Solymári quarry No 2 Cave

The Solymári quarry No 2 cave is one of the caves located in the Budai Mountains of the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in Solymár, on Zsíros Hill.

Description

Almost 2 km north‑north‑east of the centre of Solymár, near the well‑known and tourist‑map marked Solymári‑Devil’s Hole, under its main entrance and on the K side of the large, now inactive stone quarry, is the Solymári quarry No 2 cave. It is situated in the Budai Landscape Protection Area. The entrance of the Solymári quarry No 2 cave is located in a rock outcrop on the upper part of the quarry’s bauxite waste dump, at an altitude of 331 m above sea level. The narrow entrance, 0.45 m wide and 0.8 m high, is natural, horizontal in axis, oval and fissure‑shaped.

After the entrance the cave splits into two branches. The north‑north‑east branch is a spacious dome chamber, the south‑east branch is fissure‑like. There are few mineral formations in the cave, only senile, corroded calcite‑crust fragments and stalactite encrustations can be observed. The rock framework is brecciated, with associated boxwork structures formed. In the highly fragmented rock framework many rock blocks have collapsed in places, and the coarser crystalline calcite veins and fissure fillings between them have been repaired. Because the entrance is small and relatively protected, only a limited amount of surface‑derived organic debris can enter the cavity. Consequently, the floor fill is mainly reddish‑yellowish clay and rock debris.

The cave, formed in Upper Triassic Dachstein limestone, is reachable by an easy walk and then on difficult (steep) terrain. The freely viewable cave is easily walkable. The cave’s shape is a rock tube, single‑level. Its slope is horizontal and the characteristic fissure types are fissure, flattening and circular. Spherical chamber, seed mirror and boxwork structure are visible in the cave. Next to the entrance, from the outside, a shear‑fracture plane is located, which probably meant that tectonics played a large role in the formation of the cave. Most certainly corrosion and dissolution processes were the main cavity‑forming factors in the main stage of the cave’s formation. Later it was altered by freeze‑induced rock disintegration. The cave is probably a remnant of an older and larger cave.

Research history

The book published in 1958, *Budapest természeti képe*, mentions that in Pál Jablonkay’s 1935 book there is a note that at the same level as the Solymári stone chamber opening, 6–8 other openings can be seen in the quarry wall. According to Sándor Láng these have since been excavated and openings of karst passages can be observed at other points. Based on the openings in the quarry wall, Pál Jablonkay thought that there was once a polje here. Sándor Láng says this is impossible based on the surface forms.

In the manuscript completed in 1976 and written by Károly Bertalan it can be read that the karst spring vents of the Solymári quarry are located on Solymár in the Buda Hills, on Sziklás Hill. These are situated in the quarry beneath the Solymári Devil's Hole. The vents were discovered by the exploitation of the mine. The part of the manuscript describing the karst spring vents was written based on two literary works. In the national cave list of the book *Caves of Hungary* published in 1984, the summary name of the Solymári quarry karst spring vents appears among the caves of the Buda Mountains. In connection with the list, the geographic location of these cavities is shown on a 1:500 000 scale map depicting the geographic position of the caves of the Danube‑Upland Mountains.

Attila Gazda surveyed the cave and, using the survey data, on July 19 2004 compiled the plan map, longitudinal section map and two cross‑section maps of Solymári quarry cave No 2 (Solymár, cave cadastral unit 4773). The maps present the cave at a scale of 1:100. The east direction is marked on the map sheet. The plan map shows the position of the longitudinal section and the two cross‑sections within the cave.

Attila Gazda wrote the cave register sheet for the National Cave Register on August 16, 2004. The register sheet states that the Solymári quarry No. 2 cave is located in Solymár, Pest County, in the Buda Hills, in cave cadastral area 4773. The cave entrance is in a quarry, in a rock pit, at 331 m above sea level. The thoroughly surveyed cave is 7 m long, 4.9 m horizontal extent, 1.7 m vertical extent, 1.2 m high and 0.5 m deep. The practically built cave’s mineral deposits are practically intact. The substrate is slightly trampled. Csaba Egri prepared the cave photographic documentation for the National Cave Register on August 25, 2004.