STALACTITE CAVE, Mahadeo nala (aa -)
25.250000,90.875000
Description
NOTE 1: »Mahadeo Stal Cave« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 22, opposite page 48), »Mahadeo Stal Kol« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 47; Brooks s.a. = 1995 Mss "Meghalaya, caving in the abode of the clouds: The British / German cave tourism … February 1994" undated), and »Mahadeo Stalactite Cave« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 47).NOTE 2: Not one but two neighbouring entrances (without driplines) are shown on the 1994 sketch plan (175 by 245 mm, on a scale of circa 1: 7,300) by C.M. Smart, Boycott, Antony 'Tony', Harper, Rob and H. Harper (in BROOKS & SMART 1995, unpaginated "plate" on the back side of page 47 and opposite page 48). NOTE 3: When boulders collapse, they turn into heaps of gravel, grit and sand or dust but this »boulder collapse« is probably a collapsed section of cave passage blocked predominantly with boulders.
Relic cave passages, which contain secondary calcite formations (speleothems), have been found above a few perennially active stream cave passages draining generally westwards to sumps. ETYMOLOGY: No locally known cave name (compare –>Rongsobok Rongkol) has been identified for the so-called "Mahadeo Stal Kol", which was nicknamed by pseudo-Garo concoctions (note 1). SITUATION: At the base of a cliff (without orientation) in a vague location somewhere in a river valley that was taken to be the »Mahadeo Nala« (the "Great Canyon" of tourist information leaflets and professional Internet websites) and estimated to be 200 or 300 m »downstream« (no specified direction) from the »main entrance« (Blue Arch Entrance) of –>Chirenkol (above the »left« or east bank of the Mahadeo river) but, in spite of an east-facing entrance (above the the right? / west? bank), »… in the right-hand (east) wall of the Mahadeo gorge« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 47). CAVE DESCRIPTION (modified after BROOKS & SMART 1995: 48): An »obvious« (east facing) and »large« (no specified dimensions) cave entrance (note 2) leads to a NNE-SSW trending passage. Upon entering left (south), a stooping height passage leads to a »small chamber« (no specified dimensions) where a climb up to the south gains some 30 m of east-west trending passage, boulder choked at both ends. A muddy crawl at the bottom of the climb up to the south, gives access to a sump. From the entrance »straight ahead« (westish), 20 m of stooping height stream passage lead to a »choke« (collapse and boulders), while upstream »right from the entrance« (north-north-west) gives access to the interior sections of the cave, as »… the passage quickly enlarges into slowly ascending, well decorated passage approximately 2.5 by 3 m in size« and leads, at around 300 m from the entrance, to an area of »boulder collapse (note 3), mud chokes, and about 40 m of »oxbow« (bypass) on the »left-hand side« (sic! for: north-west). »Just beyond the point, where the oxbow rejoins the main passage, a small hole in the floor descends 4 m as a vertical tube to The Mudbath, an active and rather muddy streamway.« From an unspecified point »upstream leads after 6 m to a small sump, although a small [no specified dimensions], abandoned … stream passage can be followed [no specified direction], with difficulty for another [estimated?] 30 or 35 m« while »Downstream … gets very low and muddy before it ends [sic! for gains] after 100 m two small sumps.« About 75 m approximately NNE from a certain »main entrance« there is a »large passage« (no specified size) on the »left« (sic! for: WNW), which consists initially of »a short, sandy-floored ascent and subsequent descent leads after 50 m to a tube« of phreatic origin (oblong cross-section estimated 4 by 2.5 m wide), »where a stream issues from a small sump in the floor. This stream disappears into a sump … about 10 m downstream, but the main passage can be followed over a series of switchbacks to a large clear sump after 100 m. Several short passages on the left [sic! for: south] quickly reach the water table and subsequently sump.« CAVE POTENTIAL: According to BROOKS & SMART (1995: 48), the cave obviously continues underwater.
Documents
Bibliography 31/05/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1994.02.22: »Heavy rain in Balpakram and fuel shortage prevented the jeep from even getting to the Forestry Office [where prerequisite »local forest guides« could be picked up] so Tony, Rob, Helen and Chris stayed in bed and watched elephants« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 22). 1994.02.23: Christopher M. "Chris, the Blitz" Smart (book), Boycott, Antony 'Tony', Helen and Rob Harper »explored Mahadeo Stal Cave« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 22) and "surveyed" (sports caver standards) 1,028 m of accumulated tape lengths to a degree yielding not only a "survey" (total sum of survey leg lengths) but also a rough "cave survey" (sketch plan).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.9 | CHIRINGKOL, Mahadeo nala | ||
| 1.9 | MAHADEO BAT CAVE (aa -) | ||
| 1.9 | MAKKREKOL, Mahadeo nala | ||
| 2.3 | GNIGIPA TSANGSIM CHIWARIKOL | ||
| 2.4 | CHONGIPA TSANGSIM SAGAKOL | ||
| 3.8 | SOGIN SARAM | ||
| 3.8 | GONCHO DARE | ||
| 4.2 | Balphakram Vapour Pool | ||
| 4.2 | WAKKABE UNDERGROUND STREAM |