ABSTRACTS

57 Volume, 2006, Number: 1-4

SCIENTIFIC PAPERS

Strategically important water resources in the Tennengebirge and their protection against privatizing: geological, hydrological and juristic facts
(Strategisch wichtige Wasserressourcen im Tennengebirge und ihr gesetzlicher Schutz vor Privatisierungen: Geologische, hydrologische und juristische Fakten)
Edgar Dachs, Walter Klappacher, Rudolf Pavuza, Brigitte Peer

The Tennengebirge Massif (Salzburg, Austria) is of outstanding economic importance regarding its drinking-water ressources and has the potential to supply a city or area with the population of – for instance - Vienna with high quality drinking water. Strategically important headwaters - i.e. those that are large enough to satisfy the long-term need for drinking-water - are located at: (a) Paß Lueg and adjacent valley sediments, (b) Oberscheffau and Abtenau also including valley sediments, and (c) Lammerursprung and Wengerau.
The geological and hydrological facts indicate that the karstwater body of the Tennengebirge Massif has to be considered as vertically and horizontally connected network of waterways with main springs of prime strategical importance mainly at the northern margin of the massif. As proven by karsthydrological tracer experiments, the drainage area of these important springs comprises the whole central plateau of the Tennengebirge Massif including its southern flank down to about 1000 - 1300 m above sea level where the clastical Werfen beds form the semi-permeable base of thick Triassic dolomites and limestones. Glaciofluvial valley sediments, adjacent to the Massif are alimented by superficial and underground karstwaters (Upper Lammertal, Lammerursprung, Wengerau), representing ground water bodies of prime importance for drinking-water supplies.
The Österreichische Bundesforste AG is about to sell a large area of 800 hectars in the southeastern part of the Tennengebirge Massif to a private industrialist. Our analysis of the geological-hydrological facts clearly shows that this area is integral part of the strategical important and sensitive karstwater body of the Massif and the adjacent ground water body in the uppermost Lammer Valley. Based on these facts and on the subsequent application of Austrian law (§ 1 Abs. 3 lit. 3a Bundesforstegesetz 1996) this sale is considered to be illegal.

Caves with prehistoric findings in Changwat Kanchanaburi, western Thailand
(Prähistorische Höhlenfundplätze im Changwat Kanchanaburi, Westthailand – Höhlengebiete Südostasiens XVI)
Heinrich Kusch

In second half of the last century some cave sites in the Changwat Kanchanaburi of West Thailand have already been excavated and analysed archeologically. Three new cave sites are reported here which contain hitherto unknown archaeological and palaeontological material. The results show that Tham Phi is a neolithic burial place, Tham Kaeng Lawa is a possible prehistoric settlement or burial place and Tham Dao Deung is a site of paleontological interest.

The Nasse Schacht near Mannersdorf am Leithagebirge, Lower Austria – a cave with thermal influence at the eastern margin of the Vienna Basin
(Der Nasse Schacht bei Mannersdorf am Leithagebirge, NÖ (2911/21) – eine thermal beeinflusste Höhle am Ostrand des Wiener Beckens)
Lukas Plan, Rudolf Pavuza, Robert Seemann

The Nasser Schacht ("Wet Pit") was opened and surveyed in 1965 during quarry works. A recent study revealed a thermal influence of this 260 m long and 40 m deep cave. The central part developed along a fissure, with a water puddle at its deepest point, and subhorizontal labyrinthic parts are present as well. Water and air temperatures at the deepest point are ca. 15.5°C. The galleries formed probably under phreatic conditions but condensation corrosion also played a significant role in speleogenesis. Striking features are coralloids and popcorn as well as various mineral efflorescences, including calcite, dolomite, dolomite, aragonite, huntite, hydromagnesite, and epsomite. Huntite is here reported from an Austrian cave for the first time. Besides the high temperature also radon and CO2 levels are elevated. The mineralization of the waters in the cave, however, indicates are 'normal' seepage waters distinct from thermal waters of the nearby Mannersdorf thermal spring. Stable isotope analyses of the popcorn speleothems show slight deviations from the figures that could be observed in “normal” caves and are interpreted as slightly hydrothermal.

An aragonitic stalagmite from the B7 cave (NW-Sauerland, Norrhein-Westfalen
(Ein mittelpleistozäner Aragonitstalagmit aus der B7-Höhle (NW-Sauerland, Nordrhein-Westfalen))
Stefan Niggemann, Detlev K. Richter

An aragonitic stalagmite from the B7 cave in middle/upper Devonian massive limestones of the Rhenish Slate Mountains near Iserlohn is characterized using petrographic and geochemical methods. The primary composition with needle-and fan-shaped aragonite and contemporaneous local radiaxial-fibrous Mg-calcite indicates an elevated Mg/Ca ratio of the drip water at the time of stalagmite growth. This is apparently related to the calcitization of the dolomitic gallery, in which the broken sample was found, as also suggested by the rather high ?13C values. The stalagmite grew ca. 440,000 years ago, during a warm climate episode of Marine Isotope Stages 11-12, as determined by U/Th thermal ionization mass spectrometry. The origin of the phreatic cave gallery level 3 within the five-level cave system can thus be placed into at least the middle Pleistocene.

The age of stalagmites from Katerloch Cave (2833/59, Styria): first Uranium/Thorium dating results
(Das Alter der Stalagmiten im Katerloch (2833/59): Erste Ergebnisse der Uran/Thorium Datierung)
Ronny Boch, Christoph Spötl, Jan Kramers

For the first time precise ages are reported for stalagmites from Katerloch, one of Austria’s most prominent dripstone caves. Age determinations using the mass-spectrometric Uranium/Thorium method were performed on drill cores taken near the base of dripstone formations. Seven stalagmites were sampled and yielded an age spectrum ranging from ca. 10,000 years before present to older than 450,000 yr. Two stalagmites formed during the Last Interglacial (basal ages of ca. 130,000 yr), while two other stalagmites, which are still active today, started growing at the onset of the current interglacial (the Holocene) ca. 11,000 - 10,000 yr ago. Based on these chronological data a mean growth rate of 0.3-0.5 mm/yr is calculated for these up to several meter long Holocene stalagmites, which is markedly faster than growth rates known from stalagmites in cooler, alpine caves.

Dating of two tall stalagmites from Grassl Cave (2833/60), Styria
(Altersbestimmungen an zwei großen Stalagmiten der Grasslhöhle (2833/60))
Ronny Boch, Christoph Spötl, Jan Kramers

The occurrence of a generation of speleologically young speleothems in Grassl Cave (Styria, Austria) is documented by conventional radiocarbon analyses of predominantly small stalagmites (Trimmel, 2002). The present article reports the first age determinations on tall stalagmites typical of this cave using the Uranium/Thorium method. Two samples each of two stalagmites were obtained and analyzed. These four measurements yielded reliable results and demonstrate that the age of both stalagmites is beyond the dating limit of the U/Th method, i.e. it is older than ca. 450,000 years. The results can be regarded as a first piece of evidence that tall dripstone formations in Grassl Cave have rather old ages.

History of caving in Kapfenberg, Styria
(Die Geschichte der Höhlenforschung in Kapfenberg (Steiermark))
Michael Riedl

Hardly anywhere else in Austria are there, in a very confined space, as many caving clubs as there are in the Styrian Mürz valley. In Kapfenberg alone, there used to be two clubs working side by side until a few months ago: “Sektion Kapfenberg des Landesvereines für Höhlenkunde in der Steiermark” as well as “Schutzverein Rettenwandhöhle”. Since the 1920s, when scientific cave exploring began, there have been far more speleological societies in the history of Kapfenberg cave explorers than anywhere else. So, taking into account official as well as unofficial changes of names in speleological organisations already existing, there were, apart from the caving clubs mentioned above the “Verein für Touristik und Höhlenforschung”, the “Landesverein für Höhlenkunde in Steiermark, Ortsgruppe Kapfenberg”, the “Verein für Höhlenkunde ‘Perlsinter’“ and finally the “Forschergruppe Hochschwab-Kapfenberg im Landesverein für Höhlenkunde in Steiermark”. The following lines are to examine the history of those societies up to the year 1973, when far-reaching reorganizations took place.

EXPLORATION REPORTS

Recent explorations in Südwandhöhle (Dachsteinloch, 1543/28), Styria - Upper Austria
(Aktuelle Forschungen in der Südwandhöhle (Dachsteinloch,1543/28), Stmk/OÖ)
Robert Seebacher

The Dachstein range (located roughly 50 km southeast of the city of Salzburg) is one of the largest and most impressive limestone massifs in the Alps. Its highest peaks reach almost 3000m in altitude and there are several huge cave systems in the northern part. Among them are the Hirlatzhöhle (length 95 km, depth ±1070 m) and the Mammuthöhle (62 km, ±1207 m).
The Südwandhöhle is located at the foot of the southern flank of the Dachstein massive and is known since 1886. First speleological explorations were done by Hermann Bock in 1910. At that time, the passage all the way to the Dome (400m) was surveyed. Bock assumed already an opening to further passages in the roof of the dome. However, the breakthrough to new passages was made as late as 1980, when members of the Austrian Alpine Club of Schladming (ÖAV Schladming) managed to climb up two walls and discovered new galleries. In the following two decades several kilometres of big passages were discovered. Unfortunately there was very little or no documentation of these parts of the cave carried out. Students of the University of Dresden have conducted an 800m long theodolite survey and a number of passage profiles in the framework of a diploma thesis.
In 2001, cave explorers of the Verein für Höhlenkunde in Obersteier (VHO), Bad Mitterndorf, started to explore and survey the cave systematically. The exploration is done in cooperation with the Museum of Natural History (NHM) in Vienna and aims for comprehensive scientific documentation.

The Gamslöcher-Kolowrat-Salzburgerschacht-System (1339/1)
(Das Gamslöcher-Kolowrat-Salzburgerschacht-System (1339/1))
Gerhard Zehentner, Georg Zagler, Walter Klappacher

Untersberg (subgroup 1339 in the Austrian Cave Register), south of the regional capital of Salzburg, is a cave-rich limestone massif in the border region between Salzburg and Bavaria. Beneath the highest peaks of the Salzburg region – the 'Geiereck' (1807 m) and the 'Salburger Hochthron' (1853 m) – lie the entrances to the cave system described here. The caves 'Kolowrathöhle' and 'Gamslöcher' belong to the earliest discovered caves in Untersberg. After an entrance to the 'Kolowrathöhle' was blasted through the steep crossing of the 'Nebel' rift, the caves experienced a rush of tourists and can therefore be described as the oldest show caves in the Salzburg region. In 1876 a steep path, the 'Dopplersteig', was struck through the rock wall known as the 'Dopplerwand', allowing easier access to the 'Gamslöcher', which are visible from far away. It has been told that a large repository of cave-bear bones was found in the 'Gamslöcher'; a repository that stretched into the 'Kolowrathöhle'. The 'Salzburgerschacht', was explored in 1935 by Gustave Abel and his companions with rope ladders to a depth of 170 m. At the time it was known as the deepest vertical cave in the Salzburg region. In the middle of 1970, an international expedition (Belgians, Germans, Poles and local Austrians) successfully explored the 'Salzburgerschacht' to a depth of 606 m. Further exploration of the 'Gamslöcher' took place in 1979. In the same year, explorers found a path joining the 'Kolowrathöhle' with the 'Gamslöcher'. Between 1979 and 1992, the Gamslöcher-Kolowrat System was explored and surveyed to a length of 17,524 m. In 2004, a young group of cavers following G. Zagler found the long-awaited connection between the Gamslöcher-Kolowrat system and the 'Salzburgerschacht'. The total length of the Gamslöcher-Kolowrat-Salzburgerschacht-System is now known to be 25,244 m and its vertical difference grew to 790 m.

Bärenlucke (1836/180) and Mariannenhöhle (1836/18) – Recent explorations in the karst hydrological system of the Schlagerboden Polje, Lower Austria
(Bärenlucke und Mariannenhöhle – Neuforschungen im karsthydrologischen System des Schlagerbodenpolje, NÖ)
Alexander Klampfer

In 2003 after mapping all known passages of Mariannenhöhle and surveying new passages (brown bear bones were found), an intensive period of exploration started at the area of the Schlagerboden next to Frankenfels, which is a small village in Lower Austria. One of the results is the discovery of a new cave, Bärenlucke. Both caves, which are fossil and semi-active series of a karsthydrological network located at the Schlagerboden, correspond to the spring Höllquelle. The galleries of Bärenlucke end in a small sump 15 m from passages of Mariannenhöhle.

Exploration project Ghar-e-Roodafshan, Province Teheran, Iran
(Forschungsprojekt Ghar-e-Roodafshan, Provinz Teheran, Iran)
Ernest Geyer

Since 2003 the „Verein für Höhlenkunde in Obersteier“ with the „Khaneye Koohnavardan-e-Teheran“ have been surveying Ghar-e-Roodafshan. The Roodafshan Entrance Hall with 168 m length, 94 m width, 40 m high and 11,395 m2 floor area is presently the biggest documented cave chamber in Iran. The length of this spacious cave is 1502 m with a vertical distance of -90.6 m.