THEH (Krem Quarry U)

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

A broad but low cave entrance (5 m wide and 0.8 m high) in a limestone quarry faced in January 2015 NNW and gave access to dendritic pattern of stream cave passages, which contained secondary calcite formations (speleothems) and then seemd to still drain a seasonal stream of water generally eastwards up to an area where the accessible cave passage was found collapsed in the close proximity of a neighbouring limestone quarry. The original catchment area in the west, including the unexplored downstream reaches of the 2nd Krem Pyrda (Chiehruphi), had been lost already in January 2015 because the cave-bearing limestone had been quarried, was turned into cement, and profitably sold by the bag.ETYMOLOGY: No cave name had existed before the inaccessible cave was unexpectedly intersected in the course of limestone quarrying. For the time being, the cave was called Krem U Theh (note 1) either because both the limestone quarry and the cave was owned or managed in January 2015 by one Mr. Theh (nte 2) or, perhaps, due to being unawares of the Khasi expression -tih maw- (note 2) for a stone quarry (SINGH, N 1920: 415). SITUATION: In a setting which was in January 2015 on the north-facing southern flank of a limestone quarry which was either owned (managed?) by one Mister Theh (in Khasi: U Theh) or expressivey called u tih [maw] in the vernacular language known as Synteng (Pnar) Khasi. POSITION 1: near (ignored precision error presumably ±0.0 m) N 25°12´40.7´´, E 092°23´08.5´´ 766 müNN (Scherzer, H 2015.04.01 Mss -Tagebuch- Mi. 07.01.2015) = 25°12'40.7”: 92°23'08.5”: 766 m and thus in a direct line about 1.3 km east of Chiehruphi (25°12'36”N: 92°22'22”E) and 425 m east of the three Pyrda caves (25°12'45”N: 92°22'54”E). POSITION 2: The screen of a digital camera (Panasonic DMC FT-4) demonstrated a GPS position which was not understood at all but inadequately copied by hand as bei … der Theh-Höhle, 25 12 40 70 - 92 23 8 43 und eine Höhe von 793 m (Lindenmayr, F 2015.0.29 Mss: Anmerkungen und Ergänzungen). It is obvious that Lindenmayr's interpretation of the latitude east is incomplete (seven digits instead eight) and probably lacks a presumably redundant but actually essential zero. Little doubt remains that the corrected record reads 25°12'40.70”N: 92°23'08.43”E: 793 m = 25.211306°N: 92.385675°E: 793 m (WGS84) and indicates a spot merely 2 m west of position 1. CAVE DESCRIPTION: The comparatively low but broad cave entrance (5 m wide and 0.8 m high) faces north and leads to an about 30 m long constricted cave passage which gives access to a pleasant and generously stal-decorated, meandering and dry (January 2015) stream cave passage (on average 1 m wide and 3 m high) with a moist sandy floor (note 4). About 125 m into the cave, a tributary passage (1 m wide, 3 m high) leads upstream west and eventually continues at ceiling height as an upper level crawlway back to the entrance area. The stream cave passage continues east to a sand plug whee lowering ceiling meets the sand-covered floor, leaving a crawl which was not pushed to conclusion. A draughting upper level lead towards south (about 20 m short of the sand plug) commences in style as a Häusler grade 5 crawl (requiring exhalation), is followed by a 2 m climb down into circular chamber, and continues as a narrow canyon which meanders all the way to the St. Peter's Dome, in this case a cave chamber with a pool on the ground and an aven above. Here, the true main drag of the cave is reached. It is mostly more than 4 m wide, just about of a man's height, and allows to hone one's skill of adjusting to a slightly stooped gait (note 5). PROSPECTS 2015.01.09: It is possible that an unexplored 16 m deep shaft (undescended) inside the main cave passage descends down into a lower cave level (note 6) but all the solid limestone northwest of the cave was substituted by fleeting numbers on a bank account (U Theh's quarry) and the southeastern part of the cave was found toend close to the adjacent limestone quarry, the Moiong Block-I Limestone Mine (note 7).e lowering ceiling meets the sand-covered floor, leaving a crawl which was not pushed to conclusion. A draughting upper level lead towards south (about 20 m short of the sand plug) commences in style as a Häusler grade 5 crawl (requiring exhalation), is followed by a 2 m climb down into circular chamber, and continues as a narrow canyon which meanders all the way to the St. Peter's Dome, in this case a cave chamber with a pool on the ground and an aven above. Here, the true main drag of the cave is reached. It is mostly more than 4 m wide, just about of a man's height, and allows to hone one's skill of adjusting to a slightly stooped gait (note 5). PROSPECTS 2015.01.09: It is possible that an unexplored 16 m deep shaft (undescended) inside the main cave passage descends down into a lower cave level (note 6) but all the solid limestone northwest of the cave was substituted by fleeting numbers on a bank account (U Theh's quarry) and the southeastern part of the cave was found toe lowering ceiling meets the sand-covered floor, leaving a crawl which was not pushed to conclusion. A draughting upper level lead towards south (about 20 m short of the sand plug) commences in style as a Häusler grade 5 crawl (requiring exhalation), is followed by a 2 m climb down into circular chamber, and continues as a narrow canyon which meanders all the way to the St. Peter's Dome, in this case a cave chamber with a pool on the ground and an aven above. Here, the true main drag of the cave is reached. It is mostly more than 4 m wide, just about of a man's height, and allows to hone one's skill of adjusting to a slightly stooped gait (note 5). PROSPECTS 2015.01.09: It is possible that an unexplored 16 m deep shaft (undescended) inside the main cave passage descends down into a lower cave level (note 6) but all the solid limestone northwest of the cave was substituted by fleeting numbers on a bank account (U Theh's quarry) and the southeastern part of the cave was found toe lowering ceiling meets the sand-covered floor, leaving a crawl which was not pushed to conclusion. A draughting upper level lead towards south (about 20 m short of the sand plug) commences in style as a Häusler grade 5 crawl (requiring exhalation), is followed by a 2 m climb down into circular chamber, and continues as a narrow canyon which meanders all the way to the St. Peter's Dome, in this case a cave chamber with a pool on the ground and an aven above. Here, the true main drag of the cave is reached. It is mostly more than 4 m wide, just about of a man's height, and allows to hone one's skill of adjusting to a slightly stooped gait (note 5). PROSPECTS 2015.01.09: It is possible that an unexplored 16 m deep shaft (undescended) inside the main cave passage descends down into a lower cave level (note 6) but all the solid limestone northwest of the cave was substituted by fleeting numbers on a bank account (U Theh's quarry) and the southeastern part of the cave was found toe lowering ceiling meets the sand-covered floor, leaving a crawl which was not pushed to conclusion. A draughting upper level lead towards south (about 20 m short of the sand plug) commences in style as a Häusler grade 5 crawl (requiring exhalation), is followed by a 2 m climb down into circular chamber, and continues as a narrow canyon which meanders all the way to the St. Peter's Dome, in this case a cave chamber with a pool on the ground and an aven above. Here, the true main drag of the cave is reached. It is mostly more than 4 m wide, just about of a man's height, and allows to hone one's skill of adjusting to a slightly stooped gait (note 5). PROSPECTS 2015.01.09: It is possible that an unexplored 16 m deep shaft (undescended) inside the main cave passage descends down into a lower cave level (note 6) but all the solid limestone northwest of the cave was substituted by fleeting numbers on a bank account (U Theh's quarry) and the southeastern part of the cave was found toend close to the adjacent limestone quarry, the Moiong Block-I Limestone Mine (note 7).