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Summer 1994
KWI Board
of Directors Meets
The Karst Waters Institute Board of Directors MeetThe annual meeting of the Karst Waters Institute Board of Directors was called to order at 10:20 am, Saturday, March 12, 1994, in Charles Town, West Virginia. Reports on the status of the KWI were given by Secretary Rane Curl, Treasurer Bill Jones, and President John Mylroie. The Standing Committees of the Board made their reports. The Research Committee, chaired by Will White, presented a series of topics. Will White passed out a "KWI Proposal Policy and Procedures" document for review. This document standardizes the procedures for submitting proposals and grants through the KWI. One outgrowth of the recent Geomicrobiology conference was the establishment of the KWI as a legal entity to receive government funds, a result of the successful NSF grant authored by Jack Hess to support foreign scientist participation at the conference. Dave Culver and Bill Jones in particular shepherded the necessary paperwork through the government bureaucracy. This federally-approved funding status is a significant achievement for the KWI. The KWI Board later accepted and approved the "KWI Proposal Policy and Procedures" document with minor revisions. Bill Jones reported that the Karst Hydrology Atlas of West Virginia is now being produced under a contract with the Conservation Fund for $9,000, $4,500 of which is on hand, the rest to be paid later. The deadline is December 31, 1994. The final product will be a manuscript in publishable form. The discussion centered on how to publish. The overall sense of the Board was that the best possible draft should be produced, to attract the best possible publishing situation. Will White distributed a draft outline of an article on karst for the American Scientist, a publication of Sigma Xi, the national research honorary society, and asked for comments by Board members. The final outline will be used to approach the American Scientist for publication purposes. The newest research project suggested by the Research Committee is to develop a book on "Geochemistry of Karst Waters". Will White, with the help of other karst geochemists on and off the Board (i.e., Janet Herman, Jack Hess, Carol Wicks, etc.) will pursue this issue. The topic of the KWI and journal publication was discussed. The situation regarding the NSS Bulletin was again batted around for some time. The journal Environmental Geology, edited by Board member P. LaMoreaux, has offered to put the KWI on its byline. After much discussion, it was decided that the journal publication situation was not something that the KWI could afford to put time and effort into at this time in the development of the KWI. The NSS Bulletin requires upgrading, but the KWI has little influence in how that could be done other than to supply the manpower, while control resides with the National Speleological Society. Despite the fact that the NSS Bulletin is supported by an appreciable budget, the KWI would have to cut back elsewhere to free up the manpower to help correct the situation of long publication lead times, manuscript quality, and editorial control. The offer from P. LaMoreaux is very interesting and generous, but Environmental Geology is an appropriate vehicle for only a portion of what the KWI is trying to do. The Board, with regret, declined further consideration of the participation offer. The Education Committee report was made by chair Dave Culver. A proposal has been submitted to the Cave Conservancy of the Virginias for over $5,000 to run a karst hydrogeology minicamp over Memorial Day weekend, and a biology minicamp the first weekend in August. Bill Jones and Chris Groves (Western Kentucky University) will run the hydrogeology minicamp, Dave Culver and Horton (Beep) Hobbs (Wittenberg University) will run the biology minicamp. A second, unfunded, biology minicamp will be run in Alabama at the Russell Cave National Monument the second weekend in August to initiate a broader reach of the minicamp program, with the idea of locating funding for the following year after a successful demonstration this year. Some details, like liability insurance, are being investigated to insure coverage and protection for the KWI. The Nature Conservancy has expressed interest in a KWI workshop on "Preserve Design in Karst Areas". Dave Culver is working on this and if successful, the program will perhaps run in November. The KWI has discussed at previous meetings the option of using videotapes as part of a goal of providing public professional education regarding karst waters. This exercise would be different that the IMAX production on caves that the NSS is currently assisting with. Bob Kane, Board member Tom Kane's brother, is an independent producer of videos and films, and put together a proposal for the KWI, to demonstrate the scale of a videotape project. Handouts of a prospectus for such a series of video tapes, for a single demonstration tape, and Bob Kane's vitae were distributed. A sample videotape was played that evening to show the type of material Bob Kane could produce. It was very professional. Such an undertaking would require significant outside funding, but would have great impact on the mission of the KWI. Much discussion resulted, culminating in the topics such a 10 video program should cover. As a starting point, a script outline produced by John Holsinger a few years ago was circulated. The general 10 topics tentatively selected by the Board were: What is karst and why is it important. The discussion moved to the subject of conferences. The recent Geomicrobiology conference was considered a major achievement for the KWI [see full report elsewhere in this issue]. A number of lessons were learned from the Geomicrobiology conference. Clearly the meeting was a victim of its own success, we had more participation that we had hoped, and this led to a very tight schedule that restricted free-wheeling give and take, extended discussion, and limited time to reflect on the issues. Fewer talks, shorter field trip, and more use of poster sessions are ways to deal with such over participation. The command hierarchy was somewhat confusing, and resulted in some communication gaps and decisions not made with full knowledge of all involved. Better procedures and organization will take care of these problems. The workshops came off poorly because they were not run concurrently as originally planned, and they diluted the presentation field. Despite all the discussion on what could have been done better, it was obvious to the Board that the meeting was a significant success that lacked any major problems. Bette White will handle sales of a portion of the excess press run of programs [see the advertisement elsewhere in this issue], the rest will be kept for KWI promotion purposes. Authors submitting manuscripts to the Geomicrobiology theme issue are dealing directly with P. Ehrlich, the editor. John Mylroie will work with Art Palmer and Phil LaMoreaux to see that the necessary editing work will get done for manuscripts submitted to Environmental Geology. John Mylroie presented the information to date regarding a conference on Paleokarst to be held at the Bahamian Field Station on San Salvador Island, Bahamas, February 25-March 1, 1995. The conference was presented as an item that could keep the KWI in the conference game while the KWI builds to the next major conference effort. There will be an attempt to bring in petroleum and/or mining speakers with an interest in paleokarst as well as the usual karst suspects. The conference already has the backing of the Friends of Karst, who had a very successful meeting on San Salvador in 1988. The KWI Board later voted to sanction this meeting as a KWI conference [see article elsewhere in this issue]. Planning for the next major conferences is under way. Two main ideas were presented: a conference on "Paleoclimate Studies in Karst" for spring, 1996, and one on "Biodiversity in Karst" for spring 1997. Jack Hess will initiate the organization of the former, Dave Culver the latter. Both topics are in themselves very interdisciplinary, and will follow the pattern of the Geomicrobiology conference by attracting together karst and mainstream scientists. However, the personnel necessary to execute the respective conferences are different enough that we can develop both on parallel tracks and not overwhelm KWI manpower resources. The Board later approved Jack Hess and Dave Culver as chairs of organizing committees for these two meetings, and they will report to the Board by October, 1994, on the status of these meetings [readers - if you have an interest in these conferences, contact Jack Hess and/or Dave Culver]. The KWI Conduit looks good and is going well. John Mylroie initiated a discussion about merging the KWI Conduit with Geo2 and/or the North American Biospeleology Newsletter. Such a move would avoid duplicating effort and material, and save costs through use of a bulk mailing permit. After much discussion, the consensus is to leave the KWI Conduit independent but to work out an information-sharing program with Geo2 to help make the KWI Conduit more useful to a wider audience, such as recent titles and abstracts, and not so burdened with stories about the administrative actions of the KWI. The KWI Conduit needs its own editor. Subsequent to the meeting, Phil LaMoreaux agreed to take over this function. The Fund Raising report was delivered by Meg Colgate. She has drafted two copies of a sample fund raising letter, one for the general public and one for "true believers". After discussion, it was agreed to go with just the general letter, upon which some edits were made. Each Board member will send Meg Colgate a list of 10 names and addresses we think the letter should go to as a test run. We can subsequently use the KWI mailing list, the Geomicrobiology conference mailing list, the Geo2 mailing list, and the minicamp mailing list as well. From this collection of people, we will get a feeling for the chances of useful success with a wider campaign at a later time. The concern that karst research needs to be improved, a fundamental aspect of the organization of the KWI initially, has also become a concern of some within the Cave Research Foundation (CRF). Will White led a discussion of a recent communication with CRF on the issue, and there was general agreement by the Board that a dialogue between CRF and KWI may be useful to both groups. Will White will examine this matter. The Finance and Audit Committee made its report. The Treasurer's report was accepted with minor modifications and suggestions for improvement. The accounting procedures are good, the books are in fine shape. Our overhead rate, based on our books to date (1991-1993), indicates a rate of about 58%, which is high but not unusual considering the start-up of an organization like the KWI. There is a dichotomy between our annual meeting being in March, and our fiscal year starting January 1; this problem needs to be addressed by earlier budget reporting. Our operating budget for next year is $5,000, of which $3,300 has yet to be raised. The Board later approved motions requiring two signatures for all KWI checks, and requiring the Finance and Audit Committee to prepare a budget in the fall of each calendar year. The calendar year is the fiscal year, and the budget will be presented to the KWI Board for action prior to the start of the fiscal year. Exchange materials and the KWI Library. At the present moment, there is no way the KWI can build and operate a library in the traditional sense. We can however, operate a "virtual library" in that we can build a computer data base of what is held in personal libraries of those professionals associated with the KWI. This data base will give us an idea of what titles are out there (especially obscure ones) and where such titles might be obtained. In this way the KWI can begin to meet one of its goals, which is establishment of a library data base. Dave Culver and Bette White agreed to work on this project. The Sloans Valley Conservation Task Force asked the KWI to write a letter supporting their effort to get a landfill in the Sloans Valley area properly licensed and permitted. While the KWI has insufficient information to take a stand on either side of this case, John Mylroie will write the task force a letter, to be read into the court record, that explains the importance of adequate site treatment and investigation in karst areas. Meg Colgate led a discussion about the state of KWI planning. It was generally agreed that the KWI has been insufficiently planned. The KWI needs to get a plan on paper that details where we are going, and how to get there. John Mylroie will get some of the early KWI history and documentation to Meg Colgate to give her some perspective, and she will begin to develop planning options. Board structure also needs some thought. A free-wheeling session generated the following tentative structure: 
The Board voted to amend the bylaws and establish the position of Chair Person of the Board, to preside at all meetings of the Board of Directors'. This action takes some work load off of the President, and brings the KWI more in line with accepted organizational structure. The current Directors of the Corporation, M. Colgate, D. Culver, R. Curl, D. Fong, J. Herman, J. Hess, W. Jones, T. Kane, P. LaMoreaux, J. Mylroie, A. Palmer, R. Putz, and W. White were re-elected to the Board. John Mylroie was re-elected as President, Bill Jones was elected as Executive Vice-President, Rane Curl was re-elected as Secretary, and Meg Colgate was elected as Treasurer. Jack Hess was appointed Chairman of the Board. The meeting was adjourned at 12:35 pm March 13, 1994.
NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENTWelcome to the latest issue of the KWI Conduit, now into its third year and third volume. The KWI Conduit began as the KWI Newsletter in 1992 as a means to share information about the Karst Waters Institute. After one year, at the end of volume I, KWI Board member Phil LaMoreaux offered to help produce the newsletter. What had been a simple word processing product reproduced at Kinko's became volume II, the KWI Conduit, professionally published with the help of P. E. LaMoreaux and Associates of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Now with volume III the next step has been taken, with Phil LaMoreaux assuming full editorial responsibilities. No longer will my kids spend an evening attaching mailing labels, stapling and stamping 150 copies of the KWI Conduit for mailing. And no longer will I be inserting little post-it notes on the inside to many of you. The KWI is moving to a more diverse organization, less reliant on just a few volunteers. The readership of the KWI Conduit seems to like the product, a number of you have sent in $5 to help support the publication and distribution of the document. Many offered sound advice, ideas and criticism. The KWI thanks all of you who contributed funds, ideas, or both, and encourages others to do the same. This issue reports on a number of recent activities, most notably the annual meeting of the KWI Board in March, and the Geomicrobiology conference in February. The KWI continues to be busy, with work progressing very well on the Karst Hydrology Atlas of West Virginia under the leadership of Bill Jones. Dave Culver and Bill Jones continue their minicamp series this summer, and have plans to expand the program, both in terms of geography and target audience. The National Science Foundation, and as a result other federal agencies, have approved the KWI as an acceptable recipient of grants and contracts. The KWI is preparing an major scientific article on karst for the prestigious journal American Scientist, and has plans for conferences on paleokarst (1995), paleoclimatology (1996), and biodiversity (1997). We have begun to develop the idea of a "virtual library", where the KWI, instead of building and maintaining a real library, will develop a data base to locate key sources for karst scientists. This issue continues the trend started in the last issue with Will White's guest editorial on the Coming of Age of Karst Science. Mike Wisenbaker of Florida has written an interesting article on the Woodville Karst Plain of Florida, part of the KWI goal to bring attention to karst science being done around North America. We are looking for contributions to the next issue, so be sure to send something in. Dr. Ngo Ngoc Cat, of the Vietnam Center for Natural Science and Technology, Institute of Geography (Nghia Do-Tu Liem, Hanoi, Vietnam, FAX: 84-43-61192 or 84-43-52483) has written me that he is seeking visits by senior karst experts to help set up cooperating programs on karst research in Vietnam. The Vietnam Speleological Association just recently formed, with Dr. Ngo Ngoc Cat as General Secretary. Vietnam has a large amount of spectacular karst, and offers scenery and science similar to that found in China to the north. If you are interested in an opportunity to visit Vietnam, and work with the karst there, contact Dr. Ngo Ngoc Cat. It was an extreme pleasure to be present at the KWI-sponsored conference Breakthroughs in Karst Geomicrobiology and Redox Geochemistry in Colorado Springs February 16-19, 1994. The hard work of Dave Culver, Janet Herman, Louise Hose, Fred Luiszer, Art Palmer, Ira Sasowsky, and Carol Wicks, among others, in setting up this conference paid off handsomely. Not only were leading scientists from around the world attracted to the meeting, but their comments regarding the professionalism and goals of the KWI were most laudatory. It seemed, with this successful meeting, that the KWI had finally arrived. It was nice to see karst being taken seriously, to see karst science being recognized as an equal player in our effort to understand how the world works. Can the KWI sustain this effort? It will take the involvement of karst workers everywhere to maintain the pace and increase the reach and scope of the KWI. The KWI eagerly solicits the ideas and assistance of the readership of the KWI Conduit. --- John Mylroie, KWI President
Karst Waters Institute to Co-Sponsor Field Conference on Paleokarst The Karst Waters Institute, in cooperation with the Bahamian Field Station and the Friends of Karst, is co-sponsoring a field conference on "Paleokarst: Macroscopic Dissolution Features in the Rock Record" on San Salvador Island February 25 - March 1, 1995. The cost for the conference will be $650, which will cover all expenses from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to the Bahamian Field Station on San Salvador, including air fare to San Salvador and return, field trips, room and board, taxes, registration, program, and field guides. Attendees will gather in Fort Lauderdale the evening of Friday, February 24, 1995, for a 7:00 am departure on Saturday, February 25th by charter aircraft to San Salvador. The Bahamian Field Station has an arrangement with two motels in Fort Lauderdale that will provide inexpensive rooms for the night of February 24th, as well as transportation to the charter aircraft company the following morning. The return trip by charter aircraft will leave San Salvador on the morning of Wednesday March 1st. To take advantage of San Salvador's interesting geology and idyllic setting, the conference will emphasize field trips and field sites; hence the title "field conference". Oral presentations will be restricted to invited keynote addresses given in the evening. The days will be spent in the field, examining the Quaternary carbonate geology of the island, active and relict karst features, and the modern coral reef community. For those interested in sharing their latest work, poster sessions will be held during the cocktail hour prior to dinner each evening. This format will maximize the opportunity to interact as individuals and small groups, and to see as many field settings as is possible. At the time of this writing, the following individuals have agreed to make keynote addresses (tentative titles): Dr. James Carew, University of Charleston, "Geology and
Stratigraphy of San Salvador Island, Bahamas" Dr. Gerry Friedman, Northeastern Science Foundation,
"Intra-Sauk Karst and Paleosols as Parasequence
Boundaries" Dr. John Mylroie, Mississippi State University, "Karst
Development in Carbonate Islands" Dr. Arthur Palmer, SUNY College at Oneonta, "Post-Sauk
and Post Kaskaskia Paleokarst Surfaces" Dr. Toni Simo, University of Wisconsin-Madison, "Sequence
Stratigraphy and Carbonate Platforms: Paleokarst at Sequence
Boundaries" Dr. William White, Pennsylvania State University,
"Resolution of Paleokarst: Boreholes Versus Landforms" Other keynote addresses are in the works, final details have not yet been worked out to meet the publication deadline of this issue of the KWI Conduit. Karst and caves have long been known to preserve a record of past events. Archaeology, paleontology, paleoclimatology, and paleoecology have all benefited from analysis of caves and their contents. Karst landforms, preserved in the rock record as paleokarst, are important as host rocks for mineralization, and as reservoir rocks for hydrocarbons. Much of the prior work on paleokarst came from continental interiors, where early karst development in young rocks is masked by later diagenetic and exposure events over time frames of tens to hundreds of millions of years. Quaternary carbonate islands such as San Salvador offer constraints on time and space. All the active karst and paleokarst seen on this island had to have formed on carbonate rocks with areas of only a few tens of square kilometers in time frames of thousands to tens of thousands of years, in the absence of structural deformation. The field trips associated with the conference will focus initially on the geologic setting, establishing the rock type, rock character, environment of deposition, stratigraphy, and chronology. Outcrops of paleosols, eolianites, beach rock, fossil coral reefs, and subtidal shoals will be examined. With the geologic framework firmly established, the focus will shift to active and ancient karst features on San Salvador. Coastal karren, caves, pits, blue holes, lake drains, moon rock and other karst landforms will be visited. A field guide will be distributed that contains detailed descriptions of all sites visited. Time will be scheduled to allow snorkeling or scuba diving on several modern reef sites, or just relaxation on the beach. For the truly hearty, visits will be made to local watering holes after the evening keynote addresses. Housing is rustic but comfortable. All rooms are double occupancy, attendees will need to select their room mates in advance or accept random assignment. Every attempt will be made to pair people who wish to room together. Meals will be served in the field station cafeteria except for days with long field trips, where packed lunches will be provided. Use of charter aircraft imposes some restrictions on weight, packing must be light and simple. The field station can handle 50 to 60 participants, so space is limited. Registration forms will be sent out to those who make serious inquiry. Once the maximum limit is reached, registration will cease, so write soon requesting your place at the conference. Fill out the inquiry form accompanying this article. San Salvador Island offers a chance to view the complexity of geology and karst that can occur in very young rocks. Understanding these initial complexities is crucial to successfully unravelling the geology of ancient carbonates and their paleokarst. The sun, sand and sea of San Salvador offer a welcome break to February weather; the karst offers a stimulating intellectual challenge. Come join your fellow karst scientists on San Salvador in February, 1995.
The Bahamian Field Station, the Friends of Karst, and the Karst Waters Institute present a field conference on: Paleokarst: Macroscopic Dissolution Features in the Rock Record February 25 - March 1, 1995 ___Please send me full registration materials ___ I would like to present a poster session, tentative title: __________________________________________________________
Name: Address:
Phone: FAX:
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The KWI Conduit