Ninga Tombo Apale

(Cheringoma - MZ)
-18.381944,34.966667
Length 41m Depth 6m
Grottocenter / carte

Description

Michael Laumanns - 25/11/2015

Dimba village, Chidanga zone, Cheringoma district, Sofala province. 34°58'00'’E: 18°22'55’ N (GPS WGS84), ca. 270 m asl. Surveyed on 27 Aug. 1998 by Herbert Daniel Gebauer, Adriano Germano, Michael Laumanns and Rosario Ruggieri (BCRAGrade 4b). Length: 41 m. Vertical range: -6 m. The cave is identical with „Caverna Cheringoma no.2“ (Vachamuteco 1982). Ninga Tombo Apale has two entrances, one of them (about 1,5 x 1,5 m) in a small dry valley and the other one on the plateau (solution shaft 1,5 x 5 m). The entrances are interconnected by a 5 x 3 m wide and 20 m long horizontal passage in WWS - EEN direction. A small passage leads off in N direction but was filled with liquid bar guano and therefore not fully explored. Ninga Tombo Apale houses a small bat colony consisting of several different species (amongst them long eared rhinolophides) and a guano deposit. However, this deposit is mixed with stagnant water and unpleasantly very liquid. Vachamuteco (1982) reported a deposit 25 m long, 4,5 m wide and about 2,000 bats. Quartzite pebbles cemented by a calcarenite matrix were observed in the cave, which may be interpreted as a subsequent quaternary marine infilling. The cave speleothemes : does not contain calcite

Michael Laumanns - 27/11/2015

Fossil cave in the Eocene nummulitic limestones (Cheringoma formation), with entry on the right bank of a riverbed incision. Gallery with subcircular cross section on a conjugated system of fractures N 90° and N 40°. A small conduit on bedding joint with water is also present. In a niche, on the system N 40°, a filling of detrital calcareous-sandy material englobing polygenics pebbles, from subrounded to rounded, is present, too. The diagram shows the following structural situation: 1) N 90° - prevailing direction of karstification with 69.2%; 2) N 40° - direction of secondary karstification with 30,8 %

Caves nearby

Distance (km)NameLength (m)Depth (m)
0.0Tombo Apale Cave 3186
0.3Tombo Apale Cave 2234
0.5Tombo Apale Cave 4474
1.0Ninga Niamagingiri1657
1.1Ninga rego Swere10110
1.7Ninga Macie [Cementary Cave]55
6.6Larger Umbira Cave1068
6.8Smaller Umbira Cave
15.6Ninga Manguenje18810