Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science

John Gunn

The Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science contains 350 alphabetically arranged entries. The topics include cave and karst geoscience, cave archaeology and human use of caves, art in caves, hydrology and groundwater, cave and karst history, and conservation and management. The Encyclopedia is extensively illustrated with photographs, maps, diagrams and tables, and has thematic content lists and a comprehensive index to facilitate searching and browsing. The essays, written by an international team of specialists, progress from general concepts to deeper understanding with jargon explained for the non-specialist. Each essay is fully referenced, with suggestions for further reading and cross-references to related articles. The Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science is an up-to-date reference work for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and professional hydrogeologists, planners, environmental scientists and conservationists. It is also the ideal place for the keen amateur cave scientist to begin finding out about unfamiliar topics. While not intended as an atlas, cavers and the wider public will find discussion of all the world's important cave and karst areas.

Contents: Entries include: Africa, South: Archaeological Caves; Art in Caves: History; Australia: Biospeleology; Biodiversity in Terrestrial Cave Habitats; Cave Minerals; Chemistry of Natural Karst Waters; Dating of Karst Landforms; Disease; Environmental Impact Assessment; Exploration Societies; Films in Caves; Folklore and Mythology; Human Occupation of Caves; Karst Evolution; Literature: Caves in Fiction; Military Uses of Caves; Music about and in Caves; Organisms: Classification; Paleontology: Animal Remains in Caves; Recreational Caving; Religious Sites; Soil Erosion and Sedimentation; Subterranean Ecology; Tourism and Caves: History; Villa Luz, Cueva de Mexico; Volcanic Caves; World Heritage Sites.

Author Biography: John Gunn is an active caver and cave scientist who is Professor of Geographical & Environmental Sciences and Director of the Limestone Research Group at the University of Huddersfield, UK. He is Joint Editor of the journal Cave and Karst Science and Chairman of the International Geographical Union's Karst Commission.

Full Contributors: Advisers:
  • Andrew Chamberlain, Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield.
  • Emily Davis, Speleobooks, New York.
  • Derek Ford, School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University.
  • David Gillieson, School of Tropical Environmental Studies & Geography, James Cook University.
  • William Halliday, Nashville, Tennessee.
  • Elery Hamilton-Smith, Chair IUCN/WCPA Working Group on Cave and Karst Protection.
  • Alexander Klimchouk, Institute of Geographical Sciences, National Academy of Science, Ukraine.
  • David Lowe, British Geographical Survey.
  • Art Palmer, Earth Science Department, State University of New York.
  • Trevor Shaw, Karst Research Institute, Postojna, Slovenia.
  • Boris Sket, Department of Biology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
  • Tony Waltham, Department of Civil Engineering, Nottingham Trent University.
  • Paul Williams, Department of Geography, University of Aukland.
  • Paul Wood, Department of Geography, Lougorough University.

HB GBP 95.00


Text by Tony Oldham (2003). With kind permission.