Exam-themes for the first-grade course in caving (theoretical knowledge)

Questions of basic knowledge is written in normal script, while those of supplementary knowledge are in italic script. Attention! If a certain subject is written as supplementary, it might still be a question on the examination-sheet. We gladly appreciate any remark, advice and question concerning the material published below.
Compiled by: Szabó Bors
I. TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE: MAIN PERSONAL EQUIPMENT
  1. Which are the types of carbide-lamps?
  2. Compare electric and carbide lights!
  3. Draw a carbide-container of open-system and describe how it works!
  4. Draw a carbide-container of pressure equalising system and describe how it works!
  5. Draw a carbide-container with air pump and describe how it works!
  6. Draw a carbide-container with water-injection and describe how it works!
  7. Outline the requirements for main and secondary lighting!
  8. Comparing it to the whole length of the tour, for how long should a main and a secondary light work? Why?
  9. What is the contact zone? What is it significant for and how does it work?
  10. What object can be kept in the contact-zone? Why?
  11. What are the requirements for helmets?
  12. In what cases does a helmet protect us?
  13. What should the first-aid-kit include?
  14. On a tour of 6-8 persons, how many people should carry a first-aid-kit?
  15. Why is it important for each caver to carry his own first-aid-kit?
  16. What is the isolating foil used for?
II. TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE: PERSONAL SUPPLEMENTARY AND COLLECTIVE EQUIPMENT
  1. List the personal supplementary equipment for using the French technique?
  2. List the collective equipment!
  3. Why is the correct adjustment of equipment (harness, chest harness, double lanyard, leg loop) important when using the French technique?
  4. Group descenders! Write examples!
  5. Group ascenders! Write examples!
  6. Characterise static and dynamic ropes!
  7. What is the difference between climbing and caving ropes? Why?
  8. How many per cent is the stretch of static and dynamic ropes? At what shock load?
  9. When do we use climbing ropes in caves?
  10. What is the approximate strength-figure of caving ropes?
  11. How often and how should we clean ropes?
  12. What type and how thick rope should be used for double lanyards? Why?
  13. What type and how thick a rope should be used as a prussik?
  14. What are the characteristics of the MAILLON RAPIDE carabiners? What shapes can they be?
  15. What materials are carabiners made of? What are the characteristics of each?
  16. What kind of carabiner-locks do you know of?
  17. Group carabiners according to their shapes!
  18. How big of a load can a PETZL ascender give to the rope without damaging it?
  19. Why do climbing and caving harnesses differ?
  20. Which are the six knots we use most often? What do we use each for?
III. TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE: CAVING TOUR
  1. Group caving tours according to their difficulty!
  2. What is a caving tour?
  3. How many participants should be at least on a caving tour? Why? When can we depart from this method?
  4. What are the personal requirements for a caving tour?
  5. What are the three basic principles of caving?
  6. What is the highest safety principle?
  7. What is the agreement of objectives and possibilities principle?
  8. What does the tour-leader’s personal responsibility mean?
  9. What are the rights and duties of tour-leaders and participants?
IV. TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE: CAVE BIVOUAC
  1. What does cave bivouac mean?
  2. What equipment do we need for bivouac?
  3. Describe the requirements of each bivouac-equipment!
  4. Why are sleeping bags stuffed with fluff unsuitable for bivouac?
  5. Which are the main viewpoints of choosing a bivouac-place?
  6. What foods are practical for a bivouac tour?
V. TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE: HOW TO OVERCOME SHAFTS AND CLEFTS
  1. What is division? Why do we use it?
  2. How many fix-points should be used at least when beginning a shaft?
  3. What kind of natural and artificial fix-points do you know of?
  4. What is the importance of an opening rein?
  5. Why do we have to divide long opening reins?
  6. How do we have to proceed on long opening reins?
  7. Why is a tight rope bridge dangerous?
  8. How can we increase at the same time the safety and feeling of security of a tight rope bridge?
  9. What is the role of drags?
  10. Why is it useful to divide deep shafts?
  11. What is that minimal depth of a shaft, which needs to be divided?
  12. How long sections should shafts be divided into?
VI. KNOWLEDGE OF SAFETY TECHNIQUES: SAFETY TECHNIQUE
  1. What is safety-technique and what is belaying?
  2. What types of belaying do you know of?
  3. What is the aim of defensive belaying, what faults can appear in it?
  4. When is defensive belaying needed?
  5. When is self-belaying needed?
  6. By the usage of which descenders do we have to use self-belaying?
  7. Why can’t we use self-belaying by the usage of the Stop descender?
  8. What equipment can we use for self-belaying?
  9. Why is the usage of an only (Poignee) ascender improper for belaying on a horizontal rope bridge?
  10. What is the difference between static and dynamic belaying?
  11. With what equipment can we belay one another from below and from above?
  12. In what cases can we belay with static ropes?
  13. Why is a static rope improper for belaying in general?
  14. What is a belay point? When is it needed?
  15. What factors determine the impact force in a rope when falling?
    Which factor has the most outstanding role, why?
  16. What is the Fall Factor? Describe its significance!
  17. Draw an example for Fall Factor 2!
  18. What are the possible numbers for the Fall Factor?
  19. How can the Fall Factor be higher than 2?
VII. KNOWLEDGE OF SAFETY TECHNIQUES: SOURCES OF DANGER AND RESOURCES IN CAVES
  1. What do we call objective and subjective sources of danger?
  2. Which are the main groups of objective dangers?
  3. Describe the dangers, which are connected with climatic factors!
  4. What does “bound return” mean?
  5. List the subjective sources of danger!
  6. Is it more dangerous to visit caves at night? Why?
  7. Describe the role of chance occurrence among subjective dangers!
  8. Which are the main groups of resources?
  9. Outline the significance of information and time as resources!
  10. List the human resources!
  11. Describe the theory of resources!
VIII. KNOWLEDGE OF SAFETY TECHNIQUES: ACCIDENTS IN CAVES, RESCUE
  1. How can we define a cave-accident?
  2. List accidents of personal injury!
  3. List accidents of hindrance of progress!
  4. What is the highest danger in accidents to the injured person? How can we prevent it?
  5. How can we define rescue in a cave?
  6. List the sections of rescue!
  7. What do we call rescue of partners?
  8. What are the characteristics of rescuing partners?
  9. What is the significance of rescuing partners?
  10. What is the telephone number of the Cave Rescue Service (BMSZ)?
  11. What pieces of information do we have to tell to the BMSZ?
  12. According to which viewpoints can we decide whether the injured can be taken out by partner-rescue or the Cave Rescue Service has to be called?
  13. Why is it practical to call the Cave Rescue Service through the alert duty of the Capitol Police Headquarters?
IX. KNOWLEDGE OF SAFETY TECHNIQUES: FIRST-AID
  1. What is the main danger in losing consciousness? How can we prevent it?
  2. What needs to be done with an unconscious injured person?
  3. Which are the contraindications for stable side positioning?
  4. What is the definition of shock?
  5. How can shock be created?
  6. How can we prevent shock and how can we decrease its worsening?
  7. When can spine-fracture be suspected?
  8. How can we determine spine-fracture?
  9. What are the signs of concussion?
  10. What dangers are present in concussion?
  11. How can we make a distinction between arterial and venous bleeding?
  12. How do we dress arterial and venous bleeding?
  13. What effect endangers the injured person in an accident in caves? How can prevent it?
  14. How can we decrease the danger of cooling?
  15. What do we give the injured to eat and drink till the doctor arrives?
  16. When having suspicions of spine-fracture, how can the injured be moved?
  17. Describe the dressing of limb-fractures?
X. SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE: BIOLOGY OF CAVES
  1. Describe the flora of caves! What groups of it do you know of?
  2. What is lamp-flora? What causes it?
  3. How can we group the animals of caves?
  4. Describe trogloxene animals! Write examples!
  5. Describe troglophil animals! Write examples!
  6. What are the characteristics of troglobiont animals? Write examples!
XI. SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE: CLIMATE OF CAVES
  1. What sections can a cave be divided into from climatic viewpoints?
  2. How long is the entrance section? What are its characteristics?
  3. What is the cold-point?
  4. What are the characteristics of the cave-section?
  5. What is the turmoil-section? What are its characteristics?
  6. What elements of climate do you know of?
  7. What is the basic determiner of the cave’s air? What other factors can be determiners?
  8. What is the usual temperature of caves in Hungary?
  9. What causes draught in caves? What determines its direction and intensity?
  10. Why is there stronger draught in caves of larger airspace?
  11. What is the sack-effect?
  12. Describe the winter and summer airflow of caves!
  13. How are ice-caves formed and how do they “work”?
XII. SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE: CAVE-PROTECTION
  1. Compare lights from the viewpoints of environmental protection and cave-protection!
  2. What do you have to pay attention to when eating in caves?
  3. What do you have to pay attention to on a bivouac-tour?
  4. Why do they limit the wintertime visits of those caves in which many bats sleep in?
  5. Why is it critical for bats if they are awakened?
  6. How many awakenings can a bat survive during wintertime?
  7. What do you have to pay attention to when locking caves?
  8. What damages does the cave’s light-pollution cause?
  9. What does the law of environmental protection say about cave-protection?
XIII. SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE: MAPING CAVES
  1. What is azimuth?
  2. What is declination?
  3. Which tunnel-width appears on the map of a cave?
  4. What is the poligon, what data characterise certain sections of poligons?
  5. What is the map of a cave?
  6. What is the length-profile and what is the cross-profile?
  7. What is the difference between a layout and a projected length-profile?
  8. Where is it practical to take the cross-profile?
  9. How do maps mark the different levels of tunnels?
  10. What do the following symbols mean?
  11. What data do we have to indicate on maps of caves?
  12. What is the length and what is the depth of caves?
XIV. SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE: CAVE-GEOLOGY
  1. Group rocks according to how they were created!
  2. Group sedimentary rocks! Write examples!
  3. Group magmata rocks! Write examples!
  4. How do metamorphic rocks come into being? Write examples!
  5. Describe the method of mountain-formation!
  6. What is the geometric gradient? What causes it?
  7. What is the definition of rock?
  8. What is the definition of cave?
  9. List karstic and non-karstic rocks!
  10. Describe the types of syngenetic cave-formation!
  11. Describe the types of postgenetic cave-formation!
  12. What is the function of mixture corrosion? What role does it play in cave-formation?
  13. Why is limestone the most suitable for cave-formation?
  14. What role does tectonic performance play in the formation of caves?
  15. What are the effective factors of limestone-dissolvation?
  16. What is a sinkhole? Where can we find them?
  17. Describe erosional cave-formation!
  18. Describe corrosional cave-formation!
  19. How do levels of caves get formed?
  20. What marks vertical caves? How do they get formed?
  21. Draw and name the main units and types of karsts!
  22. What is the definition of erosion-base?
  23. Describe deep-karst!
  24. Describe shallow-karst!
  25. How does a karst-spring gaining water from a deep or a shallow karst react to the rain falling on the surface?
  26. What flowing factors determine shallow and deep karst?
  27. What is the typical cavity-forming effect on the deep and the shallow karst and on the border of the two?
  28. What is the border of the shallow and the deep karst?
  29. How does a sinkhole, a doline and a collapse get formed?
  31. What is a clint, how does it get formed, what are its types?
  32. What is a polje, what are its characteristics?
  33. To what effect does lime separate from karstwater?
  34. Why do travertine-dikes get formed by karst-springs, and why by waterfalls?
  35. Group deposits in caves!
  36. What is stalagmite, stalactite and stalagnate?
  37. Describe the process of dripstone-formation?
  38. List the main types of dripstones!
  40. What is a sifon, a helictite, and a meander?
XV. SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE: CAVE-GEOGRAPHY OF HUNGARY
  1. Mark the main karst-territories of Hungary on the map!
  2. List the three deepest and the three longest caves of Hungary! *
  3. List show caves open for the public in Hungary! *
  4. List such caves in Hungary, in which bat-colonies winter! *
  5. List caves in Hungary in which archaeological findings have been found! *
  6. Write examples for caves, which have many levels, for shafts and sinkholes! *
  7. Write examples for crystal-caves, stream caves and thermal-originated caves! *
  8. Name caves, the forming rock of which is not limestone! *
(* Mark at each cave on which karst-territory it is!)
Last modifyed at: 07/01/99.