Search KARSTBASE:
Exploration Spotlight. This page presents the latest discoveries and achievements in the areas of Karst and Cave Research as well as Sport Caving. The underground world is last black spot on the map of the Earth and these are the latest news from there:
Krubera (Voronja) Cave: the first 2000m+ cave on Earth
February-March 2005 expedition news
The next regular expedition of the Ukrainian Speleological Association to Krubera (Voronja) Cave has been carried out between February 9 – March 16, 2005. The expedition, led by Yury Kasjan and composed of cavers from Kiev (N. Solovjev and M.Bondarenko) and Novaja Kakhovka (D.Fedotov and E.Kononov), was the part of the ongoing "Call of the Abyss" project, run by the Ukr.S.A since the year of 2000.
The main goal of the expedition was to systematically explore the deepest section of the cave discovered during the previous Ukr.S.A. expeditions in August and October 2004. There were many open side leads left unchecked in the Windows Series between the Big Junction at –1790m and the Game Over Chamber, the deepest point at –2080m (see the cave profile by following this link).
The expedition has been brought to the cave by a helicopter on February 14.
The team have continuously worked in the cave during 19 days, since February 16. After return to the surface on March 6, the team had to wait out bad weather in the mountains during six days to be picked up by a helicopter.
During descend and ascent the team used established camps at –700, -1215, -1410 and –1640m. It took eight days to restore and improve all the rigging through the cave and to transport materials and supplies to the lowest camp set at the Big Junction at –1790m. Six days were spent for the work in the lower section, and it took five days to get back to the surface.
The results of current explorations in the lower section of the cave can be briefly summarized as follows:
1) Many windows and side leads have been checked within the –1700m - -2080m interval. Almost all of them have looped to the known passages and pits, while some ended by impenetrable squeezes. The only window in the bottom chamber (Game Over), visible in the wall at some ten meters above the floor, has been also checked (dead-ended).
2) The siphon ("Kvitochka") in a side passage at –1980m has been dived through by Nikolay Solovjev. The siphon 10m long and 4m deep gave a continuation explored to a next vertical pitch. This is now the main direction for the further exploration. The dive was the deepest diving operation ever made in caves.
3) Two siphons in side passages near the Big Junction (around –1800m) have been tested.
One of them has been dived for 7m in length and 3m in depth; it continues by an ascending leg. Another siphon (6m long, 2m deep) has connected to the known passage. The terminal siphon at –1840m, which stopped the exploration in August 2004, has not been attempted as it apparently connects to a known passage in the "Windows" series.
4) The temperature measurements have been carried out through the cave to study temperature gradients. The air temperature rises through the cave from 2.1 grad C at –90m to 7.7 grad C at –2080m, giving the overall gradient of 0.28 grad C/100m.
During 2005 the Ukrainian Speleological Association will continue systematic explorations in Krubera Cave and other caves of the Ortobalagan valley in Arabika in August and September-October. Another expedition of the "Call of the Abyss" project is planned for July to the Aladaglar massif in Turkey.
Alexander Klimchouk, Yury Kasjan and Nikolaj Solovjev
The "Call of the Abyss" Project coordinators,
Ukrainian Speleological Association
Where the work is in progress:
Kuzgun Cave and its Context: the first super-deep cave in the Aladaglar Massif, Turkey
- Kuzgun Cave and its Context: the first super-deep cave in the Aladaglar Massif, Turkey
- Aladaglar Massif
- Karst Study and Cave Exploration Challenges in the Aladaglar High Mountains
- Aladaglar Karst & Cave Research Project
- Cave Search and Exploration in Aladaglar: Approach, Methods and Progress in 2001-2004
- Expedition of July 2004: Kuzgun Cave
- Preliminary conclusions
- Acknowledgements
- References
Vladimir Iljukhin Cave System: breakthrough behind the fourth siphon
3N Cave, New World’s Longest Cave in Salt
Krubera (Voronja) Cave: the first 2000m+ cave on Earth
- Krubera Cave : the first 2000m+ cave on Earth
- August 2012 Expedition news
- August-September 2010 Expedition news: The Nekujbyshevskaya Branch has been pushed to -1697 m
- August-September 2009 Expedition news: The Nekujbyshevskaya Branch has been pushed to -1557 m
- August-September 2008 Expedition news
- August-September 2007 expedition news
- August-September 2006 expedition news
- February-March 2005 expedition news
- October 2004 expedition news
- August 2004 expedition news