Gánti quarry No 5 Cave

The Gánt quarry No. 5 cave is located in the Vértes Mountains of the Danube–Ipoly National Park, one of the caves in Csákvár.

Description

It is situated in the outskirts of Csákvár, on the edge of Gánt, in a stone quarry, a cave with distinctive morphology worthy of further investigation. The cave is most easily approached from the Gánt D side. From the monument, one must walk more than 0.5 km on the DK road leading to the former bauxite mine that has been reclaimed, and from there the mine wall’s EN side can be reached only on foot. Above this part of the lower mine yard a terrace of the excavation level remains, covering an area of about 15×20 m. On the steep bedding wall of the rock surface above (230/50°) a clearly visible inclined fault line runs across, first to the left and then to the right, rising upward. In this fault, about 5–6 m above the terrace level, is the entrance to the cave.

The entrance is a natural (but partially modified) crack-shaped vertical shaft 0.3 m wide and 1.5 m high, not visible from below, and during the vegetation period the leaves of trees that have grown in its base cover it. It can be easily climbed on the rock face by free climbing. The entrance is a passage longer than 1 m and a few decimetres wide, which has evidently been slightly widened by carving, but even so it is barely passable.

The currently inactive cave formed due to dissolution and corrosion below the karst water level. The cavity dissolved along the plane of the fault line (110/60°), slopes steeply downward, and the upper part is passable only for very slender individuals. At the upper part of the inclined entrance, on the east side, a spherical niche of 1 m diameter is attached to the fissure. The cross‑section of the fissure shaft is elongated like a plum seed, widening downward. The enclosing rock is tectonically fragmented dolomite breccia, interlaced with iron veins. In places the surface is reddish due to impregnated bauxite. The lower rock surface of the fissure is relatively flat, with a 55° inclination above and a 65° inclination below.

The plane of the upper rock forming the ceiling is densely dotted with decimetre‑sized spherical pots, whose edges are very sharp. Inside the pots a fine boxwork structure is visible. There is no speleothem formation in the cave. Its floor consists of bauxite‑stained soil mixed with rock rubble, partly covered with a mat. Some sediment washes into the passage from the surface in recent times. The sediment fill slopes obliquely beneath the ceiling. The cave passage is traversable only for very thin visitors, equipped with basic gear and rock‑climbing. No permission is required for viewing.

The cave also occurs in the literature under the names Gánti külfejtés 5.sz. barlang (Polacsek 1990), Gánti külfejtés 5.sz. barlangja (Polacsek 1990), HU-HA (Molnár, Zentai 2008–2009), HUHA (Molnár, Zentai 2008–2009), Huzatok-barlangja (Molnár, Zentai 2008–2009), Huzatos (Szarka, Szolga 2006–2007), Huzatos-barlang (Polacsek, Ba 2017), Huzatos-hasadék (Szarka, Szolga 2006–2007), Vetőfali-barlang (Szolga 2008), Vetőfali-hasadék (Szolga 2010) and Vetőfal-mögötti-hasadék (Polacsek, Ba 2017).

Research History

In 1990 Zoltán Tóth and Zsolt Polacsek (two members of the Külker SC) surveyed the cave, and using the survey Zsolt Polacsek prepared the longitudinal section map and two cross‑section maps of the Gánti külfejtés 5.sz. barlangja. The maps depict the cave at a scale of 1:100. The longitudinal section map shows the location of the two cross‑sections within the cave. According to the survey the cave is 8 m long and 6 m deep.

In the 1990 report of the Caving Exploration Group of the Külker SC, it is stated that the Gánti quarry 5th cave (Gánti quarry 5th cave) is located about 6 m high in the rock layer under the Gánti 3rd cave, in one of the dolomite walls heavily contaminated with bauxite. The group discovered the Gánti quarry 5th cave by accident. The cave, about 8 m long and 6 m deep, has a narrow, fissure-like entrance. The cavity is undoubtedly of tectonic origin and is very difficult to traverse. The cave was formed along a 90° inclined fissure. Its floor consists of a subfloor made of stones and scree. The team members observed no signs of life or drafts in the cavity. Exploratory investigation seems advisable, because the bottom of the fissure is fairly spacious, but due to the narrow cave entrance, transporting the extracted material to the surface would not be simple. The cave’s map and photographic documentation have been completed. The photographic documentation on film strips was prepared by Róbert Duzsik. The cave maps made in 1990 were attached to the manuscript.

In the 2004–2005 yearbook of the Alba Regia Cave Exploration Group there is mention that on June 4, 2005, during the caving junior meeting, Ákos Kocsis mentioned to the group members a significant-sized fissure in the Hosszú-haraszt scree wall, accessible from the talp, from which cool, cold air flows out with great intensity. As a result, five members of the group wanted to see the fissure. Following the directions they found the fissure marked with a wooden branch, which opens on the top of a debris mound that fell from the ceiling. It was a sunny pleasant afternoon, the temperature 27–28 °C, further intensified by the closed chimney and the rock wall. Climbing the debris pile, the unusually cool and strong airflow coming from the fissure became clearly perceptible. (As if a department‑store air‑conditioning unit had been set to maximum power.) Near the fissure, on the top of the debris cone, the dried but unscavenged and intact remains of small animals were discovered (the remains of a swift lizard, a bird and a beetle with a hard shell). The group members did not detect the presence of gas, only the abundant and cool air continuously flowing.