Kiskő-oldali No. 2. Cave

The Kiskő-oldali No. 2 cave is one of the caves located in the Gerecse Landscape Protection Area of the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in the outskirts of Bajót. Bats occur in it.

Description

In the Gerecse Mountains, in the outskirts of Bajót, on the D side of Kiskő-oldal forming part of the Öreg-kő K subarea, the cave is in an abandoned quarry in a forest, with an entrance 1.6 m wide and 0.7 m high. After a 2.5 m entrance passage the passage ends in a chamber 6.5 m long and 3 m wide. From the upper part of the chamber two short side passages begin, at the bottom a narrow small shaft starts, which ends in a completely narrowing and bifurcating passage. The cave was formed in the upper Triassic, thick‑bedded Dachstein limestone along the EN–DNy‑oriented fault line by dissolution below the karst water level. Calcite crust and pepperstone can be observed in the cavity system, decorating the walls in small patches.

It is explicitly dry, but because of its nature and size external meteorological influences are very pronounced in the cavity. It can be visited freely. During bat observations carried out by the Gerecse Cave Research and Nature Protection Association a small long‑eared bat was observed in the cave. Because of the observation data and the occasionally found fresh droppings the cavity can be considered a conditional occasional winter bat roost with a small number of species and individuals.

In 1994 the cave was first called Kiskő-oldali No. 2 cave in the literature. The cave also appears in the literature as Kiskő-oldali 2.sz. cave (Székely 1994).

Research history

The Gerecse guidebook published in 1959 mentions that besides the better known caves in the Gerecse Mountains there are, for example, many smaller caves, fissures, rock shelters and sinkholes, e.g. at the Bajót Kiskő-oldal. The László Vértes Karst and Cave Research Group determined during the cave visit on 19 January 1986 that there were no bats in the cave. During the cave visits on 15 January 1989 and 12 August 1989 the Gerecse Cave Research Association determined that there were no bats in the cave.

In the study published in Limes in 1994, written by Székely Kinga, it was reported that the Kiskő-oldali 2nd cave with cadastral number 4661/15 is not included in the Bertalan Károly speleological collection. The Speleological Institute has no cadastral master sheet, map, photograph, or literary master sheet for the cave, but it does have a research master sheet. According to the compilation prepared by Juhász Márton, which appeared in Limes in 1994, of the 9 winter and 8 summer bat surveys conducted in the Kiskő-oldali 2nd cave between 1986 and 1994, only 1 winter survey was successful. Then, on 24 January 1988, a small pond bat was observed in the cave. Based on the bat observations and the regularly visible droppings, the cave can be considered an occasional winter roost.

During the cave visits on 24 January 1998, 27 July 1998, 10 February 2001, 13 May 2001, 17 February 2002, 15 August 2002, 26 January 2003 and 28 June 2003, the Gerecse Speleology and Nature Protection Association determined that there were no bats in the cave.

In 2003, on behalf of the Danube–Ipoly National Park Directorate and for the National Cave Register, Jenő Kovács and Richárd Kovács (members of the Ariadne Karst and Speleology Association) prepared the cave maps. Jenő Kovács surveyed the cave, then Jenő Kovács drew it, and Richárd Kovács compiled, using the survey, the floor plan map and the cross‑section map of the Kiskő-oldali 2nd cave. The map plate marks the east direction. The floor‑plan map shows the location of the cross‑section within the cave. According to the survey, the Kiskő-oldali 2nd cave with cadastral number 4661‑15 is 17 m long, 4.9 m deep and 2.8 m high.

According to the cave register sheet prepared on July 6, 2003, which was based on an on‑site inspection and a BTI cadastral survey, the Kiskő‑oldali No. 2 cave (Komárom‑Esztergom county, Bajót, Keleti‑Gerecse) has the cave cadastral number 4661‑15. Coordinates: X: 645,140 7, Y: 264 758, 8, Z: 243 m. The thoroughly surveyed cave is 17 m long, has a vertical extent of 7.7 m, a height of 2.8 m, a depth of 4.9 m and a horizontal extent of 9.4 m. The entrance to the cave is located at the abandoned quarry in the Öreg‑kő north‑side area, at the ÉNy‑i corner near Bajót, at an altitude of 243 m above sea level. The irregularly shaped, broken, horizontally oriented entrance, 1.6 m wide and 0.7 m high, opens in the quarry wall at a height of 2 m. Easy rock climbing can be used to reach the cave entrance.

The cave was formed in Triassic Dachstein limestone due to dissolution below the karst water level. (The cave is currently inactive from a hydrological point of view.) No preparatory factor influenced the formation of the cave. The two‑storey and simple spatially shaped cave has variable slope conditions. The cave’s characteristic passage type is irregular. There is a stalactite, a shaft and a dome in it. Solid calcite crystals and few, but solid, condensed pepperstone are visible on the walls. Debris, stone rubble and much clay are present in the cavity. Observed animals: soft‑bodied animals, spider, insect, bat, frog, bird feathers, gliding lizard and fox excrement. Waste also occurs in the cave. Air flow and carbon‑dioxide content cannot be sensed. The cave was first mentioned in the literature in 1994. The cave, reachable by an easy walk and then easy rock climbing, can be traversed easily with basic caving equipment. Legal status: the nature‑protection decree No. 18 of 1961. Competent nature‑protection authority: Danube–Ipoly National Park Directorate. The cave is slightly altered, its mineral deposits are practically untouched, and its floor is trampled and deepened.