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ACTUALIDAD ESPELEOLÓGICA |
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- 15 de Enero del 2001: Nuevo récord mundial de profundidad |
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( - 1710 m. ) Sima Voronja ( Abjasia, Cáucaso ) |
Una Expedición integrada por espeleólogos ucranianos y rusos alcanzó dentro de la sima Voronja el 6 de Enero la profundidad de - 1680 m., superando claramente los - 1632 del Lamprechtsofen austríaco. Poco más tarde, la exploración finalizó a - 1710 m., en una gran sala con una obstrucción de bloques, cuya superación será el objetivo de la próxima expedición. La cota de - 1710, nuevo récord mundial, es oficial, obtenida con topografía y altímetro.
Con anterioridad, en Septiembre del 2000, una expedición ucraniana previa, con integrantes franceses y españoles ( entre ellos Enrique Ogando ) había llegado a - 1410. El potencial de la Voronja es enorme, pues la gran resurgencia, Reproa, está al nivel del Mar Negro, y la boca de la sima se abre a 2230 m.. Por otra parte, es posible que la Voronja pueda conectarse con el cercano Sistema Arabikskaja, de - 1110 m..
Se ofrecen aquí dos documentos elaborados en inglés por Alexander Klimchouk, presidente de la Ukrainian Speleological Association:
-1) una copia del Informe Preliminar, que puede encontrarse en la página web de la UAYCEF : http://www.go.to/uaycef
-2) una copia del e-mail enviado en la noche del 15 de Enero por A. Klimchouk, comunicando el récord de - 1710 y el fin de la expedición.
1) A NEW WORLD DEPTH RECORD IN ARABIKA MASSIF, WEST CAUCASUS
Preliminary information ( by Alexander Klimchouk )
I am happy to inform all cavers, speleologists and karst people that the new world depth record has been set up at the very beginning of the new century. It was set up on January 6 in Voronja cave, Arabika massif, West Caucasus, by the expedition of the Ukrainian Speleological Association led by Yury Kasjan (Ukraine).
Previously (during 80th) the cave was explored to a narrow impassable meander at -340m. Being located next to the 1110m deep Arabikskaja system (Kujbyshevskaja - Genrikhova Bezdna) and heading towards Kujbyshevskaja cave, Voronja was regarded as a part of the system, although not directly connected.
In 1999 the Ukr.S.A. expedition have re-inspected the cave and found two "windows" in the 60m deep pit, one at -200m and another at-240m, both leading to new branches. The second branch led toward the Kujbyshevskaja cave and has been explored to about -500m, yet not provided direct connection. The first branch went in the depth steeply by a series of pits. Exploration was stopped at -750m in 1999 due to the lack of equipment. The multi-stage expedition of the Ukrainian Speleological Association, held during August-September of 2000, pushed the cave to -1410m. During the first stage of the expedition the cave was explored to -1200 m. At the second stage held in the first half of September, in which a French-Spanish MTDE team took part (also the Ukr.S.A. members), the cave has been pushed to the depth of 1410m.
The current expedition started on December 25. On January 2-nd the underground base camp at -1200m has been set up. On January 3-rd the team started pushing the continuation remained from the last expedition (behind -1410m). On January 5 the depth of -1580m, and on January 6 - the depth of 1680 m has been reached. There was a next pit of about 70 m deep ahead.
This is the latest information which has been received in Kiev by phone on January 7. Exploration continues, so one might expect that the depth of Voronja is now over 1750m.>. More detailed information and the final (official) figure about the depth of the cave will be reported in the next feature.
The depth potential of the system is illustrated by the hydrologic connection established by the dye test yet back in 1984, between Kujbyshevskaya Cave and the large Reproa spring located just on the Black Sea beach. The entrance of Voronja is located at about 2230m.
Expedition members:
Yury Kasjan, Poltava, Ukraine (leader)
Nikolay Solovjev, Kiev, Ukraine
Yulija Timoshevskaja, Poltava, Ukraine
Oleg Klimchouk, Kiev, Ukraine
Denis Provalov, Kiev, Ukraine
Konstantin Moukhin, Moscow, Russia
Sergej Zubkov, Kiev, Ukraine
Vitalij Galas, Uzhgorod, Ukraine
Anatolij Povjakalo, Poltava, Ukraine
Dmitrij Skljarenko, Moscow, Russia
Ilja Zharkov, Sverdlovsk, Russia
2) VORONJA UPDATE: - 1710 m.
( e-mail by A. Klimchouk )
Dear Colleagues,
First of all, on behalf of the Ukrainian Speleological Association and the expedition team members I would like to sincerely thank to all that have sent their congratulations with regard of the new world depth record in caves. All the greetings are digested and will be conveyed to the expedition members when they get back to Kiev.
The end of the expedition has been extremely difficult. After successfully finishing the work in the cave, the team encountered real problems with weather that went from bad to worst. This prevented a helicopter to take the team from the mountains on January 11 and 12 as planned. Eventually the helicopter was cancelled and the team made it down from the mountains by feet through the heavy snow and complex relief. Almost all the equipment has been left in the mountains. A tractor arranged by a supporting team helped a only on some lower part of the route. It was only yesterday evening, January 14, that the team arrived to a safe place in a local village. Now they are warm and happy, trying to arrange a heli for January 16 to rescue the equipment because the weather has improved. The team plan to return to Kiev on January 18.
The final reached depth of the cave is estimated to be 1710 m (two watch altimeters and clinometer survey). This exploration ended with a big chamber and a boulder choke. The choke does not seem to be impassable, so the next expedition will work on pushing the cave still deeper. In the nearby Arabikskaja cave six boulder chokes had been worked out during 80-s on the way to the current -1110 m deepest point.
Voronja Cave ("Crow's cave") has also another name "Krubera Cave", after the outstanding Russian karst scientist of the beginning of the 20th Century. We'll study and decide which name has a priority. Meantime, in news publications it is better to refer to both names. It is very likely that the cave will be connected soon with the nearby Arabikskaja system (currently made by two caves - Kujbyshevskaja and Genrikhova Bezdna).
The cave is located in Arabika massif, West Caucasus. This is in Abkhasia (Georgia).
The depth of -1710 m can be now published and included in the deep caves lists.
Best regards,
Sincerely,
--Alexander Klimchouk