Ambatoharanana

Length 18100m
Grottocenter / carte

Location

Co-ordinates: S 12°59’, E 049°00'. Alt. 20 m. This cave, called the Underground River of Manenjeba in the past, is located in the Ankarana mountain range, 10 km north of Ambilobe and about 75 km S of Antsiranana. The Manenjoba River traverses the cave from east to west, cutting through the isolated limestone butte on the south flank of the range. The underground river hosts crocodiles. Michael Laumanns - 29/11/2015

Description

Michael Laumanns - 29/11/2015

Ambatoharanana is a maze cave in the reef limestones of the Middle Jurassic in which the main river can be followed by canoe for over 2,700 m in large passages. A huge collapsed doline in the heart of the butte can be found by following several fossil galleries. First explored for about 6 km by J.deSaint-Ours, the cave was mapped in 1972 to 2,700 m by the Association Sportive de l’Université de Madagascar (ASUM). In 1974, J.Radofilao, with Ph.Andriambololona and F.Raoelison, organised an expedition with the goal of discovering all the branches of the underground river. In three weeks, most of them were explored and mapped, bringimg the total length to 18,100 m (summary by J.Radofilao in Spelunca, 1984/13). Overview map according to Wilson (ed.) (1987), including several caves located at the Ankarana massif. Description according to Courbon et al. (1989),

Caves nearby

Distance (km)NameLength (m)Depth (m)
4.1Ampandriamapanihy-Nord4480
5.2Anjohimilaintety9005
9.2Andrafiabe
14.3Antsiroandoha1110
3663.4ZAPA CAVE
3896.6VARKALA TUNNEL
3898.2VIZHINJAM CAVE
3899.3TRIVANDRUM YONI (aa -)
3907.7MADAVURPPARA CAVE TEMPLE