Bába-völgy No 4 Sinkhole Cave

The Bába-völgy 4th water sink cave is one of the caves located in the Aggtelek National Park area. Together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst, it has been part of the World Heritage since 1995. It is the deepest and largest vertically extending cave in the Bába Valley.

Description

North of the center of Szögliget, about three kilometres, on the southern part of Alsó-hegy, in the Bába Valley, at the valley floor, in a forest, at the foot of a rock group, at the bottom of a periodically active, visible from afar, well-developed water sink, it opens about 280 metres from the Bába-völgy 3rd water sink cave. It is not far from the entrance of the National Blue Trail marked with a blue stripe. Moving upward in the Bába Valley, it is located to the right of the tourist path. The cave’s location is marked on the new edition tourist maps. A generally dry streambed leads into the water sink, which has a catchment area of about 100,000 square metres.

It formed in Upper Triassic Hallstatt limestone. The entrance part is very unstable, and at its end there is often an active water flow. The water flowing through the cave has been traced to the Köszörű spring in Slovakia, which emerges 4.5 kilometres away, and to the associated Andród-kert flood spring. The vertically oriented cave has a horizontal extent of 15 metres. Stalactites can also be observed in it. It can be visited only with permission and the use of rope techniques. It is not closed.

The cave occurs in its literature as Bábavölgyi 4. number cave (Rónai 1965), Bábavölgyi 4th water sink (Bertalan 1976), Bábavölgyi 4. number water sink cave (Bertalan 1976), Bába-völgyi IVth water sink cave (Nyerges 1994), Bába-völgyi IVth water sink cave (Vlk 2019), Bódvaszilasi fissure cave (Balázz 1957), Bódvaszilasi water sink cave (Bertalan 1976), Bódvaszilasi water sink-cave (Balázs 1957), Bódvaszilasi water sink cave (Kordos 1984), Szádvári 4th water sink cave (Bertalan 1976) and Szádvári 4th water sink cave (Kordos 1984) names as well.

Research history

In May 1957 Dénes György discovered the water sink. In August 1957 the cave was explored by opening the windy sinkhole. At that time the cave was 37.5 m deep and 49 m long. The explorers led by Kálmán Szilágyi were Balázs Dénes, László Csányi, Lajos Ernst, Lajos Györödi and Tamás Hazslinszky, members of the ÉM Kinizsi Cave Research Group. At that time Balázs Dénes and Tibor Bató surveyed the cave, and based on the survey the cave map was produced. Already then they assumed that it was not connected to the water system of water sinks numbers 1–3 and that the water absorbed in the sink probably emerged at the Upper Spring of Acskó. They thought it was part of the large Vecsem‑Bükki cave system. They determined that from the deepest point of the cave further progress was possible only by blasting. At the end of the research work the entrance not secured by a ladder was blocked with rocks.

The Red Meteor Cave Exploration Group dismantled the water sinkhole in 1964. On March 26, 1964 the sinkhole absorbed 20 l per minute, on the 27th 20 l and on the 28th 5 l of water per minute. According to a study published by Tamás Hazslinszky in 1965, the sinkhole has a medium water catchment area, but most of it is drained by several younger cave streams. The cave is 15 m long. In 1966 members of the Red Meteor Cave Exploration Group carried out inspection trips and minor maintenance work in the Bába‑valley sinkholes. On February 22 1969, using sodium fluorescein, the hydrological connection of Bába‑valley sinkhole No 3 with the Acskó spring was demonstrated. Because the dyed water did not appear at the Borz spring, it seemed to exclude that Bába‑valley sinkhole No 4 belongs to the Borz spring water system.

In August 1970 György Dénes, using fluorescein dye, determined that the water of Bába‑valley sinkhole No 4 appears at the Köszörű spring in Slovakia and at the associated Andród‑garden flood spring. Members of the VM Vass Imre Cave Exploration Group and the VM Tektonik Cave Exploration Group participated in the dye tracing of the sinkhole and in monitoring the springs. In 1971 the latter group visited the cave many times, carried out excavation work and installed iron ladders on the ledges. At that time the Tektonik Cave Exploration Group produced a 2‑length‑section map and a 7‑cross‑section map of the cave. The maps were sent to the Hungarian Karst and Cave Research Society. The cave was surveyed by Zoltán Aradi, László Csernavölgyi, András Molnár and Géza Varga. The maps were edited by László Csernavölgyi. (Later, at an unknown date, new maps were compiled based on these maps with the support of the KTM.)

In 1972 and 1973 the group continued the demolition work. According to the guidebook published in 1975 and edited by László Jakucs, the Bába-völgy No 4 sinkhole cave is almost 30 m deep. On the 70th card in the manuscript written by Károly Bertalan and completed in 1976 it is stated that the Bába-völgy No 4 sinkhole has other names: Bódvaszilasi sinkhole cave and Szádvári (Bába-völgy) No 4 sinkhole cave. The cave is located in Szögliget, on the Lower Hill, at about 375 m a.s.l. The 15 m long, 37.5 m deep inactive sinkhole is wide and vertical, funnel‑shaped. According to the speleological field report made on 30 January 1977 and based on the August 1971 exploration, the cave’s plan length is 28 m, its actual length is 42 m, its horizontal extent is 8 m and its vertical extent is 25.2 m. At the 1982 field meeting of the Hungarian Karst and Cave Research Society, one of the surface hiking destinations was the Bába-völgy No 4 sinkhole cave.