BLM makes safer opening to unique cave formation

[jonsdigs]

BLM makes safer opening to unique cave formation
07/21/2007
By: The Associated Press

FORT STANTON, N.M. (AP) - Bureau of Land Management volunteers have completed a new, safer entrance to a unique cave formation in southern New Mexico known as the Snowy River Passage.

The new subterranean passageway will allow safer access to Snowy River for scientists to study the formation.

The BLM closed access to Snowy River in 2004 so a safer route could be found.

The new passageway was dug by volunteer cavers and a breakthrough to Snowy River occurred June 30.

Officials say access to the Snowy River will continue to be limited to scientific researchers.

Members of the state's congressional delegation say the new passageway is important to legislation pending in Congress that would protect the formation. The legislation would creates a Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area to protect, secure and preserve the natural and unique features of the passage and the Fort Stanton Cave.

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Further Note:The latest report from the breakthrough crew is that the Snowy River passage is flooded. -J

[jonsdigs]

Scientists Discover that Snowy River Is Flowing Once More
Snowy River, Ft. Stanton Cave

by Dr. Penelope Boston, director of Cave & Karst Studies Program at New Mexico Tech

FT. STANTON, N.M. – Snowy River, a sparkling underground "frozen river" made of calcite crystals, has been found to be flowing with liquid water for probably the first time in 150 years.

Snowy River, a crystalline river over two miles in length discovered in Ft. Stanton Cave, N.M. in 2001, has already been the subject of major scientific findings. The cave was closed to the public by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in 2004, until a safer entry route could be found. That route has just been dug by BLM volunteer cavers breaking through on June 30, 2007.

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[Sharon Faulkner]

Good article Jon! Here is another excerpt from the article describing it as a once-in-a-century event:

"We believe the last occurrence of water in this river may have been about 150 years ago, as shown by Dr. Polyak's dating of the calcite," says Dr. Boston. "This means we are witnessing a once-in-a-century event and an unparalleled opportunity to study the hydrology and former climate of this region of New Mexico."

What is the significance of water running in this sparkling jewel of a mineral river? It means that cave and karst scientists like Dr. Lewis Land (National Center for Cave and Karst Research in Carlsbad, and New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources in Socorro) will be able to compare water chemistry and environmental tracers between Snowy River and water from surface streams and springs to determine what is the source and fate of the water in Snowy River.

"It is critical to understand the hydrology of such regions of our state because the quality and quantity of our precious water resources depends on such knowledge," Dr. Boston says. "And, the BLM will gain invaluable insight into how to protect and manage Ft. Stanton Cave and Snowy River and its greater catchment basin.

[jonsdigs]

Underground 'Snowy River' Alive Again
Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News

July 27, 2007 — The largest calcite cave formation of in the world has astonished researchers by coming alive with water, according to volunteer cavers who have dug a new, safer entry passage into the New Mexican treasure.

Previous study of the calcite encrusting the two-mile-long "Snowy River" in Fort Stanton Cave just after its 2001 discovery had indicated that 150 years had passed since it had flowing water. So it was with great surprise on June 30th when volunteer cavers reached the cave by a new route and found a foot of flowing water.

"It will presumably dry up and precipitate another layer of calcite," said cave researcher Penelope Boston of New Mexico Tech in Socorro.

The wetting, drying process appears to have been going on with less and less frequency since the end of the much wetter Pleistocene epoch, she told Discovery News.

The discovery of flowing water underlines the great scientific importance of the spectacular cave formation, she said. Snowy River’s calcite is thought to contain a natural archive of Southwestern climate, including El Niño conditions, going back tens of thousands of years.

The calcite crystals are a lot like ice cores, but better, said Boston. For one thing, they stay put, whereas ice can flow. Calcite can also entomb and fossilize rare microbes as well as preserve a lot of chemical information about past climates and temperatures. She and her colleagues are hoping to carefully extract a core of the many layers of calcite from a plunge pools in the river, where the calcite appears to be thickest.

Researchers have been working to get similar information out of single stalactites, Boston said, but they are somewhat less reliable, since they can be affected by local conditions. "But a river is more homogenized," she said — especially a two-mile-long river that flowed and dried up at the same time, for eons.



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[Sharon Faulkner]

What a lucky break for scientists. If water hasn't flowed in the Snowy River passage in over 150 years, they are being given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to research this unique formation and the water flow that helped create it.

[Sharon Faulkner]

New Mexico Tech grad aids in discovery
August 25, 2007
By Tiffany Chisum New Mexico Tech

Andrew Grieco, one of the discoverers of the underground Snowy River calcite formation near Fort Stanton, recently graduated with two Bachelor's of Science degrees from New Mexico Tech.

At the age of 17, Grieco, along with hydrologist John McLean and cavers Lloyd Schwartz and Don Becker, discovered the Snowy River calcite formation while on a caving expedition at Fort Stanton Cave.

The name "Snowy River" was, Grieco explains, a very simple decision.

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