bcra 10-3-1983.pdf
TRANSCRIPT
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a
e Science
The
Transactions
o the British Cave Research
ssociation
[ Volume 1
Number 3
Grot to in Kvannl ihola
2
ip l ingda l
Kvannlihola Norway
Iron Age in Matienzo
Rock
temperatures
in
Altamira
Sandy Hole Portland
BeR
October
983
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BRITISH CAVE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION
NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS
Art ic le s
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1999, p. 99).
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io n. Dr. T .
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LEI 7RH.
Pho ne 0 53 3- 5 544
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eXL . l ~ l
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ISSN 0263-760X
C VE
SCIENCE
TRANSACTIONS OF THE BRITISH
C VE RESE RCH ASSOCIATION
Volume
10, Number 3
October 1983
CONTENTS
Kvannl iho la
2
and
o ther
caves
in
Fip l ingda l and
o ther
areas
o f
Nordland,
Norway
Trevor
Faulkner
The
I ron Age
in
Matienzo,
Northern Spain
Pete r Smith
Temperature o f Rock
Surfaces in Altami ra
Cave
Spain)
E.
V i l l a r P.L. Fernandez, L.S. Quindos,
J .R. Solana J .
Soto
Sandy Hole,
I s l e o f Por t l and
N. Graham
P.F.
Ryder
Cover Photo: S t a l a c t i t e s and
Sta l agmi te s
in Kvannlihola
2
Publ i shed by and ob ta inab le from
The Br i t i sh
Cave
Research
Assoc ia t ion
30 Main Road
Westonzoyland
Bridgwate r
Somerset TA7 OEB
117
145
165
171
Copyr ight
the Br i t i sh
Cave Research
Assoc ia t ion 1983. No
p a r t of
t h i s
pub l i ca t ion
may
be reproduced in any o ther
p u b l i c a t i o n
used in
a dve r t i s i ng s to red in
an
e l e c t ron i c
r e t r i e v a l
system, o r
otherwise
used
fo r
commercial
purposes
except
for s ing le cop ies fo r
resea rch
purposes
wi thout the pr io r w r i tt e n
consent
o f the authors
and
o f t he Associa t ion .
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CAVE
SCIENCE
Transac t i
ons Br i t i s h Cave
Research
Assoc.
Vol
. 10,
No.3,
September
1983
KVANNLIHOLA
2
AND
OTHER
CAVES
IN FIPLINGDAL
AND
OTHER
AREAS OF NORDLAND NORWAY
Compiled and ed i t ed
by
Trevor Faulkner
Abstract
Fiplingdal i s a long val ley to the
south of
Mosj¢en in Nordland,
Norway,
previously
with
only one
recorded
cave. Narrow and steeply inclined marble outcrops l i e along the
length of
the val ley to the eas t and west of the lakes
Nedre
and
¢vre
Fiplingvatn, ideal l y si tuated to
capture the streams flowing down the val ley
sides.
The many caves discovered
a t
the
l imestone
contacts
are
described, together
with
the
extension
to
the
known cave of
Kvannlihola.
Caves
found in
three
other
new l imestone
areas
n
the
southern par t of
Nordland
are also included, together with comments
on the remaining
caving
potent ia l and the organization of expedit ions to
the
area.
INTRODUCTION
This i s the r epor t of the 1982 Expedi t ion t o F ip l ingda l , Norway. The
exped i t ion
comprise
d two members of Eccles
Caving Club,
Trevor Faulkner
and
Alan
Marsha l l , and
Geoff Newton
and
Vic Battams
from BEDROC a
Luton caving club. The
aims were to
explore a
new caving area a t Nedre Fip l ingva tn , which from the
NGO
map could have contained t en cave entrances and,w hi ls t in the
area
of
southern
Nordland/to i nves t iga te o the r poss ib le s i t e s which
had
not been v i s i t ed by caver s .
In
order to
ensure t ha t
the expedi t ion members would
enjoy
a t
l eas t
one
r e a l l y f ine and
spor t ing
caving t r i p w h i l s t in Norway, the i t i ne r y a l so inc luded
a
v i s i t to the Okshola-Kris t ihola
cave
system
near
Fauske, Norway s longes t cave.
A
subs id ia ry ob jec t ive of
helping the
Cave Diving
and
Surveying
Expedi t ion to
Glomdal in Svar t i sen
did
not
mate r ia l i se , as
a t tha t s tage it
was
f e l t tha t
insuf f i c i en t new ground had been
discovered
to
permi t
such
a d iver s ion .
The
expedi t ion
t r ave l led
to
Norway by
sea
from
Newcastle
to
Oslo,
dr iv ing
a t o t a l of
2,300
miles
in
an
Avenger
sa loon car and
spent about three
weeks
in Norway. A t o t a l o f over
40
new
caves
were discovered, explored and mapped
giv ing a t o t a l
new passage length of about 2.8
km.
The major
discovery of
KVannlihola
2
was found towards
the
end
of the exped i t ion ,
crea t ing
another
la rge cave
in
the
southern
p a r t of Nordland.
Previous Br i t i s h v i s i t s
to southern Nordland
have
included
Hat t f j e l l da l
(Heap, 1968, 1969, 1975),
Hat t f j e l l da l
and Fip l ingda l St . P ie r re
and St .
Pie r re
1971),
¢ y f j e l l
(Heap, 1968) ,
Grane (Faulkner and
St . Pier re , 1977) ,
Velf jo rd
St . Pie r re 1979;
Faulkner
1981) and Ei te r aada l (Faulkner 1980) .
A
review
of
known
caves
in
the western p a r t
of
south Nordland i s included in
St .
Pie r re
and
s t .
P ie r r e
(1980) and Faulkner (1979) summarised knowledge of
sumps
in the
area .
EXPLORATION
Leaving
Oslo
ea r ly
in
the
evening
of
Sunday,
25
Ju ly ,
we
s t a r t ed
the dr ive
nor th
on the
E6,
but then
moved over to Route 3, which
proved
to be
a
shor t e r
and
f as te r route up sou the r n Norway. A shor t
camp was made
t ha t n igh t and
the
journey v i a Trondheim resumed in the
morning.
Afte r d r iv ing
for
most of the
day,
Fip l ingda l waS reached v i a Trofors and
camp
es tab l i shed west of Nedre Fipl ingvatn
a t 8.30
p m
Fip l ingda l seemed
somewhat
reminiscent of Ei te r aada l , v i s i t ed in
1978 and 1979 (Faulkner 1980) but wi th
fa r more farms
and weekend hu t s , and
even
a shop. However our campsi te
was ra the r
una t t rac t ive , being
simply
a turning
area a t the
end
of
the t r ack
with abandoned veh ic les and
other
rubbish ly ing
about .
But
there waS
very
littl
choice
and we planned to move on i f the
immediate area was unproductive.
The
f i r s t two days
in
Fip l ingda l were spent walking
nor th
along the
l imestone ,
f inding
many
s inks
and
shakeholes where st reams from the
western
r idge flowed
onto the marble.
Afte r a t i r i n g ascent
on the f i r s t day, we were immediate ly
rewarded
wi th a
l a rge cave entrance
near
the s ink
of
the Baatskarelv . More
caves
were
quickly
found
high
on
the
v a l l e y
s ide ,
al though
some
were
only
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en te red a f t e r a little digging and in the most promising one we were soon
stopped
a t
the
top of
a
very
wet p i t ch
without
t ack le .
This
was descended on
the second
day,
bu t
progress
was again h a l t e d by a
diggable
wet
crawl . Ins t ead ,
we
walked
on
nor th , f inding more
small high
level
caves ,
and
then
a shor t
watery
s t ream ca
ve
in the
cent re
of the v a l l e y near T ~ i m s k a r
By Thursday,
29 Ju l y
a
change
of
scene
was
needed, so
we
drove around
to
the
o ther s ide of the lake to f ind
Nyrudhola ,
a
30
m deep hole formed in
marble
dipping
a t 60
degrees . Back
by
the
car we
cleaned
ourselves up
and cooled
ourse lves down by washing
and
swimming
in
the icy cold ,lake ( f o r a few seconds ) .
The
t ime
had
come to
review our progress
in Fip l ingda l
and decide
whether
to leave. We had c e r t a in ly found a
few
caves,
but
nothing of grea t ex ten t , and
what was found had usual ly
t aken qu i t e
a
l o t of work. However,
ra the r than
l eave a
few
outs tanding leads we
decided
to
spend
a t l eas t another day on them.
Consequently, 'Two Level Cave' was
l engthened
by
digging
and then
the
crawl
a t the foot of the
wet p i tch
in Vicgrot ta waS pushed to a conclus ion.
Meanwhile,
v ic dug i n to a nearby s ink v ia some rocky
squeezes ,
discover ing Tumbledown Pot .
Our s leep tha t
night
was d is tu rbed a t 1 . 00 a .m. by some loc a l v i s i t o r s plying
us
wi th home-brewed
s p i r i t s , who l a t e r t o ld us
of
other caves
nor th of T ~ i m s k a r
and the probable resurgence of the Baatskare lv . Af te r v i s i t in g t h i s sumped
r i s i ng the
nex t
morning, the group s p l i t i n to two to allow Tumbledown Pot to
be
extended
Sl igh t ly
whi l s t
the nor th
T ~ i m s k a r
area
Wa
being
i nves t iga ted .
This new area was fr-ee of b i r ch f o r e s t
and
f ive open e n t r ances
were
found
dur ing
the day.
However,
it was also a long walk from camp.
t was by now c l e a r t h a t we would always be able to en te r new
cave
or passage
every day
i f
we
s tayed
in the
Nedre F
ip l ingva tn
area ,
but genera l ly the
r e tu rn
gained
did
not
match the e f fo r t put in .
Deciding
t he re fo re to make a break, we
would move
our
camp away from theroad
and up
to the
n ice
new
area
above
T¢imskarvatn
and s t a y
the re
one or
two
n igh ts only . The
walk
wi th loaded
rucksacks was a
sweaty
a f f a i r , a t t r ac t i ng the
usua l
f ly ing i n s e c t s , with the
sun
ge t t ing
h o t t e r
and
h o t t e r before we reached
our chosen spo t and p i
tched
the t en t s below a w a te r f a l l .
Bedroc went to Tumbledown
Pot
for the l a s t t ime
whi l s t Eccles explored Dry Cave , T ~ i m s k a r Stream Cave, the
ext remely
spor t ing
( i . e . awkward) Doorway
Cave and o ther smal le r
s i t e s .
The
nex t
day was the
ho t t e s t
so
f a r , wi th
a view when we woke
of
a c l e a r
blue
sky
above a bank of
mis t ly ing
in the
main va l l ey
(Pla te
1) . A
sur face
survey
was
made, and an
a t tempt
to
connect
Dry Cave
to
T ~ i m s k a r
Stream
Cave,
before
we
s t r u c k
camp
and
r e tu rn ed
to
the ca r . Two
Norwegian f r i ends
gave us
cof fee and
to ld us
of an
unrecorded cave 2000-3000 m
long
near M o s j ~ e n which we noted for a l a t e r day.
Whils t no t being exhaus ted , the Nedre
Fip l ingda l
area had
been
covered ve r y
thoroughly over the
previous s i x
days. We had also worked f a i r l y hard , wi th
s t i n t s
of
up to 12 hours
per
day away
from
camp,
and
f e l t
t ha t
the t ime had
come
to dr ive
to Fauske to v i s i t Okshola .
This t r i p , on 4
August ,
was a
ve r y
memorable
event . We were
jo ined
by Edgar Johnsen,
who
drove
over from h is
farm in
Graataadal , and
,
a f t e r
a re laxed s t a r t we were soon
nego t i a t ing
a
r ea l l y
magnif icent streamway in
high water cond i t ions . Despi te
the noise and
spray, a l l pi tches were freec1imbed except for
t ha t of 12
m and the cave was
explored
i n to
Syphon
Ser ies and
the la rge
upper
ga l l e r i e s .
A
se tback
occurred
on the way
out when
a l adder was dropped
in to
a
turbulent
3 m deep pool .
Despi te a l l f i sh ing and
div ing
a t tempts it
remains
on
the
bottom, occas iona l ly
v i s i b l e
when the
water su r face
smooths over .
The second
ha l f
of
th
e expedi t ion
was
now scheduled to
v i s i t
var ious places
on the way south , s t a r t i ng
wi th
a remote
s i t e
in Misvaer, Skje r s t ad . Above
the
hamlet
of
Espenes
the
map showed a
s t ream
s ink a t an
a l t i t ude of
500 m,
wi th
a
band
of
marble
s t r i k i ng towards it a l l the
way
up the
h i l l
from the near -
by f jord .
Afte r
a dreadful
walk
through dense vegeta t ion and then marshy b i r ch
fo res t
we even tua l ly
found the
s t ream, and
i t s immature
s ink .
Our nex t hope was the
cave
descr ibed
to
us
i n F ip l ingda l as
¢yOskje le ren,
near
Mosjpen.
The or ien tee r ing
map
provided showed the
cave
a t the top of a
s t eep c l i f f forming the s ide of the r i ve r Tveraaen. A t r i c k y ascent in the
evening took
us
to many
ent rances
high in the
c l i f f
face , so we
made camp
by
the r iver and explored t h i s s e r i e s of anc i en t phrea t i c
cave
passages
in
the
morning, moving our c amp to the va l l ey of the Herr inge lva t ha t evening .
Sunday , 8
August
s t a r t ed
of f overcas t ,
but
we soon found
an easy
path from
Herr ingbotn
l ead ing , in improving
sunshine ,
to another p o te n t i a l
caving
a rea .
Many caves were found
t ha t af te rnoon near Klopf je ld t j e rn , o f t en in
bands
of l ime-
s tone only 3 m
wide
. Return ing t ha t
evening
d i r ec t l y down the Herr ingelva, the
whole
r iver
was found
to disappear
in to
an
i nc l ined band
of
marble
only 1 m wide,
11
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but
a l l
entrances
were
blocked by co l l apse of the over ly ing gneiss . The nex t
day waS
spent recover ing
from the long walk,
and dr iv ing
v ia o s j ~ e n to G1ugvatn.
However,
even
on t h i s
day,
Exped i t ion Honour was sa t i s f i ed
as Geoff no t i ced
a
b lack
hole
in the f o r e s t near
the road ,
and rushed of f to
explore a
new
cave.
Knowing
t h a t the poss ib le s i t e s ad jacen t to G1ugvatn would be remote and
d i f f i c u l t
to reach,
the
group
again
s p l i t in to
two.
Trevor
and
Geoff chose
the
fu r the r
p lace and reached
it
a f t e r th ree
hours
of s log through midge- infes ted
marshes and b i r ch
fores t .
I n t e r e s t i n g
caves
were
found, the
underground system
being
s p l i t
i n to
two by
an in termediate shake-hole car ry ing
the
s t ream.
Alan
and
v i c
a l so
reached
t h e i r
ob jec t ive ,
f inding t h a t
the
map had exaggerated
the
underground
d i s t ance .
The weather had over the l a s t
two
days changed
complete ly , wi th
r a in and
dr izz le
the norm
ra the r
than b laz ing sun. Now near the
end
of our ava i l ab le
t ime,
we had
probably
found over 1500
m of new
cave
passage, wi th
new
cave
every
day
bu t no s i n g l e discovery
was
longer than
300
m.
Where were
we
going
to f ind
something
memorable, ra the r
than j u s t
i n t e r e s t i n g
and
fo r the record?
The remaining s i t e s
on the
i t i ne ry looked l e s s
hopeful
than
those
already
v i s i t ed .
e t he re fo re took
a
chance
and
r e tu rned to Fip1ingda1,
t h i s
t ime
to
the ¢vre
Fip1ingva tn area and
the
shor t
known cave
of Kvann1iho1a.
This
resurgence
cave i s 245
m
long and the
map
showed
the
r i ve r s ink to be
about 800
m
nor th of the en t rance . e went there f i r s t : the
water
went
underground i n f ron t of
a 6 m
high c l i f f . t seemed p r e t t y hopeless , un t i l we
no t iced
the
sound
of
underground water
a t
the foot
of
the
c l i f f
face .
Four
digs
were
s t a r t ed in
pa ra l l e l ,
shar ing a
crow
bar , un t i l a f t e r two
hours two
digs a t
the
c l i f f
face combined
and a
loose
hole
down
waS
opened.
This
waS s t ab i l i zed
and
we dropped
in an
hour
l a t e r
to
f ind the
l a rges t
streamway
discovered so f a r ,
but it
l o s t
he igh t too r ap id ly and sumped. Disappoin ted , we cont inued down the
h i l l s i d e and explored
Kvann1iho1a
i t s e l f , looking
ca re fu l ly a t i t s
t e rmina t ing
sump
pool .
The
premature
ending of the s ink
cave
was
qu i te
a
blow to the
t eam s
s p i r i t s , which for the only t ime on the expedi t ion were
a l ready
su f f e r ing
due
to the changed weather . Morale waS res tored by h i r ing
a
new
hy t t e
(a wooden
camping hut)
a t
Store Majavatn in s tead of t en t ing overnight . Next day
saw
us
i nves t iga t ing
the
KVann1iho1a sump
wi th
face mask
and
hood.
The
way
s t r a i gh t
on underwate r was b l ind , bu t to the l e f t the wal l
went
down for
a
metre
and
then
rose
s t r a igh t
up again
to
a f ro thy a i r
su r face vis ib le above. Holding
a base
fed l i ne in one hand,
the
leader pu l led
himself under
the wal l and rose up i n to
an airbe11.
t turned
ou t to be about
1
metre wide,
3
metres long
and not ve r y
high, but
amazingly
a t
the
fa r
end
was
a small hole
jus t
above
water
l eve l
through which the s igh t
and
sound
of a
roar ing streamway
emerged.
The
hole
was
too t i gh t to crawl through but
obviouSly
could
be eas i ly
dived under . e
a l l went
back to the car to
brew
coffee
and
co l l ec t
a rope .
Alan was
then
given the
pr iv i l ege of being
f i r s t through the second par t
of
the sump,
and
soon
r e tu rned
having
secured
the
rope
to
a
f l ake in
a
canal on the
fa r
s ide . The enormous and
well decorated
passage beyond i s
f u l l y
descr ibed l a t e r in the
repor t . t was
explored by t h r ee of the
par ty
to another
sump
on the
f i r s t v i s i t ,
toge ther w i th
the s i d e
passage
near
the Top
Water fa l l .
I n i t i a l
exp lo ra t ion
over ,
and
as it waS
pas t lunch
t ime,
we dived back out
and cooked a
meal a t the car .
The next
tasks
were to
survey
and
to photograph
and
t ha t
af te rnoon ,whi l s t
Trevor
and
Alan
recorded the survey data ,
Geoff
took
some p ic tu res ,
us ing the surveyors
as models.
On
t h i s t r i p
the
cave
pear l s were
discovered,
as
wel l
as
new groups of s t a l a c t i t e
format ions .
Other
photographic
gear was l e f t beyond
the
sump overnight
and the
team h i r ed i t s e l f another hy t t e a t
10.30
p.m.
There
was
now
only
one day
l e f t
before
we
had
to d r ive
south
for the
fe r ry ,
and
we planned
to
complete
the
photography
and t r y
to cl imb
up
to
another s i d e
passage. However, we
had reckoned
without
the
weather . At
4.00 a.m.
it
was
r e a l i s e d t h a t leaving the camera
beyond
the sump had been
a
r i sky
dec is ion ,
as
t o r r en t i a l
ra in bea t
down on
the roof
of
our hut . t
stopped
r a in ing
by 7.00
a.m.
but
l a t e r
on
we found
a
tremendous flow out
of
the sump
and
the
water
l eve l was
up a
foo t ,
making f r ee
div ing
unthinkable . P r e t t y desparate to recover the camera
and to take the
necessary
p ic tu res , we se t to work excavat ing the
s t ream
bed
ad jacen t to the
sump pool
to lower
i t s
l eve l
and
inc rease the
flow
r a t e .
Our
luck
a t
meeting
deadl ines he ld , as severa l
hours
l a t e r and a f t e r
lunch the sump
waS back to i t s normal l eve l . Three
of
us dived
back
through the foaming
ai rbe11
and canal i n to KVann1iho1a 2 fo r the l a s t t ime, success fu l ly comple t ing the
photographic work and
discover ing Forbidden
Passage.
Once
again the day
ended
l a t e ,
and r a the r than s t a r t the dr ive south
immediate ly we
gave ourselves the
luxury of a t h i r d
hy t t e fo r the n igh t , i n ce l eb ra t ion a t f in i sh ing the expedi t ion
on
such a high
no te .
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1. T¢imskar area
look ing
south with
cloud
over Fipl ingvatn
photo
G.Newton)
2
Baatskare lv
s ink
seen
from
Baa t ska r e l vg ro t t a
photo T Faulkner)
3. Block p i l e
in
Kvannl ihola
2. photo T.Faul k
ner)
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FIPLINGDAL
The va l ley of Fip l ingda l
i s
al igned
roughly
nor th
to
south and l i e s south of
Trofors in Grane,
Nordland.
The
only known exp lo ra t ion
previously
has
been
to
Kvannlihola on the western s ide of ¢vre Fip l ingva tn ,
which
waS
surveyed
by Einar
Hartmann in
1962
s t .
Pie r re and St . Pier re 1971
and
1980).
The NGU geological
map
Hat t f j e l l da l
sheet ) shows two l ines of marble outcrops running pa ra l l e l to
the va l ley west of the two
lakes , the
western -
most
being
over 40
kID long
with
an
average
width
of c . 500
m. This major
outcrop
waS found to be
v e r t i c a l l y
banded
and
cavernous. A narrower
band
of marble was
also
found eas t of Nedre
Fipl ingvatn ,
dipping
a t
60 degrees to the west . The
l imestones are
s t r i c t l y a l l
marbles and
occur within much
more
extensive areas of mica -
s ch i s t
and
gneiss ic
rocks
and
have
had a
marked
inf luence on the loca l
topography,
forming co inc iden ta l upper
val l eys .
Although
¢vre Fip l ingva tn f lows
in to
Nedre Fip l ingva tn
to
i t s
north , the
dra inage
in the
upper
va l leys
i s more
var ied . A major watershed
occurs west
of the marshy
separa t ion of
the
two l akes , so t ha t the
Kvannlihola
stream i s
captured
under
ground
a f t e r f i r s t f lowing south Fig .
3) .
T¢IMSKAR
AREA
This i s
the
most
nor the r ly area of
Fip l ingda l v i s i t ed
by the expedi t ion
and
l i e s
along
an
upper
va l ley
west of
Nedre
Fipl ingvatn .
Although
the
l imestone
band
here i s 500 m
wide
overa l l P la te 1) ,
in te r laye red
impur i t ies of mica -
s ch i s t
are
su f f i c i en t ly extensive to
r e t a i n
cave development wi th in
narrower
bands
about
ISO m apar t ,
preven t ing
a l a t e r a l in teg ra t ion of the underground drainage. All
streams f lowing down
the
va l ley
sides s ink
a t the l imestone
contac t ,
giving r i s e
to a
l i nea r
development
of
s inks and
shakeholes. The
except ion
is
t he l a rge
mountain stream,
L i l l e
Baatskare lv ,
which only f u l l y goes underground and sumps
where it
reaches
a permeable band of
l imestone
in the va l ley
bottom. The
band
of l imestone
which
i s
responsib le
for
the Baatskar area
s inks q.v . ) also
captures
some streams
SW
of
T ~ i m s k a r v a t n probably diver t ing flow to the nor th
F i q .
4 ) .
5M POT
(24)
02
0
47'37 E,
65
0
28'38 N
Al t .
750m Depth 5m
The most nor the r ly fea ture along the westernmost
l ine of
l imes tone. A small
stream
f lows
down
one
of
four
connected
holes .
One
small ho le
can be
laddered
in to a 4m diameter
c i r cu l a r
shaf t with no
way
n i the water flows south along
the s t r ike .
Tackle: 5m l adder , 10m
Explored: T.
Faulkner ,
DOORWAY CAVE (23)
02
0
47'36 E,
65
0
20'37 N
l i f e l i n e , 3m belay
R. Marshall 1 August
1982.
Alt .
7S0m
Length c.14+l68m, Depth
c Sm
At
the
next
shakehole
south
a stream turns in to a
door-shaped
ent rance. 14m
of crawl ing
lead to
an unpassed co l l apse caused by
the small
shakehole
conta in ing
the exp lo ra t ion
en t rance
(22) where a
t r i ck l e
of water enter s . The main
cave
s t a r t s
as
a
f l a t -ou t crawl over
cobbles
from
t h i s
en t rance
and soon enlarges to
an easy
crawl to where
the cave
passag·e
twis t s and
t u rns before it becomes
an
awkward but walking s ize passage . The cave s t a r t s to ge t
more
roomy,
with
a
small
stream cascading
down
to
some small p i tches . The passage
then
goes
to
s tooping
height un t i l it
reaches
a
t a l l narrow
ri t which can j u s t be
passed
a t
s t ream or roof l eve l . The
roof route i s l a rge r but
r equ i r es
a
loose
exposed
climb down a t
the
f a r end. The ri t a t
f loor
leve l has
some
very vic ious
bends
with sharp ,
wetsu i t - r ipp ing f lakes . After the
ri t
the roof lowers to a hands
and
knees
crawl
and
fol lowing about 4 m of awkward passage the
cave ends in
an
impassable sump.
Survey: Fig .
5.
A. Marshall 1 August 1982
Explored: A.
Marshal l ,
T. Faulkner 1 August 1982.
CAMP CAVE
(17)
02
u
47'27 E, 6S
0
20'28 N.
Alt . 7S0m
Length
c.15m
Depth c .
5m
A f luc tua t ing snow
melt
stream flows as a prominent water fa l l o f f the c l i f f
and s inks
immediately in to
a
small
choked
ri t in
the l imes tone. Digging
was
attempted but abandoned due to the
immaturi ty of
the s i t e . A few metres south
a
la rge snow-f i l led
shakehole
conta ins the
entrance
to
Camp
Cave, which
cons is t s
of a s ing le
large
but s i l en t chamber f loored with dr ied mud.
Explored:
V. Battams 2
August
1982.
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A l ine of shakeholes and sha f t s
cont inues a l l
the way
from
Camp Cave
un t i l
the prominent wa t e r f all on the L i l l e Baa t ska re lv
i s
reached,
fo l lowing
the
approxim a te
l i ne of l imestone
contac t . Sixteen
s i gn i f i can t
shakeholes
were
noted, numbered from the water fa l l northwards Fig . 4) .
The
fol lowing f ea tu res
contained
en te rab le passage .
(1)
The
l a rge
shakehole
close to
the
wat
e
r f
a
ll
A
f ree-c l imbable
5 m
p i tch
was
fol lowed by a 6 m s lope i n to a l a rge
sump
t rending downwards a t 30 degrees .
(2)
A 4 m dayl ight shaf t l eads to a low wet crawl
with
s t ream f lowing nor th .
It
i s t igh
t but might be p u
shed.
(9) A shake 5 m deep where a
s t r e
am s inks ,
with
a non-l imestone
rock wal l
on
the
eas t s ide .
(10
and
11)
Bridged
shakeholes .
The nor thern one has a wide 4 m shaf t to a 2 m
drop and loose
passage
he a
ding eas t .
FL KE POT (12) A small open
shaf t .
A 2 m
f ree
cl imb l eads to
a 7 m ladder
p i tch in a
loose
clean washed sh a f t . Ca re should be taken here . At the foot a
smal l s t ream
enters
v ia a too t i gh t
passage
from the south . Downstream the
passage
descends
s teep ly to
the
nor th for
6 m before
becoming
t igh t :
it
might
be
pushed. The passage
i s
seen cont inuing. Explored G. Newton, 2 August 1982.
(13) A
la rge
shakehole
blocked with breakdown and tak ing a small stream. A 7 m
loose
bouldery
rift
climb reaches
a
junct ion .
To the nor th
i s blocked
af te r 3 m
to the south
a f t e r
2 m.
(13A)
A small hole close to and eas t of 13) . A
passage
descends for 6 m to the
nor th before becoming
too
t igh t .
(15) A 3 m deep shakehole with a snow
plug.
A
low crawl
leads to a lower
arch
a f t e r 3 m. This
g i
v es onto a
narrow
c a nyon
which
may
be
fol lowed 4 m in a
nor the r ly d i rec t ion
un t i l
a
corner i s
reached.
Unless otherwise s t a t ed ,
the above fea tures were explored and recorded by
V.
Battams
and
G.
Newton,
1
August
1982.
The water drain ing t h i s
l i ne
of l imes tone, and perhaps including tha t l a s t
seen
in the
sump
of Doorway Cave,
resurges
in a
pool
(61) a t the foot
of
the
impressive
water fa l l on the
L i l l e
Ba
a tska re lv .
Clear ly a la rge propor t ion
of
t h i s
water s inks again along the same
l im
e s tone band,
as
the
major
par t of
the
nearby s t ream
to the
south i s fed from a la rge resurgence
(63)
50 m fu r the r along
the s t r ike . A shakehole
behind
the resurgence (62) exposes the water , but no
passage can be entered .
The
next
band
of
cave-bear ing
l imestone
occurs
about 100
m eas t
and
pa ra l l e l
to
the
f i r s t b and. The
area
map Fig.
4)
shows t ha t
the
f i r s t
capture
i s near ly
as
f a r
nor th as the watershed (31) but the
passage formed here i s
too t iny to
enter . The nex t underqround flow
can e
explored
fo r
10 m (33)
as
f a r
as
a
co l l apse under a s h k e ~ and walking fur ther south the next fea ture of
i n t e r e s t
i s
a hole
with
the sound
of
the s t ream audible 39) .
T¢IMSKAR
STRE M
C VE
(39)
Alt .
670
m Length c.160 m Depth c.12 m
02
0
47'10 E,
65
0
20'26 N
The
en t rance i s
a 3 m
cl imb
to a streamway.
About
7 m
in ,
shor t ly
a f t e r
a
bend, a 5 m pi tch i s reached. This may be
f ree-cl imbed with care in dry
cond i t ions ,
but
i s
be t t e r laddered. A f ine marbled streamway
car r i es on,
par t l y as a
shor t
oxbow, and becomes a clean
rift
passage with several
small
cascades un t i l a low chamber measuring 6 m x 3 m i s reached.
Surpr is ingly
t he re
is no
s ign of the
passage from
the
Dry
Cave ent rance. The
passage
cont inues as
a f l a tou t crawl for 30 m becoming very
wet
un t i l a
canal
i s reached with a
diminishing ai rspace which
still
draughts but cannot be explored on carbide .
From the same shakehole, upstream waS excavated in to a 14 m low passage to
f a in t
day l igh t
below
shakehole 38) .
Tackle:
5 m
ladder ,
3 m
belay , 15
m
l i f e l i n e .
Explored:
T.
Faulkner , A. Marshal l , 1 August 1982.
Survey:
Fig . 6.
T. Faulkner , G.
Newton,
V.
Battams.
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DRY
CAVE (40) Alt . 670
m,
Length c .
41 m,
Depth
c . 6 m.
02
0
47'
08E, 65
0
20' 24 N
Walking
south
a small
pool
of water i s reached
a t the head
of a shal low dry
va l l ey ending
a t a
climb
down over
blocks in to Dry Cave.
The
cave soon
narrows
to
a
t a l l
ver t i ca l
r i g t . At
f loo r level t h i s
becomes
too
narrow
although
it
opens out in f ron t . Climbing in to the
roof
it i s possib le to crawl forward
un t i l the way i s
obst ructed by
a huge f a l l e n block, wi th again open passage
beyond. From both terminat ions
comes
the du l l
roar
of a d i s t an t s t ream, which
presumably
i s t ha t f lowing in T¢imska r
stream Cave.
Explored: T.
Faulkner , A. Marshal l , 1
August 1982.
V. Battams, G. Newton, 2 August 1982.
Survey: Fig .
6
T. Faulkner
The
water in T¢imskar s t ream Cave re appea
rs
as a la rge flow a t a resurgence
(44) 150 m from the end of
the
cave. A
few
rocks were removed, but a l o t more
work
would
be
requi red
to make it
en te rab le . As
the area map Fig.
4) shows,
there
i s a shor t
sec t ion
of
underground flow for
t h i s s t ream, and
for
another
50 m to
i t s
eas t , before the next explorable cave i s
reached.
HIGH FLOW CAVE
(48)
Al t . 630 m,
Length
c.50
m, Depth
c . 9 m
02
0
47' 25 E, 65
21
10 N
The entrance i s a
hole dropping
s t r a i gh t
in to
a clean washed passage
car ry ing
a
powerful stream.
upstream
i s
a
wet crawl leading towards the
s ink 47) .
A metre high passage leads downstream along the s t r i ke to a f ine 3 m deep
Sloping cascade where the s t ream has tu rned west ,
cu t t ing
down through a
band
of impur i ty . The s t r i k e alignment i s
soon
rega ined along a
rocky
crawl u n t i l
the
passage
turns e a s t
and
plunges over a wide ve r t i ca l water fa l l . Moving back
to
the
previous
al ignment , the
streamway
en la rges
and a t
a
la rge j o in t s p l i t s
in to
two sec t ions : a clean sharp wide crawl d i r ec t l y over the
lower
st reambed.
At
a
second
j o i n t 4 m
forward
the passage becomes
re in teg ra ted ,
the water f lowing
sou th f a s t
in to
a la rge
deep sump
pool .
Explored: T. Faulkner , A. Marshal l ,
G.
Newton, 28 Ju ly
1982
Survey:
Fig ·. 7 .
1
. Faulkner , 28 Ju ly
1982.
Walking sou th along the s t r i ke for 120 m, two l a rge connected r i f t s
(65) are
found,
formed along j o in t s a t r i g
h t
angles to the
s t r ike . These
are 5 m
deep
w
indows
onto the
underground phreas , with , amazingly, water
flow
to
the
nor th . They
are
fed from a s ink (64)
50
m sou th in the
l e f t bank
of the L i l l e
Baatskare lv ,
where par t of the flow
i s
captured.
The combined phrea t i c waters from High
Flow Cave f lowing
south
and
the
L i l l e
Baatskare lv
p a r t i a l
s ink f lowing nor th , both u t i l i s i n g
the
same band of
l ime-
s tone,
must
jo in and
form a
course
moving
eas t
then sou th again
as
they reappear
from a l a rge deep
impenet rab le
r i s i ng 300-400 m away 67) . The sur face
flow
i s
shor t l ived as
the r iver
soon
flows
in to
a
low opening 68) .
A
t i gh t
rift
would
give
ac
cess to a deep watery chamber 2 m in , but the
way on
i s almost ce r t a i n l y
sumped.
The
combined flow of the Li l l e Baatskarelv and i t s sou ther ly pa r tne r
a l so
s ink among rocks
j u s t
beyond the rift opening, so t ha t t h i s s ink (68) takes
a l l the dra inage of the
T¢imskar ar
e a west of the
footpath .
A t ubu la r
oxbow cave
10
m
long
(66)
a t
the
corner
on
L.
Baatskarelv
waS
inac t ive
when v i s i t ed
in
dry
weather .
10
0 m sou th of the combined s ink the r iver r i ses
from three
resurgences
(69-71) , the outer pa i r being smal ler and impenetrable. t then runs on the
sur face for
over
300
m un t i l it i s
cap tured by
a
low supe r f i c i
a l
(and unexplored)
cave
passage 100 m long with windows 73) . A t iny propor t ion of
the
water s inks
a t the corner
(75) where the
r iver
turns
sharply
nor th to flow in to
Tpimskarvatn.
West and up the va l ley s ide from t h i s corner , two streams flow down and disappear
in to
immature s inks (81,82)
when
they reach the l i ne of the
TPimskar
Stream
Cave/
High Flow Cave l imes tone. 100 m
to
the nor th i s a prominent long hummock of
exposed l imes tone.
HUMMOCK CAVE
(83) Alt . 630
m
Length c.10
m
02
0
46' 53 E, 65
0
19'
47 N
A
low crawl
a long the s t r i k e from
the
base of the south
end
of
the hummock,
emi t t ing
a cold draught
but
becoming
too
low.
Explored: V.
Battams,
28 Ju ly
1982
124
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SPR Y C VE (84) A l t . 630 m, Length c . l S m,
Depth c .
S m
02
0
46 'S3 E,
6S
o
l9
'
49 N
On
the
west
edge of
the hummock
a
l a rge
s t ream drops
in to
a sp ray-
i
l l e d hole
which
can be
cl imbed
down to
a
s l o t l e ad ing to
a wide chamber. This
becomes
too
low and muddy to
t he
nor th . The water flows
south
fo r 2 m along a
passage
becoming
too t i gh t and
a
dry ri t tu rns sharp l e f t j u s t too narrow to e n t e r .
Explored:
G.
Newton
,
A.
Marsha l l ,
T.
Faulkner , 28
Ju l y
1982
Survey: Fig . 8, T. Faulkner
,
28 J u l
y
1982.
Another s t ream s inks in to
a shakehole
SO
m
nor th (8S)
a
nd severa l
3 m s h a f t s
can be descended,
but
no p
assa ge
was en te red .
Another
dry shake
(86) to the
nor th
was descended
fo r
3 m
down
a
s teep snow s lope
.
The
des t ina t ion
of the waters
from
the
hummock group of caves i s unc lear , but i s probably the
' t h r e
e r i s i ngs '
a r ea
west of T¢imskarvatn .
The only f ea tu res no t iced
e a s t
of the footpa th were j u s t
nor th
of
T¢imskarvatn,
where a s t ream running SW
s inks in
a
b i
·q
shakehole
below a
w a t e r f a l l (91) , and
a dry
gorge
i s
seen
to the south . The s tudy
of
t he se
smal l
p o s s i b i l i t i e s
WaS
l e f t
for ano ther
occas ion.
B TSK R RE
The
upper
va l l ey
and
l imes tones
from
the
T¢imskar
area cont inue sou th , t he
band
con ta in ing
High
Flow
Cave
being
t he most
important as it captures a l l the
.
s t reams
f lowing
down
from the 8S7
m p
ea
k
a t
t he
nor th end of Kapf je l l .
A
l i n e a r
sequence
of holes and s inks i s observed i n t he
dense
b i rch f o r e s t along the
va l l ey s ide , feed ing two major r i s i n g s in
t he v a l l e y
bottom. (Fig. 10) .
B TSK RGROTT (1) A lt
.
S70
m
Length c . 210
m
02
0
46' 09 E, 6S
o
19 ' OS N
The Stor e Baa t ska r e lv f lows in to
a long depress ion when it reaches the l ime
s tone , f i na l l y s ink ing a t
t he
nor th end (P la t e 2) .
This
foss il cave
i s en te r ed
by
cl imbing
down
a
snow s lope
behind a
l a rge
block a t
the
sou thern
end
of
the
depress ion. The
l a rge
ent rance cavern
measures
10
m wide
by
3 m high
and
con ta ined two
l a rge i ce
columns when
v i s i t ed
. Three passages go a long the
s t r i ke from the r ea r end of
the chamber
,
gr adua l ly
descend ing un t i l
they
sump or
have
minimal a i r space with no
draught
in s t a t i c
water .
West
of the
main en trance
a
l a r ge hole
drops
i n t o
a
smal le r cave , di sp lay ing
an
i ce
sword,
which s p l i t s
i n t o
two
s t r i ke
passages
with voca l
c o n t a c t ,
each becoming too t i g h t
in
places which
could
be dug.
B TSK R SINK 1 Length c . 8 m
A
p a r t i a l s i n k in
a
dry
squeeze over a
the water disappears
a
spray f i l l e d drop j u s t
below
Baatskarg ro t ta , it l eads
to
l a rge
s lop ing
s l a b to a chamber under the depress ion where
among the
g r avel down a
hole in the f l o o r
.
B TSK R SINK 2 Length c . 3 m
A dry
overf low s ink on the
r i g h t b ank of
the depress ion
which
soon
chokes.
B TSK R
SINK
3 Depth c . 4 m
The
presen t f i n a l ac t ive s i n k a t
t he nor th
end of the
depress ion.
Two
drops
between rocking blocks l e
ad to
a
choke.
B TSK R
SINK 4
Length
c . 14 m
A f l a to u t squeeze under
the
e a s t
s ide
of the c l i f f a t
t he nor th end
of the
depress ion lead to
a 3 m j o in t
s l o t choked a t the
bottom. A f l a to u t crawl
cont inues
l ead ing
to two separa te hole s
on
the e a s t s ide . The unen tered
streamway can be
heard
but
both
holes are
too
t i gh t to
pass .
E xplor a t ion of Baa t ska r e lv f ea tu res : V .
Bat tams,
T. Faulkner , A .
MarShal l ,
G. Newton,
27
Ju ly
1982
Survey:
Fig .
11.
T. Faulkner ,
27 Ju ly 1982.
60
m
along
t he
s t r i ke i s
a smal l
shakehole with
a
s i l e n t t r i a n g u l a r hole (2)
going down 10 m as a corkscrew s h a f t , with no draught .
TWO
LEVEL C VE
(4) A lt
.
600
m,
Length c .
40
m,
Depth
c
8
02
0
46 '13 E,
6S
o
l9 ' lS N
A
s t ream
f lows
i n to
a smal l
to
a S m
f r ee - c l imbab le
p i tch .
hole
in
a smal l
depress ion
l e
ading immediately
At i t s foo t ,
a
ri t
chamber
con t rac t s to
a
127
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cons t r i c ted meandering s t ream passage
where
to r tuous
progress may b e
feas ib l e
e i t he r a t f loor
or
roof l eve l .
From the
r i gh t wal l of
the rift
chamber
a
dug
ent ry leads to an upward crawl over rubble
to
a cross passage. Right
i s
blocked,
and
l e f t i s a narrow crawl to the roof o f another passage . Lef t soon chokes
whi l s t r igh t
passes over a hole
in the f loor
to a cont inuat ion in mud becoming
too t i g h t .
Down the
hole ,
a 2.5 m
climb
leads
to f loor l eve l .
The t i ny s t ream-
way
i s
re jo ined and progress downstream was ha l ted a f t e r 4 m a t a t i gh t corner .
Explored: T.
Faulkner ,
G. Newton,
27
Ju ly 1982
V. Battams,
A.
Marshal l ,
30 Ju ly 1982
Survey : Fig . 12 V. Battams, 30 Ju ly 1982
POLYSTYRENE
SINK (5)
Alt . 590
m
02
0
45'15 E, 65
0
19'16 N
The next s t ream
north
flows over
the l imestone
a
shor t
dis tance before
f a l l i ng
in to th i s
la rge
shakehole,
named
a f t e r the small pieces of yel low polys tyrene
found a t the
bo t
tom.
An
hour and
a
ha l f were spent
removing
rocks along
a
route
under an
overhang
un t i l a poin t d i r ec t l y under the
w at e r f a l l
was reached. This
dig
would probably ' go ' with
a
day 's work, bu t the only sa fe method would be to
excavate
on
the surface under the w at e r f a l l .
Many
more
shakeholes occur over
the nex t 200 m north (Fig . 10) but no entrances or easy digs were
found.
The
next
two caves are more d i f f i c u l t to
f ind , being
in
very
dense bi rch fo re s t .
TUM LEDOWN POT
(11)
Alt . 630
m,
Length c . 60
m,
Depth c . 25
m
02
0
46 '21 E ,65
0
19'10 N
A stream s inks in a 4 m deep
conical
shakehole and the
pot
i s entered by
squeezing down between excavated boulders and then squeezing i n t o the Water
Chamber a t the head
of a
s t eep rocky descent
leading
to
a
walking s i ze passage .
Almost
immediate ly the stream
leaves the passage
via
a s lope and
12
m
p i t ch
to
the l e f t . There
are
ample
belay poin ts
for
the
pi tch
but
care
should
be taken
with loose mate r i a l on the
approach
s lope and wal ls of the sha f t . The p i t c h
can be
ext remely wet ,
pa r t i cu l a r l y in the
af te rnoon
when snow
mel t
has increased .
Alte rna t ive ly the very
narrow
but
dry passage ahead may
be
fol lowed fo r 10 m
un t i l it
t e rminates
a t a
12
m dry
pi t ch .
The problem here i s
f ind ing
a
sa fe
belay as a l l the rock
i s very
b r i t t l e and sha t te red .
The
wet
p i t c h lands in a f ine
chamber
in white marble. A cl imb over a
boulder p i l e in a spacious rift leads to the foot of the dry
p i t ch .
The rift
ca r r i e s
along
the
s t r i ke
for
20 m
gradual ly
becoming
lower
Unti l it
i s
a crawl .
Water
s inks
a t
seve ra l places in the
f loor
of
the
rift The only way
on
however
i s
a t i gh t tube in
so l i d
rock a t the end of the crawl . This sometimes takes the
stream, but may be blocked by grave l . It was pushed for 2 m, reaching a small
jagged chamber in white rock. The
way
on i s an excess ive ly
t i g h t
and jagged
crawl in the f loor
of
the chamber fol lowing the
s t ream.
The whole cave
i s
noteworthy fo r a s t rong draught disappear ing in to
the f i na l
l ead , and l i e s
along
the
l imestone contac t ,
a dark brown wall of
sch i s t forming the r i gh t
s ide of the lower rift
Tackle :
12
m
l adder , 30
m
double l i f e l i n e ,
3 m
belays .
Explored:
V . Battams,
T. Faulkner , G. Newton, A.
Marshal l ,
30 Ju ly 1982.
G. Newton, V. Battams, 31
Ju ly
and 1 August
1982.
Surve
y:
Fig . 13. G. Newton, 31 Ju ly 1982
VICGROTTA
(12)
Alt .
625
m,
Length
c .
70
m,
Depth
c . 25
m
02
0
4 6
23 E,
65
0
19'
08 N
A small
s t ream
to
the NE usua l l
y
s inks in i t s bed
before reach ing a small
c l i f f
ad jacen t to Tumbledown Pot . A dry squeeze on the
l e f t
down in to a rift i s
fol lowed
by another squeeze and drop
to
the head
of a very
wet 12
m
c i r cu l a r
p i t ch ,
the
wa
t e r f lowing from an aWkward passage en te r ing on the
f a r s ide
of
the pi tch sha f t .
It
was or i g i na l l y
thought
t ha t
t h i s water came from the Tumbledown Pot
shakehole, but a
dye t e s t was negat ive . Ins tead,
it
was proved t ha t
the
flow
i s from
the
small
stream. with
higher
flow r a t e s , the stream
a l so
runs along
the su r face to f a l l down a 3 m hole a t
the
foot of the shakehole and reaches
the
near s ide of the pi tch
via
a c l e f t
only
10 cm wide.
The foot of the
p i t ch
i s a clean
marbled
chamber but the way on i s a low crawl
which
may
requi re digging to
enter .
This
i s
an extremely spor t ing passage,
passable only by
th in ind iv idua l s .
The roof
gradual ly r i se s ,
but
a t
41 m from
the
p i t c h
the
way
forward
i s
barred
by
a
rift
which
i s r e l a t i ve ly
high
but
too
t i g h t .
Prospects are good
for s l im persons here .
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Tackle: 12 m l adder , 20 m
l i f e l i n e ,
3 m
belay .
Explored: V.
Battarns, 27 Ju ly 1982
T. Faulkner , G. Newton, A. Marshal l , 28 J u l y
1982
A. Marshal l , G. Newton,
30 Ju ly
1982
Survey: Fig . 13,
G.
Newton, 30 Ju ly
1982
The next
f ea ture
to
the
nor th i s a l a rge
rec tangular
depress ion along
the
l imestone contac t with a
huge snow
plug (14) . A shor t but
l a rge
passage a t the
sou th end
drops to
a co l l apse
of l imestone
blocks . A sho r t
d is tance fur the r
are
two ad jacen t deep shakeholes (15 ,16) ,
with
a huge
choked
arch
passage l ead ing from
the
foot
of
the nor the r ly one back
towards to the o the r .
No more
fea tures
are seen to the north u n t i l the l imestone hummock area i s
reached, descr ibed under the Tpimskar area .
The
water dra in ing the
small
lake
eas t
of the snow plug depress ion s inks (17)
but very i n s i gn i f i can t l y .
The hydrology of the Baatskar area
has not
been determined with
ce r t a i n t y ,
but two major
r i s i ngs
were examined.
B TSK R NORTH RISING (19) Alt . 555 m
02
0
46 '14 E,
65
0
19'03 N
This
feeds
the
small
lake below Baatskargro t ta ,
f lowing impenet rab ly
from
below
the
main
footpath .
t i s
l i ke l y
to
bear the waters from
POlystyrene
Sink
and
Tumbledown
Pot , and possib ly Two Level Cave. The water in Vicgro t t a i s
l a s t
seen f lowing nor th , so it
i s
possib le t ha t
the watershed
underground
occurs
somewhat sou th of
t ha t on the
su r face , so t ha t Vicgrot ta and the o the r fea tu res
(when act ive)
may
feed toward the hummock
area
and possib ly on to the t h r ee
r i s i ngs
area west of
TPimskarvatn.
B TSK R
SOUTH RISING (21) Alt . 540 m
02
0
46'
09E, 65
0
18' 47 N
This i s
a
l a rge resurgence from
a
sump pool two to th ree
metres
deep on the
north bank
of
the
sou the r ly
s t ream
en te r ing the west
s ide
of Baatskarva tn .
30
m
north along the
s t r i k e are
two sha f t s (20)
3
and
4 m
deep,
but
no
way
to
water nor a
draught were found.
The South Rising i s almost
ce r t a i n l y the i ssue
of the Baatskare lv which
s inks
a t the Baatskar
Sinks
some 650 m to the north
(but
only about 15 m higher) and possib ly a l so of
the
Two Level Cave water .
KV NNLI RE
The l imestone
band
from
the
Baatskar area
crosses
another watershed to the
south
and occupies
the base
of
one
of
two va l l eys between Kapf j e l l
and
Baats -
karryggen. A very
la rge
s t ream
flows of f
Kapf j e l l and
s inks a t
the end of a
bl ind va l ley near to the gravel road (which has now been extended almost as
fa r
as
the watershed
overlooking Baatskarvatn) .
(Fig.
3) .
The
stream reappears from
the
sump in
the
known cave of
Kvannl iho la ,
which i s
about
550
m
to the
south and
20
m lower.
KV NNLI SINK C VE Alt .
410
m Length c .
75
m Depth c . 10 m
02
0
44'40 E,
65
0
16' 40 N
The
s t ream
f lows
much fur the r
down the
va l ley
than
i s
shown
on
the
NGO
map
J19 and s inks a t the
base of a
rubble cone a t the foot
of a
c l i f f face .
A t h ree
hour
dig from the top of the rubble gave a 5 m cl imb down
an unstab le
hole
to the
s t a r t of
a
l a rge
s loping
chamber
2 m
high and carry ing
the
stream over
clean
washed
s t r i ped
marble.
40
m
from
the en t rance a l a rge
deep sump pool
i s reached
as
the
roof lowers.
To
the l e f t a
low upening
gOBS to a pa ra l l e l
sec t ion
of
low
sump
with
a very s l i g h t
draught
ou t . Returning to the ent rance , openings to the
l e f t
of
the
chamber
l ead
to
another
rocky
s loping
ga l le ry .
Explored: T. Faulkner , G. Newton, A. Marshal l , V. Battams, 11
August,
1982
Survey:
Fig .14 .
T.
Faulkner ,
11 August
1982
Across the
road and south a little from the
s ink ,
a small hole waS
descended
fo r 5 m
down
a ve r t i c a l
shaf t
to where
it
opens
out
hor izonta l ly but
i s
too
awkward to
fol low.
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KVANNLIHOLA
Alt .
390 m,
Length 245+639
m
02
0
44' 40 E, 65
0
16' 20 N
Ver t ica l
Range
+19 m
The
known
cave
i s
loca ted 67 m down from the road, soon a f t e r a
g a t e acros
s
the
road i s passed.
The
cave has a la rge
resurgence ent rance and cons i s t s of
a
spacious ,
i f watery,
s t ream passage leading
to a sump 200
m i n .
The sump
i s passed by s tand ing a t
the
f a r
end
of the
sump
pool and
diving
down
under
the western wall to
reach
a small a i rbe l l .
An
eyehole a t the
end of the a i rbe l l
gives
the s igh t and sound of the upstream passage which i s
reached by diving down to the
l e f t
of the eyehole. A
f lake
of rock in the cana l
beyond the eyehole
provides
a
convenien t belay fo r
a heavy l i ne
which
can be
used for f r ee diving
i f
su f f i c i en t
s lack
i s
l e f t to
allow
the
a i r be l l
to
be
us
e d
en route .
Beyond the cana l
a wide crawl over
cobbles extends 15
m
and then
the
passage
opens up dramat ica l ly . I n i t i a l l y , the
s t ream
runs over
s l ippe ry
black boulders
in a passage 6 m wide
and m
high. At Whiteway, the streambed
i s whi te
marble
and
formations are seen in the roof . The passage ascends and grows to 10 m wide
and up to 10
m
high a t
the s t a r t
of
the
Blockpi le (P la te
3) , a l a rge c o l l e c t i o n
of
co l lapsed , mainly r ec t angu la r , blocks which need to be climbed over whi l s t
the s t ream flows underneath . The
western wall
of
the
passage
i s
wel l decora te
d ,
with one par t i cu l a r l y f ine
group
of s t a l a c t i t e s , and s ta lagmi tes which
are very
ra re ly
discovered in
Norway
(cover p h o t o ~
Reaching the top of the B lockp l le , the eas t e rn wal l i s
found
to be well (P la te 8
c a l c i t e d with a long cur ta in and
f i na l l y a t Whiteha l l ,
the whole
wal l
comprises
gleaming
whi te
flowstone fo r about
10
m. It
i s
now
necessary
to drop back to
s t reamlevel
and cross
a
deep pool , before
attempting the 2 m Greasy Climb
up
a
ver t i ca l
s lab ,
with a sp lash in the
pool the
reward
for
a l o s t
handhold . Above
the next cascade (P la te 4) a roof passage can be
seen
going
eas t .
This s t a r t s
from a wide
high ledge only
reached
with
d i f f i cu l ty
by cl imbing the loose
wall
and cros s ing
ca l c i t e
and f lowstone depos i t s .
Large banks
of s i l v e r - coloured
sand
l i e along the
ledge and the roof passage
s t a r t s as a narrow
t r ench
1 m
high,
with sandy
banks
on each s ide . This 'Forb idden Passage '
has
not
been
explored,
as to do
so
would des troy a
superbly
de l ica te
ar ray
of small gour
pools
occupying
the f loo r
of
the passage and extending
as
fa r as can be
seen.
The th in gours are
only
1 cm high and 20 cm wide, and remain to be photographed.
The Str ipeway, the
next
200
m of s t ream passage, i s al igned d i r ec t l y along the
s t r i ke
of the l imestone ,
which
i s
beau t i fu l ly banded
and c lean
washed,
g iv ing
an
espec ia l ly
s t r i k i ng
appearance i f
the water i s not too deep (P la te 6) .
Half
way
along ,
the
ac t ive
passage
does s l i p
to
the
l e f t
a
little
but
an abandoned
sec t ion
cont inues
s t r a igh t on
as
an
oxbow 2 m higher . Near the end of Str ipeway
a l a rge
f a l l en chunk of roof po in t s
down, f i rmly
wedged
between
the wal l s :
The Big Finger (P la te 7) .
The 2 m Top
Water fa l l
(P la te 5)
marks the end of Str ipeway
and i s formed
where
the water
has
cu t across l ayer s of dark
brown impur i t i e s , The passage
lowers cons iderably
and
a wide
low
duck
l eads
to a t a l l s t r ike -a l igned
rift
ascending
to
the nor th as a
choke
5 m
above.
Beyond t h i s rift the streamway
turns
sharp
r i gh t as a
deepening
canal , with s t a l a c t i t e s along the l i ne of a
go th ic
arch .
The passage
ends a t a blank wal l , the
water
f lowing
from
Sump 2
under
the
western
wal l .
From ca lcu la t ion based
on
measuring ca l ib ra ted
paces
along the road,
it
i s
c l e a r t ha t
Sump 2
i s very c lose
to
the
sump
in
Kvannli
Sink Cave. However,
the
water
in the
Sink
Cave i s l a s t seen f lowing
sou th
along
the s t r i ke whereas it
reappears
from
Sump
2
f lowing
eas t ,
across the
s t r i ke .
One
o ther s i gn i f i can t s ide passage was
explored, s t a r t i n g
from a ledge
j u s t
downstream
of
the Top W ater f a ll . A
t i ny s t ream
flows along a passage 1 m
high
and 3
to
4 m wide. This
waS
pushed for
about 50
m u n t i l it becomes too t i g h t .
The survey shows t h i s po in t t o
be
c lose to the 5 m sha f t j u s t e a s t of the road
near the
Kvannli Sink.
The cave passage between the two sumps, KVannlihola 2, i s
very
s i gn i f i can t
in
the Norwegian con tex t . I t s la rge s ize dwarfs the cross sec t ion of the
previous ly known cave, a l though as bedrock i s not seen
in
Kvannlihola 1 down
s t ream of the
sump
it
i s
l i ke l y t ha t the ent rance passage i s
h bigger
than
it appears, with deep sediments being he ld
back
by rock
fa l lS
in the su r face
va l ley .
The dr ips tone formations, including a nes t of
cave
pear ls ,
occur in
a v a r i e ty
of
forms
and
the
previous ly
mentioned group i s
one of the
bes t
in the country . For tunate ly these inner a t t r ac t i ons should remain
pro tec ted
by the
na tu ra l
ga t ing af forded by
the sump. Note
t ha t a f t e r
heavy
ra in the l eve l of the sump pool
r i s e s
by
30
cm
and
the f ro th l i ne i nd ica tes
t ha t
the a i rbe l l
and
canal
would
be under
water .
The whole
Kvannli
Sink/Kvannl iho la
sys ten now
approaches
1
krn
in length ,
without a la rge con t r ibu t ion
from
s ide
passages .
As the two
discovered s ide
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