Cave Abstracts

United Kingdom

Gaping Gill—early descents. Writing in The Speleologist, Vol. II No. 15, 1968, page 9, Peter Johnson describes how he tracked down the diary of William Metcalf, in the possession of his great great grandson who lives at Church Stretton. Metcalf records three descents: on June 7th 1845, when he reached the ledge; on August 1st 1846, when a party of five reached the Main Chamber nearly 50 years before Martel and on June 21st 1850 when Metcalf and Thomas Clapham explored to the end of West Passage.

Gaping Gill—latest discoveries. Gerald P. Benn, Bradford Pothole Club Bulletin, Vol. V, No. 4, Winter 1968/9, gives a detailed and exciting account of the breakthrough at Whitsun 1968 from the Far East Passage into the Whitsun Series, about 1600 feet of new passage, the end of which is within 200 feet horizontally and just over 100 feet vertically of the B.P.C.’s dig in Clapham Bottoms. A few weeks after this the University of Leeds Speleological Association discovered over a mile of passage beyond the downstream sumps in Hensler’s Stream Passage; this “Far Country”, as they named it, ends very close to the Terminal Lake in Ingleborough Cave—the separation being estimated as between 100 and 600 feet.

Inchnadamph—New Cave. No. 82, August 1969, of the B.S.A. Bulletin reports the discovery by two members of the Grampian Speological Group, of the Allt a’ Chalda Mor Stream Cave, at Achmore, about a mile north of Inchnadamph, at map reference NC 254235. Part of the stream runs down the cave which is about 50 feet deep and 200 feet long, ending in a sump. The discovery was made under melting snow conditions and further developments may be possible in dry weather.

Route Seventy Diagram. S. J. Collins, in Descent, No. 6, 1969, page 2, describes a simple and effective way of making a diagram to ilustrate the major features of a cave without going into detail.

Space Blankets. Speleologist, Vol. 3, No. 20, page 8, gives an up-to-date assessment of space blankets now on the market.

These are made of aluminised polythene, weigh about one lb. and are in packs not much larger than a packet of twenty cigarettes. On the same page is an instructive article about how to recognise and treat a case of exposure.

Skye. In Speologist, Vol. 3, No. 17, 1969, page 16, R. H. A. Stainforth, in an article entitled Speleoskye, shows a map with 16 caves which he has explored and he is of the opinion that there must be many more.

France

The ‘Maladie Verte’ of Lascaux. Studies in Speleology, Vol. 2, Part 1, 1969, page 35; by Marcel Lefevre and Guy S. Laporte.

Radio-carbon dates for charcoal found on the floor of the cave gave the age of the pictures as 16,000—17,000 years. When they were discovered in 1940 they were in a remarkable state of preservation. In 1960, when the cave had been open to the public for twenty years and visited by more than 120,000 people per year, green patches began to appear on the walls and threatened to encroach upon the paintings. The cave was immediately closed and a commission of specialists appointed to study the circumstances which had allowed the green patches to appear, to find a way of destroying them without damaging the paintings and of preventing their return. The rock was found to contain various algae, one of which, genus Palmellococcus, was causing the patches. Having lain dormant through the millennia its growth was stimulated and fed by organic matter brought into the cave by visitors (pollen, breath, sweat, bacteria). The treatment consisted of first ridding the cave of bacteria by dispersing antibiotics in aerosols, then by spraying the paintings with a 1:200 concentration of 40% formaldehyde in double distilled water. Stronger solutions were used on unpainted surfaces. The result was that after three months the algae had been completely killed and the green patches decolourised. There was a slight recurrence three years later but this was soon disposed of in the same way.

No decision has yet been made about re-opening the cave to the public.

Switzerland

Potholes of the Alpe Selun in the Churfirsten. Stalactite, 18th year No. 2, December 1968, pp. 30 to 53, by Albin Vetterli.

The Churfirsten is a range of mountains rising to some 2,200 metres and lying between the Walensee and the Toggen-burg valley. It is a karstic region, some 35 km2 in extent, strongly tilted towards the north and intersected by deep erosion valleys. Through the whole region there is not a trace of surface water and nothing is known about the hydro-geological system. Fifteen kgs of dye introduced into the stream running into a 280 m. deep pothole showed no result in spite of a week’s careful day and night watching of all local streams. There are 46 known holes, of which 27 have been examined by members of the O.G.H., Ostschweizerische Gesellschaft ftir Hohlenforschung (East Switzerland Cave Research Society). Descriptions and surveys of eight of these are given. The work is difficult as many of the holes are blocked by snow and ice, others by boulders, and work is only possible from late August until the winter; melting snow makes an earlier start impossible. Several of the holes are more than 200 m. deep The area certainly presents a challenge.

The Holloch Muotatal Canton Schwyz. In Y.R.C. Journal No. 34, (1968), page 270, it was stated that the Holloch, with 93,336 metres of passages, was the longest known cave in the world, and that the difference in level inside the cave was 577 metres. Stalactite, 19th year, Nos. August 1969, page 25, now reports that after the winter campaign of 1968/69 the total length has risen to 104 Km. and the diflerence in level to 740 metres. In spite of this, the Holloch is no longer the greatest in length; according to most recent information Flint Ridge Cave in the United States measures 117 Km.

Longest and Deepest—Switzerland. The same issue of Stalactite gives lists of the 18 longest and 29 deepest caves in the country. Holloch is first in both lists; second longest is the Grotte de Milandre, at Boucourt, Canton Berne, 8,074 metres, second deepest, Gouffre du Chevrier, Leysin, Canton Vaud, 510 metres.