Pénz-patak Sinkhole Cave

The Pénz-patak water-raising cave is one of the highly protected caves of Hungary. It is located in the Bükki National Park. It is the seventh deepest and seventh largest vertical extent cave in the Bükk region, and the 13th deepest and 13th largest vertical extent cave in Hungary. For a time, until the depth of the Meteor cave was determined, it was the deepest cave in Hungary. It is the only highly protected cave in Bükkszentkereszt.

Description

In the Southern Bükk, northeast of Répáshuta, at the bottom of the Csúnya valley, about 400 metres from the 2505 artificial well that connects Felnémetet with Hejőcsaba, near the Pénz-patak fishing pond. The Pénz-patak guard ridge can also be reached via the blue cross tourist sign through the Csúnya valley to the Hór-patak valley. From the west by the Kajla mountain ridge, from the north by the Istennyila hill forming the southern edge of the Nagy-fennsík, under the ridges of Nagy-dél and Zsérci-Nagy-dél, by the deeper step formed by the Diós-kút summit, Kakukk hill and Pénz-patak summit. From the south by the Nagy-Kerek hill, from the east by the valley bounded by Nagy-Bodzás and Hollós summit, where the water of the Pénz-patak goes below the surface. Approximately this area is the water-raising catchment area. The approximately 1.2 kilometre long Pénz-patak is one of the most water-rich and one of the longest hidden streams of the mountain range. The water-raising line between Hollóstető and Répáshuta is the most developed water-raiser. An information board is placed at the entrance.

From the cave entrance to the deepest point, the stream water flows to a passing, always water‑filled siphon. The active water‑draining cave is the permanent water drain of the Pénz-patak. Hydrological correlation studies have yielded different results, but it has been established that the cave water appears at the Szinva spring, the Margit spring and the Vízfő spring. The stream has a flow of about 100–2000 liters per minute, but occasionally the water movement in the stream bed also stops. Sometimes the cave stream water does not reach the siphon because low‑capacity swallowing points are found in the stream bed. The planimetric distance between the entrance and the siphon is about 40 meters. The stream flows almost beneath itself, because in the middle section of the cave the flow direction is southern, and in the lower section it is northern, north‑eastern. The siphon water level has varied by 42.2 meters in one year, from which the still unknown passage blockage or small cross‑section can be inferred.

Its 70 centimeter wide, 40 centimeter high, natural, angular, irregularly shaped, vertical‑axis entrance is located among large limestone blocks. The cave developed in middle Triassic and upper Triassic limestone. Its first section is an almost continuous collapse labyrinth up to the Jutka‑kürtő. The Jutka‑kürtő is a shaft, because one must go down from the top inside it first. The stalactite zone begins at about 25 meters depth. Hanging dripstones, straw dripstones, stalagmites, stalactite columns, stalactite slabs, stalactite flags, stalactite curtains, stalactite flows, stalactite poisonings and micro‑taratacs can be observed in its passages. Its deepest shaft is the 47.69 meter deep Nagy‑fal, which is not quite vertical, with an average slope of 79°.

The upper part of the Nagy-akna, about five metres long, is narrow and has smooth walls. The largest chamber is the Venkovits-pihenő, which is 30 metres. The highest vault is the Kopasz-kürtő, which is 32.93 metres high. The cave is 5–6 °C in winter and 11–12 °C in summer. Bats occur in it, but spotted in its passages are salamanders, beetles, spiders, insects, frogs, fish and river crayfish as well. To enter the sealed cave a permit from the Bükki National Park Directorate, waterproof lamps, waterproof clothing and rope‑technical equipment are required. The entry is often blocked by ice jams in the winter months. Because of large, sudden increases in water flow, exit may be impossible.

The seventh deepest and seventh largest vertically extending cave of the Bükk region is the Bányász-barlang, after the István-lápai-barlang, the Jáspis-barlang, the Fekete-barlang, the Diabáz-barlang and the Szepesi–Láner-barlang system. Until 1962, when the depth of the Meteor-barlang was determined, it was Hungary's deepest cave. The depth of the Meteor-barlang was once thought to be 155 metres. According to the latest surveys, however, the Meteor-barlang is not as deep as was thought. It is the 27th longest in Hungary and the eighth longest cave of the Bükk region.

The cave appears in the literature under the names Kövesváradi-víznyelő (Csepreghy 2003), Pénzpatak Cave (Kordos 1977), Pénz-pataki-barlang (Jakucs 2000–2001), Pénz-pataki-barlang (Láng 1964), Pénzpataki barlang (Bertalan 1956), Pénz-pataki-viznyelő (Szentes 1965), Pénzpataki-viznyelő (Szilvássy 1962), Pénz-patak-i-viznyelő (Scholtz 1975), Pénz-pataki-viznyelőbarlang (Bertalan 1976), Pénzpataki-viznyelőbarlang (Dénes 1962), Pénzpataki viznyelőbarlang (Csekő 1959), Pénz-patikai-viznyelő barlang (D‑i 1960), Pénz-pataki-víznyelő (Hevesi 1986), Pénzpataki-víznyelőbarlang (Jakucs, Kessler 1962), pénz-pataki-víznyelőbarlang (Balázs, Lieber, Varga 2001), Pénzpataki víznyelő barlang (Schréter 1959), Pénzpataki-zsomboly (Bertalan 1976) and Pénz-patak Sinkhole-cave (Takácsné, Eszterhás, Juhász, Kraus 1989).

In 1968 the cave was first called Pénz-pataki-víznyelőbarlang in the literature (Dénes 1968). The 12.96‑metre‑deep, wide chamber named Jutka-kürtő received its name because of Júlia Kincses’s collapse. The Retyi-kürtő is called that because during a shouting contest someone said, “don’t rush in, I only dug a trough‑shaped pool.” In the cold, the researchers trapped inside waited in the Vacogó during the great flood events. A very narrow fissure was named Háromszög, another narrow place at the end of the cave was named Nyúzda.