| SAFETY LINE | A safety rope attached to a climber in addition to the main rope or ladder. Climbing and SRT. Ref JJ |
| SALT WEATHERING | Detachment of particles from a rock surface by the growth of crystals from salt solutions. A feature of the Nullarbor and other desert caves. Processes. Ref JJ |
| SANDSTONE CAVE | A cave formed in sandstone. Cave - Kinds of. Ref MM |
| SAPROPHAGE | A scavenger feeding on decaying organic material. Cave - Biota. Ref JJ |
| SATURATED | Water which has dissolved as much limestone or other material as it can under the prevailing conditions. Speleology term. Ref JJ |
| SATURATED ZONE | The zone below the water table, composed of shallow, deep (bathyphreatic) and stagnant phreatic zones. Syn. Phreatic zone. Hydrology terms. Ref AC |
| SCALE | The ratio of the length between any 2 points on a map to the actual distance between the same points on the ground or in a cave. Survey & Mapping term. Ref JJ |
| SCALING CHIP | A small, thin, flat piece of limestone that has fallen from the ceiling or wall of a cave. May be the result of Salt weathering, a cave breakdown process. Cave - Erosional & Solutional Features. Ref WM |
| SCALING POLE | A light weight pole, often in short sections and assembled where used, to raise a ladder to points inaccessible by climbing. Climbing and SRT. Ref JJ |
| SCALLOP | Current markings that intersect to form points which are directed downstream. Cave - Erosional & Solutional Features. Ref JJ |
| SCAT | Faecal pellets or animal droppings, which may provide an important source of food in caves. Fauna. Ref MM |
| SCAVENGER | An animal that eats dead remains and wastes of other animals and plants. cf coprophage, necrophage, saprophage. Speleology term. Ref JJ |
| SCORIA | Refers to the angular pebble-sized frothy fragments that have solidified while flying through the air. Lapilli is a more general term for pebble to granule sized ejecta. Finer material is referred to as ash, and coarser fragments as bombs or blocks. Lava Cave term. Ref KG |
| SCROGGIN | Food, being high energy food eaten by cavers etc consisting of nuts, dried fruit, lollies, chocolate pieces etc. Miscellaneous terms. Ref MM |
| SEA CAVE | A cave in present day or emerged sea cliffs, formed most commonly by wave attack but may have been formed by the usual karst solution processes. In karst areas, a 'normal' cave may be exposed then modified by marine action. Cave - Kinds of. Ref JJ |
| SECTION | A map of a cave in a vertical plane, that shows the floor and roof lines. Survey & Mapping term. Ref JJ |
| SEDIMENT | Material deposited by water ice or wind or precipitated from water. Cave - Erosional & Solutional Features. Ref JJ |
| SEEPAGE WATER | Syn. Percolation water. Speleology term. Ref JJ |
| SELENITE | A crystalline form of gypsum. Mineral, Rock and Chemical terms. Ref JJ |
| SHAFT | A vertical cavity that is deeper than it is wide, and roughly circular in cross section. Wider than a chimney. Speleology term. Ref JJ |
| SHAWL | A simple triangular shaped curtain. Cave - Depositional Features. Ref JJ |
| SHIELD | A speleothem consisting of 2 parallel plates separated by a medial planal crack. Forms by water seeping through the medial crack. Cf Stegamite. Cave - Depositional Features. Ref HF |
| SHOW CAVE | A cave that has been made accessible to the public for guided visits. Cave - Kinds of. Ref JJ |
| SINGLE ROPE TECHNIQUE | The practice of climbing up and down ropes with the help of ascenders and descenders. Abbr. SRT. Climbing and SRT. Ref JJ |
| SINK | A place where a surface water course disappears underground. Also known as 'streamsink'. Karst - Depression Features of. Ref KG |
| SINKHOLE | In Australia, used for sites of sinking water in a karst area. Sinkholes also include Swallets. Note that in USA the term is, by long established usage, synonymous with the term DOLINE, in the broader sense. Karst - Depression Features of. Ref AC |
| SINTER | A mineral precipitate deposited by a mineral spring, either hot or cold. Calcareous sinter is also called tufa, travertine or onyx marble. Cave - Depositional Features. Ref WM |
| SIPHON | A waterfilled passage of inverted U profile which delivers a flow of water whenever the upstream head rises above the top of the U. Cave - Parts of. Ref JJ |
| SLING | A joined loop of rope or tape. Climbing and SRT. Ref JJ |
| SOIL CONE | A conical pile of soil (and material filtering down from the surface) accumulates on the floor of a cave beneath fissures and pipes in the ceiling. Cave - Erosional & Solutional Features. Ref MM |
| SOLIFLUCTION | Usually relates to the slow movement or flow of saturated soil or rock fragment masses down slopes and may be applied to subaqueous flowage. Hydrology terms. Ref MM |
| SOLUTION | In chemical solution, weak acids take part especially carbonic acid H2CO3, formed by dissolved carbon dioxide. Processes. Ref JJ |
| SOLUTION | In karst rocks particularly, the change of bedrock from solid to liquid state by combination with water. In physical solution, ions of rock go directly into solution without transformation. Processes. Ref JJ |
| SOLUTION DOLINE | A doline formed by solution processes and not modified by collapse. Karst - Depression Features of. Ref MM |
| SOLUTION FLUTE | An English term for some forms of Karren, generally equivalent to Rillenkarren. A solution hollow running down the maximum slope of the rock, of uniform width & depth, with sharp ribs between it and its neighbours. Often 1-2cm wide & deep. Karst - Minor Forms of. Ref JJ |
| SOLUTION PAN | A dish shaped depression on a flat, horizontal rock surface. Sides may overhang. sYN. Kamenitza. Karst - Minor Forms of. Ref JJ |
| SOLUTION PIPE | A vertical cylindrical shaft, often about 0.5 m across and up to 20 m deep, which is a characteristic of syngenetic karst areas. See Blowhole. Karst - Depression Features of. Ref KG |
| SOLUTION RUNNEL | A larger solution flute that may increase in size down its length. Karst - Minor Forms of. Ref JJ |
| SOLUTION TUBE | May equate to blowhole, but solution tubes are often filled with sediment, which falls to a cave floor and forms a mound. Karst - Depression Features of. Ref JJ |
| SPATTER | Molten material that was ejected from a vent or turbulent flow and which stuck together on landing to form a knobby rock in which the individual lumps are still just recognisable. Lava Cave term. Ref KG |
| SPECIES | Individuals of a given species have a large number of characteristics in common, and are thought to be able to breed together & have come from a common ancestor. Biology - Flora & Fauna. Ref JJ |
| SPECIES | 7th and lowest rank in Taxonomic system. Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. Genus & Species together constitute the 'specific name', a unique name for all known organisims that are alive or have become extinct. Biology - Flora & Fauna. Ref JJ |
| SPELEOGEN | A cave feature formed erosionally or by weathering within a cave. Usually formed in the parent rock. eg Current markings, Rock pendant, Canyon, Spongework, Dome, Scallop. Cave - Erosional & Solutional Features. Ref JJ |
| SPELEOLOGIST | A person who studies caves and their contents, especially by actually entering caves. Speleology term. Ref MM |
| SPELEOLOGY | The study of caves and their contents. The exploration, description and study of caves and related phenomena. Speleology term. Ref JJ |
| SPELEOTHEM | Any of the secondary mineral cave deposits formed by chemical deposition, most commonly of calcite. See decoration. Note that use of 'formation' is detrimental. Cave - Depositional Features. Ref JJ |
| SPLASH CUP | (1) A shallow cavity in the top of a stalagmite. (2) Any depression caused by dripping water. Syn Conulite. Cave - Depositional Features. Ref JJ |
| SPONGEWORK | A complex of irregular, inter-connecting cavities intricately perforating the rock. The cavities may range from a few centimetres to more than a metre across. Speleology term. Ref JJ |
| SPRING | A natural flow of water from rock or soil onto the land surface or into a body of surface water. Syn Rising. Speleology term. Ref JJ |
| SQUEEZE | An opening in a cave only passable with effort because of its small dimensions. cf Flattener, Crawl. Cave - Parts of. Ref JJ |
| SRT | See Single rope technique. Climbing and SRT. Ref MM |
| STALACTITE | A speleothem hanging or growing downwards from a roof or wall, usually of cylindrical or conical form, originally with a central hollow tube, and formed by dripping water. see Straw. Cave - Depositional Features. Ref JJ |
| STALAGMITE | A speleothem projecting vertically upwards from a cave floor and formed by precipitation from drips, often found directly under a stalactite. Cave - Depositional Features. Ref JJ |
| STANCE | (is this a caving term) Speleology term. Ref JJ |
| STATION | A survey point in a chain of such points in a survey. Survey & Mapping term. Ref JJ |
| STEEPHEAD | A steep-sided valley in karst, generally short, ending abruptly upstream where a stream emerges or formerly did so. Speleology term. Ref JJ |
| STEGAMITE | A speleothem projecting upwards from a cave floor in the form of a calcite ridge. A medial crack appears along the top of the ridge where water is thought to be forced from the speleothem under capillary action. First described by R Webb. Cave - Depositional Features. Ref RW |
| STOOPING | In caving, describes a passage in which there is not quite enough head room walk, but more than a crawl way. cf Flattener, Crawlway, Walking Cave - Parts of. Ref MM |
| STRANDLINE | A coast line, present or ancient. Geology. Ref KG |
| STRAW | A long, thin-walled tubular stalactite that elongates as minerals are deposited at the lower tip by seepage water flows dripping through its hollow interior. see Stalactite. Cave - Depositional Features. Ref JJ |
| STREAMSINK | A point where a surface stream disappears underground. May empty into an obvious karst feature, or percolate down through streambed gravels. Karst - Depression Features of. Ref JJ |
| STRIKE | The orientation of beds of rocks, given as the direction of a horizontal line in a bedding plane. . On level ground it is the direction of outcrop of inclined beds. Geology. Ref JJ |
| STROMATOLITE | A calcareous deposit, secreted by calcareous algae in the form of laminated domes and columns. Occurs in many cenotes. Karst - Miscellaneous features of. Ref KG |
| STYGOBIONT | Aquatic cavernicoles. Animals that live in karstic groundwater, or in alluvial groundwater. Includes stygobites, stygophiles & stygoxenes. Speleology term. Ref AC |
| STYGOBITE | An aquatic troglobite. An obligate aquatic species of hypogean waters having troglomorphic adaptions. Also includes the fauna found in deep groundwater substrata of alluvial aquifers. Speleology term. Ref AC |
| STYGOFAUNA | Ecologically descriptive term covering aquatic groundwater fauna. Syn Stygobiont. Speleology term. Ref AC |
| STYGOPHILE | A facultative stygobiont, usually lacking troglomorphies, and considered as the aquatic equivalent of a (terrestrial) troglophile. Speleology term. Ref AC |
| STYGOXENE | An habitual stygobiont which spends only part of its life cycle in cave waters and returns periodically to the epigean domain, eg for food. Speleology term. Ref AC |
| STYLOLITE | Suture in rock formed where pressure solution has taken place, often leaving a thin lamina of insoluble material along it. Also applied to columnlike structures in some limestones which are at right angles to the bedding plane. Karst - Miscellaneous features of. Ref JJ |
| SUBJACENT KARST | Karst developed in limestone or other soluble rock underlying other rock formations that are far less soluble. The ground surface may be perforated by collapse dolines etc or it may show no hint of the underlying karst. Example: Big Hole in NSW. Karst - Kinds of. Ref JJ |
| SUBSIDENCE DOLINE | Formed by the downward movement of limestone by solution and of loose surface material such as soils into an underground cavity. Karst - Depression Features of. Ref KG |
| SUBTERRANEAN | Pertaining to underground environments. Often in reference to caves. And often in reference to caves in karst. Speleology term. Ref AC |
| SUMP | A point in a cave passage where the water meets the roof, then continues under water. Speleology term. Ref JJ |
| SUPERSATURATED | Referring to water that has more calcium carbonate or other karst rock mineral in solution than the maximum corresponding to normal conditions. Speleology term. Ref JJ |
| SURVEY | In caving, the measurement of directions and distances between survey points and of cave details from them, and the plotting of cave plans and sections from these measurements. Survey & Mapping term. Ref JJ |
| SUSPENDED SEDIMENT | Small particles of insoluble organic or inorganic matter suspended in water, Syn flocculant. Hydrology terms. Ref AC |
| SUUNTO CLINOMETER | A small, handheld pendulum clinometer commonly used in cave survey. Survey & Mapping term. Ref JJ |
| SUUNTO COMPASS | A small, handheld sighting compass commonly used in cave survey. Survey & Mapping term. Ref JJ |
| SWALE | A linear hollow or depression found between dunes or beachridges. Generally marshy or swampy, or may contain small lakes. Geology. Ref KG |
| SWALLET | They may empty into open or choked cave features (eg shafts, avens). Swallets may simply be a portion of streambed from which there is a gradual downward percolation of surface water. Karst - Depression Features of. Ref AC |
| SWALLET | Usually in karst, a form of sinkhole (which may also be a cave entrance) but could refer to a streamsink. Swallets are major entry points for recharge waters in some karst areas. Karst - Depression Features of. Ref AC |
| SWIRLHOLE | A more or less circular hole in rock in a streambed eroded by eddying water. Sometimes aided by rocks, sand or pebbles tumbling round and round. Karst - Depression Features of. Ref JJ |
| SYNGENETIC KARST | Karst developed in Aeolianite. Where the evolution of the karst has occurred at the same time as the lithification of the host sediment. A characteristic feature of Australian Quaternary dune calcarenites. First described by J N Jennings. Karst - Kinds of. Ref JJ |