When we arrived at the meeting point in the middle of the night, this was all we could see. We raised our tents in the dark and fell asleep.
July 16, 2006
In the Humpleu cave in the Transylvanian mountains, cavers from (at least) eight countries collaborated in a mapping and exploration project during an intense week in July 2006. (Click on images to enlarge.)
Photo, unless otherwise stated: Erik Agrell
When we arrived at the meeting point in the middle of the night, this was all we could see. We raised our tents in the dark and fell asleep.
July 16, 2006
In the next morning, we got a better view of the camp that would be our base for the coming week.
July 17, 2006
Biological observations in this scenic mountain valley at 1100 m altitude include flowers,...
July 21, 2006
...sheep (a lot of them appeared one day on the path between camp and cave),...
July 18, 2006
...and insects. Here Barbara tries to persuade a large beetle to pose for a picture.
July 23, 2006
The map of the cave, yet incomplete, is studied in preparation for today’s trip.
July 17, 2006
One group is ready to depart for the cave.
July 18, 2006
This surely looks like two cave entrances. However, the lower one is a dead end and the upper one, which you need a rope to access, leads to a pool only. So what are these cavers doing?
July 21, 2006
They are a team of divers from Geneva. The pool is actually a siphon and they want to find out if the passage beyond is connected to the main cave.
July 21, 2006
The entrance to Pestera Humpleu (Humpleu cave) for nondivers is less picturesque. It has an iron door that can be locked for protection.
July 22, 2006
Inside the entrance, the cave opens up into a series of big chambers, whose floors are covered with breakdown boulders. This boulder is a roughly cubic block with a side of 5 m.
July 18, 2006
Many of these blocks are not primary limestone but collapsed flowstone, as shown by this close view of the block in the previous picture. The chamber is still impressive, but what an amazing chamber it must have been before all the flowstone fell down!
July 18, 2006
The chamber stretches out in all directions, far outside the reach of my pocket camera. Someone commented on the impressive space, but Präzis retorted: “This is still passage. Wait till you see the rooms!”
July 18, 2006
The cave is richly decorated, and the type of formations change as you traverse the cave. In some places, the walls and ceiling are covered with stalactites,...
July 20, 2006
...in others, flowstone,...
July 18, 2006
...cave popcorn,...
July 18, 2006
...or corals.
July 22, 2006
I worked mainly in the river passage, without my camera, but Tof has kindly let me use some of his photos (from a day when I was in another part of the cave). A wetsuit, drysuit or pontonniere is needed to work in the river.
Photo: Christophe Verdet, July 20?, 2006
The river is very pretty, winding through a canyon which is never more than a few meters wide but sometimes very high. Our task was to explore and map some of the unknown leads in the ceiling using a climbing pole.
Photo: Christophe Verdet, July 20?, 2006
The 12 meter high pole is here shown in its collapsed state. (I have no pictures of it erected.)
Photo: Christophe Verdet, July 20?, 2006
Twice I joined survey trips in the fossil system (dry passage), and took my camera along. The way to the unmapped parts of the fossil system passes through some really big rooms.
July 20, 2006
The map shows that we are supposed to crawl into a narrow hole at the far end of one big room, which would otherwise have seemed like a pretty silly idea.
July 20, 2006
The crawlway twists back and forth among dripstone and several times it feels like a dead end. Suddenly, the ceiling and walls are gone.
July 20, 2006
Looking around, we find ourselves in yet another immense room. We have just popped out of a hole in a corner of a dripstone wall, just behind Hans (in yellow).
July 20, 2006
Where the present map ends, our work begins. From each survey station, we measure the distance to the next station,...
July 22, 2006
...the compass bearing,...
July 22, 2006
and the inclination.
July 22, 2006
The measurement data are written down in a notebook...
July 22, 2006
...and the passage details, in relation to the stations, are drawn by a skilled sketcher (Silvia).
July 22, 2006
It is not always possible to place the survey stations in comfortable positions. Barbara takes the bearing and inclination from an awkward spot.
July 22, 2006
Philippe, a professional karst scientist, measures the inclination of the limestone bedding planes, in one of the few places in the cave where these are clearly visible (in the river passage).
July 22, 2006
In a gallery of magnificent formations, we search for old survey marks. It is a privilige as well as a responsibility to work in a cave of such ancient beauty.
July 20, 2006
At this little lake, we terminate the survey.
July 22, 2006
A quick walk further into the system shows that there are more big rooms ahead, possibly to be mapped next year. We saw several dead bats in this area.
July 22, 2006
On the way back through the fossil rooms, we see light at a distance. A lot of light! What is happening?
July 20, 2006
It is Gérald and his film team, on their way in, who have stopped at a scenic spot. I take a photo while they aim their 250 W light cannons at a big flowstone wall (at least 10 m wide), sweet and creamy as a huge dessert of melted ice-cream, flavored with vanilla and chocolate...
July 20, 2006
Moving among the stalagmites, we follow the flagging tape to avoid stepping on pristine ground.
July 20, 2006
More formation pictures, collected from several trips. Here is an irregular stalagmite.
July 18, 2006
This stalagmite is called the Volcano.
July 18, 2006
To illustrate the size of the Volcano, add a person (Barbara) to the photo.
July 18, 2006
More popcorn, this time in the ceiling of a meandering passage called Labyrinth.
July 18, 2006
Some more flowstone.
July 18, 2006
Some stalagmites are big.
July 20, 2006
Multicolored columns.
July 22, 2006
More columns in a spectacular formation.
July 22, 2006
These pools in white calcite are a few cm wide.
July 18, 2006
Soda straw! It is a very thin, almost transparent cylinder, as wide as the drop of water that will soon fall from it, leaving behind an invisible ring of solid calcite. How delicate they are, and “only” a few hundred years old.
July 18, 2006
This little stalactite grows sideways, possibly propelled by a local draft.
July 18, 2006
Here are more stalactites that point in a strange angle—were they formed in a similar way?
July 18, 2006
No, just as on this picture, the stalactites were formed vertically as usual, but then the block they grew on was dislocated.
July 20, 2006
Strangely, these thin stalactites have survived the fall.
July 20, 2006
This scene is somewhat pedagogical: Stalagmites and stalactites are positioned next to each other, so that the difference between their shapes can be observed.
July 22, 2006
How was this rock, which is not a hollow tree stump, formed? Suggestions are welcome; I don't know myself.
July 18, 2006
This is a peculiar and not very common type of formation: inverted mud cracks. Once upon a time, the slope was covered with mud. The mud dried and cracked, calcite was deposited in the cracks, and later the mud was washed away. Only the cracks, conserved in calcite, remained.
July 22, 2006
Philippe also showed us this “shield”. It is formed when water comes out of a fissure in the rock and evaporates. If the water is under pressure, the deposited calcite forms two parallel disks, between which the water spreads in all directions rather than only downwards. Vertical shields of this size are rare.
July 22, 2006
Here was once a small pool, on whose surface a calcite sheet was formed. The sheet looks flat and dirty, but I lowered the camera down a little hole and this is what it saw (horizontally, just below the floor): Snow white crystals cover the bottom side of the sheet.
July 22, 2006
After a successful week, it is time to go back to civilization. Cavers are cleaning gear and packing. This year’s Humpleu camp is over.
July 23, 2006
The beetle appreciated our camp and so did I. Big thanks to Präzis, Ana, and the other organizers!
July 23, 2006