Other Key Areas

Other sublime karst areas include:

• The Muller Plateau, where exploration has centered upon the Atea Kanada and Mamo Kanda1 systems
• The Hindenburg Wall and surrounding area, with the immense and diverse cave Selminum Tem2

Both of these expectations demonstrated the existence of a rich and diverse cavernicolous fauna3, but it was only possible to make quite limited collections; both demand further and more systematic faunal surveys.

Then there are some other important areas that demand further investigation and documentation:

• The Whiteman (which has already been investigated by a series of French expeditions) and Raulei Ranges , both on New Britain
• The Huon Peninsula does not appear to have significant accessible caves, but it has probably the finest series of coastal terraces in the world.
• The mountains running from Kikori to Darai have rarely been visited by speleologists, but comprise a large karst area with interesting caves which have been identified, but none were fully explored.
• The karsts of New Ireland
• The Trobriand Islands have numerous caves, many of which contain significant cultural artifacts4.