12MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies

ATLAS DES GRANDES GOUFFRES DU MONDEby Paul Courbon. Editions LAFITTE,2, place F. Chirat, 13002 Marseille,France. February 1979, 199 p. softbound.The long awaited second editionof Paul Courbon's atlas of deep caveshas finally appeared. It was originallyscheduled to be published in Englishand other languages by an Americanfirm in 1977, who dropped it afterbeing unable to make the translations.However, the author was able to keepit up to date until it was finally publishedin French in early 1979.Atlas des Grandes Gouffres duMonde is a must for the library ofany caver interested in deep caves.While the French text will not be ofmuch use to the English speaking reader,the lists are quite understandableand the cave maps speak for themselves.The French printing is good, althoughthe high cost of printing in Francewill probably put the price at about$30.00 U.S.Peter S.SprouseSince the first edition of theAtlas was published in 1972, the numberof deep caves in the world has increasedphenomenally. While the 1972edition contained maps of 57 systemsover 500 meters deep, the 1979 editioncontains 94. These maps comprise thebulk of the book and are invaluablereference material for anyone interestedin the major caves of the world.Mexico is well represented with eightcave maps, although unfortunately themaps of Sistema Purificacion, Mexico'sdeepest at 893 meters, and Sotano delBuque, 506 meters, were not ready intime for publication.The Atlas also contains additionallists covering many aspects of spe­1eo1ogy. Included are lists of: theworld's longest caves, deepest shafts,caves highest above sea level, largestchamber, deepest through trips, andmore. Many fascinating facts may begleaned from this mound of information.For instance, the longest dye tracingrecorded is from Homat Burnu to YediMiyar1ar in Turkey, a distance of 75kilometers. The largest resurgence,also in Turkey, is at Duman1i witha flow of 50 m3jsec. The deepestgypsum cave in the world is Italy'sPozza A at -200 meters. Rikhiot PicCave on Nanga Parbat in the Himalayastands higher than any other cave at6600 meters above sea level.104