JYNNIAW CAVE 1st
25.261100,91.591700
Description
An active stream cave, complete with a sinkhole (insurgence) connected to a spring (resurgence), represents a tunnel cave and is formed in a less than 1 m thick, interstratal band of limestone which appears to be interbedded in the uppermost section of the Lakadong Sandstone (Middle Sylhet stage). The limestone is characterised by quite regularly interspersed but irregular shaped and coarse-grained arenaceous aggregates resulting in somewhat knobby surfaced cave walls. ETYMOLOGY: The meaning and origin of the Khasi cave name "Krem Jynniaw" (or so) has not yet been discovered (28.04.2013). BROOKS & SMART (1995: 30) had somehow gathered (no source mentioned) that the cave name "Krem Jynniaw" was said to mean »Cave of the Fore-mothers of the Local Community« but this is obviously not a translation of the cave name but a reference to the speleologically unexplored cultural relevance of the site (note 1). On the other hand, the sound of »jynniaw« (note 2) is reminiscent of "synñia" (note 3) or "synia" (GURDON, P R T 1906: 154), the Khasi word for »night, darkness« (SINGH, N 1906: 216) and dun or dull grayish-brown colors (SINGH, N 1920: 142). BROOKS & SMART (1995: 30) dubbed the first encountered of the three Jynniaw caves not only the »Roof Fungi Cave« but also »The Roof Fungus Cave« (BROOKS & SMART 1995 plate opposite page 30) and refer somewhere in general to the Kingdom Fungi im Meghalaya (note 4). Perhaps -- but this is mere guesswork -- rather due to the intake of stupefying liquids than because of the high radioactivity level in the area (note 5). So far, I saw the name of the village, cave or caves called, spelled, edited or printed as Hindu Shrine Cave BROOKS & SMART (1995: 30) Janiaw (note 6) MARBANIANG et al. (2008) Krem Jynnai BROOKS & SMART (1995: 13) Jyniaw BROOKS & SMART (1995 appendix 1: i, ii); Anonymous et al. (2010.03.29 Mss: Diary (current) 2010.doc). Krem Jynnaiw Brooks (1993 Mss); BROOKS & SMART (1995: 30); Brooks, S J (in: Anonymous, undated "Meghalaya 2012 - Survey Summary (Team 2).xls" forwarded 2012.06.23); DAVIDSON, Ross (2012) Jynnain Caves Brooks (1993 Mss) Krem Jynniaw Brooks (1993 Mss); Anonymous (Brooks, Simon J 2012.06.23 Mss: Meghalaya 2012 Diary (Team 2) Edited 10-3-2012.doc) Jynniaw Cave BROOKS & SMART (1995: 30); KHARPRAN DALY (2006: 16) Krem Jynniaw 'Hindu Shrine' KHARPRAN DALY (2006: 16) Krem Mawjymbuiñ Smart, Christopher M (1994 personal communication) Roof Fungi Cave BROOKS & SMART (1995: 30) The Roof Fungus Cave BROOKS & SMART (1995 plate opp. p. 30). SITUATION: South of kilometre stone 8 on the road from Mawsynram (note 7) to the village of Lawbah (N25°14': E091°34', Survey of India sheet 78-O/12, edition 1912), or about 7 km along the road from the Mawsynram P.W.D. Inspection Bungalow (note 8). Allegedly put up had been (November 1994) a wooden road sign indicating »Jynniaw« (note 9) but in spring 1999 there was, oops, no sign of such a sign (personal observation). APPROACH 1999: If guided, take a walk of some 500 m in a southerly direction, across an only slightly dipping sandstone terrace to reach a pool and a small stream, of which the upstream emerges from a small gorge, where the cave entrances are to be found. If not guided, follow any of the streams which have cut channels into the terrace. The main Jynniaw caves are found where all the channels eventually meet and where the main gorge (about 30 m wide and 8 m deep), of which the upstream is clean swept of even the tiniest pebble, starts to be obstructed with fallen boulders. Upstream of the bouldery section, the sandstone is riddled with potholes and sinkholes (some 2 m to 3 m deep), often separated from each other only by natural bridges. Here the stream has found inroads into the locally interstratal calcareous sandstone and formed relatively short 5 m to 10 m long caves which display playful water games and beautifully formed corrosion shapes of harmonic proportions. APPROACH 2012: In February 2012, not only the entrances to the Jynniaw caves but also those of Krem –>Mawpun and the –>Woodcutter Cave (Bäumler 2012) had been reached from a bridge on the road: »Georg locates a bridge on the road from the Jynniaw Caves to Mawsynram at GPS N25 15' 25" E 091 34' 28 (WSG 84) this is where the dry stream bed that Georg followed up hill to find Woodcutter's Cave passes under the road« (Brooks, S J 2012.08.25 personal correspondence). »Yes from the road bridge it is NE ish to Mawpun and South to the Jynniaw« (Brooks, S J 2012.09.03 personal correspondence). CAVE DESCRIPTION: The upper cave entrance lies in the floor of the clean swept part of the gorge and takes all the water by a complicated succession of whirlpools, potholes and natural bridges in sandstone. The two lower cave entrances, represented by a daylight window (4 m by 2 m wide, 7 m up) and a walk-in entrance (7 m wide, 1.6 m high), lie above each other at the head of the boulder strewn section of the gorge. The latter gives the easiest access to a shallow stream cave (5 m wide, 1 m high) which runs some 60 m straight from north to south with a corroded floor into a right angle bend. In this corner is a Hindu place of worship (red colour powder on stalagmite speleothems, burned incense, small change) and three impenetrable inlets enter from 290° and 065°. The upstream enters from the ESE (245°), now with a floor covered with coarse sand, and leads after some 50 m of low (less than 0.4 m high) to the daylight-lit waterfall of the upstream »swallet« (note 10). PROSPECTS: Further investigations could easily double the present length of cave passages in this area because not all the passages seen were explored in November 1992 due to a »general shortage of time« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 30). CAVE LIFE: Larval fungus gnats (Diptera: Mycetophilidae, "snot gobblers"). Concerning Chiroptera, »bats were also noted [on 15th November 1992] in … Krem Mawsmai, Krem Jyniaw and Krem Phudjasim in the Khasi Hills)« (BROOKS & SMART 1995 appendix 1: i). »We saw solitary snakes in Krem Jyniaw, Krem Mawmluh, Mahadeo Stal Cave and in Siju and it is possible that these were all accidental trogloxenes. … The Krem Jyniaw specimen was very tentatively identified as Saw-scaled Viper (Echis carinatus) or a Keelback« (C. M. Smart in: BROOKS & SMART 1995 appendix 1: ii). »White [in the sense of unpigmented] woodlice [Isopoda] were frequently seen, for example in Krem Mawsmai, Krem Mawmluh and Krem Jyniaw« (C. M. Smart in: BROOKS & SMART 1995 appendix 1: iv). »Platyhelminthes: Turbellaria: A flat worm in Krem Jyniaw may have been of the Tricladida order as this order is particularly common throughout Asia« (C. M. Smart in: BROOKS & SMART 1995 appendix 1: v).
NOTE 1: A »Cave of the Fore-mothers« would be named in Khasi »Krem Iawbei Tymmen« (from "ka Kiaw" or, in short, "Ka Iaw" a grandmother + "Ka Bei" a mother) after Ka Iawbei »the primitive ancestress of a clan« (SINGH, N 1906: 89); »the primal ancestress« (GURDON 1906: xxiv); »the first mother« (GURDON 1906: 112) Ka Iawbei Khynráw »the primitive ancestress of a branch of a clan« (SINGH, N 1906: 89); »the grandmother of the family living in one house« (GURDON 1906: 63); »the grandmother of the actual family« (GURDON 1906: 151), literally »the young grandmother« (GURDON 1906: 63, 151) Ka Iawbei Kpoh »the grandmother of a branch of the family« (GURDON 1906: 151) or Ka Iawbei Longkpoh »the grandmother of the actual family« (GURDON 1906: 151) Ka Iawbei Tynrai »the ancestress of the clan« (GURDON 1906: 63), literally »the grandmother of the root, i.e. the root of the tree of the clan« (GURDON 1906: 63) Ka Iawbei Tymmen »the grand primitive ancestress of a clan« (SINGH, N 1906: 89); »the great-grandmother of a sub-clan« (GURDON 1906: 63), literally »the old grandmother« (GURDON 1906: 150) Ka Iawbei Tynrai »the ancestress of the clan, literally the grandmother of the root, i.e. the root of the tree of the clan« (GURDON 1906: 63). Ka Puron »one of the female deities of the Khasis representing the first maternal ancestress« (SINGH, N 1906: 165). NOTE 2: SINGH, N (1906: 103) lists no Khasi word resembling "jynniaw" (or so) but "jing" is not only a prefix indicating an abstract noun but also means »supreme, beyond comprehension« (SINGH, N 1906: 216) while "ka ñia" is »the wife of an uncle on the mother's side« (*) and "ka nia" is »a reason, an argument« (SINGH, N 1906: 140). The Khasi "jingiw" may be allied to »scent, smell« as U Nissor Singh in GURDON (1906: 172-173) translates "U ksew ruh u tip ba'n bud dien ia ki mrad, namar u sngewthuh ba ka dien ka khnap ka mrad baroh ka don ka jingiw-khong ba la sah ka jingiw naduh kata ka por ba ki iuh ia ka ktung rymbai jong u ha ka Iew Luri-Lura" into »The dog knows well also how to follow the tracks of the animals, because he can scent in their footprints the smell of the rotten pea stuff which they trod under foot at Luri-Lura market.« * In the Khasi family, the influence of the mother's elder brother "u kni" is great, for it is he who is the manager on behalf of the mother (GURDON 1906: 78-79). NOTE 3: In an early stage of his life, U Manik Ratong was filled with grief "synia sngi" or »night and day« (GURDON 1906: 184). NOTE 4: »In several of the caves we visited [during November 1992 in Meghalaya] a lichen like white roof fungus, apparently ghosted or beaded with droplets of condensation was conspicuous. In Krem Dam, as in other caves, this was always found close to an entrance. It is possible that this is related to Actinomycetes of the genus Streptomyces existing in intimate biological association with the fungus Fusarium« (BROOKS & SMART 1995 appendix 1: v). NOTE 5: MARBANIANG et al. (2008) studied the radiation levels at various places in the West and East Khasi Hills and observed that »Mawmluh, Mawphlang and Lawbah in the East Khasi Hills District records the lowest levels whereas, the levels in the rest of the locations in the thrust areas or away from the deposit site are almost equal. It is interesting to note that in Janiaw [sic!], the level of radiation was found out to be very high even though no radioactive source has been reported in the area. Janiaw records an absorbed mean dose of 0.68 µGyh-1.« NOTE 6: »The stations selected for monitoring [of the natural radiation and radioactivity in parts of the East Khasi Hills district and the West Khasi Hills district] include the Domiasiat uranium deposit site and nine adjacent areas … depicted in Fig. 1«, namely Jakrem, Janiaw, Lawbah, Mawkyrwat, Mawmluh, Mawphlang, Mawsmai, Mawsynram, Rangblang, Shillong, and Weiloi (MARBANIANG et al. 2008). NOTE 7: Mawsynram, the village near (±250 m) 25°17'53”N: 91°35'01”E: 1423 m (WGS84 modified from 25°17'51”N: 91°35'11”E, Everest 1830, Survey of India 78-O/11 edition 1974), once was thought to lie at an elevation of 1401.5 m asl or »4598 feet« (Survey of India sheet 78-O/11 edition 1913). NOTE 8: Mawsynram Inspection Bungalow (PWD) near (±100 m) 25°17'10”N: 91°34'40”E (WGS84 modified from 25°17'08”N: 91°34'50”E, Everest 1830, Survey of India sheet 78-O/11 edition 1974). NOTE 9: »Krem Jynnaiw [sic!] (Jynnain [sic!] Caves - Mawsynram) -- Situated some five kilometres South West of the village of Mawsynram are three caves known locally as Krem Jynniaw [sic!]. They can be reached by following the road South West from the Mawsynram village for approximately five kilometres until a wooden road sign, bearing the caves name is reached. From here walk some 500 metres in a Southerly direction, crossing a grassy area reaches a [relatively] large pool [of unidentified dimensions] and a [relatively] small stream [without comparison for scale]. This is then followed upstream entering a [relatively] small gorge [of unspecified size] where the cave entrances are to be found« (Brooks 1993 Mss). NOTE 10: The term "swallet" is used mainly in the Mendip Hills (United Kingdom of Great Britain and the rest), related with "swale" (Origin early 16th century, British, of unknown origin), a low or hollow place, esp. a marshy depression between ridges, and derived from "swallow hole" (synonym for the US American English sinkhole): A point where all or part of a surface stream disappears underground. Some definitions restrict its use to sink points in closed depressions (any karst hollow with internal drainage) or dolines: Circular closed depression, either saucer-shaped, conical or in some cases cylindrical. The name originates from the Slovene term for a valley, where in the Classical Karst there are no true valleys but only closed basins. Dolines may form by dissolution, collapse, or a combination of these, keyed to a central sinkhole or intercepted cave passage. They are ubiquitous features of limestone karst, but can form in or above any soluble rock; subsidence dolines are developed in insoluble sediment leached or collapsed into an underlying cavernous limestone (LOWE & WALTHAM 1995: 13, 35). »Swallet, see: swallow hole. (England.) A place where water disappears underground in a limestone region. A swallow hole [in German: Schluckloch] generally implies water loss in a closed depression or blind valley, whereas a swallet [in German: Schwinde] may refer to water loss into alluvium at a streambed, even though there is no depression« (MONROE 1970 reprinted 1972: 17). The Mendip Hills English "swallet" is related with "swale" (early 16th century British, of unknown origin), a low or hollow place, esp. a marshy depression between ridges.
Documents
Bibliography 29/03/2016Histoire
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1992.11.15, trip 1: Simon J. Brooks, Christopher M. Smart, Rob Harper and Helen Harper, who had been chauffeur-driven by »a local taxi driver, by the name of Mr. Noro« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 9) from Shillong to Mawsynram, »explored and partially surveyed Krem Jynnai. Return to Shillong that evening« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 13). Since preliminary exploration preceded systematic surveying, they had to return to where they had started before being able to commence the actual "surveying" (sports cavers standard) of a survey length of about 70 m (or so). Needless to say that such an untoward exploration management resulted initially in a »general shortage of time« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 30) and consequently in a very rough but incomplete sketch plan (BROOKS & SMART 1995 plate opposite page 30). 2012.02.09, trip 2: Either Kyrshan Thabah, Bolk Syntiew, or Devel Mawlong drove Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns and Georg Bäumler by »Sumo back« from the Mawsynram Inspection Bungalow to an offhand invented »the Jynniaw area« (Anonymous 2012.03.10 Mss). »From the road they walk up a bed river to reach the plateau, but find no caves. By Sumo they follow the road, turn left and reach a nice brand new view point. Going up stream they found a cave. This turns out to be the [not very much] well-known Krem Jynniaw 3 … explored in 1992« (Anonymous 2012.03.10 Mss: Meghalaya 2012 Team 2 Diary). On this occasion, Ryan P. Baker and / or Kyle Wayne Baker narrate a tale according to which they succeeded in »dropping off Georg, Jean-Pierre, and Andre at the entrance to a cave that looked like one could stroll leisurely through in flip flops« (Ryan P. Baker and / or Kyle Wayne Baker in: Anonymous 2012.03.10 Mss: Meghalaya 2012 Team 2 Diary). 2012.02.12, trip 3, Pedro Silva Pinto, Helen Blyth, and Kyle Wayne Baker: »… surveyed 88.32 m in the Krem Jynnaiw 1 before going to the adjacent Krem Jynniaw 2« which they »connected it to one of Georg’s teams’ survey stations in Krem Jynniaw 3« (Anonymous 2012.03.10 Mss: Meghalaya 2012 Team 2 Diary). 2012.02.13, trip 4, Georg Bäumler, Andre Abele, Sharareh "Shary" Ghazy, and Ksan Kupar "Ronnie" Mawlong »… make a reconnaissance trip in the proximity of Krem Jynniaw and Krem Mawpun where they find a pothole and another cave« (Anonymous 2012.03.10 Mss: Meghalaya 2012 Team 2 Diary). 2012.02.14, trip 5, Georg Bäumler, Andre Abele, and Sharareh "Shary" Ghazy »continue the survey-re-survey of Krem Jynniaw. Farhang and team film« (Anonymous 2012.03.10 Mss: Meghalaya 2012 Team 2 Diary). 2012.02.14, trip 6, Pedro Silva Pinto, Helen Blyth, and Samira Zareei »continue the survey-re-survey of Krem Jynniaw. Farhang and team film« (Anonymous 2012.03.10 Mss: Meghalaya 2012 Team 2 Diary). 2012.02.16, trip 7, Georg Bäumler, Andre Abele, Sharareh "Shary" Ghazy, and Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns »… enter by the Jynniaw 3 by the Plateau Entrance, survey 362.18 m and came out through a squeeze, that was dug by J-P to give access to Jynniaw Cliff Entrance« (Anonymous 2012.03.10 Mss: Meghalaya 2012 Team 2 Diary, entry for Tuesday 16th February 2012). 2012.02.16, trip 8, Simon J. Brooks, Helen Blyth, and Pedro Silva Pinto »… were interviewed by the Iranian film team [a.k.a. Erfan, Farhang and team] before surveying side passages to south-west (Cliff-Gorge side) of the main passage and then the side passages and link between Krem Jynnaiw 2 and Jynniaw 3 and 335 m of new passage surveyed« (Anonymous 2012.03.10 Mss: Meghalaya 2012 Team 2 Diary, entry for Tuesday 16th February 2012). 2012 March: From a particular point of view, not the cave survey but the caves »Krem Jynnaiw [sic! qua: Krem Jynniaw] 1, 2 and 3, partially explored in 1992 were all extended« (DAVIDSON, Ross 2012).
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | JYNNIAW CAVE 2a | ||
| 0.0 | JYNNIAW CAVE 3a | ||
| 0.0 | JYNNIAW CAVE 3b | ||
| 0.0 | JYNNIAW CAVE 3d »Squeeze« | ||
| 0.0 | JYNNIAW CAVE 2b | ||
| 1.0 | PHUD JASIM, 1st (Krem) | ||
| 1.0 | PHUD JASIM, 2nd (Krem) | ||
| 1.5 | PAMSKEI (Krem) | ||
| 2.0 | JYNNIAW CAVE 3c »Pothole« |