mirror of
https://expo.survex.com/repositories/expoweb/.git/
synced 2024-12-18 14:32:23 +00:00
115 lines
5.7 KiB
HTML
115 lines
5.7 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
|
|
<html>
|
|
<head>
|
|
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf8" />
|
|
<title>1983: Cambridge Underground report</title>
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../css/main2.css" />
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
<h1>Cambridge Expo 1983</h1>
|
|
|
|
<center><font size=-1>Cambridge Underground 1984 pp 7-8</font>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Exploration and Survey of 1623/142</h2></center>
|
|
|
|
<p>The 1623/142 entrance lies in thick pine-scrub above the Stogerweg (path
|
|
201) roughly halfway between Windloch (32) and Stellerweghöhle (41). It
|
|
takes about ten minutes to climb/fight/thrash through the bunde to get to
|
|
it from the path. The entrance is labelled "P132" in red paint because the
|
|
1982 expedition used cave numbers which had been allocated to a german team.
|
|
Thus, caves described in "<a href="../1982/newbit.htm">Cambridge Underground
|
|
1983</a>" as 131 and 132 have been renamed as 141 and 142. Cave 142 is the
|
|
one with the Big Chamber in it, "half the size of Gaping Gill" according to
|
|
last year's grade 1 survey. In fact, it is about 90m by 30m, and 40m high.
|
|
|
|
<p>142 was originally explored by Phil Townsend, Doug Florence and Mike
|
|
Thomas in 1982, and almost caused Mike and Doug to call out a rescue for
|
|
each other when they got separated in its intestinal complexities. This
|
|
year Wiggie found a 20m pitch near the entrance which he nearly lobbed off
|
|
(which didn't go anywhere). Gail and Philip had great difficulty finding
|
|
the Big Chamber (3rd time lucky) but found a dripping shaft with
|
|
caravan-sized jammed boulders in it instead. This was later pushed by
|
|
Julian and pronounced to be very reminiscent of the German Series in
|
|
Stellerweg (41), but smaller and more miserable. Later that same trip
|
|
Julian, with Philip and Naomi, found the connection with 41 along the
|
|
Rodent Runway; named after a nondescript skeleton with big teeth found
|
|
in the connection chamber at the bottom of the first pitch in 41. This
|
|
party had set out to find the connection but had given up after pushing
|
|
innumerable 45 degree rifts to their conclusions and were looking for a
|
|
pitch-less way to the Big Chamber when they found themselves in
|
|
Stellerweg.
|
|
|
|
<p>Apart from the entrance grovel, a few active drips, the shaft pushed by
|
|
Julian and the Big Chamber, the entire 142 system is a dusty abandoned
|
|
series of hading chambers formed phreatically on a set of joints at 45°
|
|
to the horizontal, parallel to the very similar Stellerweghohle entrance
|
|
series. The joints run almost precisely NE-SW and are tilted such that
|
|
the chambers all slope down to the SE. The bedding is not obvious in the
|
|
cave, but in two widely separated locations it also appeared to lie at
|
|
45° to the horizontal, but at right angles to the joints such that it
|
|
dipped to the NW. Surface features in the area of the caves, the south
|
|
end of the Schwarzmooskogel, supported this observation.
|
|
|
|
<p>Traversing across the tops of the 45° ramps was generally easier
|
|
in 142 than in 41 and so this new discovery provides a slightly easier
|
|
way in to this part of the Stellerweghohle-Schnellzughöhlensystem.
|
|
(However, it is extremely dry and dusty and cannot be recommended for
|
|
contact lens wearers). The chamber where the routes to the Big Chamber
|
|
and the connection diverge was pretty thoroughly investigated, as were
|
|
all leads from there back to Wiggie's pitch near the entrance, but there
|
|
are lots of leads in Rodent Runway itself that have not been followed
|
|
and the ways out of the Big Chamber have not been entirely exhausted.
|
|
There is plenty of scope for more discovery in this cave which is not
|
|
only close to the path, but requires very little tackle.
|
|
|
|
<p align=right>Philip Sargent
|
|
|
|
<hr />
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="possext">Possible Extensions</a> to the 41-142-115 System</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>At the end of the 1982 exploration, it was thought that 141 (aka 131)
|
|
would connect with the 41-115 system. The 1983 expedition actually
|
|
connected 142 instead, 141 being found to get too small quite rapidly.
|
|
This connection is not a very significant discovery and added nothing to
|
|
the depth of the system. However, the perched phreatic tube found in 144
|
|
by Pete and Chas is a very much more interesting possibility: it is at
|
|
the same altitude as the Big Chamber in 142 and the confused series of
|
|
passages at the head of the Big Pitch in 41 (see area survey), and is
|
|
only 150m away from either of these horizontally. If we could push a
|
|
connection to 144 next year from the 41-142 leads, we would not only
|
|
add 74m to the total depth of the system (making a possible total of
|
|
972m) but we would have found our own highest entrance to the system
|
|
so that it would become a cucc/EXCS discovery from top to bottom. In
|
|
these circumstances we should perhaps take care with the name we give
|
|
to 144. We couldn't have our biggest and best discovery go down in
|
|
history under its interim description: "Tony's-secondhöhlen-system"!
|
|
|
|
<p align=right><font size=+1>Philip Sargent</font>
|
|
|
|
<p><hr />
|
|
<!-- LINKS -->
|
|
<ul id="links">
|
|
<li>1623/142 current
|
|
<a href="../../1623/41/off41.htm#ent142">guidebook page</a></li>
|
|
<li>Cambridge Underground 1984,
|
|
<a href="http://cucc.survex.com/jnl/1984/index.htm">Table of Contents</a></li>
|
|
<li>1983 Expedition info:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="log.htm">Logbook</a></li>
|
|
<li>Main Expo report, Cambridge Underground 1984:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="wolf1.htm">Wolfehöhle</a> - Act I</li>
|
|
<li><a href="143144.htm">143 and 144</a> Guidebook descriptions</li>
|
|
<li><a href="41svy.htm">142/41 Survey</a> - the truth</li>
|
|
<li><a href="list.htm">Summary of Caves 1983</a></li>
|
|
</ul></li>
|
|
<li><a href="bcracc.htm">BCRA Caves & Caving Report</a></li>
|
|
</ul></li>
|
|
<li><a href="../../pubs.htm#pubs1983">Index</a> to all publications</li>
|
|
<li><a href="../../index.htm">Back to Expeditions intro page</a></li>
|
|
<li><a href="../../../index.htm">CUCC Home Page</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|