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UID:pretalx-nss-convention-2026-3PLDSS@talks.caving.dev
DTSTART;TZID=EST:20260708T111000
DTEND;TZID=EST:20260708T113000
DESCRIPTION:Three southern Appalachian caves\, Daniel Boone Caverns (gated 
 and locked with few visitors\, Fort Blackmore\, VA)\, Worley's Cave (a wil
 d show cave\, Bluff City\, TN)\, and Linville Caverns (a developed show ca
 ve\, Marion\, NC) were assessed in a multiproxy analysis to determine if h
 uman visitation and development could influence cave mineralogy\, inorgani
 c geochemistry and microbial community assemblages. Sediments were analyze
 d using Illumina sequencing for microbial community structure\, as well as
  a combination of X-ray diffraction\, whole rock geochemistry\, particle s
 ize distributions\, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for mineral
  characterization.\n\nDistinct geochemical and microbial signatures were f
 ound both within and between each cave. Biological manganese oxidation was
  present in all three caves\, with significant differences in geochemistry
  across sites that contained Mn oxides vs. those that did not. Geochemistr
 y and mineralogy of sediments primarily reflected the local bedrock rather
  than human-associated traffic and detritus. PCA plots using whole rock ge
 ochemistry (cross-referenced with X-ray diffraction data) indicate that se
 diment variability between caves was due to the amount of clay minerals vs
 . detrital feldspars and quartz\, as well as the amount of detrital heavy 
 minerals vs. Mn oxidation and phosphate.\n\nSediment-hosted microbial comm
 unities from the developed show cave\, Linville Caverns contained more Bac
 teroidota (a phylum associated both with high molecular weight carbon and 
 humans) than the other two caves\, while Daniel Boone caverns\, a relative
 ly pristine cave\, contained more Thermoplasmatota\, Chloroflexota\, and N
 itrospirota (oligotrophic phyla)\, corroborating studies demonstrating tha
 t Bacteroidota are positively correlated and Nitrospirota are negatively c
 orrelated with anthropogenic and nutrient input.
DTSTAMP:20260826T232114Z
LOCATION:205
SUMMARY:Sediment geochemistry\, manganese oxidation\, hu- man traffic\, and
  microbial community structure across three Southern Appalachian caves - 
URL:https://talks.caving.dev/nss-convention-2026/talk/3PLDSS/
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