November 7 Pothole

November 7 Pothole is a cave located in the Aggtelek National Park area. Together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst, the cave has been part of the World Heritage since 1995.

Description

It opens in a rock climb in the lower third of a sinkhole on the Upper Mountain plateau, 279.5° from the Vecsem-bükk summit, 1680 m away, about 150 m from the border fence, in a forest, in a specially protected area, with a natural, irregularly shaped, vertical‑axis entrance fissure measuring 0.9 × 0.7 m. In the sinkhole of the unclosed cave, higher up, about 10 m from the November 7 Pothole entrance, the Széki Pothole entrance is located.

The November 7 Pothole formed in middle Triassic Wetterstein limestone. Its formation involved tectonics, inflowing water, seeping water and corrosion. The multilevel cave’s horizontal extent is 10–12 m. In its passages one can observe stalactite curtains, cannelure, pendant stalactites, stalactite encrustations, stalactite flowstones, stalactite basins and pea‑stone. It is similar to the Széki Pothole because the vertically oriented cave deepens stepwise and its shape is water‑tongue‑like. The cave can be visited without a permit, but only with the use of rope‑technical equipment. Exploration requires a 28 m rope, a carabiner and a rope protector.

The cave received its name because of its discovery on 7 November 1972. In the literature the cave also appears under the names 7. Novembra (Vlk 2019), 48 (Kósa 1992), November 7 zsomboly (Kordos 1984), Osmactyricitka (Nyerges 1998), Osmačtyřicitka (Kósa 1992), Osmačtyřicítka (Vlk 2019), S‑8 (Kósa 1992) and S/8 (Nyerges 1998). In 1976 the cave was first referred to as November 7 zsomboly in the literature.

Research History

The cave was discovered on 7 November 1972 by the Vörös Meteor TE speleologists. In 1975 two members of the VMTE Tectonics Speleology Group (László Csernavölgyi and Gyula Csöndör) surveyed the cave, after which László Csernavölgyi, based on the survey, prepared the cave plan map, length‑section map and three cross‑section maps. In 1976 the VMTE Tectonics Speleology Group surveyed the November 7 zsomboly, and using the survey the cave plan map and cross‑section map were drawn.

According to the speleological field report prepared on January 30, 1977 and based on the October 1975 exploration of the cave, the vertical cave has a plan length of 12 m, an actual length of 30 m, a horizontal extent of 7 m and a vertical extent of 20 m. In the summer of 1981 members of the MÁFI Optimista Cave Exploration Group toured the pothole. In the national cave list of the book *Caves of Hungary* published in 1984, the cave located on the Aggtelek Karst appears under the name November 7 pothole. Associated with the list, the geographic location of the cave is shown on a 1:500 000 scale map depicting the geographic positions of the caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Bükk Mountains.

In the book *Lower‑Mountain Pothole Atlas* published in 1992, the cave’s location is marked on one of the maps presenting the Hungarian side of the Lower‑Mountain plateau. The publication includes the cave’s maps made in 1975 and 1976. Together with several data, four literary works in which the cave is mentioned are listed. The geographic location of the cave is shown in the figure published in 1992 in *Karst and Cave*, which presents the numerous caves and shafts of the Hungarian part of the Lower‑Mountain. Since 1995 the cave has been part of the World Heritage together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst. According to the thesis prepared by Attila Nyerges in 1997, the 20 m deep November 7 pothole is the 30th deepest cave of the Hungarian part of the Lower‑Mountain.

According to the cave register sheet written in 1998, the November 7 pothole was only roughly surveyed. It was a site of the 1999 Lakatos Cup. In a study that saw the light in the 2001 Karst Development, it is readable that, compared with the nearby Széki pothole, it is arranged in a stepped, water‑draining‑cave‑like structure. The upper, older entrance is formed by the Széki pothole, the back‑receding entrance by the November 7 pothole. The publication presented a longitudinal section map of the November 7 pothole and the Széki pothole, as well as a cross‑section map of the November 7 pothole and the Széki pothole 7 cross‑section map. The two potholes are shown on a common map sheet. In the XV Lakatos Cup publication held on September 27 2008, the November 7 pothole is listed as a 20 m deep cave. The cave was one of the possible touch points of the competition. In 2013 the Tektonik Cave Exploration Group produced the longitudinal section map and the plan map of the cave.

In the book about the karst phenomena of Alsó-hegy, published in 2019, it is written that the November 7-pothole (7. November, Osmačtyřicítka) is 36 m long and 20 m deep. The cave identification numbers are: in Slovakia 48, in Hungary 5452/21, other S-8. The book published the length‑section map of the cave made in 2013 and the floor plan map made in 2013. The cave was surveyed in 2013 by the VMTE Tektonik Barlangkutató Group. In 2013 the group, based on the survey, drew the cave maps. 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 the November 7-pothole (5452/21, 48) can be seen.