Selected Caves & Karst of Australia

[Australia Map] Compiled by:
Ken G. Grimes,

Consultant Geologist,
Regolith Mapping,

RRN 795 Morgiana Rd., HAMILTON, Vic. 3300, AUSTRALIA

Mailto: ken.grimes@bigpond.com

[Mug Shot]

This CD was originally put together to supply information and photos of selected caves and karst areas in Australia for distribution during an overseas trip in 2002. It has been growing ever since and is now a DVD! I frequently include part or all of it to fill the empty space on any CD/DVD of files I send to my colleagues.

In order to avoid copyright problems with other people's photos etc, the content is generally restricted to to those karst areas and topics I have worked in myself. Where I have used other people photos these are credited on the individual photos.

The CD-ROM contains a number of directories which have photos, diagrams, posters and selected papers (in .PDF format). I update it every so often to add new areas, or new photos and maps. There should be an Index HTML file in each subdirectory which provides information and annotated thumbnails of the photos and other files that are in that directory - click a thumbnail to see the full-size photo. However, if I am in the process of adding new directories when your version was burnt to CD you may find some areas that are not linked into the main menu system below.

You may also find a special directory of files I have sent to you - see any accompanying letter/email for details of these.
That folder will not be linked to the following standard menu. However, you can click here to see a list of Folders on the CD, and then click on the name of the folder I told you about. Or else use your preferred file browser to view or copy the files.

The files and images on this CD are intended for personal use and research.
The CD is not for sale and should not be reproduced for anything other than private study.


This is version V 3.70, 2-4-2011

The main contents of this DVD are:

  • Overviews of Australian Karsts & Cave areas
  • An overview of Caves in the Australian landscape (Webb, Grimes, & Osborne, 2003) PDF of a chapter in the book "Beneath the Surface".
  • A review of Australian Karst Hydrology (Grimes, 1999) PDF of a paper presented at the ACKMA 1999 conference.
  • Soft-Rock and Syngenetic (Eogenetic) Karst
  • Papers on Softrock Karst: Papers, Posters, photos and maps of softrock and syngenetic karst and caves in Australia.
  • Gambier Karst: A set of pages with photos and reports on the soft-rock Gambier Karst of South Australia and Victoria.
  • Nullarbor Karst: "Soft-rock" (eogenetic marine calcarenite) karst in an arid climate.

  • Hard-Rock Karst (mainly tropical Australia)
  • Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) - an oceanic island with a volcanic core, but a cavernous limestone cap.
  • Christmas Island Poster A PDF file: Caves and Karst of Christmas Island, KG Grimes, 2001.
  • Christmas Island Karst. A PDF file of a paper in Helictite v37(2). KG Grimes, 2001.
  • Photos of karst and caves
  • Northern Territory Karst (Monsoon to semi-arid karsts - Katherine area, etc.)
  • Gregory Karst and Bullita Cave - a 120 km epikarstic maze system.
  • Sandstone parakarst and ruiniform features - link to section on Parakarsts.
  • Barkly Karst Region (Semi-arid North Australia)
  • Chillagoe Karst Area (Humid tropical monsoon towers in North Queensland)
  • Fanning River Karst (Sub-humid tropical karst on moderate dips in north Queensland). Some of the caves have spectacular views of a Devonian fossil reef.
  • Impounded Karsts of the East Australian Province. Small steep-dipping limestone areas in temperate climates
  • Borders Rivers Karst region. (Temperate east Australia; on the Queensland - NSW border. Only karren and cave etchings are described here)
  • Tropical Karren and Microkarren: Papers and Photos of karren (small scale solution sculpturing) and microkarren from Tropical Australian karsts
    See also the pages on Gregory Karst Region, Barkly Karst Region and Chillagoe Karst in the Hardrock Karst section.
  • BioThems: Speleothems influenced by biological action (tufas, twilight-zone effects, roots, etc.)
  • Karst Hydrology
  • Student Notes and Papers on Karst Hydrology
  • Pseudokarst (including Parakarst & Volcanic Caves)
  • Pseudokarst index: Definitions, classification & Australian examples.
  • Parakarst index: A set of pages on karst-like features in non-limestone rocks that were formed partly or wholly by solution.
  • Volcanic Caves: Posters and reports on sub-crustal, and other volcanic caves, and photos of some Australian examples.
  • Helictite
    Helictite is the Journal of Australasian Speleological Research. Published by the Australian Speleological Federation.
    For the latest version of the Helictite web site, please visit it online at http://www.caves.org.au/helictite/.
    This site has online PDF versions of all papers published in Helictite from volume 36(1), 1998, to the present.

  • Cave Surveying - hints & tips
  • The Art of Computerised Cave Mapping (.PDF file) This paper was first published in the Proceedings of the ASF Conference, Quorn, 1997. It was revised in 2000, but is now getting quite dated.
  • Cave Surveying Poster (.PDF file) A poster on the art of Sketching detail in Caves. Prepared by KG Grimes for the January 2001 ASF conference in Bathurst (and recycled at most cave conferences since!).
  • K. G. Grimes, my personal details,
    and a list of my recent publications.
    With links to PDF versions of many of them.

  • Australian Karst and Pseudokarst Areas

    Click the map for a larger view.

    [Detailed Karst Map of Australia]