DIRECTORY     Angelita • Q. Roo Text and photography by Curt Bowen White misty clouds encircle the divers as they descend for the first 50 feet. Like a skydiver dropping through the clouds, the divers descend below this white, misty layer to reveal one of the most unique and mystical views in the Riviera Maya Beyond Toad Hall Exploration of Cocklebiddy Cave • Australia Text and photography by Leigh Bishop This expedition was a full frontal assault on the cave using the very latest technology available to divers and underwater explorers. It was also an extension of the previous years attempts by the same team to find the physical upstream end of this submerged cave. Beyond the Sump Text and photography by Curt Bowen Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia (TAG) area has long been known for its extensive collection of deep pits and world class dry caving. Some of these classics include Ellison's Cave, which has the deepest vertical pit in North America at 586 feet, Neversink Pit, featured in National Geographic and Camp's Gulf Cave, which contains the largest single room in North America. Blue Holes of Abaco with the Bahamas Underground Text and photography by Curt Bowen Most of the divers who come to the Bahamas have no idea that some of the best diving in the world is actually under their feet. But divers in the know have realized that the extensive limestone platforms known as the Great and Little Bahama Banks have created a unique labyrinth of blue holes and underwater caves that make the Bahamas a world-class cave diving destination. Buford Sink and Little Gator Siphon Text by Curt Bowen Due to its remoteness, and the difficulty of gaining access through the waist-deep mud swamps, choked pine and palmetto forests, and endless saw grass flats, many of these cave systems still elude even hard-core cave explorers. Cannon Ball Cave Text by Joe Rojas (excerpt from ADM issue 4) Cannonball cave, formerly known as Davidson’s Blue Hole Outflow, created a hillside pool and a small creek that fed into the St Francis River 100 yards to the west. It had a flow of approximately 31.7 million gallons per day, which is small in comparison to some of the other Missouri springs. In 1939, the U.S. Army corps of engineers built a public flood control reservoir for the St. Francis River and all its tributaries. CDG• Britain's Cave Diving Group Text by Jon Bojar It was in 1946 when the Cave Diving Group, better known as the CDG, was formed at the resurgence of Ogof Ffynnon Ddu in South Wales by the late Graham Balcombe. This makes it the oldest surviving diving club in the world! The Crystal Caves of Abaco Text by Marc Laukien Photography by Jill Heinerth This is my third cave diving trip to Abaco. I’ve seen the wonderful caves of Florida and Mexico, all of them unique and beautiful in their own ways, but they all pale when compared to the awesome beauty of Dan’s Cave or Ralph’s Cave of Abaco. Deeper into the Pearse Resurgence - New Zealand Text by Richard Harris & John Atkinson The grey-white marble passage finally ends at nearly 160m with another abyssal shaft dropping down into the blackness! Rick and Dave alternately push the deeper section of the cave, laying 6mm line from an improvised reel; the dives leap-frogging to 157m, 160m, then finally Rick’s astonishing, record-breaking dive to 177m…. Diving the Moravian Karst By Jitka Hyniova and Jakub Rehacek The bottom of Macocha Abyss and the two little lakes serve as a unique entrance to one of the most intriguing cave systems in the world. Exploration started in the early 1900s and after the World War II (any speleological activities in the occupied Czechoslovakia were banned during the war) well over 20 miles of underground passages were discovered up to date. Siberia's Frozen Underground • Cave Exploration in the Russian Winter Text by Phill Short The fourth day was spent driving, digging, towing, and pushing three 4X4s full of equipment to our base in the Caucus foothills through increasing amounts of snow. Our base was an abandoned government building about 10K/6.2 miles from advanced base camp, which was the cave entrance. The Pit and The Blue Abyss Text by Krzysztof Starnawski Photography by Irena Stangierska The Pit and Blue Abyss are one of the few places dropping deep (70m – 110m) and allowing exploring lower levels of caves. At that depth diver is diving in salt water and the salt water would lead to a significant amount of rock corrosion. With two caves in close proximity to each other (about 500 m) one can conclude that they may drop into the same deep collector. Thermal Cave Diving in Hungary by Peter Schneider Lake Heviz is 47,500 square meters and it’s estimated to be about 22,000 years old. The water that erupts into the cave is also old. The thermal water is believed to be about 10,000 years old, where as the cold water is “only” 8,000 years old. The water emerges from a depth of about 1,000 to 2,500m / 1500 / 8000 feet. Every 83 hours the lake replenishes itself. Warm Mineral Springs - Northport Florida by Curt Bowen The human remains discovered in Warm Mineral Springs were carbon dated back to ten thousand years ago. This finding changed the theory about the time of Homosapien movement across North America to four thousand years earlier than previously believed. Yucatan 2010 Expedition "Get on Rope" Text by Jeff Toorish Photography by Curt Bowen, Walter Pickel, and Jeff Toorish At the bottom of the debris pile was what looked like an old teapot; but, upon further examination, Bowen realized it was far from a teapot. It was unique, pristine, and a very important find.