International expeditions 2017 and 2019 to the Serra da Bodoquena, SW Brazil

Brazil, Descent in Gruta Beija Flor, photo Irina Ermakova

The 2017 international speleological expedition to the Serra da Bodoquena, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil, resulted in 11 mapped caves with a total of 2.6 km of underground passages. This includes Gruta Beija-Flor, which turned out to be a superb and sportive cave with a total length of nearly 1.4 km and a depth of 66 m. It is currently the 4th longest cave known in Campo Grande do Sul State. The cave is an active sinkhole that swallows the Beija-Flor river. Also, Gruta das Fadas was extended by 500 m to a new length of 1.3 km.

The 2019 expedition only returned after the deadline for the abstracts of the EuroSpeleo Forum in Dolni Lozen. Thus, the results of this expedition can only be featured during the oral presentation.

By Michael Laumanns, Speleo Club Berlin, Germany

Section: Cave explorations and expeditions

Oral presentation, 25 minutes

Brazil, river passage in Gruta Beija Flor, photo Irina Ermakova

Speleo CV Michael Laumanns

My first speleological excursions were made in 1981. From 1984-2009 I was a member of the editorial board of the German Speleological Federation (VdHK) and from 1990-2001 editor of the quarterly magazine of the Federation. President of the Federation between 1994 and 2007.

After a break in federation work between 2007-2010 I became responsible for foreign affairs in the German Speleological Federation in 2011. In 2013 the European Speleological Federation (FSE) at its General Assembly in Casola (Italy) elected me Vice-President of the FSE. I changed to the position of Vice-Secretary of FSE in 2016.

My first full scale international expedition was conducted 1988 in Turkey. Since then I participated in many international expeditions to Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

Since 2001 I am the publisher of the international cave expedition and documentation series “Berliner Höhlenkundliche Berichte”, which is released in English language (http://www.speleo-berlin.de). So far 75 expedition reports, country monographs and regional atlases were released.

Numerous presentations at international speleological conferences were made. Over 200 speleological publications were released.

 

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