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Knowledge of salt and moisture distribution is a key factor for understanding rock decay at cultural heritage sites. The cave town of Uplistsikhe in Georgia, carved from sandstone in late bronze age to medieval times, suffers from progressive scaling and flaking processes. Multi-method investigations of rock moisture and salt distribution were carried out in order to better understand the patterns of decay. Salt distribution was investigated using drill dust samples and paper pulp poultices; moisture was determined by 2D-resistivity and handheld microwave sensors, supplemented by infrared thermography. The combined results from the different methods revealed a complex pattern of salt and moisture distribution. At most sites, K2SO4 (arcanite) and its hydrates dominate, sometimes in combination with CaSO4 (gypsum). At one site (Grandhall), halite (NaCl) and niter (KNO3) prevail. Sulphates are assumed to be a legacy of air pollution; origin of halite and niter remains unsolved but might be due to concrete reinforcements. Two main sources of moisture were evidenced depending on season and spatial situation: (1) Condensation of air humidity at cool cave backwalls in spring (combined with and aided by salt hygroscopicity), evidenced by 2D-resistivity and infrared thermography; (2) seepage along joints particularly at the cave backwalls and roofs, evidenced by handheld microwave sensors. Further investigations should focus on identifying seepage pathways and on clarifying the origin of destructive halite and nitrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alien species are a significant threat to natural ecosystems and human economies. Despite global efforts to address this challenge, the documented number of alien species is rapidly increasing worldwide. However, the magnitude of the impact of alien species may vary significantly across habitats. For example, some habitats are naturally less prone to biological invasions due to stringent abiotic and biotic characteristics, selecting for a limited number of introduced species possessing traits closely related to the native organisms. Subterranean ecosystems are quintessential examples of habitats with strong environmental filters (e.g. lack of light and scarcity of food), driving convergent adaptations in species that have successfully adapted to life in darkness. Despite these stringent environmental constraints, the number of records of alien species in subterranean ecosystems has increased in recent decades, but the relevant literature remains largely fragmented and mostly anecdotal. Therefore, even though caves are generally considered very fragile ecosystems, their susceptibility to impacts by alien species remains untested other than for some very specific cases. We provide the first systematic literature survey to synthesise available knowledge on alien species in subterranean ecosystems globally. This review is supported by a database summarising the available literature, aiming to identify gaps in the distribution and spread of alien invertebrate species in subterranean habitats, and laying the foundations for future management practices and interventions. First, we quantitatively assessed the current knowledge of alien species in subterranean ecosystems to shed light on broader questions about taxonomic biases, geographical patterns, modes of dispersal, pathways for introductions and potential impacts. Secondly, we collected species-specific traits for each recorded alien species and tested whether subterranean habitats act as ecological filters for their establishment, favouring organisms with pre-adaptive traits suitable for subterranean life. We found information on the presence of 246 subterranean alien species belonging to 18 different classes. The dominant alien species were invertebrates, especially insects and arachnids. Most species were reported in terrestrial subterranean habitats from all continents except Antarctica. Palaearctic and Nearctic biogeographic regions represented the main source of alien species. The main routes of introductions into the recipient country are linked to commercial activities (84.3% of cases for which there was information available). Negative impacts have been documented for a small number of case studies (22.7%), mostly related to increased competition with native species. For a limited number of case studies (6.1%), management strategies were reported but the effectiveness of these interventions has rarely been quantified. Accordingly, information on costs is very limited. Approximately half of the species in our database can be considered established in subterranean habitats. According to our results, the presence of suitable traits grants access to the stringent environmental filter posed by subterranean environments, facilitating establishment in the new habitat. We recommend that future studies deepen the understanding of invasiveness into subterranean habitats, raising public and scientific community awareness of preserving these fragile ecosystems., (© 2023 The Authors. Biological Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Cambridge Philosophical Society.)

Lehman Caves is an extensively decorated high desert cave that represents one of the main tourist attractions in Great Basin National Park, Nevada. Although traditionally considered a water table cave, recent studies identified abundant speleogenetic features consistent with a hypogenic and, potentially, sulfuric acid origin. Here, we characterized white mineral deposits in the Gypsum Annex (GA) passage to determine whether these secondary deposits represent biogenic minerals formed during sulfuric acid corrosion and explored microbial communities associated with these and other mineral deposits throughout the cave. Powder X-ray diffraction (pXRD), scanning electron microscopy with electron dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and electron microprobe analyses (EPMA) showed that, while most white mineral deposits from the GA contain gypsum, they also contain abundant calcite, silica, and other phases. Gypsum and carbonate-associated sulfate isotopic values of these deposits are variable, with δ 34 S V-CDT between +9.7‰ and +26.1‰, and do not reflect depleted values typically associated with replacement gypsum formed during sulfuric acid speleogenesis. Petrographic observations show that the sulfates likely co-precipitated with carbonate and SiO 2 phases. Taken together, these data suggest that the deposits resulted from later-stage meteoric events and not during an initial episode of sulfuric acid speleogenesis. Most sedimentary and mineral deposits in Lehman Caves have very low microbial biomass, with the exception of select areas along the main tour route that have been impacted by tourist traffic. High-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing showed that microbial communities in GA sediments are distinct from those in other parts of the cave. The microbial communities that inhabit these oligotrophic secondary mineral deposits include OTUs related to known ammonia-oxidizing Nitrosococcales and Thaumarchaeota, as well as common soil taxa such as Acidobacteriota and Proteobacteria. This study reveals microbial and mineralogical diversity in a previously understudied cave and expands our understanding of the geomicrobiology of desert hypogene cave systems., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The world is constantly facing threats, including the emergence of new pathogens and antibiotic resistance among extant pathogens, which is a matter of concern. Therefore, the need for natural and effective sources of drugs is inevitable. The ancient and pristine ecosystems of caves contain a unique microbial world and could provide a possible source of antimicrobial metabolites. The association between humans and caves is as old as human history itself. Historically, cave environments have been used to treat patients with respiratory tract infections, which is referred to as speleotherapy. Today, the pristine environment of caves that comprise a poorly explored microbial world is a potential source of antimicrobial and anticancer drugs. Oligotrophic conditions in caves enhance the competition among microbial communities, and unique antimicrobial agents may be used in this competition. This review suggests that the world needs a novel and effective source of drug discovery. Therefore, being the emerging spot of modern human civilization, caves could play a crucial role in the current medical crisis, and cave microorganisms may have the potential to produce novel antimicrobial and anticancer drugs., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

A novel acidophilic fungal strain isolated from snottites in the active sulfuric acid speleogenesis (SAS) Sheki-Heh Cave (North Caucasus, Chechen Republic) was identified and characterized. The Sheki-Heh Cave is one of three cavities of the joint SAS speleosystem; to date, it remains the only of such cave explored in Russia. Highly acidic biofilms termed snottites are found sporadically on the cave roof in sulfurous water degassing zones. Only dark-colored micromycete colonies were isolated from these microbial biofilms using direct inoculation onto Czapek agar. The dominant fungal isolate was selected for further characterization. This work aimed to identify the micromycete strain isolated from cave snottites and explore its growth characteristics. Based on the phylogenetic analysis of the rDNA ITS region (540 bp), the novel fungal strain was identified as Acidomyces acidophilum with a similarity level of 99.26%. The physiological properties of the strain were examined; the optimal pH and temperature for its growth were pH 3 and 20-28 °C, respectively. Strain IB-G85 is able to grow under NaCl concentrations up to 3%. Although IB-G85 was isolated from an oligotrophic environment and was growing under nutrient deficiency, it could utilize some sugars and proteins as well as recalcitrant substrates, such as chitin and tannin. Compared to base Czapek-Dox Agar, lactic acid and colloidal chitin as the sole carbon sources enhanced fungal growth by 100 and 59%, respectively. The occurrence of A. acidophilum and closely related fungal species within acidophilic microbial communities inhabiting sulfur-containing ecosystems is discussed in view of their contribution to snottite structure formation in SAS caves., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

The article offers information on the papers discussed at the sixth International Congress on Fossil Insects, Arthropods and Amber Byblos in Lebanon from April 14-18, 2013. It says that there were 32 origial papers cover the topics related to insect systematics and phylogeny, amber, and geology. It states that in time of the congress, the archeological sites of Byblos and the caves of Jeita were visted, and the field trip includes visits to Lower Cretaceous amber sites.

This paper supplements a keynote address prepared for the 2010 Second International Symposium on Block and Sublevel Caving. The author gauges the cave mining industry's position (practice and theory) since the publication of what he considers a seminal paper on 'Cave mining - state of the art', hence '16 years after'. For clarity, this paper is not meant to be a critique or an endorsement of the cave mining design rules as presented by Laubscher's 1994 paper, as well as an endorsement of a selection of emerging and noteworthy cave mining design and optimisation approaches. The latter methodologies are expected to gain significance as cave mining enters into a new phase of large scale operations at greater depths which the author and others describe as super caves. In this next era of cave mining, improved knowledge and incorporation of the governing physics and fundamentals of the associated caving process or phenomena will become even more important for cave design and performance prediction and, therefore, reliability. The paper starts by providing a snap shot of contemporary caving designs (and practices), highlighting achievements made by the cave mining industry since the introduction of mechanised caving in primary ores. It concludes by listing the developments made in the last 16 years as well as the current and future challenges. The author concludes that contemporary designs and the number of design rules in Laubscher, while still remaining in use, may be reaching their limit when applied to large scale operations or super caves and they need to be supplemented by a number of the emerging techniques. The attributes which make super caves unique are presented. The opportunity is to continually improve and to test these emerging methods. Finally, it should be noted that the paper is written from the author's perspective as a mining research engineer and more recently (from 1997 to current) as the technical director of two international industry collaborative projects; the International Caving Study (ICS) and the Mass Mining Technology (MMT) projects. These projects focus on improving the understanding of the underpinning fundamentals associated with the caving of strong rock masses or primary rock (i.e. rock mass characterisation, caving mechanics including seismicity, preconditioning, gravity and disturbed flow, primary and secondary fragmentation and confined blasting), mainly at moderate depths and stress environments. The original intent of the ICS was to critique, improve and/or supplement a number of the design rules as presented in the Laubscher seminal paper, given the move towards caving of strong rocks or primary rocks. The MMT then put more emphasis on the study of caving fundamentals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radon equilibrium factor Feq is an important factor in radon progeny dose assessment. A review of published measurements of Feq shows a range of values from 0.1 to 1.0 reported in studies from more than 26 countries measured in 173 underground mines, and 136 show caves, tourist mines, and thermal spas. The average values of Feq are 0.38 in underground mines and 0.39 for show caves, tourist mines, and thermal spas. The wide range of Feq in those special workplaces suggests that location-, environment-, and operation-specific values are more appropriate than a recommended average value in the calculation of lung bronchial dose. This is especially important in mines or other typically high radon exposure locations because Feq can be used for recording an individual's occupational radon exposure or dose.

Lined rock caverns (LRCs) are becoming the preferred option for air storage at sites where there are no natural cavities, such as salt caverns, and this storage technology is being developed and utilized in markets around the world. The stability of the overlying rock mass is one of the key factors to ensure the successful operation of LRCs. In this paper, a stability assessment method is presented that first calculates the potential fracture surfaces of the surrounding rock based on the limiting stress field and the Mohr–Coulomb damage criterion, and then, based on these fracture surfaces, solves for the factor of safety defined on the basis of the concept of strength reserve. Using this method, this study evaluates the stability of two types of LRCs, tunnel- and silo-type, under three different geological conditions. The results of the analysis show that the silo-type LRCs are more economical for engineering purposes. Also, this paper provides some guidance for engineers in site selection and preliminary design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, like ChatGPT, have the potential to perpetuate and amplify cultural biases embedded in their training data, which are predominantly produced by dominant cultural groups. This paper explores the philosophical and technical challenges of detecting and mitigating cultural bias in generative AI, drawing on Plato's Allegory of the Cave to frame the issue as a problem of limited and distorted representation. We propose a multifaceted approach combining technical interventions, such as data diversification and culturally aware model constraints, with a deeper engagement with the cultural and philosophical dimensions of the problem. Drawing on theories of extended cognition and situated knowledge, we argue that mitigating AI biases requires a reflexive interrogation of the cultural contexts of AI development and a commitment to empowering marginalized voices and perspectives. We claim that controlling cultural bias in generative AI is inseparable from the larger project of promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in AI development and governance. By bridging philosophical reflection with technical innovation, this paper contributes to the growing discourse on responsible and inclusive AI, offering a roadmap for detecting and mitigating cultural biases while grappling with the profound cultural implications of these powerful technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers some problems of the Late Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic periods in Northern Italy. More precisely, it deals with chronology, settlement pattern, techno-typological characteristics of knapped stone assemblages, and climatic changes that have taken place in the region from the discovery of the first sites in the 1960s and the excavations that soon followed to the present state of research. The Italian Alps, the Piedmont, and the valleys that descend from the high massifs have yielded important traces of Late Palaeolithic (Final Epigravettian) and Mesolithic (Sauveterrian and Castelnovian) sites and findspots, some of which are rock shelters that were settled throughout several millennia. This paper describes and discusses the evidence available mainly from two regions of the western and eastern Alpine arc, which are characterised by very different landscapes and yielded a great variety of archaeological features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real‐time monitoring of the coal caving process in fully mechanized mining is crucial for achieving intelligent and efficient top‐coal caving. While the coal gangue identification method, employing vision and deep learning, has advanced in the realm of intelligent monitoring, it exhibits a dependency on high‐performance hardware. This reliance poses challenges for deploying identification equipment on mobile terminals, hindering the widespread application of this method. To address the issues above, the paper presents a lightweight algorithm, utilizing You Only Look Once version 5s (YOLOv5s), utilizing YOLOv5s for the real‐time perception of the top‐coal caving state in fully mechanized caving mining. We replace the backbone network of YOLOv5s with the ShuffleNetv2 structure that is more suitable for lightweight deployment, and add the Simple Attention Mechanism attention mechanism to the network structure to enhance the model's receptive field and feature expression ability, and reduce the impact of falling debris on the detection results. A dynamic experimental platform for top‐coal caving in fully mechanized caving mining for thick coal seams is set up, and preprocessing operations such as brightness, sharpening, and denoising are performed on the image data sets collected by high‐speed industrial cameras. Research results show that compared with the traditional YOLOv5s, the improved model's P, mAP, F1 score, and other indicators have increased by 3.4%, 2.1%, and 1.1%, respectively, the model size is 70% of the original, and the detection frames per second value has increased by 48.1%. The lightweight algorithm stabilizes the accuracy of coal gangue identification dramatically in real time. It dramatically reduces the computing pressure on the mobile terminal, providing basic theory and practice for real‐time monitoring of fully mechanized coal caving mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to a fossil-free energy matrix may require large quantities of hydrogen gas, which could be stored efficiently in underground lined rock caverns (LRCs). Since the consequences of failure can be catastrophic, the LRC design needs to have a small failure probability. However, the current deterministic design practice for LRCs limits the possibility to stringently address geotechnical uncertainties. In this paper, a reliability-based design tool is presented for LRCs. The adaptive directional importance sampling (ADIS) method, which requires a relatively small number of samples, is used with a 3D finite element (FE) model to evaluate small probabilities of failure. An illustrative example based on the LRC in Skallen, southwestern Sweden, demonstrates the implementation and applicability of the developed design tool. The considered uncertainties are related to the geological conditions and the steel lining. The results show that the reliability of this LRC design meets the expected safety requirements. Considering different geological conditions with correlations, at least "good" quality rock mass is needed for the LRC design. An additional sensitivity analysis is performed to study the potential influence of corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement, showing that the LRC design could meet safety requirements for a lower category of the weld quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Restoring the murals' various kinds of deteriorations is urgently necessary given the growing awareness of the need to protect cultural relics. Virtual restoration starts with an accurate extraction of deterioration. It is challenging to precisely extract scratches from murals because of their intricate information. Hyperspectral images are used to accentuate scratches of mural in this paper. First, a technique for improving information was put forth that involved the transformation of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and a high-pass filter. Second, by using multi-scale bottom hat transformation, Otsu threshold segmentation, and non-deterioration mask, the deterioration information was extracted from the enhanced result. Third, the morphological transformation and connected component analysis were used to denoise the extracted results. Additionally, the scratched image was repaired using an improved exemplar-based region filling method. The results of deterioration information under different enhancement methods were discussed, and the deterioration extraction method proposed in this paper was contrasted with other deterioration extraction methods. The extraction accuracy was greatly increased by the suggested method. Additionally, we assessed the accuracy of various virtual restoration techniques for image restoration and discovered that our suggested restoration method did a good job of maintaining the structural integrity of the mural's information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a super-large diameter shield tunnel passes through a strongly karst-developed area, in order to ensure the stability of the tunnel and economy of karst reinforcement, the reasonable treatment range for a huge number of karst caves needs to be researched. Based on a karst treatment project of a shield tunnel with a diameter of 14.5 m, this paper studies the influence of intrusive fully filled karst caves on the stability of the lining and excavation face by using theoretical calculation. In addition, the safe distance between the tunnel and karst caves outside the tunnel is proposed through numerical simulation, and the corresponding treatment range is obtained. The results show that the bearing capacity of the lining has a certain reserve when the intrusive cave is smaller than a certain size, and the caves filled with plastic or hard plastic clay have sufficient antifracturing ability. Therefore, some small fully filled caves inside the tunnel profile can be left unreinforced. On the other side, the critical safe distance is only 1–2 m for the caves with a size of 3 m, so the outside caves with a size less than 3 m can be left unreinforced in the treatment range farther away from the tunnel. The proposed treatment range is close to similar projects that have been built, indicating that analysis results are reasonable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D reconstruction of cultural heritage with large volume and high precision is a technical problem in the field of photogrammetry. This paper studies a high-precision digitalization method for large-volume immovable heritage assets based on photogrammetry and laser scanning. It solves the problem of large-scale aerial triangulation and ensures overall color and geometric consistency while satisfying high-precision modeling of local details. Taking the millimeter accuracy 3D reconstruction project of Cave No. 13 in Yungang Grottoes as an example, we use more than 280,000 arbitrary images to reconstruct the entire cave and verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tidally-influenced subterranean settings represent natural geomicrobiological laboratories, relatively unexplored, that facilitate the investigation of new biomineralization processes. The unusual water chemistry of Zinzulùsa Cave and its oligotrophic and aphotic conditions have allowed the development of a unique ecosystem in which complex bacterial activities induce rare biomineralization processes. A diversified microbial community develops on centimeter-thick crusts that form in the submerged part of the cave. The crusts are formed of Ca-phosphate minerals, mostly carbonate-fluoroapatite (francolite), covered by a black crust, few microns in thickness, composed of ferromanganiferous oxides (hematite and vernadite). Diffuse coccoidal and filamentous bacteria and amorphous organic matter are mixed with the minerals. The micromorphologies and comparative 16S rRNA gene-based metabarcoding analyses identify a "core microbiota" also common to other natural environments characterized by FeMn and Ca-phosphate mineralization. The microbiota is characterized by nitrifying, sulfide/sulfur/thiosulfate-oxidizing and sulfate/thiosulfate/sulfur-reducing bacteria. In addition, manganese-oxidizing bacteria include the recently described "Ca. Manganitrophus noduliformans" and an abundance of bacteria belonging to the Planctomycetes-Verrucomicrobia-Chlamydiae (PVC) superphylum, as well as Haliangiales (fruiting body-forming bacteria) and Hyphomicrobiales (stalked and budding bacteria) that are known to produce extracellular polymers that trap iron and manganese oxides. 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding analysis showed the presence of bacteria able to utilize many organic P substrates, including Ramlibacter, and SEM images revealed traces of fossilized microorganisms resembling "cable bacteria", which may play a role in Ca-phosphate biomineralization. Overall, the data indicate biomineralization processes induced by microbial metabolic activities for both ferromanganiferous oxide and francolite components of these crusts., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Natural and human-induced toxic elements can accumulate in the environment, posing significant risks to human health and ecosystems. This study explores cave bat guano, an unconventional and relatively under-researched environmental repository, to reveal historical pollution trends and sources. Through trace elements analysis of a 1.5-m-thick guano deposit from Zidită Cave (Romania), we track changes in mining and metallurgy from 1000 CE-2012. We identified substantial pollution primarily from porphyry copper and Au-Ag-Te mines, but also impacts from usage of leaded gasoline and agricultural practices. Our record shows disruptions caused by the Bubonic plague around 1250 CE and a major surge ∼ 1500 CE. After the decline triggered by the European silver market collapse in 1525 CE, our study reveals a brief mining revival. This resurgence was followed by a continuous decline lasting until the early 1800s, driven by socio-economic upheavals and recurrent outbreaks of the bubonic plagues. The Industrial Revolution sparked prolonged growth that lasted until 1989 CE, only briefly interrupted by the Great Depression and World War II. Consequently, cave bat guano proves to be a critical resource for understanding spatial pollution patterns, both locally and regionally, and for identifying specific pollution sources., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

CH 4 serves as an important greenhouse gas, yet limited knowledge is available in global and regional CH 4 cycling, particularly in widely distributed karst terrain. In this study, we investigated an upland in Puding Karst Ecosystem Research Station, and explored CH 4 concentration and/or flux in atmosphere, soil and cave using a closed static chamber method and an eddy covariance system. Meanwhile, we monitored atmospheric temperature, precipitation, temperature and wind velocity in the cave entrance. The results demonstrated that atmospheric CH 4 and actual soil CH 4 fluxes in the source area of eddy covariance system were -0.19 ± 8.64 nmols -1 m -2 and -0.16 nmols -1 m -2 respectively. The CH 4 concentrations in Shawan Cave exhibited 10 ∼ 100-fold lower than that of the external atmosphere. CH 4 oxidation rate dominated by methane-oxidizing bacteria was 1.98 nmols -1 m -2 in Shawan Cave when it combined with temperature difference between cave and external atmosphere. Therefore, CH 4 sink in global karst subterranean spaces was estimated at 106.2 Tg CH 4 yr -1 . We supplemented an understanding of CH 4 cycling paths and fluxes in karst terrain, as well as CH 4 sinks in karst subterranean space. Further works require to establish a karst ecosystem observation network to conduct long-term integrated studies on CH 4 fluxes regarding atmosphere, soils, plants and caves., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

As a carrier of history, culture, religion and art, grotto temples are an important part of China's splendid cultural heritage. Among them, there are many grotto statues with similar shapes and scattered on the grotto temples, which have high artistic value. It is of great significance to classify them.The existing classification methods of grotto temple statues are mainly based on traditional manual classification and machine learning classification, which often consumes a lot of labor costs and time costs. To solve these problems, this paper improves the PointNet network and applies it to the classification of statues in grottoes, which greatly improves the automation of the classification of statues. And the point cloud data set of the grotto temple is made for experiment. The results show that the overall accuracy of the method in this paper reaches 89.73%, the average intersection and combination ratio reaches 68.9%, and the accuracy is increased by 5.47% and 4.3% respectively compared with the random forest classification method. It is of great significance to the value research, status assessment and virtual restoration of the subsequent grotto temples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Niche 6 in Cave 169 of Bingling Temple 炳靈寺 contains the earliest surviving Amitāyus sculpture triad in cave temples of China. This paper attempts to re-identify the textual sources of the ink inscription "De Dashizhi Pusa 得大勢志菩薩" (Skt. Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva) from the Amitāyus sculpture triad in Cave 169. At first, it corrects the misidentification of the inscription "De Dashizhi Pusa" in recent decades. Then, it discusses the relationship between multiple scriptures and "De Dashizhi Pusa". Considering the configuration of the niches, the theme of the sutra, the translation and transmission history of the sutra, and the content of the statue, this paper concludes that the inscription "De Dashizhi Pusa" and niche 6 should have been significantly influenced by the Lotus Sutra 法華經, although this paper does not deny the indirect and partial influence from the Pure Land texts on the Amitāyus sculpture triad during its restoration process. Such a discovery not only sheds light on the configuration of the Lotus Sutra images, but also provides art historical evidence for future exploration of the relationship between the Lotus Sutra and Pure Land Buddhism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the challenge of accurately describing the boundary of deep cavern-type reservoirs. A method is developed to extract diffraction information from the cavern and its boundaries from full wavefield seismic data using PCA wavefield separation technology. The paper describes a method for extracting diffraction information based on post-stack seismic data, and demonstrates the validity of this method in identifying cavern's boundaries via forward modeling. Subsequently, the method is applied to actual seismic data to extract diffraction information from deep caverns. By separating wavefield information at different scales, the extracted diffraction information can effectively identify the characteristics of cavernous reservoirs and their boundaries. It is verified by examples that the diffraction wave information separation method can provide a more accurate description of the distribution of deep cavern-type reservoirs, which can provide a basis for predicting this type of reservoir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]