Swildons - Peculiar Aroma
- Thread starter Gerbil007
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Peter Burgess
New member
If it wasn't biodegradable, we might still be smelling it in 20 years time.
Naomi S
New member
We could still smell this on 8th April and the consensus in our group was that it smelt like diesel. Bumped into a nice lady (who I later recognised in the Swildons book as Alison Moody) who said she was taking samples to try and find out what it is. Does anyone here know Alison or what the results were?
exsumper
New member
Peter is right, its definitely a diesel oil of some kind either used for heating or vehicles. The white stuff is also biological. the same problem occurs in boat fuel tanks when they are not topped up and an airspace exists, even small amounts of water from condensation on the inside of the tank in contact with diesel oil, creates ideal conditions for the rapid growth of large amounts of bacteria (white sludge)resulting in the blockage of fuel lines and filters at inconvenient moments. Although whilst a overlay may be a starting point, it has been proven that water flow in the epikarst, can traverse large distances laterally before emerging into cave passages.
Ali M
Active member
pete h said:Ali uses the forum so you might get a reply when the tests come in. as for the nice ladyevery saturday i get
Naomi - We are still waiting for feedback from the lab re the samples but hopefully may have something to report either next week or later this week.
Mr H for someone who has just had a fortnights holiday leave from Charterhouse you are living very dangerously. Double digging session next time (and no cheese and pickle sandwiches for the tea break).
Ali xx :kiss2:
Slug
Member
exsumper said:
There is a similar type of contamination in aircraft fuel tanks as well. Spores of a fungus called Cladosporium Resinae, thrive in the interface between water and Avtur (Jet Fuel),and produce a mucus like slime, which can vary in colour from pale grey to a dirty brown. It can cause serious corrosion in Aluminium, aside from the blocked filter/fuel starvation problem, and is a bugger to get rid of.
I dont know if these two things are related, but they do sound as if they could be. As to what effect it may have on rock, I simply don't know, maybe none, but it might be worth keeping an eye on it, maybe even removing it.
Slug
Member
Well thats Riggers for Ya' , Us "Sooties" know to add a dash of O.M.15 (D.T.D 585) Hydraulic Fluid as an Upper Cylinder Lubricant.
What Les says though makes sense, Clad Rez, spores are airborne, and everywhere, thats how they get into the fuel in the first place, and why water checks are a regular occourance.
This "growth" may be that, or a related form of fungus. Logic suggests it should die out once it's Hydrocarbon food source has been consumed. All trhe same I'll have a scan through some books, and see what the treatment procedure is.
What Les says though makes sense, Clad Rez, spores are airborne, and everywhere, thats how they get into the fuel in the first place, and why water checks are a regular occourance.
This "growth" may be that, or a related form of fungus. Logic suggests it should die out once it's Hydrocarbon food source has been consumed. All trhe same I'll have a scan through some books, and see what the treatment procedure is.
whitelackington
New member
Bacteria may be carried in by water and deposited on the mud banks,
then patiently bides its time until someone tips oil into the system, then immediately springs into action the consume the new food.
then patiently bides its time until someone tips oil into the system, then immediately springs into action the consume the new food.
Peter Burgess
New member
As you can see from the photo I linked to, the growth was all over the walls (and ceiling I recall). The oil had flowed along the floor, and had not really seeped through the rock. The growth suggested that the oil was present in the air through evaporation (clearly there was something in the air as you can smell it) and in oder to metabolise it any organism would probably require this airborne contamination to condense out onto the wall - that's perhaps why the growth is so evenly spread, like condensation on a cold surface.Hatstand said:anyone got any ideas why it would only grow on the mud banks though??
Slug
Member
That sounds pretty much it Pete. I'm not saying that's what happened for certain, but it does sound feasible.
Any droplets of the fuel/food source that become airborne, through any number of ways, will eventually settle somewhere. In the humid atmosphere of a cave, it won't be long before that fuel will become , for want of a better phrase, coated in water, and to some extent, and using Avtur as a Gide, mixing with it. At this point, the fungus spores will start to grow in the area where the two meet, the Water/Fuel Interface, as it's known.
I've had a look at the treatment procedure, and (in Aircraft, so it's only a guide here), it has to be first "Physically Removed" , in this case, probably scrubbed off with a brush, and then treated with a fungicide to kill it. What sort would be appropriate in a cave, I wouldn't like to guess.
The problem with this is that the Fuel/Food Source in My Aeroplane, and Alex's Boat, is drained out first, here that does not seem to be an option. So until the initial contamination is gone, it'll probably be a loosing battle to remove it.
Lastly, in this situation, it might just actually help to get rid of the problem, by eating it, but it won't be a quick job, several years at least.
Any droplets of the fuel/food source that become airborne, through any number of ways, will eventually settle somewhere. In the humid atmosphere of a cave, it won't be long before that fuel will become , for want of a better phrase, coated in water, and to some extent, and using Avtur as a Gide, mixing with it. At this point, the fungus spores will start to grow in the area where the two meet, the Water/Fuel Interface, as it's known.
I've had a look at the treatment procedure, and (in Aircraft, so it's only a guide here), it has to be first "Physically Removed" , in this case, probably scrubbed off with a brush, and then treated with a fungicide to kill it. What sort would be appropriate in a cave, I wouldn't like to guess.
The problem with this is that the Fuel/Food Source in My Aeroplane, and Alex's Boat, is drained out first, here that does not seem to be an option. So until the initial contamination is gone, it'll probably be a loosing battle to remove it.
Lastly, in this situation, it might just actually help to get rid of the problem, by eating it, but it won't be a quick job, several years at least.
Peter Burgess
New member
Our Surrey growth disappeared after about a year I think, without any help from cavers.
