Bába-völgy No 1 Sinkhole Cave

The Bába-völgy 1st water sinkhole cave is one of the caves located in the Aggtelek National Park. Together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst, it has been part of the World Heritage since 1995.

Description

North of the Szögliget centre, three kilometres away, on the southern part of the Alsó-hegy in the Bába Valley, it opens in an inactive water sinkhole 30–40 metres in diameter and 6–8 metres deep. About 150 metres from the entrance of the Bába-völgy 2nd water sinkhole cave, near the blue‑band marked tourist trail of the National Blue Trail and the red‑band marked tourist trail, is its 2–3 metre wide entrance. On the tourist trail, moving uphill in the valley, it is located to the right of the trail. The cave’s location is marked on the new edition tourist maps. It formed in Upper Triassic limestone. It contains no stalactites and no solutional forms. The water flowing through the cave probably emerges at the Lakatos spring, which was formerly called Bába spring and Borz spring. The sinkhole has a small catchment area of about 40 000–50 000 square metres and is therefore rarely active. Currently it is walkable to a depth of 8–10 metres. The whole cave is collapse‑dangerous and can be visited only with permission. The cave passage is walkable with basic equipment. With excavation its length could probably be increased.

The cave also occurs in the literature under the names Bábavölgyi 1.sz. viznyelő (Dénes 1964), Bába-völgyi I.sz water sinkhole cave (Vlk 2019), Szádvári 1.sz. viznyelő (Bertalan 1976), Szádvári 1. sz. water sinkhole (Kordos 1984) and Szádvári 1. sz. water sinkhole cave (Dénes 2004–2005). In 1984 the cave was first called Bába-völgyi 1. sz. water sinkhole cave in the literature.

Research history

In May 1957 György Dénes discovered the sinkhole. In August 1957 the ÉM Kinizsi Cave Exploration Group led by Balázs Dénes explored it to a depth of 8 metres and a length of 8 metres, uncovering the place of the water disappearing in the sinkhole. At that time they assumed that the water disappearing in the cave reappears at the Alsó spring in Acskó. During the exploration, Pál Bártfay (a group member) simultaneously prepared the cave map.

According to the manuscript titled Speleological Field Report prepared in 1963, the cave probably discharges its water into the Bába spring based on the results of fluorescent water tracing carried out by György Dénes in the Bába Valley well No. 2 in the summer of 1959. The Bába spring is located 335 m away in a straight line, measured on the map. The elevation difference relative to the Bába spring is +40 m. The guidebook titled Aggtelek and its Surroundings, published in 1961, states that György Dénes demonstrated in 1958 the hydrological connection between the cave and the Borz spring.

The Red Meteor Cave Exploration Group dismantled the water well in 1964. On 26 March 1964 the Bába Valley well No. 1 was not operating, while 100 l of water was being drawn per minute from the Bába Valley well No. 2. On 27 March 1964 leakage was observed in the Bába Valley well No. 1, and 330 l of water was being drawn per minute from the Bába Valley well No. 2. According to the study published by Tamás Hazslinszky in 1965, the well has a small catchment area and is therefore rarely active. In the past it may have had a large catchment area for the huge opening well, which was later cut off by the subsequently formed Bába Valley well No. 2. In 1966 members of the Kinizsi Cave Exploration Group carried out inspection tours and minor maintenance work in the Bába Valley wells.

In 1975 the members of the KPVDSZ VM Tektonik Cave Exploration Group (Bessenyei J., Gáspár J., Szabó M. and Varga P.) surveyed the cave, then Szabó M. based on the survey drew the cave’s longitudinal section map, plan map and 7 cross‑section maps. The maps present the cave at a scale of 1:100. The longitudinal section map shows the location of the 7 cross‑sections in the cave. The map plate marks the east direction. In the manuscript written by Bertalan Károly and completed in 1976, on catalogue number 68, it is stated that the Bába‑völgy 1st water sink (Szádvári 1st water sink) is located in Szögliget, on the Lower Mountain. The water sink has a small catchment area, therefore the water sink is very rarely active. The Bába‑völgy 1st water sink cave is 180 m from the Bába‑völgy 2nd water sink cave. The catalogue describing the Bába‑völgy 1st water sink cave was written based on the publication by Hazslinszky Tamás.

The manuscript titled “Speleological Field Report” written in 1977 states that the water flowing into the cave appears in the Lakatos source according to the VITUKI water painting. The cave’s plan length is 22 m, its actual length is 32 m, its horizontal extent is 14 m and its vertical extent is 14 m. At the 1982 traveling meeting of the Hungarian Karst and Cave Research Society it was one of the hiking targets. In the 1984 book “Caves of Hungary”, in the national cave list, the cave on the Aggtelek Karst is listed as Bába‑völgy 1st water sink cave with the name variant Szádvári 1st water sink. Associated with the list is a 1:500 000 scale map showing the geographic location of the caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Bükk Mountains, indicating the cave’s geographic location.

According to the 1993 report of the MAFC Cave Exploration Group, the cave is hydrologically connected to the Acskó spring. It can be learned from the May–June 1994 issue of the MKBT Programme Booklet that the cave is not shown on the map sheet of Alsó-hegy that was put up for sale. Together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst, the Bába Valley No 1 water sink cave has been part of the World Heritage since 1995. According to the thesis prepared by Attila Nyerges in 1997, the 7 m deep Bába Valley No 1 water sink cave is the 53rd deepest cave of the Hungarian part of Alsó-hegy. The 52nd deepest (Húsvét‑zsomboly) is also 7 m deep. According to the necrology published in the 2004–2005 Karst and Cave, Peter Frojimovics participated in the 1957 exploration, first entry and survey of the Bába Valley No 1 water sink cave. According to the publication of the XV. Lakatos Cup held on 27 September 2008, the 7 m deep Bába Valley No 1 water sink cave was not among the competition venues.