The Snezhnaya-Mezhennogo-Illyuziya cave system in the western Caucasus

B.R. Mavlyudov

doi:10.21701/bolgeomin.127.1.015

Authors

B.R. Mavlyudov Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21701/bolgeomin.127.1.015

Keywords:

cave system, cave sediments, Caucasus, geology, geomorphology

Abstract

The Snezhnaya-Mezhennogo-Illyuziya cave system (SMI) is located within the Khipstinsky karstic massif, in the Western Caucasus. The cave is a branched, arborescent system of cave channels through which underground water streams flow and change in an upwards direction in sub-vertical shafts. Now 3 such shafts, which have a connection with the cave river, are being studied: the Snezhnaya (1970 m a.s.l.), the Mezhennogo (2 015 m a.s.l.) and the Illyuziya (2 389 m a.s.l.). The SMI cave system has been investigated since 1971 and the currently known depth of the system is 1 760 m, the extent of the galleries - >32 km, the volume - >2.7 million m³, the specific volume - 84 m³/m. The size of the biggest cave chamber – the Thronnyj - is 309x109x40 m. The average discharge of the underground river is about 500 l/s. The temperature in the cavity changes from 0 to 6.5°C. Research on the SMI cave system continues.

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