Bob Armstrong and the Lost River

Bob Armstrong joined Scientech Club in 1994. Known as "Bugs," he has volunteered his time to the Club by videotaping each Monday's lecture for many years. He graduated from Rose Hulman with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1957. Mr. Armstrong gave a slide show lecture to the Club regarding the Lost River geologic formation on 25 February 2002. Then on 25 April 2002, he led a Scientech Club tour to the Lost River.

Mr. Armstrong and his college roommate read about the Lost River in 1954. The Indiana Academy of Sciences had published an article about the natural wonder in 1952. They talked about the Lost River so much that Bob traveled to the area that same year.

Bob mentioned that an article was published in the Indiana Annual Geologic Report about the Lost River as long ago as 1876. The Lost River Conservation Association was founded by three Ph.D. candidates in 1970.

Originally Mr. Armstrong worked at Allison Transmission in 1960 but during a business downturn he went to work for Naval Avionics. In the early 1960's he took a Geology course at the Indiana University extension in Indianapolis. He got to know the professor and later was asked by him to lead a guided tour of the Lost River area. Thus began Bob's 45-year love affair with the Lost River.

After the Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy took over the Orangeville Rise, Mr. Armstrong was invited to be a steward, a position that he has held for 25 years. In 1973, when the nature preserve opened, Bob met Tom and Dee Slater. The late Dee Slater was an esteemed Scientech Club member, who was devoted to the Lost River Conservation Association from the time of her first visit.

Bob Armstrong has received many certificates of appreciation - two from the Department of Natural Resources and one from the Indiana Department of Water Resources. His most valued certificate, recognizing his work on the Lost River, was the one awarded to him by the Professional Geologists of Indiana in 2003.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), "The Lost River is one of the most fascinating hydrologic systems in the State." Located in southern Indiana, it extends into parts of five Indiana counties, but is mainly in three of them - Orange, Lawrence and Martin.

The USGS continues, "Above the Orangeville Rise, the River drains 163 square miles of scenic hills. The Lost River is characterized by sinkholes and streambed swallow holes into which most of the headwaters 'disappear' near the central part of the watershed. The water that leaves the surface through these natural openings travels underground through fractures and joints in the limestone. Most of the water returns to the surface at the Orangeville Rise. The remaining water surfaces at Twin Caves, Hamer Cave, Rise of the Lost River and other springs.

The Lost River basin has been the subject of numerous studies for many decades. In 1993 and 1994, the USGS and the USACE conducted an investigation to define the ground-water drainage boundaries of the basin better and to increase the understanding of the hydrogeology near the town of Orleans, which is subject to frequent flooding. Nontoxic fluorescent dyes were injected into the ground-water system at selected locations, and their reappearance was observed. On the basis of these observations, drainage boundaries were delineated, and the directions of underground flows were determined. In addition, hydrologic factors that contribute to flooding at Orleans were determined. This can be useful to water-resource managers and planners in future flood-control designs."

The Lost River is one of the most significant karst (named for an area in the former Yugoslavia, where water flows over soluble bedrock) areas in the world. Sedimentary rocks are the result of sediment that becomes stone by a combination of time and pressure. These layers can be mudstone, sandstone or limestone. The major component of each is mud, sand or calcium carbonate, also known as lime. The common characteristic is that all may be dissolved by water, given enough time. The "karst system" is formed by water dissolving the rock layers, but it is all underground. The Lost River is similar to the Grand Canyon, to which it has been compared, but the Grand Canyon is all open, while the Lost River karst system is mostly underground.

Deep in geologic time, the Lost River wasn't lost at all - it flowed entirely above ground. Acidic surface water began to seep underground, opening up channels and caverns into which the Lost River began to flow. The Lost River is a ghost town of a waterway for 22 miles. After torrential rains, the Lost River flows in its dry bed for a few hours before it then disappears underground. It can be as wide as ten feet during certain seasons. The explanation comes from understanding the river's complex hydrology involving the soluble limestone. Due to the erosion of water, the landscape abounds with by sculptured land forms, is dotted by sinkholes, and is underlain with caves, one of which extends for 18 miles.

On the Lost River tour can be seen the Wesley Chapel Gulf, indicating a place in the karst system where a cave has collapsed, exposing the underground river. It consists of eleven acres where two adjacent sinkholes had collapsed to a depth of about 80 feet. Next stop is the Tolliver Swallow Hole. The last stop on the tour is the Orangeville Rise, near the place where the river returns to the surface. It is known as Indiana's second largest natural spring and it is over 100 feet across and about 160 feet deep at Orangeville.

According to the Indiana Sierran, the goal of the Lost River Conservation Association (LRCA) is to "protect all of the significant features of the system and install facilities to allow people to visit and learn about karst terrain achieved by various means, such as extending the boundaries of the Hoosier National Forest." Today the lost River is valuable to geologists, naturalists, tourists and students.

Mr. Armstrong is also involved in scientific cave exploring, known as speleology. He has explored many of Indiana's caves and has several guidelines: Never go caving alone, Make sure you have the proper equipment, check on the weather report and watch for squall warnings for light aircraft, indicating possible storms.

Bob is head of the Conservation Task Force for the National Speleological Society. In the Wesley Chapel Gulf, one can walk along a cave wall without a light because light comes in from the skylights (openings in the limestone) in the roof of the cave. But he cautions about sudden rainstorms which can flood the cave in a short period of time. There have been five known cave deaths, three in Monroe County.

Bob Armstrong and the LRCA conducted the most recent tour of the Lost River on 6 June 2009. For information on LRCA, you may call Bob at 317-253-6951 or visit a web site at http://indiana.sierraclub.org/Sierran/05-3/lost.asp