Home  |  View Shipping Costs  |  View Shopping Cart  
 

  1. Features >
  2. Cave Books (Click For Categories) >
  3. Speleology Related Publishers >
Karst and Caves of Iraq (including the results of a 2007 Kurdish-German speleological project and an overview on hypogenic sulphidic spelaogenesis), BHB Vol. 26 - SPECIAL ORDER

Karst and Caves of Iraq (including the results of a 2007 Kurdish-German speleological project and an overview on hypogenic sulphidic spelaogenesis), BHB Vol. 26 - SPECIAL ORDER   

Price: $25.00 

75 pages, many surveys and maps; Berlin 2008. Michael Laumanns; Akko Rasch & Philippe Audra. The complete overview about karst and caves of Iraq, including the results of a 2007 Kurdish-German cave project yielding the new longest cave of Iraq (Kuna Kamtiar, 5,060 m). With a detailled description of the hypogenic sulphidic spelaogenesis. In English language, with a French, German, Kurdish and Arabic abstract. Not too many cavers will seriously think about going to Iraq at the moment. However, there is a different part of Iraq existing where terrorists and kidnappings are unknown and where people are very hospitable to foreigners: the autonomous region of Kurdistan in the northeast of Iraq. The famous Shanidar Cave from where Neanderthal burials are known is located here. Due to favourable circumstances a Kurdish-German cave surveying project became reality in Octuber/November 2007. This was carried out at the invitation of the Kurdish Minister of Tourism and had brilliant logistical support by the Museum of Antiquities in Sulaimania. Within 3 weeks 21 caves with a total passage length of 8,115 metres were mapped, firmly establishing Kuna Kamtiar as the longest cave of Iraq currently 5,060 m in length. The cave is a complicated network of fossil rift passages created by sulphuruc acid water. Another highlight was Tirshawaka, a limestone cave with a sulphuruc spring inside. The sulphuruc acid has dissolved the carbonate rock and has produced a crust of replacement gypsum that covers the cave's roof and walls. The source of the sulphur is supposed to be an underground hydrocarbon deposit. Exploration of Tirshawaka was stopped in wide open river passage due to lack of time. In order to allow a better understanding of the very special mechanisms of sulphuruc cave development the present report also contains a general contribution of hypogenic sulphidic cave spelaogenesis by Philippe Audra (University of Nice, France). The cave potential in northeast Iraq remains very high and the local authorities are keen to conduct further investigations. This report also provides a general overview about the caves outside the Kurdish regions of Iraq.


Speleobooks
P.O. Box 10
Schoharie, NY 12157
Phone: 518 295 7978

speleobooks@speleobooks.com