CHIKRUKOL

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

A subterranean tributary from the north-west (right) of the Rompa River (shown as Rompha on the maps) consists of three main branches: The main branch (with wet lateral mazes) is an active streamway coming from the north-north-west that is joined by two tributary branches arriving from between the north-west and west. The younger main branch is characterised by wet lateral mazes while the older parts show collapses of the shale ceiling that forms oval chambers which may continue into the overlying sandstone. SITUATION: Opposite of –>Kholjong Kol and on the right (northern) bank of the river Rompa (Rompha). A couple of cave entrances exist at the edge of the riverbed. These are either more or less penetrable or blocked by soil, fallen boulders and entangled creepers. The main cave entrance, a 1 m diameter collapse hole in the jungle, which lies some 10 or 15 m above the riverbed, may be reached by scrambling down the riverbed from the sinkhole entrance to –>Kholjong Kol, or otherwise b taking the footpath that runs from the Asakgre to Baghmara (five walking hours away) and by turning south-east at Papha Asakgre (N25°19'44.2”: E090°30'28.5” WGS84: 225 m asl GPS), and descending by jungle trails to the Rompa / Rompha. CAVE DESCRIPTION: A small collapse entrance, just 1.5 m across, opens to the top of a scree slope that descends some 10 m to a stream passage with shallow pools between fallen boulders and gravel. The downstream (south-west) passage soon turns into a wet, hands and knees to stooping height passage (5 m wide, 0.7 m high) with a sandy floor. The upstream passage (running first from the north, later turning to the north-west) follows a trunk passage (10 m wide, 5 m high) that climbs into a chamber, the Oval Room, that is characterised by a flat shale ceiling. A complex system of joint controlled maze passages (on average 1 m wide, 3 m high) drains water (21.5°C, flow circa 5 l/s) from a massif collapse of huge fallen limestone boulders in the north-norh-west past the eastern side of the Oval Room into the lower reaches of the trunk passage. At a distance of about 100 m from the cave entrance, an ancient, seasonally active tributary (on average 4 m wide, 3 m high) enters from the east. This climbs into a series of chambers, initially characterised by oval shale ceilings, later by oval shale walls, and finally surrounded by sandstone. These chambers, of which the cave map must look like a garland of sausages, are separated from each other by low and sandy crawls. The flat but wide downstream section represents a backup zone with soil and mud covered stalactites (speleothems). It runs into yet another maze with several leads to daylight or soil plugs. One near linear rift (70 m to the east-south-east) is distinguished by a wet muddy floor and joins an older tributary with a boulder covered floor from the north-east. This climbs into a succession of chambers with flat shale ceilings and oval shaped in ground plan. PROSPECTS: In the norhernmost end, beyond a narrow 15 m swim and perched about 2 m above the floor, a dreadful crawl threatens to break ribs between clean washed boulders. CAVE CLIMATE: Water temperature 21.5°C (2002.02.13). CAVE LIFE: Bats (Chiroptera) are rare. Some shrimps (Crustacea) and tiny catfish (? ) were seen in a disconnected pool with a sand and mud floor in a high level maze.