INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF CAVES AND KARST

The International Year of Caves and Karst is organised by the International Union of Speleology (UIS) 

The 2022 International Congress of Speleology has been postponed to July 24th to July 31st (2022) because of the ongoing pandemic.

Caves and karst landscapes are studied by many kinds of scientists, like geomorphologists and biologists.

The International Year of Caves and Karst would teach the public about

-How to best benefit from these natural resources

-to avoid their dangers

-to promote further research for better use and management of these critically important areas

Geomorphology is the subdiscipline of Geology that is devoted to the scientific study of the natural phenomena that have fashioned the land-forms on Earth’s surface and extraterrestrial planetary surfaces. Caves are important because they allow us to take a peek into the geological, meteorological, and environmental history of an area.

Caves are one of Earth’s greatest but least known natural wonders.

They provide water to millions of people, contain rare and important ecosystems, and preserve many of the world’s most important cultural and scientific sites.

Karst is a special type of landscape and is best known for having caves. Karst covers about 20% of the planet, and billions of people benefit from its resources and suffer from its challenges, like the sudden collapse of the land.

In the near future, there is a huge potential for exploring planetary sub-surfaces. Initially, robotic instruments like rovers and spider bots could be used for identification, investigation, and characterization of the environment inside these caves on the Moon and Mars, which would ultimately pave the way for in situ human exploration.