Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Core Values
Carlsbad Caverns
National Park
June 2004



Introduction

The Core Knowledge idea grew out of the in-park Strategic Planning meetings in December 1998. The original work group was assigned to identify “the most significant and key ideas,” (i.e. core knowledge) from our park resources, operations, and NPS Mission. The core knowledge serves as the minimum information employees should know about the park and a starting point for further research and exploration.

What are the advantages of defining and using the park’s core knowledge?

• We can avoid contradicting each other in front of the various visitors, visitor groups, and community partners who we serve.
• We can provide new employees with a quick overview of the core knowledge, some of the most significant and key ideas that they must learn.
• We can provide veteran employees with a quick and updated refresher of their core knowledge.
• We can pursue personal improvement in needed areas by making use of the suggested readings and resource lists.
• We can improve our awareness of core knowledge “outside” our subject matter expertise.

:O) :O) :O)
I would like to acknowledge and thank the original members of this workgroup: Chris Burns, Vivian Sartori, Doug Thompson, Suzie Caddell, Sam Franco, and Dave Hutson (moi). Also for later input, thanks to Dale Pate, Jason Richards, Paul Burger, Dave Roemer, Dave Kayser, Fred MacVaugh.

Thanks to Ed Greene for supporting the importance of using core knowledge at CAVE.

Thanks to Avelina C. for providing typing, formatting and other logistics and to the ladies in Operations (Christa and Cindy) who copied and bound this Core Knowledge booklet.

Bob Hoff

July 10, 2000

Acknowledgements – June 22, 2004

Of the staff involved in this project four years ago, Chris Burns, Vivian Satori, Doug Thompson, Dave Hutson, and Fred MacVaugh have transferred to other NPS assignments. While Ed Greene retired in September 2003, the rest of the above employees continue to work at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Suzie Caddell recently passed away and this updated version of the Core Knowledge is dedicated to her.

Thanks to Paula Bauer for her above-the-call-of-duty efforts in helping to update the 2004 Core Knowledge.

This 2004 revision includes significance statements and themes identified for the Comprehensive Interpretive Plan (CIP) which was completed in August 2003. A diverse team of employees and stakeholders created the CIP to best represent the key important meanings and topics to focus interpretation and education efforts.

The National Park System
Caring for the American Legacy

"... to promote and regulate the use of the... national parks... which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."
National Park Service Organic Act, 16 USC1
NPS Mission in 21st Century

The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.

NPS Core Values – Overview
What are Core Values?
The core values of an organization are those values we hold which form the foundation on which we perform work and conduct ourselves. We have an entire universe of values, but some of them are so primary, so important to us that through out the changes in society, government, politics, and technology they are still the core values we will abide by. In an ever-changing world, core values are constant. Core values are not descriptions of the work we do or the strategies we employ to accomplish our mission. The values underlie our work, how interact with each other, and which strategies we employ to fulfill our mission. The core values are the basic elements of how we go about our work. They are the practices we use (or should be using) every day in everything we do.


Core Values:

• Govern personal relationships
• Guide business processes
• Clarify who we are
• Articulate what we stand for
• Help explain why we do business the way we do
• Guide us on how to teach
• Inform us on how to reward
• Guide us in making decisions
• Underpin the whole organization
• Require no external justification
• Essential tenets


Core Values are not: • Operating practices
• Business strategies
• Cultural norms
• Competencies
• Changed in response to market/ administration changes
• Used individually


Why Core Values? For an employee to be successful within the NPS, they need to not only know our mission, our history, how we are organized, and how we accomplish work, but they should also be aware of our organization’s values. We are an organization with a clear, strong mission and a commitment to the future. We can share our history, explain our organization and describe how we accomplish work.

How will Core Values be used? Core values can be useful in many ways. They can guide us in achieving our mission and strategic goals. They can be the basis on which each of us behaves in doing our daily work.

NPS Core Values – Specific
Respect: Inclusion, empathy, and dignity form the basis for our actions. We embrace the ever-changing tapestry of our employees, visitors, sites, and the stories they represent. In our interactions with each other, visitors, and stakeholders we are understanding and respectful. We also encourage their creativity and talents.

Integrity: We deal honestly and fairly with the public and one another. We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences. We do so in ways that are ethically based and represent the highest standards of public service. Through our actions we earn the trust of those we work with and serve. We are accountable to the public and each other.

Excellence: We continually learn and improve to achieve the highest ideals of public service. In striving to achieve excellence, we encourage and practice proactive behavior, creativity, innovation, and vision. This is done both individually and collectively. Through these actions, we meet the vision of the National Park Service mission to serve as caretakers of the premier natural and cultural resources in the United States. We recognize and energetically accept our leadership role in conservation and heritage education. To facilitate this, we collaborate with others.

Tradition: We are proud of it; we learn from it; we are not bound by it. We use the best of our past to meet the challenges of the future. Employees have internalized the National Park Service mission and the traditions of the agency, and it is evident in their work and interactions with one another and the public. This creates a continuum between the past, present, and future that sustains a vital agency.

Shared stewardship: We champion outstanding resource stewardship whenever and however it occurs. We are caretakers of the tangible and intangible resources and values of our American heritage. In doing this, we maintain a steadfast commitment to provide public awareness and appreciation of the nation’s heritage. The National Park Service advances heritage preservation whenever and however it takes place. We recognize that we do not have all the answers to every challenge. The insights and knowledge obtained from others contribute to the preservation and interpretation of our shared heritage.

July 2000

CAVE Foundational Information

Statements of Significance

Statements of significance clearly define the most important things about the park’s resources and values. They serve as the foundation for developing primary interpretive themes and desirable visitor experiences. Significance statements help park managers and staffs focus on the preservation and enjoyment of those attributes that directly contribute to the purpose of the park and that must be protected.

• Carlsbad Caverns National Park, universally recognized as a World Heritage site in 1995, contains the deepest limestone cave in the United States and the largest easily accessible cave room in the world.
• Carlsbad Cavern, one of more than 100 caves in the park, reveals surprisingly huge chambers and formations unsurpassed in variety and beauty.
• Lechuguilla Cave contains some of the world’s most spectacular speleothems, including features found nowhere else in the world.
• The caves of Carlsbad Caverns National Park have been formed through the process of sulfuric acid dissolution, a distinctly different process from most caves in the world.
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park provides a sanctuary for an easily viewed, world-famous colony of Mexican free-tailed bat species, as well as other species, some of which are rare and endangered.
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park preserves one of the best exposures of Permian-aged fossil reefs in the world.
• Remarkable new species of microbes continue to be discovered in the caves of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, offering great potential for research and understanding.
• The nature and extent of water-created cave formations found just beneath this desert landscape provide opportunities to understand past and present climates here, including Pleistocene-era environments.
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park protects a wide range of important fossil resources, including one of the continent’s most diverse assemblages of undisturbed Pleistocene fauna.
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park protects a significant intact portion of the Chihuahuan Desert ecosystem, the most biologically diverse desert ecosystem in North America. • Over 75% of Carlsbad Caverns National Park is federally designated as Wilderness where visitors can experience a natural sound environment, Class I air quality, clear night skies, expansive vistas, and opportunities for solitude.
• The cultural resources of the park include two National Register historic districts, 30 historic structures, the Rattlesnake Springs cultural landscape, and nearly a million museum objects, reflecting enduring and diverse use of this desert landscape.
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park protects more than 200 surface and subsurface pictographs, including examples of rock art which are unusual in the deep-cave dark zone.
• Thirteen Native American tribes have longstanding and ongoing relationships with the landscape that is now Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
• Surrounded by desert, rattlesnake Springs is an important riparian area and is populated by a rich diversity of birds, including neo-tropical migrants.

Primary Interpretive Themes at CAVE

 Interpretive themes convey park significance park visitors and users. Primary interpretive themes are the key ideas through which the park’s nationally significant resource values are conveyed to the public. They connect park resources to the larger ideas, meaning, and values of which they are a part. They are the building blocks—the core content—on which the interpretive program is based. Each primary theme may connect to a number of specific stories or sub-themes. These elements are helpful in designing individual services, ensuring that the main aspects of primary themes are addressed.

A. Phases in the speleogenesis of Carlsbad Caverns National Park (a living reef, uplifted limestone, cavern dissolution, cave decoration, and the current condition) all invite exploration of a 250-million-year process that has resulted in one of the wonders of the natural world.
B. The continuing discovery and study of organisms found in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, such as the Mexican free-tailed bat colony of Carlsbad Cavern and the “microbial forest” of Lechuguilla Cave, invite greater understanding of how seemingly inconsequential, little-understood life-forms play significant roles in natural processes and affect our lives.
Partial list of topics related to this theme:
• Scientific knowledge versus common myths regarding bats
C. The largely intact natural and cultural resources of the Chihuahuan Desert in Carlsbad Caverns National Park reveal how plants, animals, and people have adapted to this arduous environment.
Partial list of topics related to this theme:
• Riparian zone resources
• 75% of Park is designated as Wilderness
• Pleistocene fossil resources
D. The relationship between the diverse surface environment and world-class underground wonderland of Carlsbad Caverns National Park provides unique opportunities to explore the sometimes-surprising interconnections and interactions of these two seemingly disparate worlds.
E. The historical and ongoing discoveries at Carlsbad Caverns National Park exemplify the innate human desire to overcome challenges and explore new frontiers. F. The ongoing story of resource preservation and development at Carlsbad Caverns National Park reveals how humans value and showcase heritage and continue to learn how to protect it.


Partial list of topics related to this theme:
• Cave management practices at Carlsbad Caverns National Park are being adapted and adopted worldwide.

The National Park Service Mission at Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Primary Concepts
• The mandate to preserve the resources in the national parks is embedded in the August 25, 1916 Organic Act and states,: “To conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”
• CAVE Park Mission states, “We will protect this World Heritage Site by caring for the park's resources and sharing knowledge to inspire appreciation and stewardship in present and future generations.”
• Carlsbad Caverns is a world class treasure that has universal appeal and significance and provides a unique inspirational opportunity for visitors. All park employees play a part in helping visitors to enjoy, understand, appreciate, and preserve the park resources.
• In 1995 Carlsbad Caverns became a World Heritage Site.
• Because of its diverse and unique qualities Carlsbad Caverns deserves to be protected for present and future generations.
• The role of the NPS is important to the preservation, conservation, and understanding of Carlsbad Caverns, as well as hundreds of other special places in the National Park System, now numbering near 400 in total..
• National Parks are America’s special and sacred places. Individually, they are places to enjoy, to learn about, to be inspired by, and to care for. Collectively, the diverse units of the National Park System represent the common natural and cultural heritage of the American people.
Suggested Readings
Albright, Horace (As told to Robert Cahn), The Birth of the National Park Service: The Founding Years, 1913- 1933, 1985
Albright, Horace and Albright, Marian Albright Schenck, Creating the National Park Service: The Missing Years, 1999
Everhart, William C, The National Park Service p. 57 - 79, Praeger Publishers, New York
Interpretive Curriculum - Section 1 (Module 101), Philosophy of NPS Interpretation
Kaufman, Polly Welts, National Parks and the Woman’s Voice, 1996
Lewis, William, Interpreting for Park Visitors, p.22 - 23, ACORN Press
Rothman, Hal K, Promise Beheld and the Limits of Place: A Historic Resource Study of Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks, 1998
Sellars, Richard, Preserving Nature in the National Parks, 1997
Tilden, Freeman, Interpreting Our Heritage, p. 3 - 17, Univ. of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC
Preservation, Protection, and Restoration

Primary Concepts
• The mandate to preserve the resources in the national parks is embedded in the August 25, 1916 Organic Act and states, “To conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”
• NPS staff manages all the surface and subsurface resources so that natural processes continue with a minimum of human disturbance or change while providing present and future generations with the opportunity to enjoy them.
• The park staff also manages two cultural landscapes (the Cavern Historic District and the Rattlesnake Springs Historic District) and the archeological and historic resources on the surface and in the subsurface so that all human disturbance or change is kept to a minimum. Some of these resources are accessioned into the park museum, while most are protected in their original location.

• Humans have numerous and varied impacts, negative and positive. Negative impacts result from vandalism, littering, polluted water infiltration, gas drilling on the boundary, overuse and inappropriate use. Restoration and re-vegetation include examples of positive impacts that people have on park resources. Today’s visitors play a significant role in preserving the park’s resources for future generations of visitors.
Secondary Concepts
• All preservation and stabilization work in archeological and historical structures uses materials as similar as possible to the original materials. All artifacts removed from the field to the park museum for study and or storage are documented, inventoried, and protected.
• All preservation and restoration strategies and actions conform to the Park Resource Management Plan, The National Environmental Protection Act, The National Historic Preservation Act (particularly Section 106—working with the State Historic Preservation Officer), and all applicable laws and guidelines.

• A Fire Management Plan provides for various suppression responses to accomplish different management vegetation/landscape goals. A Full Suppression Zone requires immediate suppression of fire, the Natural Fire Zone will allow fires, within certain parameters, to burn, and the Conditional Suppression Zone, on the boundary of the park, ties our response into the needs of park neighbors and fellow land management agencies. The plan also provides for “prescribed” fires to reduce fuel loads and other purposes.

Suggested Readings
Everhart, William C., The National Park Service, “Preservation and/or Use,” p: 80 - 98
General Management Plan, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 1996, p: 11 - 41
CAVE Employee Handbook, (1998) “Mission—Carlsbad Caverns National Park,” p: 2, “Cave Resources,” p: 12, “The Cultural Resources of Carlsbad Caverns NP,” p: 97, “Resource and Visitor Protection,” p: 106, “Lechuguilla Cave,” p: 118, “Carlsbad Caverns Wilderness,” p: 126

Speleogenesis (Cave Development)
Primary Concepts
• There have been four major phases of cave development in the Guadalupe Mountains:
• fissure karst – Late Permian (~250 ma): fissures filled with breccia, clastics, spar
• spongework karst – Mesozoic to early Tertiary (65-206 ma): spongework of small, disconnected holes
• thermal karst – Miocene (15-20 ma): small chambers lined with large calcite spar
• sulfuric acid karst – Pliocene/Miocene (4-12 ma): The large cave passages of the Guadalupes
• The major controls on cave shape and location are:
• stratigraphy (relative positions of the rock units)
• differential dolomitization of those units (limestone is more soluble than dolomite)
• fractures and fracture zones
• the presence of positive structures such as anticlines and monoclines (where H2S-rich water collected)
• Carlsbad Caverns was formed differently from most caves visitors are familiar with. Waters rich in hydrogen sulfide (H2S) were forced upward from the oil and gas fields to the east and into the reef rock along fractures and bedding. When this H2S-rich water mixed with oxygen-rich water moving downward from the surface, sulfuric acid was created. The sulfuric acid dissolved the limestone, forming the cave passages we see today and left behind thick deposits of gypsum.
Summary
(From C.A. Hill (1999); Palmer, A.N. & M.V (2000); and Polyak, V.J. (1998)
There have been four stages of cave development in the Guadalupe Mountains, but the most significant occurred 4-12 million years ago (mya). Waters rich in hydrogen sulfide (H2S) were forced upward from the oil and gas fields to the east and mixed with oxygen-rich water moving downward from the surface to create sulfuric acid.
The largest passages were formed wherever the H2S emerged at the water table where conversion to sulfuric acid was most rapid. Steeply ascending passages formed where oxygenated meteoric water converged with deep-seated H2S-rich water at depths as much as 200 m below the water table. Spongework and network mazes resulted from highly aggressive water in mixing zones, and they commonly rim, underlie, or connect rooms.
Most cave origin was phreatic (within the saturated zone) except for subaerial dissolution and gypsum replacement of carbonate rock in acidic water drips and films. These processes can account for considerable cave enlargement above the water table.
Higher cave levels were developed first, with dissolution levels dropping in conjunction with lowering of the water table or by uplift of the Guadalupe Mountains. Bat Cave of Carlsbad Cavern hollowed about 6 mya. The Big Room level and the New Mexico Room were formed ~4 million years ago.
Suggested Readings
Canyons and Caves: Refer to various issues of this Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, history, etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
Hill, C.A., 1999. Origin of Caves in the Capitan in Geologic Framework of the Capitan Reef, SEPM Special Publication No. 65, SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology), Tulsa, OK: p211-222.
Hill, C.A., 1996."Geology of the Delaware Basin: Guadalupe, Apache, and Glass Mountains, New Mexico and West Texas": Midland, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Permian Basin Section, Publication 96-39.
Jagnow, D.H., 1977. Cavern Development in the Guadalupe Mountains. Adobe Press, Tulsa, OK.
Palmer, Arthur N. and Margaret V., 2000. "Hydrochemical Interpretation of Cave Patterns in the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico". Journal for Cave and Karst Studies, National Speleological Society, in press.
Polyak, V.J., Mcintosh, W.C., Güven, N. and Provencio, P., 1998 "Age of Formation of Carlsbad Cavern and Related Caves from 40Ar/39Ar of Alunite." Science, v. 279, p. 1919-1922.

Park Geology
Primary Concepts
• The Big Room of Carlsbad Cavern is the largest cave chamber in the United States. The Big Room is 750 feet beneath the surface, 6.2 acres in surface area size, a T-shaped room with the “stem” of the “T” 1800 feet long and the “crossbar” 1100 feet long. It has a 255-foot high ceiling over the Top of the Cross seating area, located halfway around the Big Room walking route.
• Carlsbad Cavern was formed when hydrogen sulfide gas, seeping upward from nearby oil deposits, combined with water and oxygen at the water table to form sulfuric acid; the acid dissolved limestone along pre-existing joints or cracks.
• Carlsbad Cavern is situated within the limestone of the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. This reef grew along the shore of a shallow sea during Permian times, about 250 million years ago. As of June 2004, the park has 109 caves within its boundaries, including the world-class Lechuguilla (see separate entry).
• Carlsbad Cavern is mostly dry and inactive (or dormant) today, since the desert climate above does not provide much surface water for speleothem growth; most of the cave's speleothems (formations) were created before the desert's encroachment into the area about 7,000-10,000 years ago.
• Occasional droughts on the surface also affect speleothem growth and cave pool depths. For example, below-average rain fall for the last decade has caused some pools and formations to dry entirely. This is a temporary dryness until the rains/precipitation returns.
• Carlsbad Cavern is a highly decorated cave containing many excellent examples of speleothems, including stalactites, stalagmites, columns, draperies, soda straws, helictites and a variety of coralloids (globular formations, such as cave “popcorn,” “grapes” etc.).
• Speleothems form when surface water, made slightly acidic by the absorption of carbon dioxide, deposits dissolved limestone (or calcite) as it drips or seeps into the cave.
• The formation of Carlsbad Cavern was influenced by the three components of the Permian Reef: the unstratified limestone of the reef itself, the horizontal limestone and dolomite strata of the backreef, and the sloping limestone strata of the fore reef.
Secondary Concepts
• While park visitors may easily appreciate the grandeur and beauty of Carlsbad Cavern without any knowledge of geology, a basic understanding of the geologic context of the cavern can add significantly to the enjoyment of any visit. Fortunately, the basic concepts of the geologic story are relatively simple and easy to understand.
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park lies at the northeastern end of the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico, in one of the most interesting geologic areas of the United States. The Guadalupe Mountains are an exposed segment of an ancient reef that grew along the shores of an inland sea during Permian times, about 250 million years ago. The sea covered most of today's Delaware Basin. Gradually the sea evaporated, leaving behind thick deposits of gypsum and salts. Within the last 12 million years, the Guadalupe Mountains have risen above the surrounding area, exposing the limestone and dolomite of the fossil reef to weathering. Today McKittrick Canyon in Guadalupe Mountains National Park provides an excellent, cross-sectional view of the reef and its major components.
• The gradual rise of the Guadalupe Mountains was accompanied by the creation of many large caves, as hydrogen sulfide gas seeped into the limestone from nearby oil deposits. At the water table, the gas formed sulfuric acid, which dissolved the rock along pre-existing joints. Carlsbad Cavern is the largest known cave in the Guadalupe Mountains, and Lechuguilla is the longest.
Suggested Readings
Barnett, John. Carlsbad Caverns: Silent Chambers, Timeless Beauty, 1981.
Brooke, Mark. "Infiltration Pathways at Carlsbad Cavern National Park Determined by Hydro-geologic and Hydro-chemical Characterization and Analysis."
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Davis, Donald, Cave Development in the Guadalupe Mountains, 1980.
Dunham, Robert. The Capitan Reef: field guide and discussion, 1972.
Hill, Carol. Cave Minerals of the World, 1998. (2nd Edition).
Hill, Carol. Geology of Carlsbad Cavern and Other Caves of the Guadalupe Mountains, 1987.
Jagnow, D.H. Cavern Development in the Guadalupe Mountains, 1979.
Jagnow, D.H. and Rebecca Jagnow. Stories From Stone, 1992. Highly recommended as introduction to geology.
Northup, Diane Eleanor, “Geomicrobiology of Caves.” Ph.D diss., University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, May 2002
Nymeyer, Robert. Carlsbad, Caves and a Camera, 1978.
Queen, Michael. A Discussion and Field Guide to the Geology of Carlsbad Caverns, 1981.
Van der Heijde, et.al. "Determining Water Infiltration Routes from Structures Located Above Carlsbad Cavern."

Hydrology
Primary Concepts
• Rainwater is generally focused into drainages due to high evaporation rate and rapid runoff. Above Carlsbad Cavern, most infiltration occurs in Bat Cave Draw.
• Water generally moves horizontally, along bedding in the backreef beds (Tansill and Yates) and through vertical fractures in the Capitan.
• Large fracture zones have controlled the development of the cave and control vertical movement of water. Good examples are the Main Corridor and the fracture system that runs from Chocolate High, through the Scenic Rooms, and into the edge of the Big Room.
• Water movement into the cavern is highly complex owing to the fractured and solutional character of the rock. In general, it takes 1-3 months for drip rates to increase after a major rainstorm, and 3-5 months for the water to reach the cave. Some places such as the Main Corridor and Crystal Springs dome react much faster to rainstorms.
• Runoff from parking lots has contaminated pools along the Main Corridor and Left Hand Tunnel. Leaks from sewage lines have contaminated pools in Left Hand Tunnel.
Secondary Concepts
• At the Tansill/Yates contact there is a series of siltstone beds that are resistant to downward water flow. Water moving along this contact forms many springs on the surface (Oak Springs) and can be seen along the walls of Walnut Canyon as a distinct line of thicker vegetation. Flow along this contact is also responsible for Devil’s Spring in the Main Corridor.
• Throughout the cave you can observe differences in stalactite growth. Lines of stalactites are indicative of flow through micro-fractures, while scattered areas of stalactites are indicative of diffuse flow through pores in the rock.
• Many of the cavern pools were probably more full than today. Completion of the elevator shafts caused a rapid loss of moisture out of the cave. Installation of airlock doors has slowed, but not stopped, water loss from the cave.
Suggested Readings
Brooke, Mark. "Infiltration Pathways at Carlsbad Cavern National Park Determined by Hydro-geologic and Hydro-chemical Characterization and Analysis." unpublished MS thesis, Colorado School of Mines.
Canyons and Caves, Refer to various issues of this Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Northup, Diane Eleanor, “Geomicrobiology of Caves.” Ph.D diss., University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, May 2002
Tallman, R.S. “Conceptualization and characterization of the Hydrologic System of the Carlsbad Caverns National Park Region, New Mexico.” Unpublished MS thesis, Colorado School of Mines.

Van der Heijde, et.al. "Determining Water Infiltration Routes from Structures Located Above Carlsbad Cavern."
White, William B. Geomorphology and Hydrology of Karst Terrains. Oxford University Press, 1988.

Natural Entrance and Main Corridor
Primary Concepts – Geology and Biology
• Cave Swallows (Hirundo fulva) nest just inside the entrance area during spring, summer and fall months. A few pair of Cave Swallows began nesting in Carlsbad Cavern in 1966 and their numbers have expanded to approximately 3,000. It is unknown where this subspecies of bird migrates to during winter months.
• A world famous colony of Mexican Free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis
mexicana )live in the Bat Cave area, several thousand feet from the entrance. In summer months, the population fluctuates for various reasons, particularly how wet or dry the spring and summer is. Most migrate south for the winter.

• The entrance of Carlsbad Cavern is in the Tansill formation. The flat ceiling observed in the Main Corridor and the entrance to Bat Cave is the result of collapse along a bedding plane in the Tansill. Numerous preserved mudcracks can be seen on the ceiling just beyond the tunnel gate indicating exposure and desiccation of the backreef beds during deposition.
• Water flowing out of bedding planes has created seams of flowstone near the drip line and around Devil's Spring. This is an indicator of bedding plane flow in the backreef beds (Tansill and Yates).
• The Tansill/Yates contact occurs just above Devil's Spring. The contact can be seen on the wall opposite Taffy Hill at the start of the switchbacks. The Yates can be identified by the orange-red coloring of the rock.
• The Contact between the Yates and the Massive Capitan can be seen just before Devil’s Den in the Main Corridor. You can see the transition between the bedded backreef and the massive reef along the north wall before you get to the tunnel below Devil’s Hump.
• Dating of a stalactite that grew before and of a stalagmite that grew after Iceberg Rock fell indicates that Iceberg Rock fell sometime between 513,000 and 180,000 years ago. Cause of the fall is unknown though it is not unreasonable to speculate that an earthquake triggered the fall.
Primary Concepts – History
• The existence of “Bat Cave” (one of early names for the Carlsbad Cavern) was probably known to local area inhabitants in the late 1880s. American Indian pictographs and ring middens in the immediate area of the Natural Entrance reveal centuries-old Native American presence.
• It is not known for certain whether the first people to enter the cavern used the large Natural Entrance or the smaller second Natural Entrance to the east.
• The main period of bat guano mining took place from 1903 – 1923. Minor bat guano mining also took place into the late 1920s. Initially miners took the guano out of the large Natural Entrance on an “inclined railway”, then later dynamited two guano mining shafts farther east. Both guano mining shafts were covered in March 1981.
• The western mining shaft also served as early cave entry and exit for many visitors, as these risk-takers descended and ascended 17 stories (170’)in the “guano bucket.”. In 1925, guano bucket entry was replaced by a 216 step wooden stairway built in the Natural Entrance, financed by the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. By 1930, the wooden stairs at the entrance were replaced by the current trail drilled through rock along the northern wall. Wooden stairs still existed in deeper sections of the natural entrance route until the 1950s. One set of stairs, at the top of Appetite Hill, still exists as an historic structure, but can no longer be used due to safety problems.

• The Iceberg Rock, a cave feature of much visitor interest, has been estimated to have fallen from the ceiling several hundreds of thousands of years ago and to weigh about 200,000 tons (other weight estimates exist; see above in "Geology/Biology" section). These estimates, though having been “accepted” for many years in interpretive materials, are currently undocumented, that is, historically untraceable back to specific people making such estimates.
• On June 26, 2000, the Main Corridor lights ranger discovered rocks on the trail in the vicinity of Iceberg Rock, the largest of which measured 6 feet tall and weighed an estimated 2-3 tons. Later investigation determined that the rocks did not fall from the wall or ceiling, but rather slid from an area between some other rocks as the result of some unknown human impact at some undetermined time.
Secondary Concepts
• In the 1920s, some explorers regarded the Main Corridor as the “plain” section of the cave which visitors must “endure” until reaching the more beautiful Big Room.
• A “J White 1898" inscription exists between the Devil’s Spring and Devil’s Den. This is believed to be proof of how early White began exploring the cave; he was 16 years of age in 1898.
• Key Main Corridor Explorations:
• Robert Holley and April - May 1923 General Land Office exploration.
• Willis T. Lee and the 6-month 1924 Cavern expedition financed by The National Geographic Society.
• The area known as The Guadalupe Room/Hall of White Giants was discovered off the visitor trail immediately above the Devil’s Den in July of 1966.
• The Balloon Ballroom expedition, which involved floating lightweight cord to the ceiling 200' above, took place in October 1982 above the Baby Hippo formation.

• Key Main Corridor Trail Improvements:
• Appetite Hill to Lunchroom re-routed from above Grape Arbor to lower route (1928).
• Devil’s Den tunnel built (1929)
• Shortcut trail at Iceberg Rock built (April 1943)
• 1,925 feet of Main Corridor trail surfaced. from Devil’s Den to Iceberg Rock(April 1951)
• Paved temporary trail replaced stairs for entry into Green Lake Room from Iceberg Rock (June 1951)
• Start of trail change between Baby Hippo and Iceberg Rock. This “by-pass” allowed additional tours (September 1952)

• Parking lot terrace west of the Natural Entrance was built in 1927.
• Cavern Supply Company in 1927 began operating out of a tent west of the Natural Entrance. In May 1928 their concession building was completed
• First bat flight program presented in September 1929.
• The first Bat Flight Breakfast, put on by Cavern employees, occurred in 1958. Tradition continues over four decades later.
• The 800 - 1,000 seating capacity amphitheaters at the Natural Entrance was completed in March 1964. The 1926 Ticket Office, east of the present day rest room, was removed in July 1963 in preparation for amphitheater construction.
• Caverns Historic District established in 1988 (at the same time as the Rattlesnakes Springs Historic District)
• A gate for emergency closures was installed at the Natural Entrance in October 1990.
• Self-guided tours of the Main Corridor, including the four Scenic Rooms, began in January 1972. Ranger-led tours of the four Scenic Rooms (the King’s Palace tour) began in November 1993
Suggested Readings – Geology (Natural Entrance/Main Corridor)
Barnett, John. Carlsbad Caverns: Silent Chambers, Timeless Beauty, 1981.
Brooke, Mark. "Infiltration Pathways at Carlsbad Cavern National Park Determined by Hydro-geologic and Hydro-chemical Characterization and Analysis."
Canyons and Caves, Refer to various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Davis, Donald. Cave Development in the Guadalupe Mountains, 1980.
Dunham, Robert. The Capitan Reef: field guide and discussion, 1972.
Hill, Carol. Cave Minerals of the World, 1998. (2nd Edition).
Hill, Carol. Geology of Carlsbad Cavern and Other Caves of the Guadalupe Mountains, 1987.
Jagnow, D.H. Cavern Development in the Guadalupe Mountains, 1979.
Jagnow, D.H. and Rebecca Jagnow. Stories From Stone, 1992. Highly recommended as introduction to geology.
Northup, Diane Eleanor, “Geomicrobiology of Caves.” Ph.D diss., University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, May 2002
Nymeyer, Robert. Carlsbad, Caves and a Camera, 1978.
Queen, Michael. A Discussion and Field Guide to the Geology of Carlsbad Caverns, 1981.
Van der Heijde, et.al. "Determining Water Infiltration Routes from Structures Located Above Carlsbad Cavern."

Suggested Readings – History (Natural Entrance/ Main Corridor)
Bullington, Neal, “Who Discovered Carlsbad Caverns?” Park Vertical Files
Cave Employee Handbook (1998) “Common Visitor Questions,” p: 61 - 69; “Historical Chronology,” p: 76 - 85; “Selected Readings: History,” p: 86 - 89
“Carlsbad Current Argus,” and “Carlsbad Current,” newspapers on microfilm at the New Mexico State University library at Carlsbad, New Mexico
Caverns Place Names book (Electronic version also available)
Halliday. William Carlsbad Caverns: The Early Years, 1992
History Leads and Resources, 1992 - 1999 by Bob Hoff; See p: 86 Cave Employee Handbook (1998) for some HL&R topics
Hoff, Bob, “Making the Cave Accessible, 1923 - 1925,” a research paper 1997
Holley, Robert, The Robert Holley Report, General Land Office, 1923
Justice, Peggy, Various Subject Chronologies (electronic versions) compiled from the Superintendent Monthly Reports and Superintendent Monthly Logs
Lee, Dana, 1924 Expedition Diary, Unpublished document
Lee, Willis, Various photographs from the 1924 National Geographic Expedition
Lee, Rebecca, “Elizabeth Lee”, a research paper available in Park Historian’s office
Lee, Rebecca, Various other papers on CAVE women’s history available in the Park Historian’s office
Lee, Willis T., Carlsbad Caverns An Unpublished Manuscript, 1925
Long, Abijah, The Big Cave
MacVaugh, Frederick, "Preserving the Underground: The Creation of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 1922 - 1930," Master's Thesis, May 2000
Meador Collection, collected by park history advocate Tom Meador; various research documents and newspaper clippings housed in the park’s museum storage
Park Photographic Files relating to various topics
Rothman, Hal K. "Promise Beheld: The Limits of Place--"An Historic Resources Study"

Standiford, Donald R., “The Development of the Cavern Trail System and Other Visitor Facilities”
Superintendent Monthly Reports and Superintendent Logs
Vertical Files, Park Library, various CAVE history related articles; see the Park Historian for recommended topics and articles.

Big Room

Primary Concepts – Geology
• The Big Room is the largest known cave room in North America.
• Guano from the Big Room has been dated at 44,680 old (+/- 1200 years). It is unknown as to what species roosted in the Big Room at this time.
• The Big Room is developed almost entirely in the Massive Capitan Limestone. The contact between the Massive Capitan and the Fore Reef beds can be seen in the area around Bottomless Pit. Note the inclined bedding above the pit. This is the result of reef material falling off the main reef and falling down into deeper water.
• The Bottomless Pit was probably one of the rising points for H2S-rich water. The H2S water rose from the oil field along the sandstone of the Bell Canyon formation until reaching the ascending bedding of the fore reef. That water rose up the bedding until it mixed with oxygen-rich water at the Big Room level and created sulfuric acid, which ate away the limestone.
• The cave has gone through several stages of speleothem development (Hill, 1996) that correspond to ice ages in the Pleistocene.
Primary Concepts – History
• The Big Room's popularity, due to increasing and widespread news and photographic publicity, contributes to the local and political momentum for re-designating Carlsbad Cave National Monument (designated on October 25, 1923) to Carlsbad Caverns National Park on May 14, 1930. Also contributing are the improvements—trails, stairs, tunnels, lights, underground lunchroom etc.—for visitors’ accessibility and convenience.
• Robert Holley of the General Land Office leads an expedition at the caverns in April and May of 1923. His planned several days assignment here becomes five weeks long instead. He recommends national monument status the cavern.
• Willis T. Lee conducts the first scientific exploration of the Big Room from March - September 1924 on an expedition financed by the National Geographic Society. In August 1923 El Paso attorney R.F. Burgess, highly motivated to see the caverns made into a monument, had arranged for Lee, who was in the area on other business, to see it. Like Holley, Lee was immediately convinced of the caverns worthiness for being established as a national monument..
• Local photographer Ray V. Davis' magnificent caverns photographs that he began taking sometime between 1915 and 1918 attracted the attention of the U.S. Government Land Office and the National Park Service, were used to illustrated Lee’s two cavern’s articles in the National Geographic, and appeared in the New York Times, as well as other magazines and newspapers through out the country and the world. Davis’ promotion of his phenomenal photographs significantly contributed to the establishment of Carlsbad Cave National Monument in October 1923.
• Big Room features and landmarks include: Grape Arbor, Hall of Giants, Temple of the Sun, Totem Pole, the Jumping Off Place, Bottomless Pit, Crystal Spring Dome, Rock of Ages, Painted Grotto, and the Chinese Temple, among others

• The Rock of Ages program begins in July 1928 and the very popular and emotional ceremony last until December 1944 when it is ended due to orders from the Secretary of Interior
• Other Big Room exploration, includes Lower Cave (1924 - 1925), the Liberty Dome expedition (June - July 1976) and Spirit World (December 1985)
Secondary Concepts History
• From 1923 to 1925 plans to drill and dynamite a tunnel from the plains outside directly into the Bug Room exists. Willis T. Lee proposes that cars be allowed to enter the Big Room and drive around using their headlights. The escalating estimates for construction and the building of the 216 wooden step stairway at the Natural Entrance cancels the tunnel proposal.
• In 1928, the Big Room becomes home to the underground lunchroom, moving to its present location in 1929 (first sandwiches served on May 16, 1928). Later, the initial lunchroom area will be incorporated into an area converted to use for large meeting groups (the Auditorium). In January 1932, the first elevator goes into operation on the edge of the Big Room.
• Photographs taken in the Big Room by Ray V. Davis and Willis T. Lee, especially in the Hall of Giants area, reveal and emphasize the huge size of some of the features and the room itself.
• The Big Room was illuminated in 1927. Congressman Louis Cramton of Michigan who helped secure the funds threw the switch to light the Big Room in a special ceremony. In the beginning of the new lighting system, cave guides still carried lanterns in case of an emergency.
• Trail from Lower Cave Overlook ("Jumping Off Place") to Top of the Cross completed in 1930.
• In January 1932 modern urban technology comes to the Chihuahuan Desert and the Big Room when the first elevator begins operation adjacent to the Big Room. New Mexico governor Arthur Seligman serves as the first elevator "boy" during the first day of operation.
• In June 1939, showman and broadcaster Robert "Believe It or Not" Ripley broadcasts his radio show from the Big Room.
• In April 1951, the movie “The Cave” with Hugh O’Brian, was filmed partly in the Big Room
• The "Tex" Helm "Big Shot" panoramic photo in the Big Room required 2400 light bulbs for camera illumination.
• The Big Room tour direction, whether clock-wise or counter clock-wise, has been changed several times in the 1940s - 1960s. In June of 1967, the Big Room was put on a semi-self-guided basis. (The Main Corridor tour became self-guided in January 1972)
• The Big Room lights were upgraded from September 1975 - September 1976, the first major Big Room lighting overhaul since the lights were installed almost 50 years earlier.

• In May 1991, a CRF Surveying Expedition found new passageway underneath the Big Room.
• In May 1998 new scientific evidence suggests that rather than 500,000 years old, the Big Room is nearer 4,000,000 years old.
Suggested Readings – Geology
Bassham, Elbert, The Big Room Survey, Carlsbad Caverns, 10-11, plus map, 1977
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Davis, Donald. Cave Development in the Guadalupe Mountains, 1980.
Dunham, Robert. The Capitan Reef: field guide and discussion, 1972.
Hill, Carol A., "Geologic Walking Tour of Carlsbad Cavern," p: 117-128, 1993
Jagnow, D.H. Cavern Development in the Guadalupe Mountains, 1979.
Jagnow, D.H. and Rebecca Jagnow. Stories From Stone, 1992. Highly recommended as introduction to geology.
Kerbo, Ron, Exploration of the Bemis Room, 1 page, October 4, 1976
Northup, Diane Eleanor, “Geomicrobiology of Caves.” Ph.D diss.,University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, May 2002
"Points of Interest in Big Room," 10 pages, n/d, (RF) GB602 (Park Library)
Queen, Michael. A Discussion and Field Guide to the Geology of Carlsbad Caverns, 1981.
Roth, John E., "Big Room Guidebook," Carlsbad Cavern, December, 1988
Suggested Readings – History
Bullington, Neal, “Who Discovered Carlsbad Caverns?” Park Vertical Files
Cave Employee Handbook (1998) “Common Visitor Questions,” p: 61 - 69; “Historical Chronology,” p: 76 - 85; “Selected Readings: History,” p: 86 - 89
Caverns Place Names book (Electronic version also available)
Halliday. William Carlsbad Caverns: The Early Years, 1992
History Leads and Resources, 1992 - 1999 by Bob Hoff; see p: 86 Cave Employee Handbook (1998) for some HL&R topics
Hoff, Bob, “Making the Cave Accessible, 1923 - 1925,” a research paper 1997
Holley, Robert, The Robert Holley Report, General Land Office, 1923
Justice, Peggy, Various Subject Chronologies (electronic versions) compiled from the Superintendent Monthly Reports and Superintendent Monthly Logs
Lee, Dana, 1924 Expedition Diary, Unpublished document
Lee, Willis, Various photographs from the 1924 National Geographic Expedition
Lee, Rebecca, “Elizabeth Lee”, a research paper available in Park Historian’s office
Lee, Rebecca, Various other papers on CAVE women’s history available in the Park Historian’s office
Lee, Willis T., Carlsbad Caverns An Unpublished Manuscript, 1925
MacVaugh, Frederick, "Preserving the Underground: The Creation of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 1922 - 1930," Master's Thesis, May 2000
Park Photographic Files relating to various topics
Rothman, Hal K. Promise Beheld, The Limits of Place A Historic Resources Study
Standiford, Donald R., “The Development of the Cavern Trail System and Other Visitor Facilities”
Superintendent Monthly Reports, 1926 - 1967
Superintendent Monthly Logs 1968 - Present

Scenic Rooms
Primary Concepts – Geology
• The four Scenic Rooms are the King’s Palace, the Queen’s Chamber, the Papoose Room, and the Green Lake Room.
• The Scenic Rooms are in the Massive Capitan formation (the main reef).
• The reason the Scenic Rooms are so well decorated is that they lie along a major fracture system that extends from Chocolate High and the New Mexico Room all the way into the Big Room. This fracture system allows water to move downward through the limestone and makes the Scenic Rooms much more active.
• In general, the large blocks of rock (breakdown) fall when the cave passages are first emptied of water. The buoyancy factor of the water helps to support the roof, and when the water goes away, the rock falls. In the case of Iceberg Rock, this isn’t true. There are large stalactites on the bottom of Iceberg that formed before the rock fell. This is why they are tilted.
• There are other tilted formations that can be seen in the King’s Palace. These are called deflected stalactites and are caused by wind movement. In general, calcite formations will grow downwind as water is blown to the leeward side and loses CO2 to precipitate calcium carbonate. Sulfate and other formations that depend on evaporation (including popcorn and aragonite) will grow into the wind where the evaporation rate is higher. The different deflections seen in King’s Palace represent the complex airflow through this section of cave (see discussion below).
• Over time, the micro-fractures and pore spaces in the limestone that caused the formations to develop in the rooms can become filled with calcium carbonate. This is why many of the formations are now inactive, but the blasted tunnel has active growth. It is also why you can observe a single, long soda straw hanging in a forest of thick, well-developed stalactites. The soda straw represents a newer flow path.
• Helictites are formed by hydrostatic pressure. Imagine the wall of the cave as a very full bucket of water. Now put a hole near the bottom of the bucket. The water will be under a certain amount of pressure depending on how full the bucket is. Now the water leaking out of the hole (pore spaces in the limestone) is saturated with calcite and will lose CO2 once it comes into contact with the cave air, leaving a little calcite behind. Because of the water pressure, this growth can seemingly defy gravity. How high could the helictite grow? Theoretically as high as the static water level in the bucket (the saturated water column in the limestone). Of course the weight of the formation would break it off before then.
• Popcorn is formed because of condensation and evaporation. Essentially water vapor that contains calcium carbonate condenses on the walls and evaporates, leaving behind popcorn. The colder, dry river of air that flows down from the entrance dramatically increases the evaporation rate and can cause directional popcorn growth (see deflected stalactite explanation above).
• Draperies form as water runs along a wall or slightly overhung ceiling much like milk running down the outside of the jug when you are trying to pour it on your cereal. Loss of CO2 will cause calcite deposition. Different minerals being carried by the water cause the different colors in draperies. In Carlsbad, reds, yellow, and oranges are generally caused by iron, and blues and blacks by manganese.

• The apparent green color of Green Lake is due to the way light is scattered by the water, not because of algae or any other biologic factor. The deeper the water, the more blue it will appear. This is because of the way different wavelengths are being absorbed and reflected by the water.
• The airflow at the Keyhole is caused by a combination of factors. The Scenics are part of a large air-circulation cell set up by the cold river of air coming down the Main Corridor from the entrance. This is by far the most significant factor in the airflow. There is probably a minor, secondary barometric effect caused by the passages beyond the Queen’s Chamber (Mystery Room, etc.).
• Why is the King’s Palace room so flat? We don’t really know the answer to this question, but there are a number of possible explanations. The floor may have been filled in during trail construction and then pounded flat by visitors gathering for talks in the room. Another possibility is that sediments were washed down the Main Corridor and accumulated at the natural low point of the King’s Palace. This sediment could have covered any rocks on the floor and surrounded the bases of the large formations.
Primary Concepts – History
• No actual first date has been established for explorer Jim White reaching the Scenic Rooms. Presumably, White made it down, on his off time, while working for the first guano mining company in 1903.
• Inscriptions left by early visitors appear at the bottom of Appetite Hill and in the Papoose Room.
• Somewhere between 1915 and 1918, Ray V., took the first photographs in the Caverns' Scenic Rooms and Big Room. His photographs greatly stimulated interest in the caverns and helped bring the attention of the National Park Service to it. Some Davis photos appeared in 1923 NY Times, National Geographic and other publications world-wide...
• First "organized tour" of Cavern took place in September 1922. Among the 14 people in the party were Ray Davis, local newspaper editor S. L. Perry, and Jim White. Publicity on the Cavern's size and beauty resulted from this tour.
• In April and May 1923 General Land Office Mineral Examiner Robert Holley led an expedition here and wrote a report.
• From March - September 1924, Willis T. Lee, a major advocate and enthusiast for monument status for the cavern, led an expedition at the caverns financed by the National Geographic Society. Lee would later write a "Carlsbad Caverns" manuscript (unpublished) and take many interesting cavern photographs, his son Dana would keep a diary, and his daughter Elizabeth would serve as a handy person, earning the name "The Cave Women."
• The photography of Willis T. Lee and Ray V. Davis documented many areas in the 1920 Scenic Rooms.
• First electric lights, powered by a park-owned generator near the entrance, installed from entrance through Kings Palace in 1926.
Secondary Concepts
• The story of the famous formation The Eternal Kiss becoming The Frustrated Lovers, a perennial favorite of both visitors and rangers, probably happened in the late 1930s rather than the 1960s. In April 2000, several rangers conducted an experiment and re-verified that the two formations weren't touching. See suggested readings for history below, article by then seasonal CAVE employee Garnet Goodrich.
• Willis T. Lee, who enjoyed studying Native-American mythology, renamed many features in the cavern with some mythological names; King’s Palace became Shinav's Wigwam and the Green Lake Room became Avanyu's Retreat. Queen’s Chamber became Pira's Chamber and Manche's Web referred to some passages in Shinav's Wigwag (King’s Palace). Lee used these Native-American mythological terms in his two National Geographic articles, "A Visit to Carlsbad Caverns" (January 1924) and "New Discoveries in Carlsbad Caverns" (September 1925). Soon after Lee left in 1924, locals restored the formations to their more commonly recognized names.
• A Ray V. Davis photograph of A Fallen Giant, a tilted and fallen formation with secondary deposits on it near the bottom of Appetite Hill, appeared in the January 1924 Willis T. Lee article in the National Geographic Society magazine
• In January 1928 Dave Mitchell and Jim White discovered the Mystery Room which is connected to the Queen’s Chamber.
• In February 1930 Dr. Frank Ernest Nicholson and his group was allowed to explore the long room, the Mystery Room, above the Elephants’s Ear formation in the Queen Chamber. The group found some remote sections in the Mystery Room that had not been entered.
• Tunnel between Papoose Room and Kings Palace completed in 1932.
• Part of the 1959 movie Journey to the Center of the Earth starring Pat Boone was filmed in the King’s Palace and the nearby Boneyard.
• The Green Lake Room connects to the New Mexico Room. The newly discovered area above the New Mexico Room’s Chocolate Drop formation was named Chocolate High in April 1992.

Suggested Readings – Geology
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Hill, Carol A. "A Geologic Walking Tour of Carlsbad Caverns," 1993
Northup, Diane Eleanor, “Geomicrobiology of Caves.” Ph.D diss.,University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, May 2002
Paris, Sharon, " Summary of Major Projects, cave restoration, and management projects FY 1883, 1983
Roth, John, "Main Corridor and Scenics Guide, Carlsbad Caverns," 1988
Standiford, Donald, Floor Deposits in the Scenic Rooms, June 27, 1964
History – Suggested Readings (Scenic Rooms)
Bullington, Neal, “Who Discovered Carlsbad Caverns?” Park Vertical Files
“Carlsbad Current Argus,” and “Carlsbad Current,” newspapers on microfilm at the New Mexico State University library at Carlsbad, New Mexico
Cave Employee Handbook (1998) “Common Visitor Questions,” p: 61 - 69; “Historical Chronology,” p: 76 - 85; “Selected Readings: History,” p: 86 - 89
Caverns Place Names book (Electronic version also available)
Goodrich, Garnet, “Eternal Kiss or Frustrated Lover’s,” Canyons and Caves, Issue 17, Summer 2000 (Regarding Eternal Kiss)
Halliday. William Carlsbad Caverns: The Early Years, 1992
History Leads and Resources, 1992 - 1999 by Bob Hoff; See p: 86 Cave Employee Handbook (1998) for some HL&R topics
Hoff, Bob, “Making the Cave Accessible, 1923 - 1925,” a research paper 1997
Holley, Robert, The Robert Holley Report, General Land Office, 1923
Justice, Peggy, Various Subject Chronologies (electronic versions) compiled from the Superintendent Monthly Reports and Superintendent Monthly Logs
Lee, Dana, 1924 Expedition Diary, Unpublished document
Lee, Willis, Various photographs from the 1924 National Geographic Expedition
Lee, Rebecca, “Elizabeth Lee”, a research paper available in Park Historian’s office
Lee, Rebecca, Various other papers on CAVE women’s history available in the Park Historian’s office
Lee, Willis T., Carlsbad Caverns An Unpublished Manuscript, 1925
Long, Abijah, The Big Cave
MacVaugh, Frederick, The Creation of Carlsbad Cave National Monument, MA, 2000
Meador Collection, collected by park history advocate Tom Meador; various research documents and newspaper clippings housed in the park’s museum storage
Park Photographic Files relating to various topics
Rothman, Hal K. Promise Beheld, The Limits of Place An Historic Resources Study
Standiford, Donald R., “The Development of the Cavern Trail System and Other Visitor Facilities”
Superintendent Monthly Reports, 1926 - 1967
Superintendent Monthly Logs 1968 - Present
Vertical Files, Park Library, various CAVE history related articles; see the Park Historian for recommended topics and articles.

Hall of the White Giant

Primary Concepts
• The Hall of the White Giant is one of the most beautiful and active areas in Carlsbad Cavern’s New Section, a maze-like arrangement of relatively small passages and chambers found along the north side of the Main Corridor, at an average depth of about 400 feet.
• The White Giant formation is the second largest, active formation known to exist in Carlsbad Caverns. Its white color comes from the fact that it is made of pure calcite, unpolluted by other minerals.
• The New Section and Hall of the White Giant are situated in the backreef area of the Capitan Reef, in the Yates Formation.
• Three off-duty "park guides" discovered the New Section in May, 1966. The Hall of the White Giant was discovered several weeks later, during the area’s subsequent exploration.
• The caving tour to the Hall of the White Giant begins at the paved trail near the bottom of the Devil’s Den, covers about ½ mile round trip, and includes a gradual ascent of almost 140 feet to reach the White Giant formation. The route takes visitors through Mattlock’s Pinch, a tight squeeze named after Gary Mattlock (one of the original explorers of the New Section), and Sand Passage, which still contains some of the first explorers’ footprints.
Summary
The tour to the Hall of the White Giant is an excellent introduction to caving for visitors with no prior experience, taking them into a very different and interesting area of Carlsbad Cavern called the New Section. This part of the cave was discovered and explored for the first time in 1966, and the tour gives visitors a good idea of what it is like to crawl and climb through very narrow passages in an undeveloped part of the cave. The New Section and Hall of the White Giant are situated in the Yates Formation, a part of the backreef area of the Capitan Reef, about 400 feet below the surface and adjacent to the Main Corridor.
Suggested Readings
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Note: These following references are from the bibliography in Park Ranger Doug Thompson's "Hall of the White Giant Caving Tour Handbook"
Allison, Stan (Science Technician, Carlsbad Caverns National Park), 1999: personal interview.
Ballou, Doug (Operations Supervisor, Carlsbad Caverns National Park), 1999: personal interview.
Barnett, John, 1966, “A New Miracle Mile at Carlsbad Cavern”: Unpublished manuscript sent with a cover memorandum to the Regional Director, Southwest Region, by the Park Naturalist, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, June 13, 1967.
Brooke, Mark, 1996, Infiltration Pathways at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Determined by Hydrogeologic and Hydrochemical Characterization and Analysis: Engineering Thesis, Colorado School of Mines, 182 pp.
Burgess, Harry (Science Technician, Carlsbad Caverns National Park), 1998: personal interview.
Cave Research Foundation, 1988, Map of Carlsbad Cavern, Plates K50 and K51.
Hill, Carol, 1987, Geology of Carlsbad Cavern and Other Caves in the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico and Texas: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Bulletin 117, 150 pp.
Hill, Carol, 1996, Geology of the Delaware Basin, Guadalupe, Apache, and Glass Mountains, New Mexico and West Texas: Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Permian Basin Section, 480 pp.
Hill, Carol and Paulo Forti, 1997, Cave Minerals of the World (Second Edition): National Speleological Society, 463 pp.
Hoff, Bob, 1999, “A Voice From the Past, or In a Matlock’s Pinch” in History Leads and Resources, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Number 99.04, p.1.
Jagnow, David, 1979, Cavern Development in the Guadalupe Mountains: Cave Research Foundation, 55 pp.
Jagnow, David and Rebecca, 1992, Stories from Stone, the Geology of the Guadalupe Mountains: Carlsbad Caverns Guadalupe Mountains Association, 40 pp.
Lambert, Steve (Senior Member, Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories), 1999: personal telephone interview. (Lambert’s incomplete study, cited in the text, is titled Recharge to the Unsaturated Zone in Fractured Limestone: Stable-Isotopic Characteristics of Infiltration.)
McLean, John, 1971, The Microclimate in Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey, 67 pp.
Northup, Diane Eleanor, “Geomicrobiology of Caves.” Ph.D diss.,University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, May 2002
Nymeyer, Robert and William Halliday, M.D., 1991, Carlsbad Cavern, the Early Years, a Photographic History of the Cave and Its People: Carlsbad Caverns Guadalupe Mountains Association, 156 pp.
Pate, Dale, 1996, “The Beetle Rhadine Longicollis” in Canyons and Caves, a Newsletter from the Natural Resource Offices of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Issue 3, p.10.
Pate, Dale (Cave Resources Specialist, Carlsbad Caverns National Park), 1999: personal interview. Polyak, Victor, 1998, Clays and Associated Minerals in Caves of the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico: Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation, Texas Tech University, and 189 pp.
Polyak, Victor, William McIntosh, Necip Guven and Paula Provencio, 1998, “Age and Origin of Carlsbad Cavern and Related Caves from 40Ar/39Ar of Alunite” in Science, March 20, 1998, Vol. 279, pp.1919-1922.
Polyak, Victor, 1999: personal interview.
Queen, J. Michael, 1981, A Discussion and Field Guide to the Geology of Carlsbad Caverns: Unpublished report to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 64 pp.
Richards, Jason, 1996, “How ’Bout Those Crickets” in Carlsbad Caverns Underground, a Newsletter from the Cave Resources Office, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Issue 4, p.4.
Richards, Jason (Cave Resources Specialist, Carlsbad Caverns National Park), 1999: personal interview.
Thompson, Doug, "Hall of the White Giant Caving Tour Handbook"
Interviews conducted by Park Ranger Doug Thompson

Left Hand Tunnel
Primary Concepts – Geology
• A study in the summer of 1995 showed that the bats exit the cave for their nightly feed by flying a specific route. First, they fly down the Left Hand Tunnel, through the Underground Concessions area, cutting upward towards Iceberg rock from the passage behind the Concessionaire structures, and finally upward out of the Main Corridor Then they exit from either the main entrance or the smaller second entrance. The bats make this trek out of the cave in approximately 5 ½ minutes. This study also showed that lights and noise do affect these bats.
• Left Hand Tunnel is developed in both the massive and fore reef beds of the Capitan Limestone. Around the first bridge you can see a distinct tilt to the cave shape (down to the right as you are going in). This is a reflection of the cave passage being developed in the inclined beds of the fore reef.
• At the first major formation area you can see flat-bottomed popcorn stalactites called trays. They are formed as condensation corrodes the limestone of the ceiling, and as it seeps back downward, evaporates and deposits popcorn (Shown below after Hill’s Cave Minerals of the World. Corrosion limits the downward growth of the popcorn stalactite.
• Lake of the Clouds is the deepest point in the cave, is about 240 feet below the Left Hand Tunnel level (3,303 ft. above sea level). Lake of the Clouds is about 200 feet above the water table in the Capitan Aquifer.
Primary Concepts – History
• In September of 1958, mapping of the Left Hand Tunnel area was completed.
• Guided trips into the Left Hand Tunnel were conducted May 4-16, 1980 in connection with the 50th anniversary and proved very popular. Four hundred twelve visitors took advantage of the special tours.
• On August 8, 1981 Ron Kerbo and members of the CRF discovered the Storm Cloud Chamber in the Left Hand Tunnel area about 50-58 feet above Lake of the Clouds. The chamber was about 110 feet long and highly decorated with aragonite.
• In January 1982, approximately 600 feet of new passage was discovered in the Left Hand Tunnel by the CRF during their New Year’s expedition. 
• In March 1987, Park Ranger Mark Flippo and Dr. Michael Queen, CRF researcher, made a significant new discovery off the right hand form of Left Hand Tunnel, and preliminary estimates indicated possibly 1000 feet of new passage, a new room approximately 30 x 60 feet, and highly decorated areas.
• In February 1990 Cave Research Foundation members donated 383 hours. Some new passages were found in the “Quintessential Right” section of the Left Hand Tunnel.
• In December 1998 permanent photo monitoring points were set up in Left Hand Tunnel, Lower Cave, and the Hall of the White Giant for Cave Resource Management purposes.
Secondary Concepts – History
• Jim White named Left Hand Tunnel. In 1924 Willis T. Lee changed Left Hand Tunnel's name to Okoowah's Retreat. Upon Lee's leaving, the name reverted to Left Hand Tunnel.
• In March 1929 NPS Landscape Engineer Thomas Vint, while inspecting Left Hand Tunnel for placement of future trails, slips and breaks his left leg. Jim White goes to get the cot-stretcher and help.
• Left Hand Tunnel provided the link to the discovery of Lake of the Clouds in 1930.
• During the filming here of the 1959 movie Journey to the Center of the Earth, props such as fake rocks were stored in Left Hand Tunnel to keep visitors form spotting them.
Primary Concepts – Biology
• Small populations of two species of myotis bats: cave myotis (Myotis velifer) and fringed myotis (Myotis thysanodes) are found in this area from approximately May to November each year. The colony sizes are not well known, and probably vary throughout the season.
Suggested Readings – Geology
Brooke, Mark. "Infiltration Pathways at Carlsbad Cavern National Park Determined by Hydro-geologic and Hydro-chemical Characterization and Analysis."
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Davis, Donald. Cave Development in the Guadalupe Mountains, 1980.
Hill, Carol. Cave Minerals of the World, 1998. (2nd Edition).
Hill, Carol. Geology of Carlsbad Cavern and Other Caves of the Guadalupe Mountains, 1987.
Jagnow, D.H. Cavern Development in the Guadalupe Mountains, 1979.
Jagnow, D.H. and Rebecca Jagnow. Stories From Stone, 1992. Highly recommended as introduction to geology.
Northup, Diane Eleanor, “Geomicrobiology of Caves.” Ph.D diss.,University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, May 2002
Nymeyer, Robert. Carlsbad, Caves and a Camera, 1978.
Queen, Michael. A Discussion and Field Guide to the Geology of Carlsbad Caverns, 1981.
Suggested Readings – History
Halliday. William Carlsbad Caverns: The Early Years, 1992
History Leads and Resources, 1992 - 1999 by Bob Hoff; see p:86 Cave Employee Handbook (1998) for some HL&R topics
Justice, Peggy, Various Subject Chronologies (electronic versions) compiled from the Superintendent Monthly Reports and Superintendent Monthly Logs
Lee, Willis T. "Carlsbad Caverns" 1925 An unpublished Manuscript
Meador Collection, collected by park history advocate Tom Meador; various research documents and newspaper clippings housed in the park’s museum storage
Superintendent Monthly Reports and Superintendent Logs
Roth, John E., Left Hand Tunnel and Lake of Clouds (LOC) Guidebook, December, 1988
Rudy, Cathy, Notes on Left Hand Tunnel. 1982

Lower Cave

Primary Concepts – Geology
• The earth has experienced a reversal in its magnetic field a number of times. During this reversal, a compass would actually point to the south, instead of north as it does today. The reddish-brown clays found throughout Lower Cave contain magnetic particles that are reversed. Instead of pointing north, they point south. This indicates that these clays were deposited during a time when the earth’s magnetic fields were reversed. It is thought that these clays were deposited during the last reversal that occurred 730,000 to 900,000 years ago.
• “The Rookery” in Lower Cave is famous for the cave pearls that it contains. During the initial discovery of the area, there were evidently thousands of cave pearls found there. Though rumors abound, it is not known why we now only see dozens of cave pearls in the Rookery. The ones we do see in place were actually found near the Rookery in an old coffee can in 1983 by Carol Hill. These pearls were placed in the Rookery in the Fall of 1983.
• Cave pearls form in much the same way as pearls in oysters form. They usually begin as a small grain of calcite or sand. As a gentle flow of water turns this grain, it slowly builds up calcite deposits in concentric rings. Over time, it forms a sphere.
Primary Concepts – History
• During the 6-month (day trips) exploration expedition financed by the National Geographic Society and led by United States Geological Service geologist Willis T. Lee (on leave of absence) from March - September 1924, the expedition used the "National Geographic Pit" to enter and leave the Lower Cave.
• On Monday, May 5, 1924, Dana Lee, son of Willis T. Lee, reported in his diary that he, his Dad, Jim White, and two others visited the "Lower Level." He reported, "The most distinctive feature of the Lower Level is hundreds of little round marbles on the floor. They are in little groups where the water drips from the roof, and in some cases much resemble eggs in a nest. There are also several rooms where the formation is very fresh and of a pretty orange color."
• In January 1925, Custodian W.F. Mcllvain reports to NPS Associate Director Arno Cammerer that Jim White has discovered a new opening to the Lower Cavern and that three 10' sections of ladder have been built to it. "In fact," Mcllvain adds, "to many tourists it seems to be more attractive than most of the upper Caverns."
• In March 1925, NPS Associate Director Arno Cammerer, based on advice from Willis T. Lee, restricted visitors from going into the Lower Cavern. In a chat with Cammerer, Lee expressed some concern over the "so-called 'egg deposits' in the Lower Cavern." Lee felt that despite the utmost vigilance practically all of the cave pearls, especially the smaller ones, would be carried away by visitors.
• In the Superintendent's Monthly Report" for August 1927, Superintendent Tom Boles reported, "The Lower Chamber" is a series of tunnels and rooms, at a general level of about 130 feet below the "Big Room." Although it can now be reached over ladders it is best that we keep the general public out of this "Lower Chamber" until trails can be constructed therein and guard-rails placed around the more delicate formations, as under the present conditions it will be practically impossible and difficult to prevent vandalism in the "Lower Chamber."
Secondary Concepts – History
• Miss Amelia Earhart, Trans-Atlantic Flyer, toured the Cavern on Sunday, September 9, 1928. Superintendent Boles escorted Earhart and her friends on a side trip in the Lower Cavern and allowed her to do some exploring on her own initiative. She stated that she had never been so fascinated in her life as during the Cave trip, and accepted Boles' invitation to become a member of an exploration party to “run out” several of the tunnels and pits during the winter months. She promised return in December or January and to spend a week at the cavern, but didn't return until the early 1930s.
• In 1964 the wooden ladders in Lower Cave were replaced with metal ladders.
• On August 12, 1968 Park Naturalist Neal Bullington and Seasonal Park Guide Dwight Pitcaithley (now the Chief Historian of the NPS) discovered the Naturalist Room in the Lower Cave - reached through a series of small cracks at the end of the small rooms to the right of the Keyhole at the base of the ladder to Lower Cave. The room was 128' long, approximately 40' wide with the ceiling 20' in some places.
• In December 1998 permanent photo monitoring points were set up in Lower Cave, Left Hand Tunnel, and the Hall of the White Giant for Cave Resource Management purposes.
Suggested Readings – Geology
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Hill, Carol A.; DuChene, Harvey R.; Jagnow, David Henry, Preliminary geological and mineralogical investigations of the Lower Cave and Left Hand Tunnel portions of Carlsbad Caverns. Guadalupe Cave Survey Report, January 1972
Lyles, Lois, Rookery Restoration Project Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, NSS News, March 1999
Northup, Diane Eleanor, “Geomicrobiology of Caves.” Ph.D diss.,University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, May 2002


Polyak, Victor James. Clays and Associated Minerals in Caves of the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico. May 1998
Roth, John "Lower Cave Guide." 1988

Suggested Readings – History
Halliday, William R., The Rediscovery of Nicholson's Lost Pit, 1971
Hoff, Bob, "Making the Cave Accessible, 1923 - 25"
History Leads and Resources, 1992 - 1999 by Bob Hoff; See p:86 Cave Employee Handbook (1998) for some HL&R topics
Holley, Robert, The Robert Holley Report, General Land Office, 1923
Justice, Peggy, Various Subject Chronologies (electronic versions) compiled from the Superintendent Monthly Reports and Superintendent Monthly Logs
Lee, Willis, Various photographs from the 1924 National Geographic Expedition
Lee, Dana, "1924 Diary"
Lee, Willis T., "Carlsbad Caverns" 1925, Unpublished Manuscript
Lee, Willis T., "New Discoveries in Carlsbad Caverns," The National Geographic Magazine, September 1925
Lee, Rebecca, “Elizabeth Lee”, a research paper available in Park Historian’s office
MacVaugh, Frederick, "Preserving the Underground: The Creation of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 1922 - 1930," Master's Thesis, May 2000
Meador Collection, collected by park history advocate Tom Meador; various research documents and newspaper clippings housed in the park’s museum storage
Park Photographic Files relating to various topics
"Place Names" (electronic version available)
Roth, John "Lower Cave Guide." 1988
Superintendent Monthly Reports and Logs
Vertical Files, Park Library, various CAVE history related articles; see the Park Historian for recommended topics and articles.

Lechuguilla Cave
Primary Concepts
Lechuguilla Cave, located within Carlsbad Caverns National Park, is a world-class cave that in some ways rivals Carlsbad Cavern in both scope and significance. At present (June 2004) Lechuguilla Cave’s depth is 1604’ (489 meters) and discovered passageway totals 112+ miles.
• Lechuguilla Cave is not open to the general public for two main reasons. These reasons include:
o Lechuguilla is located with Congressionally designated wilderness and thus under the protection of the Wilderness Act of 1964 . Thirty-three thousand (33,000) acres of the 46,675-acres found in Carlsbad Caverns National Park is designated as wilderness, roughly 75% of the park.
o The cave is extremely fragile and preserves pristine cave environments, having unique and important scientific value.
• Scientific research has shown that Lechuguilla Cave contains many species of unique microbes, some of which may prove to be of great medical benefit for humans.
• Oil and gas drilling on public lands adjacent to Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a potential threat to Lechuguilla Cave. For this reason, Congress established a protection zone along the park's northern boundary where such activities are prohibited. The BLM recently withdrew over 8,000 acres of additional land north of the park from oil and gas drilling subject to valid, existing leases.
Secondary Concepts
• Lechuguilla Cave provides a unique opportunity for scientific research in the study of cave formation and cave ecology.
• Lechuguilla Cave contains great quantities of gypsum and sulfur, along with many other unique features, including the largest and most spectacular collection of gypsum chandeliers in the world.
• The exploration and survey of Lechuguilla Cave has been an important and exciting chapter in the history of caving; the work has been carried out by volunteer caving organizations and individuals, under the auspices of the park's Cave Resources Office.
• Lechuguilla Cave currently is the deepest limestone cave and the third longest cave in the United States.
• Lechuguilla Cave presently is not known to connect with Carlsbad Cavern or any other caves in the Guadalupe Mountains.

Summary
Lechuguilla Cave was known until 1986 as a small, fairly insignificant guano mining site in the park backcountry. Bat guano was mined from there for a year under a 1914 mining claim. The cave contained a 70-foot entrance pit leading to 400 feet of dry dead-end passages. The cave was seldom visited after the mining ended. However, in the 1950s cavers heard wind roaring up from the rubble-choked floor of the cave. Although there was no obvious route, different people concluded that cave passages lay below the rubble. Some Colorado cavers gained permission from the National Park Service began digging in this rubble pile in 1984. The breakthrough into large walking passages occurred on May 26, 1986. Within one week, explorers had reached a depth of 700+ feet.
Since 1986, explorers have mapped over 105 miles of passages and have pushed the depth of the cave to 1,567 feet, ranking Lechuguilla as the 5th longest cave in the world (3rd longest in the United States) and the deepest limestone cave in the country. Cavers, drawn by virgin passage and never-before-seen beauty, come from around the world to explore and map the cave.
Lechuguilla Cave offered even more than just its extreme size. Cavers discovered large amounts of gypsum and lemon-yellow sulfur deposits. A fantastic array of rare speleothems, some of which had never been seen anywhere in the world, included 20 foot gypsum chandeliers, 20 foot gypsum hairs, 15 foot soda straws, hydro-magnesite balloons, cave pearls, subaqueous helictites, rusticles, u-loops and j-loops (these loops appear to be biogenic in origin). Lechuguilla Cave surpassed its nearby sister, Carlsbad Cavern, in length, depth, and variety of speleothems, though no room has been discovered yet in Lechuguilla Cave which is larger than Carlsbad's Big Room.
Scientific exploration has been exciting as well. Lechuguilla Cave extends into some different rock units than are exposed in Carlsbad Cavern. The profusion of gypsum and sulfur lends support to speleogenesis by sulfuric acid dissolution. Rare, chemolithoautotrophic bacteria are believed to occur in the cave. These bacteria feed on the sulfur, iron, and manganese minerals and may assist in enlarging the cave and determining the shapes of some unusual speleothems. Other studies indicate that some microbes may have medicinal qualities that are beneficial to humans.
Suggested Readings
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
Hill, Carol. Cave Minerals of the World, 1998. (2nd Edition).
Northup, Diane Eleanor, “Geomicrobiology of Caves.” Ph.D diss.,University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, May 2002
Reames, Stephen, Lawrence Fish, Paul Burger, and Patricia Kambesis, 1999. Deep Secrets: The Discovery and Exploration of Lechuguilla Cave.
Widmer, Urs (ed.). Lechuguilla, Jewel of the Underground, 1998. (2nd Edition).
Slaughter Canyon Cave
Primary Concepts – Geology
• Slaughter Canyon Cave has been developed near the contact between the backreef (horizontally bedded) and the Massive Capitan. To the east, Wen Cave is developed at the contact between the dipping beds of the fore reef and the Massive Capitan.
• The cave has been developed along prominent joints in the Capitan. An expression of these same joints can be seen as the prominent limestone fins outside the cave.
• Based on recent research, the cave is considered to be about 7 million years old.
• An extinct bat, Constantine’s Freetail (Tadarida constantinei) deposited large quantities of guano in the cave. Recent research has indicated that this guano may be as old as ½ to 1 million years. This extinct bat is known only from this cave.
• Located in the dark zone near an old pool, there have been approximately 40 hunter-gatherer style pictographs documented. This is one of very few dark-zone pictograph sites in the United States.
Primary Concepts – History
• Tom Tucker is given credit for discovering New Cave in July 1937. Placer claim filed by the Ogle Mining Company for mineral rights to the cave is dated July 28, 1937. Carl Livingston claimed that he explored the same cave in March 1931 and half a dozen others claimed in a newspaper article to have visited the cave over 20 years ago.
• The discovery of New Cave is announced to the public on February 16, 1938.
• R.M. William (Bill) Burnet, a local archeologist and a Carlsbad Museum curator, explored the cave early on at the request of the Department of Interior. First reports, later retracted, billed the New Cave in Slaughter Canyon as either rivaling or exceeding the splendor of Carlsbad Caverns.
• New Cave, part of a 39,000 acre land acquisition, is added to the park on February 10, 1939.
• All guano mining activities are halted at New Cave in September 1957. This last guano mining lease was granted in a deal with a private citizen in the early 1940s in order for the U.S. Government to gain title to the last 40 acres of private land in the Bat Cave area. .
Secondary Concepts – History
• R.M. Burnet named the Klansman in 1937.
• The movie King Soloman's Mines was filmed at New Cave in March 1950.
• Camel bones were found in August 1957 and jaguar bones in January 1958 in New Cave.
• In 1957, in exchange for permission to explore New Cave, Mr. Roger Hoeston helped to mine guano for a short period at New Cave, becoming the first West Point graduate guano miner in the area.
• An extension to a country road allowing public access to New Cave began on July 11, 1973. The first public tours of New Cave began on September 27, 1973. A $2.00 user fee for New Cave was initiated May 1, 1982.
• In June 1992, the park requested that The Board of Geographic Names within The Geologic Survey change the New Cave name to Slaughter Canyon Cave. This was approved on December 9, 1993.
Suggested Readings – Geology
Burke, Edgar D., "A Chronological Recorded History of Slaughter Canyon Cave," Book I (1936 - 1940), Book II (1940 - 1950), Book III (1950 - 1970), Book IV (1970-1980), Book V (1980-1990)
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Northup, Diane Eleanor, “Geomicrobiology of Caves.” Ph.D diss.,University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, May 2002
Roth, John; Cordero, Dave and Ann; Baldino, Terry "New Cave Geology/History Guidebook"
Suggested Readings--History
Bilbo, Michael and Barbara, "The Slaughter Canyon (New) Cave Pictograph Site," 1994
Burke, Edgar D., A Chronological Recorded History of Slaughter Canyon Cave," Book I (1936 - 1940), Book II (1940 - 1950), Book III (1950 - 1970), Book IV (1970-1980), Book V (1980-1990)
Nymeyer, Robert, Carlsbad, Caves, and a Camera. 1978
Peggy Justice Chronologies
Roth, John; Cordero, Dave and Ann; Baldino, Terry "New Cave Geology/History Guidebook "Superintendent Monthly Reports and Logs
Spider Cave

Primary Concepts – Geology
• Spider Cave has been developed in the Yates backreef formation. The Yates is a bedded siltstone and dolomite and has a characteristic red color. The Yates represents an unrestricted lagoon that was occasionally exposed above sea level.
• This cave is strongly controlled by joint patterns in the Yates. The mixing between H2S water and meteoric water occurred preferentially along these joints.
• Much of the black and reddish material on the walls, ceiling, and speleothems in Spider is corrosion residue. Corrosion residues are formed as bacteria utilize manganese and iron in the rock for energy. The corrosion residues are the waste product of these processes. The bacteria in Spider are still active.
Primary Concepts – History
• The original discoverer of Spider Cave is not known, but much of the credit for early exploration is given to Robert Nymeyer who also named numerous rooms and formations in Spider Cave.
• In his book Carlsbad, Caves, and a Camera Nymeyer reports that he and four others arrived at Spider Cave for the first time on July 16, 1933.
• On September 23, 1958 the Park Naturalist and other rangers "relocated" Spider Cave after it had been "lost" after a heavy flood, possibly the big flood of September 1941.
• In August 1989, about 328 more feet of passage were discovered in Spider Cave.
• In February 1990 the connection between the Ghost Room and Plumbers Nightmare in Spider Cave was relocated and surveyed.
Suggested Readings – Geology/Biology
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Hill, Carol A., Mineralogy of Spider Cave, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, Cave Research Foundation 1979 Annual Report
Knapp, Richard, Recent Work in Spider Cave. Recent Work in Spider Cave, Southwestern Cavers, January-February 1992
Northup, Diane Eleanor, “Geomicrobiology of Caves.” Ph.D diss.,University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, May 2002
Nymeyer, Robert, Spider Cave, 9 p, 1937, Narrative description of cave written for a writing class.
Polyak, Victor James, Clays and Associated Minerals in Caves of the Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico, May, 1998
Smith, E. Norbert / Campbell, Glenn D., Direction and Size Discriminating Activity Recorder, December 1975, From abstract, 'An activity recorder is described which provides both direction and size discrimination of arthropods in the field. Directional information is obtained by the sequence with which an insect interrupts two light beams. Size discrimination is determined by simultaneous interrupting of 2 spaced light beams. The recorder was successfully operated on nocturnally migrating cave crickets at Spider Cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
Polyak, Victor J., Mosch, Cyndi J. Metatyuyamunite from Spider Cave, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, NSS Bulletin, December 1995, Metatyuyamunite is a hydrated uranyl vanadate mineral in the form of canary yellow crystals. Such crystals were discovered in Spider Cave, Carlsbad Caverns National Park and are supposedly the first reported occurrence of metatyuyamunite in a cave. This report looks at the finding of this mineral in Spider Cave, why it exists in this cave, and how its presence may offer new insights into the geologic history of caves in this area.
Suggested Readings – History
History Leads and Resources, 1992 - 1999 by Bob Hoff; See p:86 Cave Employee Handbook (1998) for some HL&R topics
Justice, Peggy, Various Subject Chronologies (electronic versions) compiled from the Superintendent Monthly Reports and Superintendent Monthly Logs
Nymeyer, Robert B., "Wonders Below," New Mexico Magazine, December 1938, Article written on the many caves that Robert Nymeyer has explored in the Guadalupe Mountains.
Nymeyer, Robert, Carlsbad, Caves, and a Camera
Superintendent Monthly Reports and Superintendent Logs

Cave Fauna

Primary Concepts
• Although a wide variety of insects and spiders, including beetles, spring-tails, and crickets, live in the cave, they are seldom seen by park visitors.
• Aquatic cave creatures such as blind fish, salamanders, or crayfish are not found in this park, as they require the presence of a river to bring in food and oxygen and carry away waste. The park does not have any underground rivers.
• Hundreds of microbes have been discovered in Carlsbad Cavern and Lechuguilla Cave, many previously unknown to science. They appear to survive by feeding exclusively on cave minerals or each other. Their incredibly delicate ecosystem is focused in and around the many pools found throughout the caves.
• The Mexican free-tailed bats are the most famous residents of Carlsbad Cavern, returning here each year to give birth.
• Seventeen species of bats have been identified in the park. One these 17 species, Tadarida constantinei, is extinct and only known from Slaughter Canyon Cave. The other 16 species have been seen, captured or has left their skeletons in Carlsbad Cavern at one time or another.
• The food chain for cavern life is very limited and has been adversely affected by humans, primarily from the inadvertent dropping of lint and the use of food products inside the cave.
Suggested Readings
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Northup, Diana E., “Community Structure of the Arthropods of Carlsbad Caverns, Emphasizing Rhaphidophoridae of the Genus Ceuthophilus,” 1987. (Article on cave crickets)
Northup, Diana E., et al. “Lechuguilla Cave Biological Inventory”. 1992
Geluso, Kenneth N., J. Scott Altenbach, and Ronal C. Kerbo, Bats of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 1987.
Roth, John E., “Past and Present Animals, Plants, and Geologic Features of Carlsbad Caverns National Park: Working Lists with Museum and Slide File Records,” 1985.
1998 Carlsbad Caverns Employee Handbook, p: 118 - 121.
Park library videotape, "Bats: Myth and Reality"

Bats
Primary Concepts
• Bats are responsible for the health and diversity of many ecosystems. They provide valuable ecological services including insect control, flower pollination, seed dispersal, and others.
• Most bat folklore is based upon myth, misconception and misinformation. These myths are often perpetuated through literature, media productions and other methods of communication.
• Bats play an important ecological role as the #1 predators of night-flying insects.
• Fear of bat rabies is highly exaggerated. Like all mammals, bats can carry rabies, but the percentage of diseased carriers is much lower in bats than in other mammals. Rabies is transmitted mainly through saliva in animal bites. To protect yourself from rabies and other animal diseases, never handle a wild animal or put yourself in a position where you can be bitten!
• Bats are the only flying mammals.
Secondary Concepts
• North American bats are primarily insectivorous.
• Vampire bats are limited to Latin America and, in general, pose little threat to humans.
• Bat guano is used mainly as fertilizer.
Summary
Park rangers have been presenting summertime bat flight programs since 1929. As a result Carlsbad Caverns National Park has one of the best-known bat colonies in the world. Research supports these programs as the rangers dispel the myths and extol the virtues of these flying mammals. Thousands of visitors have learned the truth about these nocturnal creatures. In their own way bats provide a harmless-to-humans but deadly-to-insects pest management program. Bats are an integral part of Carlsbad Caverns National Park and the local community.

Suggested Readings
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
CAVE Employee Handbook (1998), pages 119-121, "Mexican Free-tailed Bat Population at Carlsbad Caverns" (population counts)
Fenton, M.B. 1992. Bats. Facts on File, Inc., New York. Pages 149-155. (Good information on vampire bats)
Tuttle, Merlin, America's Neighborhood Bats, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, 1987
Geluso, Ken, et.al., Bats of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 1987 (souvenir booklet available in The Cavern Bookstore)

Desert Fauna
Primary Concepts
• CCNP is home to many species of wildlife. No one species is more important than another is; all are protected within park boundaries and should not be disturbed.
• Most of the park's wildlife is rodents and reptiles; these and most mammals are nocturnal, an adaptation to the desert environment. The best times to view wildlife are early morning and late afternoon or evening.
• Because of preserved habitat, over 300 bird species live in or migrate through CCNP, more than any other area in south-eastern New Mexico.
• Carlsbad Caverns is home to the largest and northern-most colony of cave swallows in North America.
Secondary Concepts
• Rattlesnake Springs is home to over 100 butterfly species, more than any other area in the Guadalupe Mountains
• .Most snakes are non-poisonous; they do not live in caves, though may be found in the entrance areas from time to time.
• Several grassland animal species have been eliminated from the local region due to modern human activities. These include the bison, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, and prairie dog.
Summary
CCNP preserves and protects many diverse habitats and their associated wildlife populations. Most of the mammals and reptiles are nocturnal, hide in daytime burrows, or are camouflaged by vegetation. Preserved riparian areas provide essential habitat for resident and migratory wildlife. No one is more aware of this fact than birders who come to Rattlesnake Springs. This preserved cultural landscape offers the best bird-watching and wildlife watching in all of southeastern New Mexico.
Suggested Readings
CAVE Employee Handbook, (1998) pages 124-125, (Flora and Fauna)
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Checklist of Mammals of CCNP
Checklist of Birds of CCNP
Field Guide to the Birds of North America, National Geographic Society
Peterson Field Guide series: Birds, Mammals, Reptiles and Amphibians, Insects and Butterflies, etc.

Desert Flora

Primary Concepts
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located at the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert. The park preserves a unique setting as the desert, short grass prairie, and Pinon-juniper upland all merge, creating a highly diverse community.
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park preserves the rare desert riparian area of Rattlesnake Springs, with year-round flowing water and associated cultural landscape.
• Lechuguilla and sotol are botanic indicator species of the Chihuahuan Desert.
Secondary Concepts
• Average rainfall is 10-13 inches, with most rain coming July through September.
• Desert plants are adapted to extreme fluctuations of daily and seasonal temperatures and weather conditions.
• The most colorful blooming season is March-June, Most cacti bloom April and May; other plants may bloom intermittently all year, especially after summer rains.
• Outside influences upon this section of Chihuahuan Desert make a highly diverse flora. Rainfall is sparse and probably the most limiting factor on vegetation
Suggested Readings
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
CAVE Employee Handbook, (1998) p: 122-127 (Rattlesnake Springs, Desert Flora & Fauna, Wildlife Observations, Backcountry Wilderness).
Audubon Nature Guides: Deserts, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, 1997
Kirkpatrick, Zoe M. Wildflowers of the Western Plains, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX., 1992
Powell, Michael A., Trees and Shrubs of the Trans-Pecos and Adjacent Areas, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, TX., 1988
Sartori, Vivian W. Native Plants of the Chihuahuan Desert, unpublished. This is a pictorial notebook with 2 copies available for park staff only.
Taylor, Ronald J., Desert Wildflowers of North America, Mountain Press Publishing, Missoula, MT., 1998.

Archeology
Primary Concepts
Many different peoples over a long period of time visited, used the resources, or lived here at CAVE.
• Humans have used the general area for at least 12,000 to 14,000 years. At first they hunted mammoths and other extinct mega fauna, and later they hunted smaller game animals. Still later some groups farmed along the rivers, while others relied on the gathering of abundant wild plant and animal foods, and some groups did both.
• Sometimes the people lived as nomads moving from place to place collecting specific plants or following game in a seasonal round of locations. Sometimes the people lived in more permanent villages along the rivers or near springs, or sometimes they lived in small camps among the sand dunes, rocky hills, and cave entrances. Some people also lived and utilized the high elevation woodlands.
• The first Native American people in the CAVE area are known as Paleo-Indians while the most recent Native Americans were the Mescalero Apaches. Other groups known to have been here or visited are the Comanches, Kiowa, Tigua, Isteta, Zia, Hopi, Mansos, Sumas, Piros, and Isleta del Sur Tigua and many others.
• The large piles of fire cracked rock (fcr) are archeological sites. There are over twenty fcr piles recorded within 1/4 mile of the Carlsbad Cavern entrance. Think of the fcr piles (sometimes called ring middens, mescal pits, or middens) as great big earth ovens. In them were cooked many varieties of agave, yuccas, many other plants, and sometimes game animals. They were often reused many times by diverse groups of peoples over a long period of time.
• Native Americans did enter the caves. Some to paint or incise symbols or designs on the rock faces at the entrances as at Carlsbad Cavern while others ventured deep into the dark zone to paint their designs as at Slaughter Canyon Cave. Native American artifacts have been found in many of the caves, but we are uncertain of many aspects of Native American use of the caves.
• Later Euro-American explorers also left their artifacts in the caves. Many old bottles, flare handles, and even pieces of clothing have been recovered from deep within the cave. On the surface are remains of camps, buildings, roads, mines, and trash dumps, some of which date to the early ranching, guano mining, and Park Service days.
Secondary Concepts
• Artifacts and archeological sites are our treasures for us and for our children. They are protected by laws and regulations.
• Artifacts can be an arrowhead, stone flake, tin can, glass bottle, or a rock art design. They can be old (prehistoric) or more recent (historic). Taking one or damaging rock art is like ripping a page out from the only history book ever written.
Suggested Readings
Cordell, Linda S., Prehistory of the Southwest. Academic Press, 1984, NY, NY. I like this book. It doesn't have a great amount on southeast New Mexico, but for the whole Southwest it is great. Great charts and illustrations.
Dutton, Bertha P, American Indians of the Southwest. UNM Press, Albuquerque, NM. 1983 Dr. Dutton devoted her entire long life to the study of the Native American.
Handbook of North American Indians Southwest: Vols. 9 & 10. Smithsonian. Government Printing Office. Washington, DC. 1979 One of the more detailed studies in recent times on the American Indian.
Larson, Carole Forgotten Frontier: The Story of Southeastern New Mexico. UNM Press. Albuquerque, NM,. 1993.
Newcomb, W.W. Indians of Texas. U of Texas Press, Austin. 1993. The book is on Native Americans of Texas.
On the CAVE Public Drive: Go to the CAVE ARCHELOGY BASICS folder for recent articles on the archeology, and peoples of the area. Also see the CULTURAL RESOURCES folder for powerpoint presentations.

CAVE History
Primary Concepts
• Jim White played many important roles at the cavern.
• Despite a dozen claimants for the honor, today we have no idea who the first non-American American was to discover the cavern entrance or to enter the cavern. 
• In December 1995, Carlsbad Caverns was approved as a World Heritage Site. While this designation resulted in no changes in ownership or management of the park, it did mark world-wide interest in the value of preserving our resources.
• The creation of the Carlsbad Cave National Monument in 1923 and Carlsbad Caverns National Park in 1930 involved the efforts of several key individuals. 
• Willis T. Lee, W.F Mcllvain, and Tom Boles, the first three successive Custodians/ Superintendent at the monument/national park, played key roles in early park development. 
• Starting somewhere between 1915-18, photographer Ray V. Davis, more than any other single person, initially brought the attention of the outside world to the cavern through his ever-improving photography skills. 

• Robert Nymeyer served as an assistant to Ray V. Davis beginning in the 1920s before going on to photo document the cavern, as well as many other area caves, in the 1930s and 1940s 
• The March - September 1924 scientific expedition, financially sponsored by the National Geographical Society, and led by Willis T. Lee (and joined by, among others, guide Jim White, surveyor Russell Runyan, and two assistants–-daughter Elizabeth and son Dana–) was the first long term scientific expedition of the cavern. 
• Guano mining company operations from 1903 - 1923 (sporadic individual mining attempts would continue into the early 1940s) attracted the first sustained attention to what some locals referred to as “Bat Cave,” a cavern probably known about since the late 1800s.   
• From the very beginning, making the cavern accessible for visitor use was no easy matter. 
• The “modern” discovery of New Cave (now Slaughter Canyon Cave) in 1937 revealed a cave of enormous beauty, archeological evidence, and a place of future bat research. 
• Lechuguilla Cave is an example of a cave being discovered twice. 
• The cavern has been the scene for some incredible exploration over the years. 
Secondary Concepts
The Cavern Historic District and the Rattlesnake Springs District were formally entered onto the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. 
The Civilian Conservation Corps contributed thousands of man days on a variety of projects at the cavern from 1938 - 1942. 
In 1927, Charles White homesteaded some land at the mouth of Walnut Canyon. 
Suggested Readings
See Suggested History Readings for various other Core Knowledge topics.
CAVE Employee Handbook (1998), “Common Visitor Questions,” p:61, “Historical Chronology,” p:76, “Selected Readings: History, p:86, “Selected Readings: Native American Prehistory and History,” p:90

General Management Plan—Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, p30 - 41 (“Cultural and Paleontological Resources Management”)

Limerick, Patricia, The Legacy of Conquest, (University of New Mexico Press, 1985)

Halliday, William and Nymeyer, Robert-- Carlsbad Cavern: The Early Years
A Photographic History of the Cave and Its People 1991 CCGMA

History Leads and Resources, various issues 1992 - present, located in park library

Rothman, Hal K., Promise Beheld and the Limits of Place: A Historic Resource Study of Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks

Superintendent Monthly Reports, 1926 - 1998, Carlsbad Caverns National Park


White, Richard A., It’s Your Misfortune and None of My Own, (University of Oklahoma Press, 1991)

Exploration

Primary Concepts
• The exploration of Carlsbad Caverns started by Jim White over a century ago continues today with the discovery of additional passageway in known caves as well the discovery of New Caves within the park.
• In less than 15 years of exploration, more than 105 miles of passageway have been discovered and surveyed in Lechuguilla Cave. There is no end in sight to the cave.
• Volunteers and park staff primarily conduct cave exploration; They survey the passages, sketch maps of the area, and record data for inclusion in the park GIS system. The Cave Resources Office coordinates and approves all exploration in the park.
• During exploration, cavers are very careful to protect the resource by utilizing special gear, following the same routes, carrying out all human waste, and using minimum impact caving techniques.
Suggested Readings/Resources
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Cave Employee Handbook (1998) “Historical Chronology,” p:76 - 85
Caverns Place Names book (Electronic version also available)
Hoff, Bob, History Leads and Resources, 1992 - 1999, selected topics.
Hoff, Bob, Making the Cave Accessible, 1923 - 1925
Holley, Robert, The Robert Holley Report, General Land Office, 1923
Justice, Peggy, Various Subject Chronologies (electronic versions) compiled from the Superintendent Monthly Reports and Superintendent Monthly Logs
Lee, Dana, 1924 Expedition Diary, Unpublished document.
Lee, Rebecca, “Elizabeth Lee”, a research paper available in Park Historian’s office
Lee, Willis T. Carlsbad Caverns, An Unpublished Manuscript, 1925

Nicholson, Frank E. Vertical Files (Park Library)
Various authors, Lechuguilla: Jewel of the Underground, 1991, note: Fantastic photographs!
Oral History Interviews, (Park Historian Office), Ron Kerbo, Jim Goodbar, Tom Bemis, Tom Rohrer, Lance Mattson etc. Vertical Files (Park Library), "Spirit World," "Balloon Ballroom," etc.
Videotapes (Park Library), "Spirit of Exploration" and "Lechuguilla Cave: Mysteries Underground."

Science and Research

Primary Concepts
• Research on cave microbes from Lechuguilla and other park caves may someday lead to a cure for cancer, solve the riddle of whether life is found on other planets, and modify the current geologic theories about the development of limestone caves in the Guadalupe Mountains.
• Park staff is concerned about the negative impacts to Carlsbad Cavern from development over and around the cave. Researchers have provided park staff with scientific data documenting potential surface threats to Carlsbad Cavern. These data may help justify the long-range plans to remove many of the buildings and other developments from above the cavern.
• Recent research has indicated that the Big Room was formed 4 million years ago while the New Mexico Room formed 4.5 million years ago. Glacier Bay in Lechuguilla Cave formed 6 million years ago.
• The bat flight program is a very popular summer attraction for the park, but much still needs to be learned about the feeding habits, migration patterns, and population density of this colony of Mexican free-tailed bats. Programs such as Adopt-A-Bat help fund research on these misunderstood animals.
Secondary Concepts
• Human impacts on the cave can be obscure. Lint deposits, carbon dioxide buildup, and body heat concentrations are less-obvious human impacts that require further study.
• The discovery of hundreds of previously unknown microbes in Lechuguilla Cave, a relatively pristine cave virtually untouched by man and the outside world for millions of years, has led to a change in the way exploration and research is conducted in the park.
• Research being conducted on surface wildlife includes mountain lion and endangered cacti monitoring, studies on invasive plant and animal species, and the effects of fire on the ecosystem.
• In the near future, the National Cave and Karst Research Institute will be established in the Carlsbad area. This institute will serve as a clearing-house for cave-related research and educational materials.
• Scientists and researchers visit the Carlsbad Caverns area for many reasons. Some visit to study the best-preserved Permian Age fossil reef in the world. Some visit to learn more about cave life and to determine the human impacts to both the surface and subsurface ecosystems. All research is coordinated through the park resource management staff. Research may not be performed and nothing can be collected or removed from the park, including wildlife and rock samples, without prior written permission.

Suggested Readings/Resources
Canyons and Caves, Various issues of Resource Management in-house newsletter. Also excellent for other areas of natural science, exploration, and history etc. at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Park library videotape, “Lechuguilla Cave: Mysteries Underground.”
Park library videotape, “Spirit of Exploration.”
Cave Employee Handbook (1998), p: 61-74; p: 112-130
Park library vertical files
Resource management division in-house newsletter, “Canyons and Caves.”

http://www.nps.gov/index.htm

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Robert Aubrey Holley, the mineralogist sent by the General Land Office in 1923, was my 2x great uncle in my paternal line. I am looking for a recommendation as to printed material which would identify him in any of the photos taken by Ray Davis during the survey of the Carlsbad Caverns in 1923. I have his graduation photo from UC Berkley but would greatly appreciate knowing if there is a CC history that would identify him before I purchase.

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