Eastern Codzo Cave

(Cheringoma - MZ)
-18.552778,34.874167
Longueur 156m Profondeur 22m
Grottocenter / carte

Description

Michael Laumanns - 27/11/2015

Codzo village, Codzo zone, Cheringoma district, Sofala province. 34°52'57"E. 18°33'10' N (GPS WGS84), ca. 230 m asl. Surveyed on 3 Sept. 1998 by Herbert Daniel Gebauer, Adriano Germano and Michael Laumanns (BCRA-Grade 4b). Length: 156 m. Vertical range -21,5 m. Both fossil caves at the eastern border of Codzo river can be reached easily by a 15 minute walk from Codzo village. They are of the ,b)-type". A collapse doline lead (a) into a small N-S rift and (b) into a high rift passage (SW-NE) which joins another huge rift passage with entrances at both it’s western and eastern end. The crawl entrance at the eastern end opens into the Codzo river valley. An extension of the cave to the south contains interesting vermiculations in the form of linear stripes, about 6 mm wide and apart from each other running parallel down a slightly overhanging wall. A few hundred bats live in the central part of the cave which contains some guano and calcite formations.

Michael Laumanns - 27/11/2015

Fossil cave in the Eocene nummulitic limestone of the Cheringoma formation, consisting of wide galleries on fracture N 60°, developed on two levels of which the upper has elliptical cross-sections and the inferior one has semicircular shape. The N 60° structures are intersected by a N 150° direction on which a Second ascending gallery leads to another entrance. At the point of intersection the gallery has a third family of fractures N 15° with a daylight in the ceiling, while to left the intersection a structure N 165° has generated a big pocket on the ceiling. On a wall, next to the daylight opening, whitish vermicular formations are present, both vertical stripes and leopard Skin due to condensation and following water glide on the vertical wall surface. Fig. 28 shows the following subdivisions of structures: 1) N 60° and N 0°, main orientations of karstification respectively with 33,5 % and 29 %; 2) N 15°, N 165° and N 150°, secondary orientations respectively with 20%, 17% and 14,5%.

Cavités proche

Distance (km)NomLongueur (m)Profondeur (m)
0.7Western Codzo Cave61233
0.8Smaller Eastern Codzo Cave4010
1.2Ninga Niamabawa13010
1.5Upper Codzo River Cave40
1.5Ninga Cupicua4
1.5Mazamba Valley Caves
1.5Codzo River Cave [Grotte de la Rivière Codzo]94233
4.9Ninga Miriango61010
6.1Ninga Manguenje18810