©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project





Kuzgun

For cave maps and drawings please click on the picture...


For photographs please click on the photo...

maps
Kuzgun
Type:
Cave
Altitude:
2840 m
Depth:
-1400 m
Length:
3187 m
Region:
Central Anatolia
Province:
Nigde
District:
Çamardi
Village:

     


Location: It lies on a small ledge near the top of an elongated rock hill in the middle section of the Kemikli Valley at Aladaglar.
Structural Properties and formation : It has been explored and surveyed to the depth of 1400m in the main branch; and to the depth of Ð600 m in the Veterok branch that deviates from the main one at Ð480 m. In both branches several open leads remained unexplored. Starting from -480 m; the main gallery stretches generally to east; along the glacial valley axis; zigzagging between east-northeast and east-southeast directions. The cave has a complex structure consisting of at least three generations of cavities. 1. Pre-glacial vadose invasion cave consisting of vertical pits and shafts (cascades of pitches) alternating with inclined meanders; -a typical alpine cave system. Pitch-ramp morphological assemblages; characteristic for many alpine caves in rapidly uplifting mountains; are clearly identifiable and common in the cave. At the depths below 120-140 m the pre-glacial shafts bear clear signs of active contemporary dissolution. The entrance is a vertical pit of this generation; decapitated by glacial scouring at the top of a rocky hill. The cave split into several branches in the meandering interval of -480-550 m. The general progression of the main branch is very steep; with several intervals of gentle gradient. The nature of these "tiers" is structural rather than evolutionary. 2. Ancient (Late Miocene?) cavities represented by large steeply inclined rooms with massive dripstone decorations of various ages. A large series of cavities of this genus was truncated by the vadose shaft system at depth of 130 m. This series; called French Kiss (shown by a light-brown background on the cave plan and profile); has a vertical extend of 140 m. It is likely that a room that lies between -300 and -330 m; also belongs to this type. 3. Presumably hydrothermal cavities represented by a series of rooms of considerable sizes encountered by the invasion system at the depth interval of 150-170 m; and by several seemingly isolated pockets of few decimetres to few meters in cross-section; truncated by the vadose shafts at various depth. A smooth ceiling morphology and dark red-brown thin ferriferous crust on dissolution surfaces are indicative of cavities of this type. Hydrothermal cavities are probably truncated by the vadose system in many places; in the upper parts of passages and shafts; as suggested by the presence of fragments of the crystal crust on the floor in many localities.
Research History: It provided an easy access to depth of -180 m where narrow meanders suspended the exploration. The remaining two weeks of the 2003 expedition had been spent to free up these meanders. The major breakthrough had been made two days before the end of the expedition. During the remaining very last day the cave was explored in a single trip to the depth of -400 m. Greater dimensions of the deeper part of the cave; several effluences and tributaries left unexplored; strong air draft and the open continuation with a large pit ahead -all suggested that one of large cave systems of Aladaglar had been eventually opened. On July 2004; during 20 days of operations in the cave it has been pushed from -400 m to -1400 m; and the gallery at the end of the MTA Hall collapsed during the enlargement work by explosion. The cave became the second deepest cave in Turkey after Evren Gunay - Mehmet Ali Özel Sinkhole in the western part of Taurus; pushed in August 2004 by Turkish and Bulgarian cavers from Ð1377m to Ð1429m. Depth: 1400 m (of them 1000 m surveyed in the 2004 expedition) Length: 3187 m (of them 2075 m surveyed in the 2004 expedition)
Findings: The upper part of the cave (above -400m) contains an enormous variety of secondary decorations such as various types of diversely coloured stalactites; stalagmites and dripstones of several generations; helictites and crystals. Ongoing special investigations of mineral formations and sediments of Kuzgun Cave will give much information about speleogenesis and evolution of karst in the region.


To List