Download PDF - Speleogenesis

98
NCKRI Special Paper No. 1
Acknowledgements
Many individuals and institutions have helped the
author in various ways to gain data, observations,
experience and inspiration to develop ideas and concepts
discussed through this book. I'd have to write another
chapter to properly acknowledge their roles, but this would
be a different genre that would go beyond an allowed
volume and style of this book. I remember them all and I
am grateful to everyone who happened to help me.
First and foremost, I'd like to thank Dr. Derek Ford for
his outstanding contribution to what I have learned about
karst and caves, and for his continuing personal
encouragement since I first met him in 1984. The Institute
of Geological Sciences of the Academy of Science of
Ukraine was my prime affiliation through more than three
decades and provided general support for much of the
original research. Dr. Vjacheslav Shestopalov, my
supervisor at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, is
thanked for his tolerance of my karst and cave passion and
shaping my general hydrogeology grasp. The members of
the Institute's Karst and Speleology department (operated
through 1979-1992) contributed greatly to multi-year field
studies in the western Ukrainian gypsum karst, from which
much of this work has grown up. I thank Dr. Arthur
Palmer for leading my first unforgettable trip to
Lechuguilla Cave in 1987, and for his encouragement and
help through the years in making more readable my early
English publications on the topic. Although I dare to
question some of his views in this book, the impact of his
fine works on my understanding of caves is massive.
In karst and cave science, it is particularly important to
have first-hand knowledge of regions and features. Caves
are not an easy subject for documentation and
observations, and most of these science-related activities
are based on original explorations and surveys done by
cavers. My thanks go to many Ukrainian cavers who over
the years explored the great gypsum mazes of the western
Ukraine and assisted in studying them, and to many caving
friends in other countries. Generalizations endeavored in
this book would be impossible without people who were
instrumental in various periods in arranging my field trips
to some exemplary hypogenic caves discussed in this
book: John Scheltens, Ron Kerbo and Jim Goodbar (USA),
Dr. Paolo Forti (Italy), Dr. Jose Maria Calaforra and Sergio
Garsia Dils (Spain), Dr. John Gunn and Dr. John Lamont-
Black (UK), Ralph Müller, Wolfgang Pikart and Graham
Hash (Germany), members of the Speleo-Club of
Luxembourg, and many other caving friends.
Although experience summarized in this book was
gained during many years from different regions, it was
my almost year-long stay in the USA during 2006-2007
when the critical mass accumulated. I am grateful to Dr.
Penny Boston and Dr. Louise Hose who initiated and
arranged my work with the National Cave and Karst
Research Institute (NCKRI). It was the most exciting and
productive period, thanks to wonderful conditions and
atmosphere in the base at New Mexico Tech (Socorro),
and to people in Carlsbad, who not only helped a lot with
fieldwork and collecting data but also provided a
wonderful social environment – Louise Hose, Lewis Land,
Stan Allison, Gosia Allison-Kosior, Aaron Stockton, Jim
Goodbar, Dave Belski, Ray Nance, Michael Queen, Pat
Seiser, and others. Carlsbad Caverns National Park and
Dale Pate provided permission and support for field studies
in the Park's caves, and the Carlsbad Field Office of the
Bureau of Land Management and Jim Goodbar of BLM
are thanked for supporting the work in the BLM caves. My
special thanks go to Kevin Stafford of New Mexico Tech
for his enthusiastic support of hypogenic discussions,
pleasant and efficient field partnerships and generous help
in preparation of the manuscript. His and Stan Allison's
help in correcting my English and names of localities is
highly appreciated.
It was very important for me to learn more about karst
and caves in other regions throughout the US, which was
made possible through a series of visits and field trips by
invitation and support of the following people and
institutions: Geary Schindel, Edwards Aquifer Authority
(San Antonio, Texas); Dr. Chris Groves, Pat Kambesis and
Rick Toomey, Western Kentucky University and the
Mammoth Cave National Park; Dr. Len Vacher, Dr.
Robert Brinkmann, Dr. Bogdan Onac and the outstanding
student Karst Group of the University of South Florida
(Tampa); Dr. Calvin Alexander, University of Minnesota
(Minneapolis) and Dr. Jack Sharp, University of Texas
(Austin). I thank all these colleagues for their expertise,
fabulous hospitality and most enlightening discussions.
I sincerely thank the reviewers of this book for their
highly helpful and constructive comments, which
considerably improved the content: Dr. Derek Ford, Dr.
Calvin Alexander, Dr. John Sharp (University of Texas,
USA), Dr. Philippe Audra and Dr. Armstrong Osborne.
Thanks to Dr. George Veni, NCKRI Executive Director,
and Dr. Penny Boston for their support of this book and
useful comments, and to Lisa Majkowski-Taylor for her
efficient assistance in arranging its production. Dr. Derek
Ford and Dr. George Veni suggested many useful
improvements.
I am very grateful to Lewis Land and Patricia Seiser
for their exceptionally thorough work on reviewing and
editing the book in preparation for this second edition.