GHAIBA KAUR GHARA, 1st

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

The most extensive known cave (note 1) of Pakistan consists of braided bedding plane passages at three levels (0 m, circa -5 m and -15 m) interconnected by rift passages. Two generations of inward facing scallops (note 2) record that the cave has functioned as an insurgence (sink) but infillings of angular breakdown boulders buried in washed-in sand and covered under a thick blanket of bat guano indicate that the cave must has fallen dry (note 3) a considerable time ago. SITUATION: About 15 vertical metre above caves #2 and #3 and 30 m above the level of the stilling basin in the –>Ghaib Kaur at a spot about a kilometre west of the Ghaib Pir Ziarat (note 4). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1990: … a series of caves with a combined length … [containing] some good sized passage and, somewhat alarmingly, a large and varied selection of wildlife (BROOKS 1990a: 2). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1988 (after GEBAUER 1988b: 86): The cave entrance galleries are clearly developed along the bedding planes but the bulk of te cave passages is represented by a 3-dimensional maze of joint controlled galleries which appear in a complex and sometimes braided structure. By far the major part of the cave floor, and thus an important clue to interpret the stages of cave development, is obscured, in descending order, by bat guano (circa. 60%), sand (20%) and fallen rocks (10%). At least three cave levels, however, are discernible. The two upper ones, about 5 vertical metre above each other, appear to have a slight inclination towards the south, while the lowest level, about 15 m below the central one, gives the impression to dip rather towards the north. If the opposing inclination can be proved, it might be ascribed to an uneven uplift event.Between the central and the lower cave level at least two passages were found to slant approximately towards the east or the south-east. In these slanting passages, considerable masses of flowstone (calcite floors) were observed. The dark brown colour of the calcite is attrbuted to continuous exposure to bat guano and urine.Considering the arid desert climate of the area, which consists of extensive dry spells interrupted by irregular torrential rains, the feature of a spacious cave maze above a network of small-sized cavities could be ascribed to long spells of low (pressure and velocity) flow interrupted by short periods of flooding with detritus laden water and consequent abrasional enlargement of over-flow water-ways. At the cave entrance to Cave 1, there are about 6 cm long and 2 cm deep scallops superimposed on about 0.6 m long and 0.15 m deep scallops. Their orientation records that water flowing in the gorge once sank into the now dry (relic) insurgence cave. CAVE CONTENTS: 0.6 to 0.8 m diameter kamenitza / solution pans (note 5) occur on flat surfaces boulders in the open air in front of the cave. Speleothems are rare but there are some up to 1 m thick calcite deposits (flowstone). Physioklastic sediments include angular blocks (collapse), washd in sand. Concerning bioklastic sediments, there occur considerable amounts of bat guano in various stages of accumulation and decomposition. CAVE POTENTIAL: Unexplored leads, which possibly could result in discovering unknown cave passages, are represented by somewhat uninviting climbs, which are often restricted in size but are always covered with slippery guano dripping from bat urine. CULTURAL HISTORY - human use: According to local informants, the bat guano was (or still is?) retrieved for fertilizer (nitrate, phosphate). CAVE CLIMATE: HDG measured an air temperature of 26.5C° (probably ±0.5°C) on 1997.12.05 - 06.CAVE LIFE: Several ten or hundred thousand pale coloured and leaf-nosed bats (Chiroptera) retreat during daytime into the cave to produce substantial amounts of guano and ammonia. When disturbed, for example by cave mappers, the visibility range in the air is reduced to 20 or 25 m. Then the bats' Brown's movement (Dr. Boycott, Antony 'Tony', personal communicatin) results in continuous hectic flows in tubular passages and huge swirling vortexes in chambers (counter clockwise when looking down. Don't look up). One of their unwelcomed behaviours is to accumulate on suspended survey tapes or to settle dangling from sketching explorers' noses. The cave is also inhabited by large, white and hairy spiders (photograph in BOYCOTT & DOWSWELL 1988: 44), of which one was observed eating a relatively large centipede (Diplopoda) of unknown size. Also noted were various additional creepy crawlies (Arthropoda), including relatively large cockroaches of unknown size, three of which were dragging away a dead bat.d in sand. Concerning bioklastic sediments, there occur considerable amounts of bat guano in various stages of accumulation and decomposition. CAVE POTENTIAL: Unexplored leads, which possibly could result in discovering unknown cave passages, are represented by somewhat uninviting climbs, which are often restricted in size but are always covered with slippery guano dripping from bat urine. CULTURAL HISTORY - human use: According to local informants, the bat guano was (or still is?) retrieved for fertilizer (nitrate, phosphate). CAVE CLIMATE: HDG measured an air temperature of 26.5C° (probably ±0.5°C) on 1997.12.05 - 06.CAVE LIFE: Several ten or hundred thousand pale coloured and leaf-nosed bats (Chiroptera) retreat during daytime into the cave to produce substantial amounts of guano and ammonia. When disturbed, for example by cave mappers, the visibility range in the air is reduced to 20 or 25 m. Then the bats' Brown's movement (Dr. Boycott, Antony 'Tony', personal communicatin) results in continuous hectic flows in tubular passages and huge swirling vortexes in chambers (counter clockwise when looking down. Don't look up). One of their unwelcomed behaviours is to accumulate on suspended survey tapes or to settle dangling from sketching explorers' noses. The cave is also inhabited by large, white and hairy spiders (photograph in BOYCOTT & DOWSWELL 1988: 44), of which one was observed eating a relatively large centipede (Diplopoda) of unknown size. Also noted were various additional creepy crawlies (Arthropoda), including relatively large cockroaches of unknown size, three of which were dragging away a dead bat.