The latest edition of Descent is now available. Issue 252 is packed with news from around the regions at home and abroad. The four page Newsdesk spread contains such fascinating snippets as a new theory that the European cave bear might have become extinct for diet-linked reasons. A new study has shown that they were exclusively plant eaters and may have been extinct because food became scare in the Ice Age.
Major articles cover various topics. In keeping with the best British traditions of talking about the weather, there are some great photos of the recent floods flood in Yorkshire, especially the torrents flowing into Gaping Gill and out of Ingleborough Cave. There is a beautifully illustrated and fascinating article on the iron caves of Bilbao, talking about their exploration and history. The photos are absolutely stunning. There is an report on the recent scheduling of Pen Park Hole in Bristol as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The site has been long recognised for its historical importance and it is hoped that its new status will provide greater protection in the event of development taking place in the immediate vicinity. In the north, you can read about the finding of the Lost River of Gaping Gill.
There’s regional news from Mendip, the Forest of Dean, the Peak District and Scotland, as well as international news and a round-up of expeditions in 2016. On the cave science front, Gina Moseley talks about the mystery surrounding Devil’s Cave in the Amargosa Desert of the Great Basin in Nevada, which has baffled top climate change specialists for the past 30 years. But now, new research has finally solved one of the great palaeoclimate enigmas.
For the book and journal enthusiasts, there are reviews of new publications, and the ever-popular caption competition has returned with a great prize of a limited edition collector’s item of J.M. Boon’s book, A Spider’s Thread of Shining Silver, one of only 100 to be printed.
This is another excellent edition from Wildplaces Publishing. Copies can be obtained from them here.
