Névtelen Pothole

The Töbör-alji-hasadék is a cave located in the Aggtelek National Park. Together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst, the cave has been part of the World Heritage since 1995. It is the cave with the largest entrance in the Alsó-hegy.

Description

It opens on the plateau of Alsó-hegy, about half a kilometre from the summit of Vecsem-bükk, in a specially protected area. Approached from the Jóbarát-zsomboly side, to the left of the tourist trail marked with a red T sign, also called the zsomboly educational trail, on the southeastern side of the path leading to the bottom of the pit, there is a easily noticeable large entrance. It is located northwest of the Jóbarát-zsomboly. In this pit open the Cickány-zsomboly and the Gőte-zsomboly as well. It is situated 700 metres south of the boundary stone numbered XII.43.4. Its entrance has a vertical axis direction. It is the cave in Alsó-hegy with the largest entrance.

In the fissure on the side closer to the pit bottom, one can comfortably walk down to the bottom of the zsomboly, where it is completely illuminated due to its large dimensions. The floor is almost horizontal except for smaller and larger rock blocks. Moss thickly covers the walls. Based on the nature of the zsomboly fissure, it can only be classified as a cliff doline. Its horizontal extent is 25 metres.

The cave appears in literature under the names Névtelen-zsomboly (Nyerges 1997), Névtelen zsomboly (Vlk 2016), Töböralji-hasadék (Kordos 1984), Töbörfenéki-zsomboly (Kósa 1992) and V/20 (MAFC 2008), and with those designations. The cave next to the Nászút-cave is also called Névtelen-zsomboly. In 2016 the cave was first referred to as Töbör-alji-hasadék in the literature.

Research History

In 1977 the Promontor SE Cave Research Group investigated a cave named Névtelen-zsomboly next to the Nászút-cave, but the investigated cave was not the Töbör-alji-hasadék. In the nationwide cave list of the book *Caves of Hungary* published in 1984, the cave located in the Aggtelek Karst appears under the name Töböralji-hasadék. Associated with the list, a 1:500 000 scale map showing the geographical location of caves in the Aggtelek Karst and the Bükk Mountains displays the cave’s geographical position. In the 1992 publication *Alsó-hegyi zsombolyatlasz*, on one of the maps presenting the Hungarian side of the Alsó-hegy plateau, the geographical location marked as a descent, Töbör-alji-hasadék, can be observed. The cave is mentioned on page 20 of the publication.

Since 1995, together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst, the Töbör‑alji‑hasadék has been part of the World Heritage. According to the thesis prepared by Attila Nyerges in 1997, the 8 m deep Névtelen‑zsomboly is the 50th deepest cave of the Hungarian part of the Alsó‑hegy. The 47th deepest (Dusa‑cave), the 48th deepest (Geológustechnikus‑zsomboly), the 49th deepest (Menetke‑zsomboly) and the 51st deepest (Sinkó‑zsomboly) are also 8 m deep. The Töböralji‑hasadék lies among the caves located in cadastral unit 5450 (Alsó‑hegy). It was one of the venues of the 1999 Lakatos Cup.

In the publication of the XV Lakatos Cup held on 27 September 2008, it is listed as an 8 m deep cave. The booklet contains the cave’s plan map and a vertical longitudinal section map. The maps were made at an unknown time by an unknown person. One non‑mandatory, surface contact point of the competition was the Töbör‑alji‑hasadék. In 2012 Luděk Vlk surveyed the cave and then, based on the survey, drew the cave’s plan map and longitudinal section map. The plan map shows the location of the longitudinal section within the cave. In 2015 the Barrandien Cave Research Group determined that the Névtelen zsomboly and the Töbör‑alji‑hasadék are the same cave.

In the book about the karst phenomena of Alsó-hegy published in 2019, it is written that the Névtelen-zsomboly (Töbör-alji-hasadék, Töbörfenéki-zsomboly) is an unknown length and 12 m deep. The cave identification numbers are: in Slovakia 190, in Hungary 5452/67, other V/20. The book published the cave's floor plan map made in 2012 and the longitudinal section map made in 2012. The cave was surveyed in 2012 by Luděk Vlk, then in 2012 Luděk Vlk drew the cave maps based on the survey. The maps were digitized in 2016 by Luděk Vlk. A detailed map of Alsó-hegy was attached to the publication. The map was made by Luděk Vlk, Mojmír Záviška, Ctirad Piskač, Jiřina Novotná, Miloš Novotný and Martin Mandel. On the map, where caves and potholes are marked with black dots, the geographical location of Töbör-alji-hasadék (5452/67, 190) can be seen.