<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <title>1626:122</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../css/main2.css" /> </head> <body> <center><table border=0 width=100%> <tr><th align=left><font size=+2>122</font></th> <th align=center lang="de"><font size=+2>Ufoschacht</font></th> <th align=right><font size=+2>3/S =</font></th></tr> <tr><th></th><th align=center lang="fr"><font size=+2>(=Gouffre Ovni)</font></th></tr> </table></center> <p><b>Altitude</b>: 1520m<br> <b>Location</b>: <span lang="de">Plagitzergrube,</span> NE of <span lang="de">Hangender Kogel.</span> This puts it quite close to <span lang="de">Trunkemboldschacht,</span> <a href="117.htm">1626/117</a> (which is 90m higher) and also near the path. <p>Description adapted from the references by Andy Waddington. This translation has not been vetted by a fluent french reader, and I'm afraid it shows rather badly in places. <p>The entrance consists of a crack about 20cm high, which was at first cleared as far as a chamber with no exit. The draught which had enabled the entrance to be found now showed the way on. After having unblocked a fissure dubbed Sas, a pitch, <b lang="fr">Escalier Anti-G,</b> was reached. This is broken in five places. A second pitch, <b lang="fr">Puits Andromède,</b> broken into three, leads to a short canyon, then to several drops and pitches interspersed with short squeezes. The following pitches can be seen as forming a single 80m shaft, the <b lang="fr">Puits Ganimède,</b> divided into five and becoming bigger and bigger in depth as well as width. The cave continues by a fault rift two or three metres wide and 40m deep, <b lang="fr">Puits Trou Noir</b> (The Black Hole). The early pitches are dry, but by this point, at -200m, the shafts are much wetter. <p>The explorers in 1977 started on the descent of a fine 60m pitch of constant shape, slightly sloping, <b lang="fr">Puits Zorglub.</b> At the bottom of this is the only chamber of the cave : the <b lang="fr">Salle Galactique.</b> Here the cave splits into two routes, the active and the fossil. <h3>Active system</h3> <p>Downstream from the chamber a drop leads to a small chamber among boulders, the Love Nest. (No idea who ventured to call it this). Between the boulders a 20m pitch opens, immediately followed by a 25m pitch. In fact, the last 25m of descent drops between the walls of an immense aven to land on a flat gravel floor. A diagonal chimney leads to a trickle of water. <p>A fissure marks the start of the <b lang="fr">Méandre Anti-Matière,</b> where one immediately rejoins the underground stream. This has an average flow of two litres per second but quite rapidly increases to 10-15 litres per second in flood. The first part of the meander is straight and interrupted by 3 small pitches and two drops. At the top of the first, in the roof, is the connection with the fossil system. Quickly, the meander becomes less amenable: high and narrow, it is plastered with mud (the anti-matter) which makes progress quite arduous. Three pitches of 5, 14 and 10m punctuate progress. This last, followed by a drop of 3m, gives access to a section of passage blocked by clay. At the end of this, the stream disappears into a fissure with tight impenetrable bends. <p>The main passage continues ahead as a quite large fossil branch. After some 50m, the draught goes into an earthy hole, the start of a big pitch of 70m in several stages, the <b lang="fr">Puits du Centaure.</b> <p>Halfway down, the pitch is rejoined by the stream which is avoided by a parallel fossil shaft. There immediately follows another pitch of 55m, the <b lang="fr">Puits du Fond des Ages,</b> totally wet and characterised by an elliptical cross-section and constant slope. At the bottom, the water is engulfed by a fissure about three metres long, followed by a tight meander which has not been pushed. This is the deepest point : -565m. <h3>Fossil system</h3> <p>Upstream from the <span lang="fr">Salle Galactique,</span> a window some metres high gives access to a good-sized passage (3x3m on average), the <b lang="fr">Méandre des Petits Hommes Verts</b> (the Little Green Men's passage). One comes up against a climb of 3m at the base of which the trickle of water is lost into a meander cut below the fossil passage (see below). After a narrowing and a climb, the passage ends in boulders between which it is still possible to penetrate for a dozen metres. <p>Back in the meander below the fossil passage: this ends at the <b lang="fr">Puit de la Comète</b> (discovered by the <span lang="fr">Gaumais</span>), a 60m pitch, spray-lashed in its lower part by <b lang="fr">Le Pipi</b> (the wee-wee). At the base of this pitch is the beginning of the <b lang="fr">Méandre des Mutants.</b> This is a passage for masochists <span lang="fr">par excellence</span> : low and tight, gear gets caught everywhere. It ends in a series of climbs and a 30m pitch joining the active system. <h3>Geology & Meteorology</h3> <p>see reference 78-2008 <p><b>Exploration</b>: Discovered in August 1974 by D.Motte.<br> Entrance unblocked by <span lang="fr">Groupe Spéléo Alpin Belge</span> in 1975 and 76.<br> Explored in August 1976 by <span lang="fr">F.Dechany & J.C.Hans</span> (GSAB) to -201m<br> Pushed to -565m on a further GSAB trip 5th-29th August 1977. <p><b>References :</b> <dl> <dt>78.2012<dd><cite>(GSAB) <span lang="fr">Spéalp</span> 1 (June 1977) pp 33-49</cite>, <b>Totes Gebirge : <span lang="fr">Description des principaux gouffres de la zone ouest du massif</span></b>, <span lang="fr">Jean Claude Hans & Etienne Degrave</span><br> <a href="../../others/gsab/en/782012.htm#id117">English Translation</a><br> <a href="../../others/gsab/fr/782012.htm#id117" lang="fr">En Français</a> <dt>78.2008<dd><cite>(GSAB) <span lang="fr">Spéalp</span> 2 (1978) pp 14-19, figures, surveys</cite>, <span lang="fr"><b>Gouffre Ovni</b>, Georges Feller</span><br> <a href="../../others/gsab/en/782008.htm">English Translation</a><br> <a href="../../others/gsab/fr/782008.htm" lang="fr">En Français</a> </dl> <hr /> <!-- LINKS --> <ul> <li><a href="../../1626/index.htm#id122">Index</a> and overview of 1626.</li> <li><a href="../../areas.htm">Overview</a> of area 1623</li> <li><a href="../../others/gsab/index.htm">GSAB</a> and associated groups</li> <li><a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expedition Intro page</a></li> <li><a href="../../../index.htm">CUCC Home page</a></li> </ul> </body> </html>