Kuh-e Dozd (Cave on the)

Various descriptions

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

The cave on -Robber's Hill (note 1) is at least 100 m long (note 2) and developed in feldspathic calcareous sandstone. CAVE DESCRIPTION: Penetrating a narrow descending crawl one arrives after about 10 m at a first terrace where a fosse (French, for: hole, pit) on the right-hand side leads to a crawl ending in barren archaeological trial pits (note 3). Straight ahead the gallery keeps on descending, becomes quite spacious, and continues for about 30 m to become a bit more horizontal. Here are big chambers. At the start, on the left, there is a large ascending side passage with some penetrable chimneys. A second fosse resulting from (unspecified) -excavations- is found in the large main chamber. The gallery continues, descending again, and arrives at a low gate. A short dstance further on the gallery climbs up via a narrow lead through massive speleothems and ends in an ascending chimney. The longeur total (literally: 'total length' for maximal extension?) of the cave between the entrance and the terminal chimney is about 100 m. CAVE CONTENTS: The ceiling and walls of the caves are sculpted by the action of water and covered with rich calcite formations (speleothems) but stalagmites and stalactites are absent. A large slab of calcite, detached from the cave wall, rests almost vertically standing in one of the squeezes. Almost the entire cave floor is covered with very thick bat guano pillows. No re-assemblage of water was observed. CAVE CLIMATE: On 21st April 1958 an air temperature of 28°C –at 75% humidity– was measured in the interior when 37°C were read at the entrance. CAVE LIFE: LINDBERG (1958: 128) recorded (and collected?) Blattida, Diptera pupipares, Arachnida (Opiliones), Acaria, and Chiroptera. LINDBERG (1958: 128, 1961a: 19) notes an enrmously large population of Blatta (cockroaches) with an estimated sex ration of one male to 400 females and noted unexpectedly few Acaria in connection with completely absent Collembola. JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1746, 1749) list Aranea: Acari terrestria: Trombiculidae: Trombicula minor BERLESE (nine specimens, troglophile) collected from bat guano; Arachnida: Acari parasiti: Spinturnicidae: Spinturnix psi KOLENATI; Vertebrata: Chiroptera: Hipposideridae: Asellia tridens murraiana ANDERSON. Not seen: DUPREE 1951a, 1951b, 1956a, 1956b, 1957.stance further on the gallery climbs up via a narrow lead through massive speleothems and ends in an ascending chimney.