Re: Experts split over quake risk

Landy wrote:

.Since the process is variable, this whole tens of
thousands to millions of years thing is a copout. Sure, such ages >are
necessary for huge stal. However, in a wet cave, one can clean up
an area and see visible regrowth in a year or two.


Jo,
I guess I'm used to dry caves (most here in Australia are).
I wasn't suggesting one should not try to retore, but
the damage to some caves here (mostly by souvenir hunters)
is not repairable (on a human life scale that is).
cheers
Bill

In Missouri, if someone says it is a dry cave, the immediate response is: "how deep?" with the words either water or mud tacitly understood.
We are living proof you don't die of hypothermia in the water at 13-14 degrees centigrade.

Actually, both the threaded rod pinning and epoxy methods are used in the brittle and dry caves of the American Southwest, such as those in the Carlsbad, NM area. Both Wind and Jewelin South Dakota, where they have lint camps, are dry. (Lint doesn't tend to accumulate in wet caves; it gets ground into the mud.) Some years ago I was at a cave restoration camp in Mammoth Cave Kentucky, which was both wet and dry--we took out concrete and rock walls near the trails, construction debris and aluminum I-beams used for trail support. We removed creosoted wood from a boardwalk and bridge in Echo River--it dawned on someone that creosoted/arsenic treated wood was not very good for biota.

In my opinion, sometimes the restorers go overboard--not only do they take out bonifide trash, but sometimes remove archeological/historical artifacts, as well as erase historic (usually of the first or prominent explorers from an era when that sort of thing was acceptable) signatures. I'm a bit leery when someone tries to make a cave that pristine--hey! people are part of the creatures which use caves, too! but mostly, cleaning up caves is a good thing.

best wishes
Jo


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