PHYLLUD (Krem)
25.250600,91.725000
Description
A south-east facing cave entrance (4 m wide, 2 m high) gives access to two active stream cave passages at the bottom of the Cherra Limestone, which drain more or less from north to south and are connected by a relic cave passage, which functions as a tunnel cave draining the –>Lawbah Doline (350 m by 550 m wide and about 60 m deep) and is peculiar insofar as it is said to contain gypsum speleothems (note 1). ETYMOLOGY: SINGH (1904: 159) list no Khasi term "phyllut" as such but "u phyllùd" is the name of »a kind of mucilaginous plant« -- perhaps, but this is mere guesswork, a species of algae or fungi flourishing at moist and shaded sites -- while "phyllad" signifies »a kind of mongoose« (SINGH, N 1906: 159). The Khasi "[ba] dam" (adjective) has been translated not only as »obliterated« but also as »dark, murky« (note 2). So far, I saw the name of this cave called, spelled, edited or printed as Krem (Cave) Phyllut JHA, V C & BAIRAGYA, H (2011: 291) Krem Phyllud - Dam Um KHARPRAN DALY, B D (2005: 13) Krem Pyllut Kharpran Daly, B D (1997.03.13 Mss "25 caves located" items 15, 16, 17)Krem Phyllut Caves BASKAR, S et al. (2008; 2011: 559)Krem Phyllutt BROOKS & SMART (1995: 20, 28, plate opposite p. 28). SITUATION: At the current state of exploration, five distinct cave entrances give access to the cave system on the southern rim of Lum Lawbah (the table hill in the south-west of Sohra, a.k.a. Cherrapunjee), and about halfway between the villages Mawsmai (note 3) and Nongthymmai (note 4) in an area with a series of working but relatively small limestone quarries and lime kilns (ki pajwa thang mawshun). BASKAR et al. (2008) were happy to have »Krem Phyllut cave … also [just like Krem –>Mawsmai] situated in Mawsmai village, south of Cherrapunjee.« POSITIONS: The five cave entrances to the cave system are positioned near N25°15'02": E091°43'30" = Krem Phyllud (4 m wide, 2 m high) N25°15'08": E091°43'26" = Doline Entrance, the –>Lum Lawbah Sink 1 at the southern corner of –>Lum Lawbah Doline (note 5) N25°15'07": E091°43'37" = Surprise Exit N25°15'07": E091°43'37" = Surprise Exit Daylight Window N25°15'14": E091°43'36" = Krem Dam Um (Nongthymmai), a group of cave entrances, including a 15 m deep pothole. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1994-1998: From the cave entrance (4 m wide, 2 m high) to Krem Phyllud (N25°15'02": E091°43'30"), a boulder slope descends down into a rift cave passage (3 m wide, 12 m high, 200 m long), which contains dry speleothems and leads to a collapse area where route up through boulders emerges in the floor of a collapse chamber (30 m by 30 m) where daylight in the west indicates the Doline Entrance (N25°15'08": E091°43'26"), the insurgence in the –>Lum Lawbah Doline. A climb 6 m down into a hole in the floor of the cave chamber leads to a streamway which can be followed both upstream and downstream. From the Doline Entrance opposite across this cave chamber, a passage ascends to a dusty cave passage (200 m long) leading to the head of a free-climbable pitch down into an active streamway. Upstream leads via a vadose passage (3 m to 5 m wide, 4 m to 10 m high) not only to the two so-called "Surprise Exits" (no cave name is known, near N25°15'07": E091°43'37") but also to the cave entrance of Krem –>Dam Um (N25°15'14": E091°43'36"). Downstream, the cave passage gradually enlarges to reach approximately 10 m in width and 8 m in height and reaches a boulder slope where the stream sinks in the floor and disappears into a rift cave passage which was not pushed to a conclusion. Moving up the boulder slope the air becomes fetid and stale and after passing over a "col" the passage becomes smaller and leads across a relatively small cave chamber to secondary calcite deposits that were interpreted as a stalled choke about 100 m from the stream sink. CAVE DESCRIPTION 2005: »Situated at the southern rim of Lum Lawbah south-west of Sohra (Cherrapunjee), and about halfway between the villages Mawsmai and Nongthymmai, the cave has two streamways and a rather large fossil [relic, abandoned by flowing water] passage decorated with old stal formations. Length is 1328 m« (KHARPRAN DALY s.a. 2005). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2006: »Located on Lum Lawbah, the boulder slope entrance leads into a high rift passage with old dry stal formations which can be followed for about 200 m to a boulder fall. A route up through the boulders emerges in the floor of a collapse chamber (30 m by 30 m). Here daylight can be seen from another entrance at the west end which emerges in the wall of the Lum Lawbah doline. In the floor of the chamber, a 6 m climb leads down to a stream-way which can be followed up and downstream for a short distance. The cave with a length of 1328 m is not fully explored« (KHARPRAN DALY 2006: 13). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2008: »… Krem Phyllut caves … has a large section of fossil passage [sic! qua: seasonally active stream cave passage, abandoned by flowing water] … two stream ways that join inside the cave [when one surface stream enters the cave and is joined by an underground stream] and then leave out of the cave. This cave was relatively long [note 6]. The main cavern extends to about 50–60 m and narrows to a much smaller tunnel. Inside the cave the observed zones include a photic zone, twilight zone with limited light penetration and a deeper zone, which was totally aphotic. The average annual temperature of the deep aphotic inner cave wall was approximately 15–17°C and discharged two springs [note 7] that run approximately 500 m through the length of the cave [note 8]. The approximate length and diameter of the stalactites ranged from 6–7 cm in length, 25–30 cm in diameter (small) to 30–40 cm in length, 50 cm in diameter (large) and the columns were 40–45 cm long and diameter of the upper end was 40 cm and that of the lower end was 60 cm. The speleothems at the entrance were large and towards the interior they were smaller in size. Interestingly, some of the stalactites observed showed nodular and popcorn-type morphologies [botryoidal speleothems]. … Gypsum deposits on the cave walls were found here« (BASKAR et al. 2008). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2011: »The Krem Phyllut caves have a large fossil passageway. This cave is relatively large (total length 1,003 m, width 4.5 m, height 15 m) and has three entrances (approximately of 2 m height, 2.5 m width). The deep aphotic inner cave wall had an average annual temperature of~15-17°C. Two springs run about 500 m through the cave. The length and diameter of the stalactites range from 6-7 cm in length and 25-30 cm in diameter (small) to 30-40 cm in length and 50 cm in diameter (large). The coloums are 40-45 cm long and the diameter of the upper end is 40 cm and that of the lower end is 60 cm. The speleothems are larger at the entrance and smaller towards the interior. The main cavern extends to about 50-60 m and narrows to a much smaller tunnel wherein gypsum deposits are found on the cave walls. The characteristic cave fauna consisted of sporadic amounts of prawns in the water and rats on the ground« (BASKAR, S et al. 2011: 559-560). PROSPECTS: Unexplored leads are known to exist in the cave entrance area of Krem Dam Um. An upper level above Surprise Exit was not reached. Krem Phyllud 2 well might be connected to the cave system. Finally, the sink was not pushed to a conclusion but the limestone comes to an end in this area. CAVE CLIMATE: Without revealing their method of attaining long term measurements instantly, BASKAR et al. (2008) report from an unspecified location inside »Krem Phyllut caves« (Krem Phyllud) how, during the short time of their visit (without date), the »average annual temperature of the deep aphotic inner cave wall was approximately 15–17°C.« CAVE LIFE: »The characteristic fauna here consisted of sporadic amounts of prawns [Crustacea] and rats« (BASKAR et al. 2008) or, more likely, of bats (Chiroptera). BASKAR et al. (2008: Table 2) collected micro organisms (bacteria) from calcite speleothems at an unidentified location in »Krem Phyllut cave« which, the bacteria, they identified in the laboratory as Bacillus cereus, B. licheniformis, and B. mycoides.
NOTE 1: »Gypsum stalagmite mounds and gypsum deposits on cave walls were encountered in the aphotic zone of the Krem Phyllut caves. Interestingly, these deposits covered 5 m (length) and 2 m (high) of the cave wall. The water that emerges from the cave springs is located in the aphotic zone, pH circa 7.3. The cave walls are coated with gypsum as identified by XRD and contained 94.08% CaO, 0.19–0.32% Fe2O3, 0.074–1.54% P2O5, 1.30–1.54% SiO2. The different morphotypes observed by SEM include rod-shaped microorganisms of different lengths (1–2 µm), filamentous bacteria, cocci, vibrio and spirilla. Gypsum crystals were precipitated in vitro from the cave wall deposit samples that were cultured using sulphite and thiosulphate agar. The so far unidentified strains precipitated gypsum after 20 days of incubation. The EDX of the precipitated bio-mineral suggests that it is composed predominately of carbon, calcium and sulphur. The high concentration of carbon as evidenced by EDX in the original cave wall and cultured samples may possibly reflect the visible microbial colonisation of the cave walls« (BASKAR et al. 2008). NOTE 2: ba dum (Khasi, adj.), contracted: badum (SINGH, N 1920: 154, 323; BLAH, E 2007 passim), barbarian (BLAH, E 2007: 26), black (SINGH, N 1920: 46; BLAH, E 2007: 31), blind (BLAH, E 2007: 32), dark (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: lxvi; SINGH, N 1906: 74; SINGH, N 1920: 107; BLAH, E 2007: 71), dismal (SINGH, N 1920: 129), enigmatical (SINGH, N 1920: 154), ignorant (SINGH, N 1906: 74; SINGH, N 1920: 231), impenetrable (SINGH, N 1920: 235), inert (BLAH, E 2007: 148), indistinct (SINGH, N 1920: 249), murky (SINGH, N 1920: 331; BLAH, E 2007: 195), obscure (SINGH, N 1920: 345), »opague [sic!]« (SINGH, N 1920: 350), opaque (BLAH, E 2007: 206), sombre (SINGH, N 1920: 484), sombrous (SINGH, N 1920: 484), stygian (SINGH, N 1920: 502; BLAH, E 2007: 292), sullen (SINGH, N 1920: 507), tenebrous (SINGH, N 1920: 522; BLAH, E 2007: 303), wan (BLAH, E 2007: 329), wild (BLAH, E 2007: 333), as: badum bad kynjah [dark and lonely] sombre (BLAH, E 2007: 280); dum ne shai byrngut [dawn or dusk] twilight (SINGH, N 1920: 545). NOTE 3: Mawsmai 25°14'32”N: 91°43'55”E (WGS84 modified from N25°14'30”: E091°44'05” Everest 1830): 1205 m asl (Survey of India sheet 78-O/12 editions 1912, 1937) lies at a linear distance of about 1.2 km approximately south-east (-930 m north and +700 m east) from the entrance to Krem Phyllud (N25°15'02": E091°43'30" WGS84). NOTE 4: The village of Nongthymmai lies near (±150 m) N25°14'57”: E091°43'55” (WGS84 modified from N25°14'55”: E091°44'05” Everest 1830, Survey of India 78-O/12 edition 1937) and about 700 m in a direct line approximately ESE (-155 m north, +720 m east) from the cave entrance to Krem Phyllud (N25°15'02": E091°43'30" WGS84). NOTE 5: The »Doline Entrance« (insurgence) of Krem Phyllud lies in the southern corner and lowest point of the doline. OLDHAM, T (1859: 142 fig XVI; 1984 opposite page 35) gives a lithograph showing a view of this site: »In several places about here, considerable streams go underground for some distance. The stream seen in Fig. 16, passes in this way under the cliff of limestone and coal« (OLDHAM, T 1859: 142; 1984: 29). NOTE 6: BASKAR et al. (2008) draw the attention of gentlemen with a taste for long ones to a »total length of 1,003 m, width 4.5 m, height 15 m) and three entrances (approximately of 2 m height, 2.5 m width« without revealing their source of inspiration. NOTE 7: We can safely assume that it was rather the local ground water than the »temperature« which »discharged two springs« (BASKAR et al. 2008). NOTE 8: A little later, however, we are told that »spring waters emerge at three locations in the cave and form a small stream that flows through the length of the cave« (BASKAR et al. 2008: Gypsum and cave wall deposits).
Documents
Bibliography 01/05/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1994.02.11: Boycott, Antony 'Tony', Helen & Robert Harper and Christopher M. Smart visited, explored and hastened to accumulate within three hours, distracted by taking snapshots, a kilometre of lengthwise measured distances: »Tony, Rob, Helen and Chris explored Krem Phyllutt [sic!] near to Mawsmai village and explored over one kilometre of large passages before returning to Shillong that evening« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 20). 1997.03.13: Brian D Kharpran Daly had recorded the name of the »Krem Dam Um Nongthymmai« located »near Krem Phyllut« [sic!]« (Kharpran Daly, B D 1997.03.13 Mss "Twenty-five caves located" item 17). 1998.02.16: Richard Frank, Uwe Krüger and Thilo Müller tied in Krem –>Dam Um (Nongthymmai) and added 300 m to the known passage. 1999.02.23 - 24: Thilo Müller, Mike Zawada and Raphael Warjri, assisted by Estelle Sandford and Fraser Simpson, resurveyed Krem Phyllud and mapped additional cave passages taht had not been noted before. In the end, they had explored more of the cave than ever was known before and discovered that this resulted in a smaller cave survey length.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | PHYLLUD, 3rd (Smart 1994) (Krem) | ||
| 0.2 | LUM LAWBAH: Sink 1 (aa -) | ||
| 0.2 | Surprise Entrance Cave (aa -) | ||
| 0.3 | PHYLLUD, 2nd (Krem) | ||
| 0.4 | DAM UM, Nongthymmai (Krem) | ||
| 0.5 | LUM LAWBAH: Doline (aa -) | ||
| 0.5 | MAWRIAH, Lum Lawbah (Krem) | ||
| 0.5 | SOH PANG BNIAT 2 (Krem) | ||
| 0.5 | SOH PANG BNIAT 3 (Krem) |