appears to be unre l iable , and the
observed va r i a t i ons are probably due to
di f fe rences in A1
:
Si
r a t i o s
ebb
and
Finlayson
,
1984 ) .
For
i den t i f i c a t ion of al lophane in
speleothems ,
the
t e s t
of
Fie lds and Per ro t t
(1966)
noted
above
i s the most readi ly
ava
ilable and for
t ha t
reason
i s recommended. However,
a
posi t ive
r e s u l t should
be
confi rmed by IR
spectroscopy and
chemical ana lys i s wherever po s s i b l e .
Allophane
in
Spel eothems
Early
minera log ica l references
to al lophane
(e .g .
Dana
,
1982)
mention s t a l
ac t
it
es and
mamillary
enc rus ta t ions
of
the
mine ra l ,
though
no deta i led descr ip t ions
have
been published .
Allophane
in speleothems
has b
een ident i f i ed
by
Webb and Finlayson (1984) f r om gr an i t i c
caves
in
southern
Queensland, Aus t r a l i a . They found
a l loph
ane
pr ec i p i t a t ing as f lowstone with a
microgour surface (P1 . 2 ) and a l s o
as
an
in tergrowth in op a l
co ra l l o ids . Allophane
s t a l a c t i t e s up
t o 10cm l
ong and
2cm
in
diameter
are known from a
lava
cave in the
basa l t
flows of
western Vic tor i a ,
Aus t ra l i a
eb b and Finlayson,
in
prepara t ion) .
late 2
Allophane
f lowstone showing microgours from South
Bald
Rock Cave ( loca l i ty
as
Pla te 1) .
Wilkinson (1950) repor ted al lophane occur r ing
as a r i pp led flow on the
l imestone
wal
l s
and
roof of a mine
in
Derbyshire , England . The
deposi t i s amorph
ous
and composed l a rg e ly
of
alumina , s i l i c a , and
water ,
ao it
probably
r epresent s
al lophane
, al though the re
i s
some doubt
because Wilkinson (1950)
recorded tha t
it
dissolved ins tantaneous ly in d i l u t e hydrochlor ic
acid (a l l ophane does not r eac t with t h i s
acid)
.
In l i t e r a t u r e there are two descr ip t ions of
speleothems which may
have been
al lophane , though
not
ident i f i ed
as such
. Hall iday
(1963,
1966)
descr ibed
pasty, red
- orange flowstone which he
ident i f i ed
as c imol i t e ;
it
oc c
urred in
severa l
marble
caves
in Washington
Sta te
, U.S . A.
Cimol it
e
i s
a hydrous aluminium s i l i c a t e
but
i s no
longer
recognised
as
a val id mineral name
because
the
type
example was
shown to
be
a mixture
of
montmori l loni te
and
a luni te
(Cai l l e r e and Henin ,
1963)
.
Since
Hall iday d id not descr ibe the
ana ly t i ca l
techniques
it
i s no t
poss ib le
to
comment fur the r
in th i s case .
Bartrum (1930)
described
s ta lagmi te s
and
s t a l
ac t i t es from
a lava cave
in
Auckland , New
Zealand;
these
were
composed of a l te r na t ing
l aye r s
of opal and
s t rongly hydrated co l lo ida l aluminous
mater ia l .
No XRD or IR
analyses we r e performed
on th e
mater ia l ,
but it could have been al lophane.
Hil l (1976), in the s tandard t ex t on cave
mineralogy
,
makes no
reference to al lophane.
I t
i s
poss ib le
tha t al lophane may
be more
common
in
speleothems
than
i s
present ly r ea l i s ed and the re
-
8/21/2019 BCRA 12-1-1985
9/36
A
cm
------
Smm
Plate 3.
Allophane
s t a l a c t i t e
from Church
Cave a l ava cave
near Byaduk
western
Victoria A : s ide view . B: cross-
sect ion showing banding.
i s a clear
need
for more r igorous
ana lys i s of
no n
- c r ys t a l l i ne speleothems.
Formation of Allophane Speleothems
L i t t l e i s
known of
the mode
of
formation
o f
a l l ophane
speleothems
. Most allophanes described
in
the l i t e r a t u r e are from so i l s
e
. g . F i e ldes ,
1966 ; Wada, 1977) and they are
usual ly
considered
to
be a l t e r a t i on
products
of primary
alumino - s i l i c a t e s or vo lcan ic
glass .
In order
to
form speleothems ,
allophane
must prec ipi t a te
d i r ec t l y
from
solu t ion; two well-documented
ins tances of
t h i s
have been
reported in
the
l i t e r a t u r e .
Wells
e t
a l .
1977 ) ident i f i ed a creamy-white
allophane deposi t in the s t ream
bed
below Si l i c a
Springs on
Mount
Ruapehau , New Zealand.
The
spr ings
issue
from an andes i t ic lava flow .
Prec ip i t a t i on
of allophane a t
t h i s s i t e was
be l
ieved to be
due
to
a r i se
in pH downstream of
the spr ing, caused by outgassing of CO,.
Webb and
Finlayson
1984) described
al lophane
flowstone
P1.3
)
in
a
grani te
cave ;
t h i s f lows
t one
was being prec ip i t a t ed by water i s suing
from a
hor izonta l jo in t in the cave wal l . The jo in t
systems from
which
the water i s flowing are
vegeta ted
a t
the
ground surface above
the cave ,
and so conta in humic acids and so i l CO which
promote the solu t ion of alumina col lo ids . A r i se
in pH
, due
to
CO, outgass ing, would
be
expected
when
the water
emerges
i n to
the
cave
, leading
to
the se l ec t i ve
prec ip i t a t ion
of
a luminos i l i ca te
gel
i . e . al lophane) .
7
On the
avai lable evidence it would a pp e a r
tha t di rec t prec ip i ta
t ion of
a
ll
o
ph
a ne
i s
r a
re .
White
e t
al .
1963),
in a
comprehensive survey
o f
subsurface waters
and
spring
prec ip i t a tes
, did not
r epor t
any
al lophane depos i t s .
HISINGERITE AND FERRIHYDRITE
His inge r i t e
i s an
i ron - r i ch no
n-crys ta l l in
e
hydrated s i l i c a t e mineral
with
a
var iable
SiD, :
Fe,O,
r a t io
in the range of 2- 4.
I t
i s amorphous
to X-rays
but has
a cha r ac t e r i s t i c
IR
spectrum
Henmi
e t
a l . ,
1980
) . Fer r ihydr i te
i s an
hydrated
i ron
oxide
with a number of charac te r i s t i cs
but
waek XRD peaks; it shows some var ia t ion
in
the
development
of crys t a l l i n i ty Carlson
and
Schwertmann , 1981). Wada 1982)
has
described
fe r r ihydr i t e
as c r ys t a l l i ne
but with
defects
and
disorde r s .
Henmi e t
al . 1980
)
described
i ron- r ich
prec ip i t a tes from sp r ings
in
New
Zealand
; these
prec ip i t a tes
were poor ly
ordered and
ranged
in
composition
between
fe r r ihydr i t e
and
h i s i nge r i t e .
Henmi e t a l . 1980) sugges ted t ha t t h i s mate r ia l
forms as a co - prec ip i t a te from water
supersa tura ted
with i ron and s i l i ca .
His inge r i t e
and
f e r r i hydr i t e
are
s imi lar
in
appearance
and
composit ion to l imon i te
and
goeth i te . Many i ron - r i ch speleothems have been
ident i f i ed as l imoni te , which i s a genera l
f i e ld
term
for a
mixture
of
brown
amorphous hydrous
fe r r i c
ox i des . Goethi te is gene ra l ly
the main
cons t i tuent of
l imonite , and
Hil l 1976) grouped
a l l i r on - r i ch speleothems toge the r under the
heading
of
goe thi t e
and
did not recognise othe r
spec ie s . However,
fe r r ihydr i t e -h i s inger i t e may
have
been mis ident i f i ed in speleothems
in the
same
way as al lophane , and some
sp e
l eothems
or ig ina l ly
ident i f i ed as l imon i te could wel l be composed of
f e r r i hydr i t e
- h i s i nge r i t e .
I t
would appear
unwise
to indent i fy
an
i ron
-
r i ch speleothem as goe thi t e
unless t he
presence
of th i s
mineral
has
been
ve r i f i ed
, e . g . by XRD
or IR ana lys i s
.
White 1982) ident i f i ed goeth i te in
speleothems
from l imes tone
caves
in the
Appalachians .
However,
his analyses indica te
tha t
the
mate r ia l
i s
in
fac t amorphous to X- rays and
has an
IR spectrum subs t an t i a l l y
d i f f e r en t
from
tha t
of
goeth i te .
I t
is
more l ike ly
to
belong
to
the compos i t i ona l
ser ies
fe r r ihydr i t e - his inger i t e
cf .
Henmi
e t a l . , 1980) .
Lassak 1970) described
l imoni t i c speleothems
from the
Hakwesbury
Sandstones of the
Sydney
Basin
Aus t ra l i a ) ,
but gave only composi t ional analyses
and no IR or
X-ray
spectra . I t i s possible tha t
these samples
a l so belong
to the
fe r r ihydr i t e -h i s inger i t e
group.
More
de ta i l ed analyses
of
i ron -
r i ch
speleothems need
to
be
under taken ;
XRD
,
IR
and
composi t ional
analyses
especia l ly
the
SiD,
Fe,O, r a t i o s )
would be
most use ful . The
XRD
ana lys i s wi l l
indica te whether
or
not the
sample
i s
c r ys t a l l i ne an d , i not ,
IR ana lys i s
and
composition
wi l l enable more prec i se
i den t i f i c a t i on .
CONCLUSIONS
This survey has shown tha t the re i s a
predi spos i t ion
in
the l i t e ra tu re towards the
ident i f i ca t ion of speleothem
minerals
as
c r ys t a l l i ne phases , even where analyses indica te
tha t
t h i s
i s
not the case
.
Moreover, speleothem
minerals
have f requent ly been
ident i f i ed without
adequate s t ruc tura l
ana lys i s
.
In t h i s paper the
main
areas where confus ion can ar i se have been
indica ted
and
diagnos t i c
procedures suggested.
Correct ident i f i ca t ion of
speleothem
minerals
is
impor tant
for
determining t he i r
mode
of
formation
and
the condi t ions
preva i l ing
in
the cave a t the
t ime
of formation.
Three groups of
amorphous minerals
have been
discussed and
appropr ia te diagnost ics
t e s t s
ha ve
been indica ted in each case. Opal speleothems
should
be
indent i f ied
using
X-
ray
di f f rac t ion
;
al lophane speleothems can
be indent i f ied i n i t i a l l y
us ing
the
t e s t of Fieldes and Perro t t 1966 )
and
-
8/21/2019 BCRA 12-1-1985
10/36
then confirmed with IR
spectroscopy
; i ron - r ich
speleothems should be analysed
i n i t i a l l y
using
X- ray d i f f r ac t i on and , i f amorphous to X- rays ,
fur ther inves t iga ted using I R spectroscopy . In
a l l cases t
i s important
t ha t as much analy t ica l
information as possible , both composit
onal
and
s t r uc t u r a l , i s presented to demonstrate
t ha t
a
co r r ec t
i den t i f i c a t i on has
been
made and
to
f a c i l i t a t e comparisons with other occurrences . I t
i s
c l ea r
from the
l i t e r a tu r e
tha t
many speleo t hem
mineral i den t i f i c a t i ons have been made on t he
bas i s of
indequate and
sometimes
mi s - i n t e r pre ted
data
.
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characteri sat ion of
amorphous const i tuents
in
s o i l s .
Clay
Min. ,
Vo l .
8 , pp . 2 4 1- 25 4 .
Weaver
, C. E. ,
and
Po
ll
a rd ,
L.D.
,
1973
. The
chemistry
of
clay
minerals. Dev .
Sediment .
vol . 15 , pp . 1-
213.
Elsevier ,
Amsterdam
.
Webb,
J. A . and
Finlayson , B . L
. 1984.
Allophane and opal
speleothems from
granite
caves in southeast Queens l
and
.
Aust.
,
J . Earth sc i . , vo l
31 . pp .
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349
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Wells , N. , Childs , C.W. , and
Downes
,
C. J .
1977 . Si l i c a
Springs , Tongariro Na t ional
Park
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o f the spring water and characteri s tat ion of the
alumino
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sil i c ate deposi t
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1976.
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) The sc ience
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i ng , L.P. , Smeck , N
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and Drees
, L .
R
,
1977
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Si l ica
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soils quartz ,
cr
i stoba l
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tr i
dy
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, J . B.
&
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l s in s o i l
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pp. 471 - 552.
Wilkinson , P. , 1950 . Allophane from Derbyshire .
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, A . S . ,
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, T.W . ,
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-
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B.L .
Finlayson
Depa r
tment
of
Geography
,
Univers i ty of
Mellbourne
,
Parkvi l le
Victoria
,
u s t ra
l
i a . 3052
.
J .A. Webb ,
Department of
Geology
,
Univers i ty of Melbourne ,
Parkv
i
l l e
,
Victoria
,
Au s t
ra
l
ia
.
3052
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8/21/2019 BCRA 12-1-1985
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CAVE
SCIENCE Vo l . 12 , N o . 1 ,
March
1985
Transac t ions o f the Br i t i sh
Cave
Research
Associa t ion
peleology
n
the
U S S R
V.N. DUBLYANSKY A. B. KLIMCHOUK AND
V.E
. KISSELYOV
Abstrac t : Major cave explora t ion s dur ing the per iod
1978
to 1984 in
the
various cave regions of Russia are br ie f ly descr ibed.
The most
important
progress
has
been
made
in
the
high
massifs
of
the
Caucasus
,
where
very
deep
caves have been discovered. Dye
t es t ing
has proved a
drainage
system 2200m
deep and Snezhnaya cave
i s
1370m deep. There i s spec tacula r po ten t i a l
for
future
explora t ion
. The National Associa t ion
o f
Soviet
Spe leologi s t s
coordinates research and
explora t ion .
INTRODUCTION
The
vas t land area of the USSR conta ins 26
cave regions which group in to 12 la rge cave areas
Fi g . l ) . Within these
r egi
ons , a t o t a l of 5500
caves had
been
recorded by September 1984 and over
500 of
these
were
discovered
and
explored s ince
1978.
The
monograph
by Dublyansky
and
I lukhine
1982) conta ined descr ip t ions and surveys of a l l
the l a rges t caves ,
more
than 5km
long
or 200m
deep,
known up
to
1980.
Since then
the
Commission
on Largest Cavi t i e s of the
National
Associa t ion
of
Sovie t Spe leologi s t s - NASS ) has co l l a t ed da ta
on a l l caves over 500m long
or
100m deep. By
September 1984,
there were 402,
and Table 1
shows
the d i s t r i bu t i on of
these .
t i s
not iceable
t ha t
the
Caucasus
Mountains are of prime importance for
t he i r
la rge concent ra t ion o f the deepest known
caves , while the outs t anding
fea ture
0 f the
d i s t r i bu t i on of the
longes t caves
i s the
group o f
gypsum caves
in
t he Dnestr
Black
Sea region.
Tables 2 and 3 list the longes t and deepest
caves
of Russia fr
om the
cur rent
NASS
records .
The
fol lowing descr ip t ions br i e f l y cover the
major explora t ions
and
discove r ie s i n
the var ious
regions over the
l a s t seven years .
VALDAY - KULOY REGION
This region in the northern
pa r t
of
European
Russia has a
number
of long
caves . The
most
important
are Kulogorskaya 7195m) ,
Konsti tu ts ionnaya 5880m),
Olimpiyskaya
5500m )
and
Leningradskaya
3400m),
a l l developed
in
Permian gypsum within the bas in of
the
Pinega
River.
There are
another
22 caves in the reg ion
each with over a kilometre of explored passage.
DNESTR -
BLACK SEA
REGION
This region
encompasses
most of the Ukraine
and i s
bes t
known for the remarkable gypsum caves
around
Podol iya. The
longest gypsum
cave
in the
world
i s Optimist icheskaya
with a length of
151.3
km
by 1984 , while Ozernaya has 10 5 . 3
km
of
mapped passage. Both are
complex,
of
the USS
peleolog ical
areas
peleologi
cal
regions
Figure
1
1
Valday-Kuloy
2
Kamsk Srednevolzh
3 Pr ikaspy
4
Dnestr
Black Sea
5
Nor th Ura l
6 Middle Ura l
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
So
u th Ura l
East
Carpathian
Crimea
Great
Caucasus
Lesser
Caucasus
Turkffien Khorasan
U styur t -Mangyshlak
14 Tie n
Shan
21
Leno Enisey
15
Gissar Alay
22
Baika l
16
Pamir-Tadj ik
23 Zabajkal
17 Altay
24
Dzhug Dzhur
18
Sa la i r
-
Kuznet
25 Pr i amur
19
Sayan
26 Primer
20 Tuvin
27 Sakhal in
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Region
Number
Deeper than
of
caves
100m
200
Great Caucas us:
NW N Caucasus
42 2 4 8
W
Caucasus
127
96
38
Lesser
Caucasus
2
Crimea
46 40
D nestr
-
Black
Sea
13
Valday-Kuloy
37
Ural
52
7
Pamir Tien
Shan
32 23 5
S ib er ia
31
11
2
Far
East
10
2
Tota l
402
203
60
Table 1
Dis t r
i bu t i
on
o f
deep
and
long caves
in the
Cave Massi f Depth
Length m
1 Snezhnaya
ezhonnogo
Bzybsky C 13 70
19
2
Napra
Bzybsky C 956 3
3 Kievskaya
KyrKtau T
950
1
4 V. I lyukhin
Arabika
C 950 4
5
Pione r ksaya
Bzybsky
C 800 1
6
Kuybyshevskaya
Arabika
C
740
2
7
V.Pantyukhin Bzybsky
C 650 1
8
Ural skaya
Bajsuntau
T
565
2
9 Fore l naya
Bzybsky
C
550
10
Ruchcejnaya
Zabludshikh
Alek
C
540
11
Paryashchaya
Pt i t s a
Fish t C
535
12 Osennyaya
-
Nazarovskaya
Alek
C
500
13
Soldat skaya
Karabi
K
500
14 Mayskaya
Dzhentu C 500
15
Nocturne
Bzybsky
C 462
16
O ktyabr skaya
Alek C 450
17
A leks insk
Bzybsky
C
450
18
Souve nir
Bzybsky
C 430
19
Nezhdannaya
Akhtsu C 420
20 Akhtia rskaya
Arabika
C
410
21 Vesennaya
Bzybsky C 403
22 Kaskadnaya
A j-Pe t r i
K
400
23
Genrikhova
Bezdna
Arabika
C
360
24 Studentcheskaya
Bzybsky C 350
25
Shkol naya
Alek
C 320
26
Absolutnaya
Lagonaki
C
317
27
G e oqr af ic he skaya
Alek
C
310
C =
Caucasus
T
Tien
Shan
K
Crimea
Table
2 The
deepest
caves
of the
USSR
Pla te 1
Solu t ion f ea tures in Opt imis t i cheskaya
gypsum cave
000
170
820
000
350
020
210
500
900
500
290
500
100
110
460
650
800
950
930
800
230
980
550
800
560
420
100
Longer
than
500
500m
1000
5000
10 0
00
31 16
64
29
2
15
1
13
6
37
22
3
5 1
33 5
18
12 2
28 15 3
8
4
14
267 149 23
12
USSR
Pla te
2 Ri f t
passage in
Op t imis t icheskaya
Cave
Region
Length
m
Depth
1
mist icheskaya
Dnes tr
Black
Sea
151
300
20
2
Ozernaya Dnestr Black Sea 105 300
20
3
zolushka Dnestr
Black Sea
80
000
20
4
Kris ta l naya
Dnestr Black
Se a
22
000
10
5
Snezhnaya
ezhonnogo
Great
Caucasus
19
000
1370
6
Bol shaya Oreshnaya
Sayan 18
000
190
7 Mlynki
Dnestr Black
Sea
18 000 10
8
Krasnaya
Crimea
13
130
135
9
Guardakskaya
G i s s a r -A l ay
11
010 72
10 Kap- Kutan
Gissar
-
Alay 11 000 155
11
Vorontsovskaya
Great
Caucasus 10 640
240
12 Yaschchik
Pandory
S ala i r -
Kuznetsky
10
000 180
13
Sumgan
- Kutuk
Ural
9 860 130
4 Div ya
Ural 9 720 28
15 Verteba
Dnestr
Black Sea 7 820 10
16
Kizelovskaya
Ural
7 600 45
17 Kulogorskaya
Valday Kuloy 7 195
11
18
Kinder l inskaya
Ural
6
700 110
19
Osennyaya -
Nazarovskaya
Grea
t
Causcaus 6 500 500
20
Badzhejskaya Sayan
6 000
170
21
Konsti t u ts io n naya
Va
ld a
y
Kuloy
5
880
32
22
Kungurskaya
Ural
5 600 23
23 Olimpi jskaya Valday-K
uloy
5
500
27
Table
3
The Longes t
caves
of
the USSR
10
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13/36
j o in t
-
cont rol l ed
,
two
- dimensional maze
caves
formed
in th in
beds
of
Upper Ter t i a ry gypsum
.
In
the
ten years
up
to
1983
,
explora t ion of Ozernaya
was
r es t r i c t ed
by a high groundwater
l eve l
which
submerged most of
the
maze passages .
The
exi s t ence
of a
connect ion between
these two
grea t
caves
was of ten
suggested in the
l i t e r a t u r e but
the r e s u l t s
of
recent work
now
indica te t ha t
a
connec t ion i s most unl ike ly to ex i s t
.
Pla te
3
Pas
s
age in
Zo lushk a gy p sum
cave
Pla te
4
Passage in
Zolushka gypsum
cave
11
The
gypsum
c ave o f Zo lush ka i s be
ing
ac
t i
ve
ly
explored
and
cur r
e nt ly e
xten ds
t o a
len
g th o f
80km .
I t
i s
no t
a ble f o r
the
l a
rge dimensi
o ns
of
many chambers and
pa ss a
ges an
d
th
e re a r e g
oo
d
prospects
for
fur the r
di sc ove
r i
e s ; a ma j o r ne w
are a of passages
was
f o und in summ
e r
1984 . An
in
t e r e s t i ng fea ture
of
Zolushka
i s
t ha t t
i s a
phre
a
t i c
cave only dr a
ined
within
the
l a
s t
40
years by a r t i f i c i a l l owe r in g o f th e l o c a l wa
t e r
t ab l e .
New explora t ions have
a ls
o been made in the
next two
longes t
caves in
the a
rea
-
Kris t
a
lnay
a
and Mlynki
.
The
Dnestr
-
Bl
ac
k
Se
a
r egi
o n
tak
e s
f i r s t
place
in
the
USSR for
th
e t o t a l length of
explored
caves
.
The
f ive main gypsum cav e s t o t a l
376.6 km
of passages ; a
fur the r
16.5 km of
passag
e
has been
mapped in a n o
the r s ix
c a
ves
in
th
e
region
.
CRIMEA REGION
Limestone
mountains form the southern
pa
r t of
the Crimea
peninsula
, projec t ing
i n t o
the Black
Se a .
The Krasnaya
cave remains
the
longes t with
13.130m of
passage, whi le
th e Solda
t skaya sha f t
system
i s the deepest
a t
- 500m . I n the
l a s t few
years new sec t ions have been d i scovered in the
Emine-Bair-Coba cave
800m
long)
and in
th
e
Emine
-
Bair
- Khosar
1460m
) , and
the phrea t i c
complex of
the Chernaya
Cave
has been surveyed
t o
a
length of 1160m
.
Deeper
explora t ions include
those
of the Kaskadnaya -400m)
and
Druzhba
-2
70m) shaf t systems .
GRAND CAUCASUS REGION
The
Caucasus
Mountains, s t re tching between
the Black
and
Caspian Seas
, have
seen the most
impor tant cave explora t ions in
the
USSR
over the
l a s t
10 years
.
The Western Caucasus,
and
especia l ly the
Abkhasia
area
, t a kes f i r s t
place
in
the USSR for both
the
depth and
the
number 0 f
deep caves
. The
Bzybsky,
Arabika and
Alek
massifs
contain
most
of
the deep caves
,