Disznós-árki Cave

Disznós-árki Cave is a cave located in non-karstic rock in the Visegrád Mountains, in the area of Pilismarót, within the Danube–Ipoly National Park. It is the second longest cave in the mountain range, but not as spacious as the caves of the Vasas Gorge.

Description

It is located on the side of Disznós-árok, starting from Dobogó stone and heading towards the Hoffmann sink, in the immediate vicinity of the Laura spring. The mountain slope composed of tuff of volcanic ash and debris deposition origin formed the cave as fissures closed between rock blocks during slippage or collapse of the slope. It is very similar to Csörgő-hole, but smaller. It is a tectonic cave. It is 70 metres long and 13 metres deep.

Research history

The emanating steam that revealed the cave was observed by László Szepesi, who was hiking there, and he drew the researchers' attention to it. Years later, in January 2008, they examined it and indeed experienced a startling outflow of warm air. Several draughty points were found in the area (Disznós-árki indications 1–5), and finally in the second mentioned indication the cave opened after about 10 hours of blasting. Passing through huge blocks of fallen material, to the surprise of the explorers, they found walkable sections.

Further large work was invested in the Minus branch opening beside the entrance, which was excavated following the draft to almost 10 metres depth, as well as in the 4th indication opening 20 metres lower, which is the presumed lower entrance of the cave, and where, following the cold air flowing out in summer, which in July is below zero degrees, a passage already seven metres long was dug, all so far unsuccessfully. György Slíz surveyed the cave and, based on the survey, prepared on 1 January 2009 a plan view cave map with two cross‑sections, as well as a longitudinal section cave map. According to the survey the cave is 60 m long and 13 m deep. If the indications discovered so far could be connected, then a several‑hundred‑metre cave could be expected, although the presence of walkable passages in the collapse is not guaranteed, the draft may also originate from the cracks of fine‑grained debris.

The study published in the 2014 Karst Development notes that the longest cave of the Visegrád Mountains is the 70 m long and 13 m deep Disznós-árki cave. Since the 2000s, mainly due to the activities of the Ariadne Karst and Cave Research Association and the Szent Özséb Cave Research Association, about 30 new caves have become known in the mountain range. The most significant of these is the Disznós-árki cave, uncovered in 2008, which is a tectonic slip cave.

The evening side of Disznós-árok, which departs from Dobogókő towards Pilismarót, is formed by a marl base on which a andesite conglomerate has been placed, which slips on the wet marl, breaks into pieces and its fragments pile up on each other during the slip. Impassable niches and cracks arise among the moving stone blocks, whose name is tectonic cave. These interconnected niches and cracks constitute the Disznós-árki cave. Air movement is observed in few caves, mainly in large caves, e.g., in the Disznós-árki cave. It is one of the 101 caves of the Visegrád Mountains, located in Pilismarót. In the figure attached to the publication, which shows the location of the Visegrád Mountains' caves longer than 10 m, the geographical location of the cave can be seen. The site plan was edited by István Eszterhás. The study includes the cave floor plan map.