Merry Karstmas, everyone!

#cave #caves #caving #christmas #karstmas #longExposure #photography

#karstmas day 25!

I debated what to post today...and decided to just go with this quickly shot video. Best with sound turned UP...and...wait for it! (Everyone needs a little TSO in their life, right?!)

[Channeling Dwight from The Office] "This. Is. KARSTMASSSSSSSS!!!!"

(For those who prefer, I did write a lot of alt text! I always write alt text, by the way, and often put more information in it.)

#caves #caving #waterfall #adventure #nature #christmas #yule #rock #geology

#Karstmas day 24

Snow and ice does not happen much here, but when it does, the cave entrances sure are pretty.

On Rope!

#cave #caves #caving #rappel #climbing #ice #snow #winter #ChristmasEve #nature #explore #photography #ArtAdventCalendar

#karstmas day 23

This cave was small and crawling, barely could stand up once in it. But is has a lot of life. Being a cave biologist means I often go to the "crappy caves" that most people ignore because they are small, annoying, or not "well decorated". Me? These little ones often have the best overlooked things, both in features and in critters.

This is a natural rock bridge, just, left there by how the water worked when creating the passage. It goes from wall to wall. The water flows under it. Above it is anastomosis, my favourite speleogen, which reflects perfectly in the water surface below. While you may be familiar with the term speleothem which is a formation made by mineral deposition (ex: stalagmite); a speleogen is geological feature created by the dissolution of the rock. To be honest, as cool as speleothems are, I often am drawn more to speleogens!

#Cave #caves #caving #karst #geology #rock #speleology #bridge #water #river #calm #explore #nature #photography #ArtAdventCalendar

Countdown to #karstmas (Inis Mor, Ireland)

@sunguramy

#Karstmas day 22

I love cave pearls, they are one of my favourite formations. So when we found a bunch in a new cave we discovered, dug open, explored, and surveyed, I was quite excited!

Similar in a way to the pearls you may think of, they form often around a bit of sand or a teeny tiny rock, when the water hits it and precipitates out some calcite. They develop extremely slowly, and are a relatively rare formation due to the precise situations they require in order to form.

#cave #caves #caving #karst #geology #pearl #water #SilentSunday #photography #nature #ArtAdventCalendar

#Karstmas day 21

Have a splendid solstice, everyone! May you find the light as you make your way through the darkness.

This was a long standing tradition to decorate the "Christmas Tree" in this cave. It was an inactive formation (no longer growing, no water drips, etc), so no risk of being calcified in just a few weeks. The decorating was done very carefully, using extending poles, so it was never touched; no mud or skin oils or such would get on it.

As things changed, as social media perpetuates unthoughtfullness, and keyboard warriors enjoy conflict... despite in *this exact circumstance for this exact formation in the exact way it was done* was actually perfectly harmless, it was determined to stop this decades-long local joyful tradition due to the "wrong ideas" it can produce when thoughtless people see it and then do thoughtless things.

It is a tradition I miss, but we recreate it with lasers now so it does not have anything put on it at all. However, I do miss the ambiance of actual points of light, as it is a completely different serene glow that is produced.

Conservation is never cut and dry. There is always nuance, which is something largely missing in many conversations today. I challenge people to make their new years resolutions around expanding critical thinking skills, divesting from all manners of binary thinking, and learning about how we can actually enjoy things without harm.

#cave #caves #caving #nature #solstice #winter #photography #longExposure #karst #holidays #joy #silentSunday #geology #nature

#Karstmas day 20  
Back to it...sorry for the missed days, but hopefully seeing the bottom-up view of the last pit makes it worth it. This is a throwback to my first large pit photo, and it is vertical panoramic so you probably need to click to view it fully.

This is another one of my images that has been stolen over the years, as it is a bit 'easy' to crop the bottom to get rid of my watermark for shady folk who like art theft. Then it ends up in clickbait articles about "THE WORLD'S DEEPEST CAVE!" which...is not even on the same continent as this cave. (By the way, those articles, *most* of the images I know who the photographers are, and usually *none* of them are actually "the world's deepest cave".)

#cave #caves #caving #water #waterfall #panoramic #nature #adventure #photography #longExposure #pit #geology #karst