The current environmental status of the majority of Bermuda’s one hundred sixty-six known caves was investigated. This survey replicated a historical cave study performed in 1983, wherein each was analyzed for positive and negative features. Statistical analysis of the data showed a significant difference between the historical and current survey ratings, with an overall decrease in environmental status. A water quality study was performed on twenty different caves with sea level pools in various locations around the island. Nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and phosphate levels were measured from varying depths in these caves. Fifteen of these caves were also tested for the presence of fecal bacterial contamination. High nitrate levels were discovered in some of the caves, particularly in surface samples. Additionally, bacterial contamination was detected in some caves. No obvious relationship between cave size or location and contamination existed for any of the pollutants sampled. Three separate caves from this group were dived and analyzed using a Hydrolab Sonde 3 Multiprobe Logger to acquire in situ water column data including depth, temperature, pH, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. Each cave studied had its own unique trends in hydrology at varying depths in the water column. A later water sampling study with a randomized experimental design was created and caves were divided into four classes based on size and location. Surface and subsurface samples were gathered from twelve randomly selected caves, three from each class. Each sample was analyzed for nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia concentrations. The results were analyzed using multiple analysis of variance statistics. A significant difference between the nitrate concentrations in the surface and subsurface water samples was discovered. None of the other comparisons were statistically significant. To represent the data visually, a Bermuda Cave and Karst Information System (BeCKIS) was created using the environmental survey data and water quality information. Some of the maps generated highlighted regions where negative environmental impacts on caves were concentrated geographically, thus demonstrating how this geographic information system could be used as a conservation tool.

The current environmental status of the majority of Bermuda’s one hundred sixty-six known caves was investigated. This survey replicated a historical cave study performed in 1983, wherein each was analyzed for positive and negative features. Statistical analysis of the data showed a significant difference between the historical and current survey ratings, with an overall decrease in environmental status. A water quality study was performed on twenty different caves with sea level pools in various locations around the island. Nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and phosphate levels were measured from varying depths in these caves. Fifteen of these caves were also tested for the presence of fecal bacterial contamination. High nitrate levels were discovered in some of the caves, particularly in surface samples. Additionally, bacterial contamination was detected in some caves. No obvious relationship between cave size or location and contamination existed for any of the pollutants sampled. Three separate caves from this group were dived and analyzed using a Hydrolab Sonde 3 Multiprobe Logger to acquire in situ water column data including depth, temperature, pH, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. Each cave studied had its own unique trends in hydrology at varying depths in the water column. A later water sampling study with a randomized experimental design was created and caves were divided into four classes based on size and location. Surface and subsurface samples were gathered from twelve randomly selected caves, three from each class. Each sample was analyzed for nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia concentrations. The results were analyzed using multiple analysis of variance statistics. A significant difference between the nitrate concentrations in the surface and subsurface water samples was discovered. None of the other comparisons were statistically significant. To represent the data visually, a Bermuda Cave and Karst Information System (BeCKIS) was created using the environmental survey data and water quality information. Some of the maps generated highlighted regions where negative environmental impacts on caves were concentrated geographically, thus demonstrating how this geographic information system could be used as a conservation tool.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:51:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:57:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

MONTEIRO,Felipe Antônio Dantas. A espeleologia e as cavernas no Ceará:conhecimentos, proteção ambiental e panorama atual. 145 f. : Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Ceará,Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente, Mestrado em Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente, Fortaleza-CE, 2014. / Submitted by guaracy araujo (guaraa3355@gmail.com) on 2016-03-30T18:19:40Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2014_dis_fadmonteiro.pdf: 10571982 bytes, checksum: 063c6a803d9d192bf03713d9e6f8fd56 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by guaracy araujo(guaraa3355@gmail.com) on 2016-03-30T18:23:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2014_dis_fadmonteiro.pdf: 10571982 bytes, checksum: 063c6a803d9d192bf03713d9e6f8fd56 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-30T18:23:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2014_dis_fadmonteiro.pdf: 10571982 bytes, checksum: 063c6a803d9d192bf03713d9e6f8fd56 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / In Ceará, plus the famous Grotto of Ubajara, there are many other caves in this way, it is essential to know the current situation to achieve this speleologically protect it. Speleology, which is the study of caves has revealed to mankind the great importance of these environments. In addition to having served as a shelter for man in prehistoric times, the caves are as natural and cultural storehouses of valuable scientific records, paleontological, archaeological, among others. The cave environments also stand out due to its beautiful scenery of rock formations, ornamented by speleothems (stalactites, stalagmites, etc.) and their subterranean ecosystems, peculiar and fragile, with endemic and rare species, like the troglodyte. Natural underground cavities, popularly known like caves, grottos, caves, burrows, limpets, pits or holes, are considered by the Federal Constitution as "property of the Union" in the country and there is a specific, relevant to the protection of the Brazilian speleologically legislation. Cavers in Brazil estimated that only about 5% of the existing caverns have been identified. In Ceará, many of the known caves are not officially registered in the National Speleological entries. For this reason, this dissertation aims to present the current landscape of speleologically in Ceará. For this are worked in research knowledge and concepts related to caving, as its importance, use, weaknesses and impacts; relevant legislation for the protection, licensing and environmental conservation speleologically; and the current survey information on the known caves in the territory of Ceará, with recommendations for their use and conservation. It is intended this way, based on this overview, base public policies on environmental protection and management of natural underground cavities and areas of potential occurrence. / No Ceará, além da famosa Gruta de Ubajara, existem muitas outras cavernas, desta forma, é essencial conhecer o panorama atual deste patrimônio espeleológico para conseguir protegê-lo. A espeleologia, que é o estudo das cavernas, tem revelado para a humanidade a grande importância desses ambientes. Além de ter servido de abrigo para o homem na pré-história, as cavernas são como celeiros naturais e culturais de valiosos registros científicos, paleontológicos, arqueológicos, dentre outros. Os ambientes cavernícolas também se destacam devido aos seus belos cenários de formações rochosas, ornamentados por espeleotemas (estalactites, estalagmites, etc.) e seus ecossistemas subterrâneos, peculiares e frágeis, com espécies endêmicas e raras, como os troglóbios. As cavidades naturais subterrâneas, conhecidas popularmente como cavernas, grutas, furnas, tocas, lapas, abismos ou buracos, são consideradas pela Constituição Federal como “bens da União” e existe no país uma legislação específica, pertinente à proteção do patrimônio espeleológico brasileiro. Espeleólogos estimam que no Brasil, apenas cerca de 5% das cavernas existentes tenham sido identificadas. No Ceará, muitas das cavernas conhecidas não estão oficialmente registradas nos cadastros espeleológicos nacionais. Por essa razão, esta dissertação tem como objetivo principal apresentar o panorama atual do patrimônio espeleológico no Estado do Ceará. Para isso são trabalhados na pesquisa os conhecimentos e conceitos relativos à espeleologia, como a sua importância, utilização, as fragilidades e os impactos; a legislação pertinente à proteção, ao licenciamento e à conservação ambiental do patrimônio espeleológico; e o atual levantamento de informações sobre as cavernas conhecidas no território cearense, com recomendações de uso e conservação. Pretende-se desta forma, com base neste panorama, fundamentar políticas públicas de proteção e gestão ambiental das cavidades naturais subterrâneas e suas áreas de potencial ocorrência.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:51:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:57:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / No presente trabalho foram determinadas as concentrações de radônio em seis cavernas do Parque Estadual Turístico do Alto Ribeira (PETAR) e foi estimada a dose efetiva anual recebida pelos guias turísticos da região. O PETAR apresenta quatro núcleos de visitação: Santana, Ouro Grosso, Caboclos e Casa de Pedra e recebe anualmente cerca de 40 mil visitantes. As cavernas escolhidas foram Couto, Água Suja, Laje Branca, Morro Preto e Santana, do núcleo Santana e a caverna Alambari de Baixo do núcleo Ouro Grosso, por receberem o maior número de turistas. Os níveis de radônio foram determinados utilizando detectores de traços nucleares do estado sólido Makrofol E expostos trimestralmente por um período de 26 meses, entre Outubro de 2003 e Novembro de 2005. As concentrações de 222Rn variaram na faixa de 153 Bq.m-3 a 6607 Bq.m-3, sendo observado que, de uma maneira geral, os níveis de radônio diminuem nos períodos frios. A dose efetiva anual, considerando os cenários mais realistas, com média geométrica das concentrações, fator de equilíbrio 0,5 e tempo de exposição anual para cada caverna, variou entre 0,2 mSv.a-1 para a caverna Couto, bastante ventilada e 4,0 mSv.a-1 para a caverna Santana, a mais visitada, com galerias sem comunicação externa. Para o pior cenário, com média aritmética das concentrações, fator de equilíbrio 1 e tempo de exposição anual para todas as cavernas, a dose efetiva anual total foi 16,1 mSv.a-1. Todas as estimativas da dose efetiva anual estão abaixo de 20 mSv.a-1, sugerido como o valor limite para dose efetiva anual para exposição ocupacional pela Comissão Internacional de Proteção Radiológica (ICRP 60, 1990). / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi analisar os processos que levaram à invenção das práticas espeleológicas e do fenômeno espeleoturístico, sua produção social internacional e inserção no contexto brasileiro. Considera-se que o desenvolvimento da espeleologia como atividade de múltiplo sentido, técnico, esportivo, científico, lazer e contato com a natureza foi determinante para a geração do deslocamento e fluxos de pessoas para regiões onde existam sítios espeleológicos. Considera-se, como ponto de partida, que essa é a base apropriada pelo mercado, visando à implantação do turismo em cavernas. A abordagem teórico-metodológica multirreferencial parte dos conceitos da fenomenologia da imaginação de Bachelard e dos aportes da geopoética e da geografia humanístico-cultural, com contribuições também da percepção ambiental e da topofilia (Tuan). Pretendeu-se estudar o imaginário coletivo e os aspectos simbólicos da relação das sociedades humanas com as cavernas. Procurou-se, ainda, verificar as dinâmicas e fatores determinantes do processo espeleoturístico. Os procedimentos metodológicos enfatizaram uma análise das narrativas visuais e da produção de sentidos a partir das práticas discursivas de percepção da paisagem relativas às cavernas brasileiras, sua visitação turística e a proteção ambiental, destacando um estudo de caso no Vale do Ribeira (SP). Foi realizada uma ampla análise documental, utilizando materiais diversificados (textos filosóficos, religiosos e literários) coletados em bibliotecas, livrarias e alguns casos também em meio eletrônico. As imagens foram recolhidas em websites ligados ao tema caverna ou áreas afins, seja de entidades oficiais ou blogs e fotologs pessoais. Realizou-se também uma análise fílmica de 42 produções cinematográficas. O levantamento fotogeográfico e sociocultural das práticas espeleológicas e espeleoturísticas foi produzido durante as viagens de campo, realizadas entre 2000- 2010 em vários pontos do Brasil, com ênfase para o Alto Ribeira, e também em outros países (Portugal, Cuba), gerando um corpus com milhares de fotografias, acrescidas de outras disponibilizadas por colaboradores. Utilizou-se, ainda, métodos diversificados de entrevista, tais como gravações de depoimentos orais e entrevistas eletrônicas, por meio de questionário próprio, com 21 espeleólogos, sendo que 18 deles propiciaram dados sobre a representação do ser espeleólogo. Questionários sobre as representações sociais de cavernas foram incorporados ao estudo, aproveitando material que vimos produzindo no âmbito da Seção de História da Espeleologia da Sociedade Brasileira de Espeleologia (SBE), desde 1998, envolvendo 461 indivíduos. Os sujeitos principais são estudantes da educação básica ou do ensino superior, contrapondo moradores de áreas urbanas paulistas ou das proximidades das áreas de sítios espeleológicos, como no caso de Iporanga (SP). Os resultados demonstraram as influências do imaginário poético e do conteúdo simbólico das cavernas no desenvolvimento da atividade espeleológica e espeleoturística. As representações da paisagem cárstica e das práticas espeleológicas apareceram com extrema riqueza, tanto nos depoimentos, quanto nos documentos relacionados com temas filosóficos, religiosos, literários ou cinematográficos. É de fundamental importância ampliação dos processos educativos na formação do espeleólogo e dos cavernistas, a difusão das práticas espeleológicas e disseminação da espeleologia, aproximando racionalidades e subjetividades. Isso nos permite repensar sobre nossa relação histórica com o mundo subterrâneo, as interações da espeleologia e do turismo ao longo da trajetória da sociedade contemporânea. / The aim of this study was to analyze the processes that led to the invention of speleological practices and speleotourist phenomenon, and its international social production and its insertion in the Brazilian context. It is considered that the development of speleology as an activity of multiple meaning, technical, sporting, scientific, entertainment and contact with nature was crucial to the generation of movement and flows of people to areas where there are speleological sites. It is, as a starting point, that is the appropriate basis for the market, to the deployment of tourism in caves. The theoretical and methodological approach multi-referential starts of the concepts of the phenomenology of the imagination of Bachelard and the contributions of geopoetic and of the humanistic and cultural geography, with contributions also from the environmental perception and topophilia (Tuan). It was intended to study the collective imaginary and the symbolic aspects of the relationship of human societies with the caves. It is also to verify the dynamics and determinants of the speleotourist process. The methodological procedures emphasized an analysis of visual narratives and the production of senses from the discursive practices of landscape perception relating to Brazilian caves, tourist visitation and environmental protection, highlighting a case study in the Ribeira Valley (SP). It was performed an extensive documentary analysis, using varied materials collected in libraries, bookstores and in some cases also in electronic media. The images were collected from websites on speleology or related areas, or in websites of authorities or personal blogs and fotologs. There was also a film analysis of 42 film productions. The photogeographical and sociocultural survey of the speleological practices and cavingtourism was produced during the field trips, conducted between 2000-2010 in several places in Brazil, with emphasis on the Upper Ribeira Valley, and also in other countries (Portugal, Cuba), generating a corpus with thousands of photos, plus others photos provided by collaborators. It was used, yet, varied methods of interview, such as recordings of oral and electronic interviews, through the questionnaire, with 21 cavers or speleologists, of which 18 propitiated data about representations of to be a speleologist. The questionnaires on the social representations of the cave were incorporated into the study, using material that was produced under the History of Speleology Section of the Brazilian Speleological Society (SBE), since 1998, involving 461 people. The participants involved are students of basic education or university level, contrasting with urban dwellers of São Paulo or nearby places of speleological sites, such as Iporanga (SP). The outcomes they demonstrated the influences of the imaginary poetic and of the symbolic content from the caves into the development from speleological activity and speleotourist. The karst landscape representations and speleological practices appeared with extreme wealth, both in the testimonials and documents of philosophical, religious, literary and film themes. It is essential to increase the educational processes for the formation of cavers and speleologists, the spread of the speleological practices and the dissemination of caving, approaching rationalities and subjectivities. This allows us to rethink our historical relationship with the underworld, the interactions of caving and tourism along de trajectory of contemporary society.

La conservation du patrimoine constitué par les grottes ornées paléolithiques, fragile car très ancien, est un enjeu capital. Dans ce cadre, une approche taphonomique de l’état de surface des parois est envisagée à travers l’étude des concrétions qui recouvrent les parois de grottes. Ceci est primordial pour la compréhension de leurs mécanismes de genèse et de développement qui s’opèrent à l’échelle d’une grotte, d’une salle, d’une paroi ou d’un panneau orné. En effet, ces concrétions peuvent recouvrir de manière partielle ou totale des peintures ou gravures sous-jacentes. L’étude réalisée ici porte sur la caractérisation multiphysique et la variabilité spatiale de deux types de concrétions calcitiques, le mondmilch et les coralloïdes, qui sont fréquemment retrouvés dans les grottes ornées. Elle a été menée principalement dans une grotte laboratoire, la grotte de Leye, à Marquay (Dordogne, France), dépourvue d’intérêt archéologique et située dans la vallée de la Vézère, l’une des régions les plus riches en grottes ornées de France. La composition chimique et la structure des revêtements calcitiques ont été déterminées par l’utilisation conjointe de méthodes de caractérisation physico-chimique comme la spectroscopie sur plasma induit par laser (LIBS) et la spectroscopie Raman, couplées à des observations morphologiques en microscopies optique et électronique. Les coralloïdes, qui ont été très peu étudiés jusqu’à aujourd’hui, ont fait l’objet d’une attention particulière. La mise en perspective des résultats des analyses physico-chimiques portant sur les concrétions, avec d’une part des données concernant l’environnement souterrain telles que le comportement climatique et hydrologique de la cavité, la présence de micro-organismes, et d’autre part des données relatives à l’isotopie et à la datation de la calcite, permet de discuter les hypothèses de formation des faciès. Enfin, l’analyse statistique d’une base de données de cavités constituée à l’échelle de la vallée de la Vézère contribue à alimenter la réflexion sur les paramètres corrélés à la présence des concrétions. / Paleolithic ornated cave conservation is an issue of major interest for curators who are facing several kinds of alterations. The study of speleothems covering cave walls is crucial to have a better understanding of their formation processes at the scale of a cave, a wall, or a panel. They can indeed, partially or totally, cover paintings and engravings. The present work focuses on the physicochemical characterization and spatial variability of two calcitic concretions, moonmilk and coralloids, that are frequently found in prehistoric caves. This study was conducted in a laboratory-cave called the Leye cave (Marquay, France), a cavity affected by these two types of concretions, but without archeological art and located in the Vézère valley (Dordogne, France), a region with a high density of prehistoric caves. Chemical composition and internal structure of these concretions were obtained by combining physicochemical characterization methods like Raman spectroscopy and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) coupled with morphological observations. We pay particular attention to coralloids, which were far less studied than moonmilk up to now. Environmental conditions such as climatology and hydrology of the cave, as well as the presence of microbial activity are taken into account in order to interpret the results. Putting these results in perspective with dating and isotopic data allows to discuss different assumptions regarding the formation scenario of these concretions. Finally, a statistical analysis on a database of caves established at the scale of the Vézère valley provides information regarding the correlation between some particular parameters and the presence of the concretions.

A travers l’étude par fluorescence X et diffraction de rayons X de trois grottes ornées Paléolithiques en rapport avec les questionnements des archéologues, c’est un travail de recherche physico-chimique autant que méthodologique qui est présenté au lecteur. La complexité analytique qu’il y a derrière l’étude in situ et non-invasive d’un art rupestre, a guidé notre réflexion sur le développement de procédures de traitement quantitatif des données, adaptées au site étudié (nature des pigments analysés, condition de conservation des œuvres). Cette complexité vient du fait qu’une couche picturale, tracée sur un support rocheux, est discontinue et ne recouvre pas uniformément la roche. Elle est de plus généralement peu épaisse. Pour ces raisons, une forte contribution de la paroi se retrouve dans l’information physico-chimique propre au pigment.Trois approches différentes ont ainsi été proposées pour approcher la matière picturale des grottes de Rouffignac et de Font-de-Gaume, situées en Périgord dans le sud-ouest de la France, et de la grotte de La Garma, localisée dans la région Cantabrique dans le nord de l’Espagne. L’une consiste en la semi-quantification d’oxydes discriminant le pigment de la paroi, bouclés à cent pourcent, permettant de s’affranchir de paramètres propres aux conditions expériences ; une deuxième est une semi-quantification par rapport à l’élément calcium, de sorte que la contribution de la paroi à travers la couche picturale reste la même d’un point de mesure à l’autre ; la dernière adopte une approche par simulation Monte Carlo afin de séparer clairement les informations de la paroi de celles du pigment. L’application de ces approches quantitatives a permis d’enrichir la connaissance stylistique que les archéologues en avaient, en apportant une vision physico-chimique à l’organisation des œuvres au sein de la grotte et des relations qu’elles entretiennent les unes avec les autres. Ce travail s’ouvre également au milieu karstique lui-même en intégrant à l’étude de l’art pariétal, un travail sur la genèse des faciès des parois. Le but étant d’acquérir le recul nécessaire pour mieux évaluer les interactions entre support et œuvres, et l’évolution des supports ornés, resituées dans leur contexte karstique général. / The present study is a physicochemical research as well as a methodological work, carried out through the study of three Palaeolithic caves by X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction. The analytical complexity behind in situ and non-invasive study of rock art, has guided our reflexion about the development of quantitative procedures of data processing, in order to adjust them appropriately to the specificity of the site and its rock art (specific constitution of the analysed pigment and conservation condition of the ornamented wall). This complexity is due to the fact that pigment layers don’t cover uniformly the rock surface. Also, the layers are generally very thin. For this reason, in the pigment signal, the proportion of the physicochemical information specific to the substrate is very high.Three approaches have been tested in the caves of Rouffignac, Font-de-Gaume and La Garma to characterise their Palaeolithic rock art. The two first are located in the Périgord region in the south-west of France, the last one in the Cantabrian region of Spain. One is related to the semi-quantification of oxides which discriminate the pigment from the substrate, allowing to not taking account experimental condition parameters; the second is a semi-quantification related to Ca, in order that the contribution in the concentration of the substrate detected through the paint layer remains the same for each measurement point; the last one is based on a Monte Carlo simulations method to separate distinctly the pigment information to those from the wall. These quantitative approaches enhanced the stylistic knowledge of archaeologists, bringing new physicochemical insights into the organisation of the representations and their relationship with the others inside the cave. Also, this work is concerned by the karstic environment; incorporating a research on wall taphonomy to the pigment study. The aim is to access to a better appreciation of the pigment-wall interactions and their evolution during time, given their global environmental context.

I detta arbete undersöktes processuell generering med tre algoritmer i syfte att skapa grottliknande banor och utvärdera kriterier baserat på eftertraktande egenskaper gällande tid, storlek, variation och pålitlighet. Algoritmerna är cellulär automat, random walk och Perlin noise. Flera olika hjälpfunktioner och algoritmer användes för utvärderingen av kriterierna. Syftet med arbetet var att ta reda på vilken av dessa algoritmer skulle passa bäst att användas i ett roguelikespel. Slutsatsen som drogs från undersökningen är att algoritmen random walk gav det bästa resultat gällande pålitlighet, variation och minst antal områden. Cellulär automat gav bäst resultat för genereringstid och minst antal golvytor. Perlin noise gav minst märkvärdigt resultat, men tillät relativt bättre kontroll över mängden golvytor än både cellulär automat och random walk. Överlag gav random walk det bästa resultat för att användas i syftet att skapa grottliknande banor för roguelikespel.

Natural caves represent one of the most difficult environments to map with modern 3D technologies. In this study I tested two relatively new methods for 3D mapping in Tipton-Haynes Cave near Johnson City, Tennessee: Structure from Motion Photogrammetry and Computer Vision using Tango, an RGB-D (Red Green Blue and Depth) technology. Many different aspects of these two methods were analyzed with respect to the needs of average cave explorers. Major considerations were cost, time, accuracy, durability, simplicity, lighting setup, and drift. The 3D maps were compared to a conventional cave map drafted with measurements from a modern digital survey instrument called the DistoX2, a clinometer, and a measuring tape. Both 3D mapping methods worked, but photogrammetry proved to be too time consuming and laborious for capturing more than a few meters of passage. RGB-D was faster, more accurate, and showed promise for the future of low-cost 3D cave mapping.