Kő-lik-völgyi No 9 Cave

The Kő-lik-völgy 9th chamber is a cave located in the Vértes Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in Csákvár.

Description

The cave is situated in the forest of the Csákvár outskirts, in a specially protected area. Its entrance opens at an altitude of 271 m above sea level on the D side of the Kő-lik valley, north of the centre of Csákvár. Slightly higher in the valley than the valley’s largest cave, the Kő-lik, the Kő-lik-völgy 9th chamber lies opposite it. Its entrance is easily noticeable from the tourist trail at the bottom of the valley. The entrance is about 5 m above the trail, on the side of a small rock overhang. The entrance is overgrown with many honeysuckles.

The entrance of the narrow, insignificant rock fissure consisting of a single chamber opens at about 3 m height in the rock. The chamber lies in Triassic dolomite. The chamber was formed by frost weathering and dissolution below the karst water level. It slopes steeply outward, its bottom is essentially just a stalactite. There is no mineral deposition inside. No permission is required to visit the easily accessible, climbable cave.

In 2003 the cave was first called Kő-lik-völgy 9th chamber in the literature. In the literature the cave also appears under the names Kőlik-völgy 9th cave (Kordos 1984), Kő-lik-völgy 9th chamber (Alba Regia Cave Exploration Group 1979) and Sziklaeresz (Kordos 1984).

Research history

According to a manuscript prepared by the Alba Regia Cave Exploration Group in 1979, the Kő-lik-völgy 9th chamber (Sziklaeresz, K9) had not previously been mentioned in the literature. The small cave of only cadastral significance is located on the D side of the Kő-lik valley, almost opposite the Kő-lik-völgy 6th chamber, at about 250 m above sea level. It is clearly visible from the valley floor, but it is difficult to climb to it from the steep valley side. Its filling rock is dolomite breccia. The small rock fissure is 3 m long and has a halved lens shape. At its centre it is highest (1.1 m). Its bottom rises steeply toward the ceiling. At its widest part it is 1.2 m wide. Wet, algal flow, water seepage and icicles can be seen on its walls. Szolga Ferenc can show the completely insignificant cave from every aspect. Members of the Alba Regia Cave Exploration Group visited the cave on 11 February 1979, when they carried out the cave survey and produced the cave photographic documentation.

The manuscript contains the plan view and cross-section plan of the cave. The cross-section plan shows the cave entrance. The plans depict the cave at a scale of 1:100. For the preparation of the plans, the cave was surveyed by Ferenc Szolga on 11 February 1979. The plans were drawn by Ferenc Szolga on 23 February 1979. The manuscript includes a map of the western part of Csákvár (approximately 1:25,000 scale). The map indicates the east direction. The map shows the geographical location of the 9th chamber of Kő-lik-völgy (on the map: K9). The manuscript contains two photographs illustrating the cave. In the first photograph the entrance and interior of the 9th chamber of Kő-lik-völgy can be seen. The second photograph shows the view of Kő-lik-völgy. The photograph was taken at the north‑east end of the Csákvár cemetery. The photograph marks the location of the 9th chamber of Kő-lik-völgy. The second photograph was taken by Ferenc Zentai.

The cave Kőlik-völgyi 9. sz. cave (Sziklaeresz) is listed among the caves of the Vértes Mountains in the national cave list of the book *Magyarország barlangjai* published in 1984. Related to the list, the geographical location of the cave is shown on a 1:500 000 scale map presenting the geographical location of the caves of the Dunazug Mountains. In the book written by Béni Kornél and Viszló Levente, which saw the light of day in 1996, it is mentioned that there are 11 caves in the Kő-lik-völgy near Csákvár. In addition to the Kő-lik, many other cavities are located relatively close to each other. These cavities were formed in dolomite conglomerate and dolomite breccia. The Balogh-völgyi 1. sz. cavity and the Balogh-völgyi 2. sz. cavity are in every respect similar to the caves of Kő-lik-völgy. Because many caves can be observed in the Fáni-völgy, the Fáni-völgy is similar to the Kő-lik-völgy. The building rock is the same dolomite breccia. In the formation of the caves in the Fáni-völgy, frost wedging also played the main role.

On 2 May 2003, Egri Csaba drew the plan map, longitudinal‑section map and cross‑section map of the Kő-lik-völgyi 9. sz. cavity (4521-27, Csákvár). The maps depict the cave at a scale of 1:100. The plan map indicates the East‑West direction on the map sheet. The plan map shows the location of the longitudinal‑section and the cross‑section within the cave. For the preparation of the maps, the cave was surveyed by Egri Csaba for the National Cave Register.

According to the registry sheet prepared on May 2, 2003, based on the BTI cadastral survey, the cavity numbered 9 in the Kő-lik-völgy with cadastral number 4521-27 is located in Csákvár in the Vértes Mountains (Fejér County). The coordinates of the cavity entrance (Trimble Geoexplorer 3) are: X: 604318, Y: 228169, Z: 271. The cave is in a rock cleft on a hillside, in a forest, with a 3 m wide, 1.3 m high, natural, irregularly shaped, upward axial entrance. The thoroughly surveyed cave is 3 m long, 1.1 m vertical extent, 1.1 m high, 0 m deep and 3 m horizontal extent. The cavity lies in Triassic dolomite. Its formation was prepared by tectonics. The cavity was created by freeze‑thaw rock disintegration and dissolution below the karst water level. The rock‑filled, space‑shaped cave floor rises, and its typical fissure type is irregular.