Preparing for cave field exercise
Information to prepare for field trip to Inner Space Cavern with Jay Banner
Things to bring:
Field notebook and pen
Water bottle
Two AAA batteries for headlamp. Bring a head lamp and batteries if you have a head lamp. Bring batteries if you don’t.
Clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, including closed-toe shoes. We’ll be going off the regular trail and doing a bit of crawling through some mud, so there’s no avoiding getting dirty.
A change of clothes and shoes and a small towel in a plastic bag. You’ll need to change before driving back to Austin so you don’t trash anyone’s car.
A small backpack you don’t mind getting dirty.
Smart phone with compass application if you have it.
Your unbridled enthusiasm.
The cave is usually around 70 degrees, with over 90% humidity. I usually wear shorts and a t-shirt. If you wear a hoodie or a jacket into the cave, you’ll probably be uncomfortably warm (you can leave it in the car or take it off and carry it in your pack in the cave).
Things we will provide:
Caving helmet and headlamp
Knee pads
Gloves
Things to read and watch ahead of time:
https://www.jsg.utexas.edu/banner/files/BannerJSR2007.pdf
http://www.esi.utexas.edu/outreach/caves/
Video field exercise to Inner Space Cavern:
Ver. 1, Prezi: http://prezi.com/x9k08cfubff2/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
Ver. 2, YouTube Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZQ_LT6NTubBheQ5ZWUa8Du6t_QJ506dU
Some questions we will be addressing during the trip:
How do caves provide insight into how aquifers work?
What are diffuse and conduit flow paths in an aquifer?
How can we infer diffuse vs. conduit paths from observations in caves, and what implications does this have for contaminant transport?
How do caves provide insight into past climate change?
What controls CO2 concentrations in cave air? Why is this important in paleoclimate reconstructions?
What geologic feature(s) controlled the formation of some passages and modern flow paths in Inner Space Cavern?
What was the most interesting/surprising thing that you observed in the cave?