Fluorescent red biofilm found on the wild cave tour route
Assembly Room wall covered with fluorescent green moonmilk, red biofilm, and orange spray paintZebra Calcite in Guide’s Discovery in white light (top left) and UV ( top right) analyzed with a UV-VIS spectrometer (bottom left and right)
Hollow Christmas trees at Christmas Tree Park with white light shone down center
Christmas tree depths were measured with a neon yellow fishing line.Zach stems down a chimney on the voyage to Archimedes pool.Along the route, Zach spots zebra calcite.Archimedes Pool in white (left) ad UV light (right)The zebra calcite bowl was covered in a thin layer of chirt (left). Team photo from the July trip (right).
June Trip 2023
Abbie gets her pre-caving cognition tests (left) before heading into the cave to retrieve collecting plates (right)Heggen navigating the last of the 9″ squeeze-ways in the Snake Pit entranceThe Calcite Candle lit by White Light (left), Shortwave UV (Middle), and from within by white light (Right).Large Zebra Calcite formation in Chimera RoomSnake Pit team post 7.5 hours in the cave.Heggen collecting water and microbial samples while media student Easton films.A mix-lighting (White/UV) of one finger of Phantom Lake
Longwave UV illumination of Silent Lake and its flowstone.
Spectral analysis of Flowstone.
White light (left) and longwave UV (right) images of East Club Room Zebra Calcite. (4 min exposure)
Heggen standing below Serengeti Dome
Longwave UV illumination of Serengeti
Heggen navigates an 8″ gap on a 40ft climbHeggen and Sebree collect spectral information from the flowstone near Coke Room.
May Trip 2023
Zebra Calcite near Spillway under white (left) and longwave-UV (right).Secondary calcite deposits illuminated with longwave-UV in Chamber of Lost Soles vug (left). Undergrad students use a spectrometer on Zebra Calcite in the Chamber of Lost Soles (right).
Research student, Jacqueline Heggen, places petri dishes underneath the chimney.Media students, Easton Steffen and Ethan Ahrens, document research within the cave.
Multicolored Zebra Calcite found near the Natural Entrance Tour under natural light (left) and longwave-UV (right).Zebra Calcite with different colored chert found above the Cathedral under natural (left) and longwave-UV (right) light.
Heggen placing petri dishes near an air corridor.
The Astrobiology Underground May team (from left to right): Ethan Ahrens, Easton Steffen, Evelyn Lopez, Jacqueline Heggen, and Dr. Sebree.
Large Zebra Calcites found in Half Mile Hall.Half Mile Hall Zebra Calcites under natural (left) and longwave-UV (right) light.Research student, Evelyn Lopez, collects water data at Silent Lake (left). End of trip student interviews (right).
Spring Break 2023
Gallery picture in the Candlelight Route at Wind Cave under white light (left) and shortwave-UV light (right). A silhouette of Dr. Sebree in the right picture for scale.The Christmas trees of Christmas Tree Park under white light (left) with caver Ben Sebree and shortwave-UV (middle). The shortwave-UV of other aragonite in the same chamber (right) shows the bright green fluorescence in the very tips of the aragonite needles.Zebra Calcite near Pyramid Room under white (left) and longwave-UV (right).A view of a Zebra calcite that cleaved horizontally during cave formation.UNI student Lydia prepares to ascend the Garden Gate formation (left) and threading the 8 inch squeeze above What the Hell Lake (middle). Dr. Sebree and Jenna working on the shore of Calcite Lake (bottom).The complete UNI research team at Buffalo Gap (left). The UNI Science team and camera crew (right).
