EuroSpeleo 2016
Jinfo Cave and its Sediment Sequences in Jinfoshan Karst, South China
Oral|Prof Baojian Huang

Abstract
Jinfo Cave is the longest and most complicated infilled branchwork cave in the system at ~2000m a.s.l. in Jinfoshan Karst World Natural Heritage Site. Comprehensive methods including cave survey, sediment analysis, super-high-density resistivity and multiple age-dating techniques, were employed to study the relict underground river cave and elucidate its development history. Jinfo Cave is >12.8km long, including a wide corridor (trunk passage), tubes (medium-size branch passages), canyons (narrow-high maze) and vadose shafts. Its sediment sequences include fluvial clastics, collapse bedrock blocks and chemical deposits. Direct links were demonstrated amongst Jinfo Cave’s passage characteristics, its sediment sequences, and local environmental change.
Initially (pre-Miocene), trunk passage was generated by a large underground river fed by surface flow from the ancient Jinfoshan Syncline Basin. Following tectonic uplift, tubes were formed during the Miocene by diminishing subterranean flow as recharge area decreased due to slight incision by gorges surrounding Jinfoshan. Before/during early Pleistocene, breakdown enlarged the corridor passage. From early to mid-Pleistocene there was repeated deposition/removal of fluvial fine clastic sediments. From mid-Pleistocene, maze-like canyons and domepits were produced by vadose streams and Jinfoshan table mountain was dissected from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, resulting in inverted topography supporting limited autogenic streams forming tiny downstream passages.
More from 2016
Oral|Mr Pete Allwright
Nicola 3 Cave Radio
Oral|Dr Helen Hooper
Looking seriously at the social landscape of casual leisure: Caving with older rural females in North Yorkshire
Oral|Mr Nigel Steel
Caves and photogrammetry
Workshop|Mr Robin Gray
Art Workshop 3 - Drawing cavers in costume
Oral|Mr Mark Brown
Mulu 2015 - Unlocking another mountain
Oral|Mr Pete Talling
Crocs, cocks and karst - caving adventures in East Timor
Oral|Mr Rainer Straub
From the blue into the dark – Exploration of the amazing Blautopfhöhle, Germany
Oral|Mr Chris Jewell
Cave Diving in Sistema Huautla: 2013 and 2016
Oral|Dr Tim Moulds
UIS Congress 2017 - Caves in an Ancient Land
Field|Mrs Lisa Westcott Wilkins
Field Trip: Ben Scar Cave Excavation - Open to All