Caves & Karst Groups

(Legend: CTSP sites are coded "c" plus the year of the grant, (cs=software, cm=mac), ECP grantees are coded "e". Many groups, especially newer grantees, do not yet have their own sites and are colored green. Other new groups may be described or supported by other sites)

Proyecto Espeleológico Purificación, Inc., Tx. (c/o Peter Sprouse, 1236 Saddle Circle, Buda, Texas 78610 or P.O. Box 8424, Austin, Texas 78713 USA tel: 512-243-6343 fax: 512-243-0776 email: psprouse@tpoint.net.) "The Proyecto Espeleológico Purificación (PEP, or Purificación Speleological Project) is a Texas-based organization dedicated to the exploration, scientific study, and conservation of the caves and karst environment of the Purificación Karst. The Purificación Karst is a 2150 square kilometer mountainous region in the Mexican border states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo León. It contains Mexico's longest known cave system, 90-kilometer-long Sistema Purificación, plus over 500 more caves that have been cataloged to date. Hundreds of volunteer cavers have for the past 25 years been exploring and mapping places never before seen by humans. These caves constitute a unique natural resource. Over fifty endemic cave dwelling invertebrate species have been identified. One aquatic crustacean has been shown to exist in only one isolated aquifer within Sístema Purificación....The PEP is an all-volunteer organization. Tens of thousands of hours of cartography have already been accomplished on the project by volunteer cartographers. The primary results from field work are cave maps. We have on hand 25 years of mapping data that are now ready for final cartography. The first step in making cave maps is entering the raw survey data and making lines plots, a process which is already complete. The next step is making a pencil drawing of the passage details around the line plot, something we have done for approximately 45 kilometers of cave passage."