From: "Richard T Miller"

To: cavenews

Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 6:25 AM

Subject: saudi caves "lava" ?

Mr. J. and S. Pint, what a wonderful set of photos of the caves. you are

to be commended for the beautiful work. I have a BS in geology and no

firsthand knowledge of your stratigraphy in the area but as you noted the

caves are in limestone and it surprized me to happen on the "lava', word in

the descriptions for your photo. Are you convinced of this? The formations

look like normal limestone evaporite and sedimentary formations. Again

wonderful photos keep up the good work. Rich Miller, BS

(ps. sorry for spelling if needed )

............................

REPLY:

Hello Rich!

Many thanks for your kind words! We're not sure whether you found our

pictures on our website, www.saudicaves.com or in the book "Desert Caves of

Saudi Arabia," but we are glad you like them and will pass on your comments

to Lars Bjurstom and the other photographers who have ventured down inside

these wonderful desert caves. Cave photography is indeed a difficult chore

and it's not unusual for us to spend hours trying to take one picture only

to discover it didn't turn out! This means anyone who wants to be a model

for such pictures deserves a medal... so, in case you are writing to us from

Saudi Arabia, we invite you to win a medal and come with us inside some of

the caves...

As for the geology angle, we have both limestone caves (mostly in the center

and north of the country) and lava caves (in the western half of the

country) and, strangely enough, we have bumped into some lava tubes which

have calcite or gypsum formations. These have been produced by leakage

through cracks in the ceiling or side walls of the cave. The best example is

Dahl Rumahah (also spelled Romahah) located in Harrat Khaybar and you can

see a few of the formations at www.saudicaves.com/shisma/shism.htm but we

hope to do a more complete article and photo display on this cave in the

near future.

John and Susy Pint