Dr. Arthur N. Palmer's long-awaited new book, Cave Geology, has finally been published by Cave Books (CRF).
You can currently purchase it from SpeleoBooks (he'll even autograph it at Convention if you like), and probably from Cave Books themselves (though their website needs updated). The NSS Bookstore still doesn't have it! (Edit: now available from NSS Bookstore)
This is a 454 page, hard cover book for $38, by one of the most respected scientists in the field of speleology - an amazing bargain!
Table of contents (from the LOC):
CONTENTS
Preface
1 Speleology the science of caves
Cave types
Cave exploring
Nationwide speleological organizations
Searching for caves
Cave mapping
Preparation of a cave map
Cave science
Underground photography
Show caves
Cave preservation and stewardship
2 Cave country
Geologic time
Landscape development
Surface karst features
Paleoleokarst
Pseudokarst
The scale of karst features
Distribution of karst and caves
The longest and deepest known caves
3 Cavernous rocks
Rock types
Soils and sediments
Stratigraphy
Highly soluble rocks
Rock structure
Rock and mineral analysis
A brief guide to rock identification
4 Underground water in karst
Types of underground water
Vadose flow patterns
Phreatic flow patterns
Aquifers
Nature of the karst water table
The freshwater-seawater interface
Groundwater hydraulics
Flow measurements
Use of flow equations in cave interpretation
Measuring the flow of springs and streams
Groundwater tracing
Interpreting groundwater character from tracer tests and flood pulses
Quantitative dye tracing
5 Chemistry of karst water
Simple dissolution
Dissoltion of limestone and dolomite
How much rock has dissolved?
pH
Undersaturation and supersaturation
Epigenic and hypogenic acids
Chemical interactions
Dissolution rates
Dissolution of poorly soluble rocks
Microbial effects on chemistry
Isotopes and their use
Analysis of spring chemistry
A chemical cave tour
Chemical field studies
6 Characteristics of solution caves
Cave entrances
Passage types
Passage terminations
Cave rooms
Cave levels
Cave patterns
Minor solution features in caves
Interpreting flow from scallops
Cave sediments
Bedrock collapse
Cave biology
7 Speleogenesis: the origin of caves
Basic concepts
Development of ideas about cave origin
Comprehensive views of cave origin
Rates of cave enlargement
Insight from computer modeling
Life cycle of a solution cave
8 Control of cave patterns by groundwater recharge
Sinkhole recharge: branchwork caves
The problem of maze caves
Floodwater caves
Caves formed by diffuse flow
Hypogenic caves
Polygenetic caves
Influence of climate
9 Influence of geology on cave patterns
Distribution of soluble rocks
Influence of rock type
Influence of geologic structure
Relation of caves to landscape evolution
A guide to cave patterns
10 Cave minerals
Origin and growth of cave minerals
Origin of common cave minerals
Speleothem types
Speleothem growth rates
Speleothem decay
11 Caves in volcanic rocks
Volcanic processes and landscapes
Types of lava caves
Origin and character of lava-tube caves
Speleogens and speleothems in lava caves
Time scale of lava caves
12 Cave meteorology and internal
weathering
Composition of cave air
Cave temperatures
Air movement
Evaporation and condensation
Weathering in the cave atmosphere
Chemical zones in air-filled caves
13 Caves and time
Relative and numerical ages
Determining cave ages
Studies of past climates
Caves through the ages
14 Geologic studies of caves
Field mapping
Calibrating survey instruments
Geologic interpretions
Testing interpretations for validity
Detailed analysis of a cave
Further goals
15 Application of cave geology to other geosciences
The problem of sampling bias
Water supply
Engineering applications
Land management
Interpretation of geologic processes
Petroleum geology
Mining
Scientific frontiers
The limits of discovery
Glossary
References
Index
Conversion between U.S. and metric units