Berliner Höhlenkundliche Berichte, Volume 20: Soqotra Karst Project (Yemen), 2000-2004

About this book

Language: English with multilingual abstract in English, French, German, Dutch, and Arabic

This volume presents a summary of the Soqotra Karst Project (SKP) – an ongoing multidisciplinary speleological investigation, focused on the island of Soqotra (Yemen). Palaeoclimate, biospeleological, archaeological and sustainable development studies are being conducted by Belgian experts in close co-operation with several Yemeni and other international project partners. This report is based on the recent “Soqotra Karst Project 2000–2004” (SKP 2005) publication that has been primarily released in Dutch and covers the six expeditions made by the SKP to Soqotra Island through December 2004. Since the first visits in 2000, a total of 28 caves have been mapped yielding 22 707 m of passageway. The longest cave explored so far is Giniba Cave at 7,5 km, while the deepest is Pit Cave (–145 m). Twelve more caves were visited but not surveyed, however three of them were sketched. Some of the caves provide significant freshwater resources. The scientific achievements with regard to speleothem dating are briefly explained, together with the biospeleological discoveries and intriguing archaeological remains found underground.

Contents

Abstract / Résumé / Samenvatting / Zusammenfassung     5

1     Acknowledgements / Team Members     7
2     Introduction     9
2.1     General remarks     9
2.2     Fauna and flora of Soqotra Island (by Kay Van Damme)     9
2.2.1     Flora of Soqotra Island (by Kay Van Damme)     9
2.2.2     Fauna of Soqotra Island (by Kay Van Damme)     10
3     The karst of Soqotra Island     10
3.1     Geomorphological overview     10
3.2     Climate     12
3.3     Geological overview     13
3.3.1     The Momi karst plateau     14
3.3.2     The Deksam/Shebehan karst plateau     14
3.3.3     The Mahlez karst plateau     14
3.3.4     The Ghubbah cenotes     14
4     The caves of Soqotra Island     17
4.1     General remarks     17
4.2     Desriptions of surveyed caves     18
4.3     Desriptions of sketched caves     54
5     Palaeoclimatic studies     58
6     Biospeleological notes (by Kay Van Damme)     58
7     Archaeological notes     62
8     Protection and management     66
9     Conclusions and Outlook     66
10     References     67

Appendixes:     Foldable surveys

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