PAMSKEI (Krem)

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

An unspecified cave entrance (unidentified shape, unidentified dimensions, unidentified orientation) between some large rounded sandstone blocks (Anonymous [Arbenz T, Brooks S J et al.] 2015.04.03 Mss: Diary 2015.docx) gives access to a stream cave where coal in the ceiling indicates that the cave is formed in Lakadong Limestone. ETYMOLOGY: Zorba Z. Laloo from Mawlongbna had forwarded on 30th January 2015 the cave name Krem Pamskei (Anonymous 2015.04.03 Mss: Diary 2015.docx 30th January 2015 Friday) and interpreted as Kill Deer Cave (Anonymous 2015.04.03 Mss: Diary 2015.docx 31st January 2015 Saturday). SITUATION: About a mile roughly west of the resort at the head of riverbed. The riverbed was mostly dry (January) and has numerous water-filled swirlholes (Anonymous [Arbenz T, Brooks S J et al.] 2015.04.03 Mss: Diary 2015.docx). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2015.04.03: The entrance between some large rounded sandstone blocks gives access to a stream passage, 4 m wide x 1.5 m high, with a shallow tream running towards the exit (Anonymous 2015.04.03 Mss: Diary 2015.docx 30th January 2015 Friday). … the downstream part … turned out to be two sinks in succession. The first one takes-in the stream through well eroded rifts and joints too small to be followed. The second one, after a 20 m sandy crawl, is muddy and funnel-shaped and is partly fed from a tight inlet which wasn’t followed, and the overflow from the first sink in high-water conditions.Upstream leads along the stream way (stooping to walking height, generally 2 m to 4 m wide) until a first boulder choke. The cave, initially set in limestone, follows a coal seam which forms the roof of the passage. Shortly before the boulder choke it rises into sandstone. The choke can easily be by-passed via a lateral crawl on the right side, after about 15 m the stream is reached again. Now the left hand side of the cave is all boulders and breakdown, several ‘could-be’ passages taking off into it. The main gallery is again stream passge which arrives at a second boulder choke. The stream flows out of a low gap under a massive boulder. Up to the left and following the main trend of the cave the choke is by-passed by crawling along the remains of a nice phreatic tube up to a big slab that dips again down to the stream passage. From here the team followed the stream to a Boulder Choke and Y-junction, 450 m into the cave, where they stopped and left the survey of the on-going passages for the future (Anonymous 2015.04.03 Mss: Diary 2015.docx 31st January 2015 Saturday).tream running towards the exit (Anonymous 2015.04.03 Mss: Diary 2015.docx 30th January 2015 Friday). … the downstream part … turned out to be two sinks in succession. The first one takes-in the stream through well eroded rifts and joints too small to be followed. The second one, after a 20 m sandy crawl, is muddy and funnel-shaped and is partly fed from a tight inlet which wasn’t followed, and the overflow from the first sink in high-water conditions.Upstream leads along the stream way (stooping to walking height, generally 2 m to 4 m wide) until a first boulder choke. The cave, initially set in limestone, follows a coal seam which forms the roof of the passage. Shortly before the boulder choke it rises into sandstone. The choke can easily be by-passed via a lateral crawl on the right side, after about 15 m the stream is reached again. Now the left hand side of the cave is all boulders and breakdown, several ‘could-be’ passages taking off into it. The main gallery is again stream passge which arrives at a second boulder choke. The stream flows out of a low gap under a massive boulder. Up to the left and following the main trend of the cave the choke is by-passed by crawling along the remains of a nice phreatic tube up to a big slab that dips again down to the stream passage. From here the team followed the stream to a Boulder Choke and Y-junction, 450 m into the cave, where they stopped and left the survey of the on-going passages for the future (Anonymous 2015.04.03 Mss: Diary 2015.docx 31st January 2015 Saturday).