MONDIL QUARRY KOL

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

One obvious, north-east facing cave entrance (19 m wide, 12 m high) in addition to several smaller, lateral cave entrances (note 1), which are hidden in the jungle, gives access to two levels of relic cave passages with an abundance of calcite deposits (speleothems) and bat guano. The cave is suspected to once have served as the resurgence of a phreatic tributary from the west (now abandoned) but currently has developed into a mature state of speleogenesis. SITUATION: Some 25 vertical metres above the orographically right (western) bank of the Morasora River, about 250 m in a direct line upstream from the iron bridge (note 2) on the road from Maheshkhola uphill to Khunjoy (Khanjoy), and some 100 m upstream of thr cave entrance to –>Morasora Rongkol. An inconspicuous jungle path climbs from a river terrace (in spring 2003 recently cleared) to the cave entrance in the southern third of a crescent shaped bay in the east-facing flank of the escarpment rising from the broad river valley. CVE DESCRIPTION: The entrance is obstructed by a natural dam of fallen rocks and boulders, all fallen from the mountain side above and each sprinkled with dry bat guano (February 2002). Descending into the smelly and slimy lower level of the cave, there is a choice of two cave passages, neither of which go: a calcite blocked rift onwards and a crawl back and around a boulder, half suspended and half sunken into the guano floor. Ascending from the bouldery dam of rocks to the upper level a larger chamber is gained. This is mostly smelly and slimy again but offers a continuous calcite floor and a confusing array of voluminous stalactitic formations which often form false walls. Ascending from the rocky dam of boulders to the far left-hand side (south-east) one reaches an area, characterised by entrances and stals, which has not been explored to its conclusion. PROSPECTS (2002 February): Good, if prepared to get lost between secondary calcite formations and if prepared to thoroughly -clea up- the multitude of obvious and numerous bypasses and apparent dead ends, which can be expected to lead to overlooked cave passages, which possibly connect to some of the partly explored caves in the valley of the Wakak, an area where –>Wakakchiring, the sink, and the caves –>Teteng Nokkim and –>Rongdanggai Rongkol are located. CAVE LIFE - bats (Chiroptera): Inspite of the ubiquitous bat guano, there were very bats in this cave at noon in late February 2003 but one the carcass of one bat lying dead on the floor was collected on 19th February 2003 by Gebauer, H D and subsequently determined by Dieter Kock (Bonn, Museum Alexander König, 2003.05.16 personal correspondence) to be the apparently first Black-bearded tomb bat (Emballonuridae: Taphozous melanopogon Temminck 1841) that have been recorded from North-Eastern India. In February 2005, the cave had been used as a bat hunting ground: Morasora Quarry Kol [sic!] … Son entrée, comme pour Gurmaljanggal Kol [i.e. Gurmaljangal Rongkol],est aménagée pour capturer les chauves-souris (Oppliger 2005.02 edited 2010.07 Mss).est aménagée pour capturer les chauves-souris (Oppliger 2005.02 edited 2010.07 Mss).