SHRIEH, Tangnub (Krem)

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

An awesome shaft with what had been undescribable width, which entertains a fine hanging rock arch halfway down, descends fine 95 m or fine 97 m into a fine streamway accompanied by a fine maze of relic high-level cave passages, a fine seasonally active inlet series, some fine breakdown passages, and marvellous keyhole-shaped cave passages coated in fine, orange coloured mud. The NNE-SSW trending maze of fine cave galleries tapers into generally fine NW-SE running cave passages. SITUATION: Chapman & Brown (2000.02.17 Mss: Krem Shrieh) rather misplaced than placed this -Monkey Cave- erroneously at Tangnoob -- simply because they came across this vilagge at one stage of their approach. Actually, however, the cave entrance lies only 2 km from from the village Umthe (note 1) but 3072 m in a direct line (expect a distance of 4 km or 5 km along a successful route) or an hour on foot approximately SSW from the village of Tangnoob (note 2). The entrance to these monkeys' cave was found at oe end of a fluted canyon (gully?) and is fed by an allegedly perennial stream. It is situated on the western scarp of the Shnongrim Ridge and accessible from Tangnub village, which lies east of Sutnga. APPROACH: Tom Chapman & Mark Brown (2000.02.17 Mss) advise to follow the main Shaktiman track (a rough fair weather road) beyond Tangnub village to N25°16'25.1- : E092°30'18.4- (WGS84) where a smaller track joins from the south-west. Follow this downhill to south-west for approximately 800 m to what was in February 2000 a forest clearing (without GPS position), then strike west through forest (in spring 2000) to a streambed draining into a canyon with a shaft at the end. CAVE DESCRIPTION: The daylight-lit 95 m shaft (estimated to extend at the surface about 40 by 25 m in an unspecified direction and 60 m square at the base) drops into a large undercut Entrance Chamber from where three large passages (to 330°, 255° , 055°) go off. The A-Passage ascends over large run in boulders withno way on. The B-Passage ascends for 20 m up a slope of ancient gravel fill and continues for 100 m to end in a low flatout crawl where a mummified -Racoon- was found. The C-Passage again is blocked by run in boulders from the adjacent pothole. At the lowest point in the Entrance Chamber, a descent through boulders gains a draughting 3 by 4 m passage which leads to a major stream passage (7 and 15 m wide and high) with a series of inlets entering from the west. The upstream of this major passage leads to a large breakdown passage (30 m wide). About one third of the way into the downstream there are large sub-parallel high level relic passages and a maze area. Further downstream is a narrow canyon with a high roof which drops down a 10 m pitch into an underlying, highly fossiliferous and arenaceous (sandy) limestone before ending in low sinks plugged by gravel. CAVE DESCRIPTION 2000: Krem Shrieh (Monkey Cave) 8.5 km long, set a new record for the deepest shaft in India with its entranc shaft of 97 metres, and was characterised by a fine winding stream passage up to 30 meters high. Also of interest was a 'mummified' raccoon (DOWSWELL 2000a). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2003: In Krem Shrieh Derek, Rhys, Shelley and Nicky descend the 60 m pitch of and survey 200m of low streamway. The following day a further 200 m leads to deepening water and a finish in an unpleasant bat and fish infested passage. Krem Pohjingtep [sic! for: Krem poh Jingtep] is also connected with Krem Shrieh after some resurveying and dropping a pitch (Dowswell 2003 Mss: Abode of the Clouds). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2000a: To celebrate St. Alactites day -- the very rare event of the fifth Tuesday in February, I joined the -deep cave team“ of Krem Shrieh. This system had been pushed down a 97 m entrance shaft to some 5 km of superb, generally huge, phreatic passage. [The driver] Bung dropped us on the ridge road and we took the steep 10 minute walk down to the entrance -- a jungle overhang canyon leading to the hed of a big shaft. Mark [Brown] has done a superb job of rigging this with deviations and re-belays. He went down first, followed by Tom and then I descended, making a few minor check-ups on the changeovers but otherwise thoroughly enjoying this stunningly impressive and ridiculously exposed pitch. Those at the bottom were clearly visible in the daylight streaming down the shaft and I was glad that I had a good head for heights! Kirsten then arrived and we commenced the day's surveying at the top of a steep mud and cobble bank near the shaft bottom. At the top of this a wide, low and rock slab filled -bedding plane- was followed for 120 m to where it became too low. We were amazed when Tom first found a couple of small, fox-like skulls and then completely knocked over when he discovered an intact, fur covered racoon-like animal curled up in a nest of leaves on top of a squat stalagmite. This unfortunate creature was as dead as its colleagues and seemed to be mummified. Did it live thre or fell down the shaft and survived -- and how long ago? On downstream to survey a series of large tunnel oxbows and some smaller inlet passages which eventually netted us another 1 kilometre. All the passages in this cave have been named on a monkey theme and the last inlet picked today ended up as -Monkey Puzzle-. This highly meandering and scalloped canyon was painstakingly surveyed for some 500 m until we got fed up. From here, the passage split -- both ways ending in draughting avens and muddy chokes at circa 50 m and 100 m respectively. They may get surveyed next year. On the way back to the shaft Tom and Mark made a dodgy climb up a -chossy- rift to discover 5 m diameter tunnels … (Jarratt 2000.02.29 Mss: Cave Log 2000: 29/2/00). SPELEOMETRY: The Nongkhlieh ridge [Shnongrim ridge] with an area of 30 square kilometers is riddled with caves of stunning beauty; already 145 kilometres of cave passage have been explored and mapped inclusive of … India’s deepest shaft Krem Shrieh Tangnub) at -97metres deep (KHARPRAN DALY, B D 2012.05.22).CAVE CONTENTS: Relatively large grained fluvial deposits (rounded cobbles, sand and mud) in the Old Tunnel are eroded in the Entrance Chamber by the present stream. There are secondary calcite formations (speleothems: columns, flowstone) in the generally sandy-floored relic series, cobbles and pebbles in the streambed, and flowing water in the lower canyon. TACKLE REQUIRED: Insiders suggested to bring one 70 m and a 50 m rope, loads of bolts, slings, and pegs in addition to a spare rope for thread backup, long deviations and tight pants. PROSPECTS: In addition to high level passages (5 m in diameter), which would require maypoling of very poor rock, definitely more than 50 m long, ongoing muddy crawls and narrow passages had been visited in parts but were left to be mapped, surveyed and explored in the future. CAVE LIFE: Bats (Chiroptera), white fish (of course not coloured white but pale, depigmented Pisces), freshwater crabs(Crustacea), spiders (Araneae) and a mummified sort of a raccoon (?). An unidentified kind of monkeys (note 3) are said to have -inhabited- the entrance chamber. KOTTELAT, HARRIES & PROUDLOVE (2007: 43 table 2) list a so-called Krem Shrei (sic!) among the caves in the Sutnga area (sic!) in which the cave dwelling, nemacheilid loach Schistura prob. papulifera (Teleostei: Balituridae) presumably has been seen: Date: Feb 2003 R. Williams: Present.Tangnub) at -97metres deep (KHARPRAN DALY, B D 2012.05.22).CAVE CONTENTS: Relatively large grained fluvial deposits (rounded cobbles, sand and mud) in the Old Tunnel are eroded in the Entrance Chamber by the present stream. There are secondary calcite formations (speleothems: columns, flowstone) in the generally sandy-floored relic series, cobbles and pebbles in the streambed, and flowing water in the lower canyon. TACKLE REQUIRED: Insiders suggested to bring one 70 m and a 50 m rope, loads of bolts, slings, and pegs in addition to a spare rope for thread backup, long deviations and tight pants. PROSPECTS: In addition to high level passages (5 m in diameter), which would require maypoling of very poor rock, definitely more than 50 m long, ongoing muddy crawls and narrow passages had been visited in parts but were left to be mapped, surveyed and explored in the future. CAVE LIFE: Bats (Chiroptera), white fish (of course not coloured white but pale, depigmented Pisces), freshwater crabsTangnub) at -97metres deep (KHARPRAN DALY, B D 2012.05.22).CAVE CONTENTS: Relatively large grained fluvial deposits (rounded cobbles, sand and mud) in the Old Tunnel are eroded in the Entrance Chamber by the present stream. There are secondary calcite formations (speleothems: columns, flowstone) in the generally sandy-floored relic series, cobbles and pebbles in the streambed, and flowing water in the lower canyon. TACKLE REQUIRED: Insiders suggested to bring one 70 m and a 50 m rope, loads of bolts, slings, and pegs in addition to a spare rope for thread backup, long deviations and tight pants. PROSPECTS: In addition to high level passages (5 m in diameter), which would require maypoling of very poor rock, definitely more than 50 m long, ongoing muddy crawls and narrow passages had been visited in parts but were left to be mapped, surveyed and explored in the future. CAVE LIFE: Bats (Chiroptera), white fish (of course not coloured white but pale, depigmented Pisces), freshwater crabs(Crustacea), spiders (Araneae) and a mummified sort of a raccoon (?). An unidentified kind of monkeys (note 3) are said to have -inhabited- the entrance chamber. KOTTELAT, HARRIES & PROUDLOVE (2007: 43 table 2) list a so-called Krem Shrei (sic!) among the caves in the Sutnga area (sic!) in which the cave dwelling, nemacheilid loach Schistura prob. papulifera (Teleostei: Balituridae) presumably has been seen: Date: Feb 2003 R. Williams: Present.