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Michael J. Simms

Bio: Michael J. Simms is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Cave & Karst. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 5 publications receiving 110 citations.
Topics: Cave, Karst, Fluvial, Ice sheet, Aggradation

Papers
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01 Apr 2011
TL;DR: In this article, the authors suggest that laterally extensive open joints, orientated perpendicular to the regional neo-tectonic principal stress field, determine the depth of flow in the aquifer, rather than fissure frequency per se as suggested in Ford's Four State Model.
Abstract: Discovered in 1994, Ogof Draenen is currently the longest cave in Britain and among the thirty longest caves in the World, with a surveyed length in excess of 70km. Like other great caves, Ogof Draenen has had a complex multiphase history. This interpretation of the genesis of the cave is based on speleo-morphological observations throughout the system. Evidence of at least four phases of cave development can be identified, associated with major shifts in resurgence location and changes in flow direction of up to 180°. Joints have had a dominant influence on passage genesis. In particular joints have facilitated the development of maze networks and remarkably shallow horizontal phreatic conduits. The amplitude of these conduits is much shallower than predicted by models based on flow path length and stratal dip. Here, we suggest that presence of laterally extensive open joints, orientated perpendicular to the regional neo-tectonic principal stress field, determines the depth of flow in the aquifer, rather than fissure frequency per se as suggested in Ford’s Four State Model. We argue that the rate of base-level lowering, coupled with the depth of karstification determines whether a cave responds by phreatic capture or vadose incision. Maze cave networks within Ogof Draenen were probably initiated by bedrock-hosted sulphide oxidation and sulphuric acid speleogenesis.

11 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the extent and timing of earlier upland glaciations in the British Isles is studied. But the evidence for pre-Devensian glaciations is scarce.
Abstract: The British Isles have been affected by as many as 30 glaciations during the Quaternary. However, the evidence for pre-Devensian glaciations in upland regions is scarce. Understanding the extent and timing of earlier upland glaciations is essential for modelling the long-term evolution and sensitivity of the British Ice Sheet. Caves, being protected from surface erosion and weathering, can preserve evidence of earlier glaciations in the form of speleothem and sediment archives. The ∼70-km-long Ogof Draenen cave system in South Wales, UK, contains multiple cave levels related to changes in the surface topography and drainage during the past 0.5 Ma. The cave contains evidence of massive influxes of sediment that were sufficient to choke the cave and alter the underground drainage. Analysis of the cave sediments, passage morphology and geometry suggests the cave once acted as a subterranean glacial spill-way before being overridden by ice. Speleothem U-series data demonstrate that this sediment influx occurred before Marine Isotope State (MIS) 9, probably during the Anglian glaciation (MIS 12). Evidence from Ogof Draenen indicates the impact of subsequent glaciations on the landscape evolution of the region was minimal and that much of the surface topography dates from the Anglian.

9 citations

01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: Using data from within the Ogof Draenen cave combined with a model of the karst aquifer based on outcrop data, this article estimated the location and elevation of sink and risings for the system by extrapolating from surveyed conduits in the cave.
Abstract: The evolution of the Ogof Draenen cave system, in south-east Wales, has been profoundly influenced by the geometry of the karst aquifer and its relationship with changes in the surface topography. Using data from within the cave combined with a model of the aquifer geometry based on outcrop data, we have estimated the location and elevation of putative sinks and risings for the system by extrapolating from surveyed conduits in the cave. These data have enabled us to assess the scale and pattern of scarp retreat and valley incision in the valleys of the Usk, Clydach and Lwyd, that together have influenced the development of the cave. From this we can construct a relative chronology for cave development and landscape evolution in the region. Our data show that scarp retreat rates along the west flank of the Usk valley have varied by more than an order of magnitude, which we interpret as the result of locally enhanced erosion in glacial cirques repeatedly occupied and enlarged during successive glacial cycles. This process would have played a key role in breaching the aquiclude, created by the eastward overstep of the Marros Group clastics onto the Cwmyniscoy Mudstone, and thereby allowed the development of major conduits draining further south. In the tributary valleys incision rates were substantially greater in the Clydach valley than in the Lwyd valley, which we attribute to glacial erosion predominating in the north-east-facing Clydach valley and fluvial erosion being dominant in the south-facing Lwyd valley. There is evidence from within Ogof Draenen for a series of southward-draining conduits graded to a succession of palaeoresurgences, each with a vertical separation of 4-5 m, in the upper reaches of the Lwyd valley. We interpret these conduits as an underground proxy for a fluvial terrace staircase and suggest a direct link with glacial-interglacial cycles of surface aggradation and incision in the Lwyd valley. Fluvial incision rates for broadly analogous settings elsewhere suggest perhaps a million years has elapsed since these resurgences were active and implies a significantly greater age for the oldest conduits in Ogof Draenen.

7 citations

01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: In the case of the Ogof Draenen cave in South Wales, it is suggested that meltwater from a high level glacier in the Afon Lwyd valley (>340m asl) filled part of the cave and over-spilled into the neighbouring Usk valley, temporarily reversing nonglacial groundwater flow directions in the cave as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Many karst areas in the UK have been glaciated one or more times during the last 0.5 Ma, yet there are few documented examples of caves in these regions being affected by glacial processes other than erosion. The karst of South Wales is one area where sub or pro-glacial modification of pre-existing caves is thought to occur. Evidence from the Ogof Draenen cave system suggests that caves can sometimes act as subterranean glacial ‘underspill’ channels for melt-water. This cave, one of the longest in Britain with a surveyed length of over 70 km, underlies the interfluve between two glaciated valleys. Sediment fills and speleo-morphological observations indicate that melt-water from a high level glacier in the Afon Lwyd valley (>340m asl) filled part of the cave and over-spilled into the neighbouring Usk valley, temporarily reversing non-glacial groundwater flow directions in the cave. It is suggested that this may have occurred during a Middle Pleistocene glaciation.

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Rapid velocities found in ground water tracer tests, the high incidence of large-magnitude springs, and frequent microbial contamination of wells all support the model of self-organized channel development, and a large majority of carbonate aquifers have such channel networks, where ground waterVelocities often exceed 100 m/d.
Abstract: Advances over the past 40 years have resulted in a clear understanding of how dissolution processes in carbonate rocks enhance aquifer permeability. Laboratory experiments on dissolution rates of calcite and dolomite have established that there is a precipitous drop in dissolution rates as chemical equilibrium is approached. These results have been incorporated into numerical models, simulating the effects of dissolution over time and showing that it occurs along the entire length of pathways through carbonate aquifers. The pathways become enlarged and integrated over time, forming self-organized networks of channels that typically have apertures in the millimeter to centimeter range. The networks discharge at point-located springs. Recharge type is an important factor in determining channel size and distribution, resulting in a range of aquifer types, and this is well demonstrated by examples from England. Most carbonate aquifers have a large number of small channels, but in some cases large channels (i.e., enterable caves) can also develop. Rapid velocities found in ground water tracer tests, the high incidence of large-magnitude springs, and frequent microbial contamination of wells all support the model of self-organized channel development. A large majority of carbonate aquifers have such channel networks, where ground water velocities often exceed 100 m/d.

145 citations

Journal IssueDOI
01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: Geoconservation is an established and growing activity across the world, with more participants and a greater profile than ever before as discussed by the authors, and the importance of safeguarding and managing it for future generations is now widely accepted as part of sustainable development.
Abstract: This book is the first to describe the history of geoconservation. It draws on experience from the UK, Europe and further afield, to explore topics including: what is geoconservation; where, when and how did it start; who was responsible; and how has it differed across the world? Geological and geomorphological features, processes, sites and specimens, provide a resource of immense scientific and educational importance. They also form the foundation for the varied and spectacular landscapes that help define national and local identity as well as many of the great tourism destinations. Mankind’s activities, including contributing to enhanced climate change, pose many threats to this resource: the importance of safeguarding and managing it for future generations is now widely accepted as part of sustainable development. Geoconservation is an established and growing activity across the world, with more participants and a greater profile than ever before. This volume highlights a history of challenges, set-backs, successes and visionary individuals and provides a sound basis for taking geoconservation into the future.

108 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors give an overview of the mechanisms of cave sedimentation and describe how the process of alluviation and paragenesis affect speleogenesis, using meso-and micro-scale dissolutional features.

79 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jun 2011
TL;DR: The Geological Conservation Review (GCR) as discussed by the authors was a world-first project of its type in the systematic assessment of the whole geological heritage of a country, from first principles.
Abstract: Geoconservation – protecting, managing and enhancing natural geological features and materials, and geomorphological landforms and processes – is especially important in Great Britain, a place sometimes described as the ‘cradle’ of the science of geology. For such a small area of land, Britain has an unusually diverse geological make-up, with rocks from every geological period present. Many stratigraphical terms used internationally were devised here, and British sites provide key study areas where important new geological theories were developed in the pioneering era of the Earth sciences. Therefore, with such a wealth of geology, and Britain's seminal place in the science itself, it is particularly important to conserve and protect key localities here for future generations. A first step in that process is the auditing of the geology and geomorphology of Britain, by carrying out a scientific evaluation exercise according to standard criteria, and creating an inventory of the most important sites for science. In the mid-1970s, the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) began an ambitious programme for assessment and documentation of the most important sites for the scientific study of geology and geomorphology in Great Britain, building on previous statutory site conservation activity that had already been started in 1949 by the former Nature Conservancy. As a result, the ‘Geological Conservation Review’ (GCR) was formally launched in 1977. The GCR was a world-first project of its type in the systematic assessment of the whole geological heritage of a country, from first principles. Widespread consultation with geologists and geomorphologists across Great Britain was co-ordinated; their guidance and involvement was a key component of the site selection process. Almost 3000 nationally or internationally important sites had been selected for around 100 site-selection categories for the GCR register by 1990. Almost all the GCR sites are now conserved under British law as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), the GCR information providing the scientific evidence-base that underpins that designation. As part of the site-selection process – which is still active – a considerable archive of information about geological sites was amassed. A major publication exercise detailing all the GCR sites in what was to become the GCR Series of books was devised early on in the GCR programme. Thirty-six volumes of the GCR Series have been seen to completion by NCC and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, and many GCR site reports have been many made freely available on the World Wide Web. As a new venture, the remaining nine volumes will now be published by Elsevier Science Publishers as Special Issues of the Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association. Each GCR volume includes an overview of the subject and outlines the history of study of the relevant branch of the Earth sciences, but most importantly contains detailed accounts of the features of geological importance in the sites described. A scientific interpretation is provided for each site account, which includes supportive illustrations, tables and photographs and an extensive reference list. The GCR rationale, methods and information resource have been invaluable in almost every aspect of geoconservation carried out in Britain, including World Heritage Site nominations, protection of stratotypes, justifying the scientific conservation value of sites at Public Inquiries, in stimulating geological research and in providing a readily available information resource for local, regional, national and international geoconservation activities.

70 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Rob Westaway1
01 May 2009-Boreas
TL;DR: In this article, the Ingham and Waveney terraces were found to date from MIS 16, 14, and 12, and the evidence for pre-Anglian glaciation is associated with the youngest of these terraces, and thus marks the MIS 12 (i.e. Anglian) glaciation; the argument for glaciation of the region in MIS 16 is thus an artefact of previous miscorrelation of the terrace deposits.
Abstract: Prior to its disruption during the Anglian glaciation (MIS 12), the Ingham or Bytham River used to flow eastwards across central England and East Anglia into the southern North Sea. It thus had a much larger catchment than any extant river system in Britain; its headwaters may well have been as far away as North Wales and/or NW England. Terrace deposits of this former river system crop out across East Anglia and, as for any other river, can be used to investigate uplift, landscape evolution and the physical properties of the underlying continental crust. However, such an investigation has hitherto been hampered by inconsistencies between different authors' terrace schemes; furthermore, and controversially, one such scheme has formed the basis for the inference that the region was affected by a pre-Anglian (MIS 16) glaciation. By re-examining the raw data, the Ingham River deposits are shown to be disposed in three terraces, inferred to date from MIS 16, 14 and 12. The evidence previously attributed to pre-Anglian glaciation is associated with the youngest of these terraces, and thus marks the MIS 12 (i.e. Anglian) glaciation; the argument for glaciation of the region in MIS 16 is thus an artefact of previous miscorrelation of the terrace deposits. It is inferred that development of the very large Ingham River was synchronous with decapitation of the former ‘Greater Thames’, or ‘High-level Kesgrave Thames’ river, some time between MIS 18 and MIS 16. Uplift histories at representative localities across East Anglia have been modelled using composite data sets, combining the terrace deposits of the Ingham River and of the post-Anglian rivers Lark and Waveney. The sites modelled are typefied by much faster uplift in the early Middle Pleistocene than in the late Middle Pleistocene; this effect is shown to be a consequence of the relative thinness (no more than ∼7–8 km thick) of the mobile lower-crustal layer, itself a consequence of the low surface heat flow in the London Platform crustal province. The post-Early Pleistocene uplift tapers eastward, consistent with the observed downstream convergence of the Ingham and Waveney terraces, and is close to zero near the modern coastline around Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. Stratigraphic relationships between the Ingham terrace deposits and temperate-stage marine and terrestrial deposits in this coastal area allow sites to be dated; thus, Pakefield and Corton date from MIS 15, whereas Norton Subcourse dates from MIS 17. The oldest known Lower Palaeolithic sites in the region, characterized by flake artefacts, are Pakefield (MIS 15) and Hengrave (?MIS 14); younger pre-Anglian sites that have yielded handaxes and/or fossil material of the water vole Arvicola cantiana date from MIS 13. The minimal vertical crustal motion in this coastal area, where temperate-stage deposits from different climate cycles crop out close to present-day sea level, does not imply high crustal stability; instead, it indicates a ‘hinge zone’ between the uplifting hinterland and the subsiding depocentre in the southern North Sea.

69 citations