| Kapitel | Titel | Seite |
|---|---|---|
| Content | ||
| Abstract / Zusammenfassung / Résumé | 5 | |
| 1. | Acknowledgements / Team Meübers | 7 |
| 2. | Introduction | 10 |
| 2.1 | History of speleological exploration in Laos | 10 |
| 2.2 | General remarks | 13 |
| 3. | Cave descriptions | 16 |
| 3.1 | New caves of the Houaphan province | 16 |
| 3.1.1 | Geological overview | 16 |
| 3.1.2 | Area L: Caves of the Vieng Thong region | 17 |
| 3.2 | The caves of the Oudomxay province | 32 |
| 3.2.1 | General remarks | 32 |
| 3.2.2 | Geological overview | 34 |
| 3.2.3 | Area O: Xai, Namor and La districts | 34 |
| 3.2.4 | Area P: Pakbeng district | 44 |
| 3.2.5 | Area Q: Houn district | 48 |
| 4. | Paleoclimatic research (by Vasile Ersek) | 50 |
| 5. | Some cave features, Physio–chemical and climatological data (by François Brouquisse) | 52 |
| 6. | Biospeleological observations (by Helmut Steiner) | 64 |
| 7. | Conclusions | 105 |
| 8. | References | 105 |
| Annexes | ||
| Caves explored during the 2009 — 2010 speleological projects | 113 | |
| Photo tables | 115 | |
| Atlas sheets cave survey Tham Thia Thong | 118 | |
| Atlas sheets cave survey Tham Cham Ong System | 123 | |
| Atlas sheets cave survey Tham Na Thong | 145 |
Before the publication of Dreybrodt & Laumanns (2005a), which summarises the exploration done between 2000 and 2005, northern Laos was virtually unknown to speläology. Only a few reconnaissance projects were conducted prior to 2000 in the province of Luang Phrabang. The afore–mentioned publication provided information on 24.3 km of cave passages from 68 caves. In the framework of the “Northern Lao–European Cave Project” (www.laoscaveproject.de) the investigations were continued in 2006 in Vieng Phouka (Luang Nam Tha province), and in 2007 and 2008 mainly in Vieng Xai (Houaphan province) (Dreybrodt & Laumanns 2008). This publication reports on the findings of the years 2009 and 2010, including a biospeleological chapter, a chapter on physico–chemical water analysis and the speläogenesis of the Tham Chom Ong System as well as a chapter on palaeoclimatic research. It comprises descriptions of 39 caves with 28,3 km of new passages. Overall, 80 km of cave passage from 176 caves has been surveyed and published to date in northern Laos (excluding Vang Vieng and Kasi).