Matienzo: Web site introduction

MATIENZO CAVES PROJECT
Introduction to the web site

Una página dedicada al área cántabra de Matienzo en el norte de España y más concretamente a los estudios espeleológicos allí desarrollados por el proyecto espeleológico de Matienzo durante los últimos 60 años aproximadamente.

A page dedicated to the Matienzo area of Cantabria, northern Spain and, in particular, to the caving and cave science undertaken there by the Matienzo Caves Project over the past 60 years or so.

Within the site there are descriptions of thousands of caves along with surveys, photographs and videos. There are search facilities and interactive maps. The technology of Google Maps and Google Earth has been used to help visualise the number and extent of the caves, along with aerial videos and 360° panoramas of the landscape. There are other links to maps at various scales and detail. Archaeological finds are described and contextualized and cave conservation is an ongoing concern. Cave environmental monitoring, climate reconstruction, magnetic susceptibility, water tracing and a study of snails are described in the science section.

A Matienzo cave history page has links to annual articles describing the main caving occurrences since the early 1960s. An extensive bibliography lists the variety of publications about individual caves, the caving area and the cave science. The site is completed with sections containing photographs of the limestone scenery, information about Spain and Cantabria, travel and weather data, lists of caving web sites and general interest sites, a table (incomplete) about the flowers seen, a Spanish-English dictionary of caving jargon, links to the Matienzo Caves Google Group and Facebook pages and a page describing the main caving expeditions that occur twice a year and other speleological visits.

The numerous contributors to the web site and to other Matienzo publications are acknowledged here.

The web site was started in May 1997 by Juan Corrin and Andy Quin and is now updated as regularly as possible by Juan Corrin, especially with up-to-date expedition articles, cave descriptions, surveys and photos. From 2014, the site is hosted at one.com although previously at the Geography Department, University of Lancaster through Andy Quin (Departmental Superintendent) and Paul Williams (IT Officer).

Early in 2009, external links were checked and the top level pages re-written and given a face lift for some consistency and better navigation. Various items, including slide show facilities, require Java enabling and your browser should allow scripts to run. The site has been tested in IE, Chrome and FireFox.

All comments, criticisms, suggestions for improvement and contributions (photographs, articles, cave surveys etc) should be made to the webmaster, Juan Corrin. (juancorrin@matienzo.org.uk).

Enjoy your visit! ¡Disfruta tu visita! ¡Bienvenido!