the state of the art in the speleological sciences

The word “speleology” usually indicates the different activities man can conduct inside caves. Speleologists are, above all, explorers. Therefore, speleology cannot be considered as a science in itself, in this context, as geology, biology, or physics are, but its practice may reveal a strong connection to the different fields of human knowledge. Cave environments, in fact, should be considered amongst the most important natural laboratories. In some cases, it is possible to complete studies and research in caves that would be absolutely impossible to do in any other place. In other instances, studies are easier and simpler when carried out in the subterranean environment. Thinking of a scientific discipline that can take advantage of the underground environment, the first that comes to mind is geology in the general sense or one of its specific branches (hydrogeology, stratigraphy, mineralogy, etc.). However, this identification of a cave’s scientific interest for geology is limiting and ends up by losing sight of other fields. Contrary to what one would suppose, other fields may have the same scientific interest if not even more. Caves are underground environments characterized by a constant total absence of light and often have minimum variations of most environmental parameters (temperature, relative humidity, etc.). The rock walls that separate them from the outside world minimize, or even eliminate completely in some cases, the influence that the external climatic and/or other environmental variations can have on the cave’s interior. To summarize the situation, a natural cave is a very stable environment generally characterized by little available energy, which can be considered the perfect “accumulation trap”, that conserves everything that it collects over time. These intrinsic characteristics are exploited in one way or another by most of the scientific researchers interested in cave environments. The scope of this paper includes the principal scientific research topics in caves that are or could be undertaken worldwide and to explore how it might be possible to improve scientific cave research in the near future in a quantitative and qualitative way. Beyond the science itself, the most important problem that pure and applied scientific research will have to resolve is the preservation of the cave environment. To ensure adequate preservation of caves and karst for future generations it is necessary that the speleological community voluntarily exercise worldwide control and in some cases limitations of the activities to be performed in caves on behalf of preservation. This cautious approach should be the main target of the whole speleological scientific community in the near future.