Szilikózis Cave

Silicosis Cave is one of the caves located in the Budai Mountains in the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in Biatorbágy.

Description

Silicosis Cave is located in a fissure that runs through the entire rock layer in the wall of the Gesztenyés quarry (Országház quarry) on the outskirts of Biatorbágy. This fissure is almost parallel to the quarry wall. Debris and other mixed fill lodged in the fissure have left two entrances. The lower entrance is narrow (impassable). The upper entrance allows access to the cave.

The fissure cave was formed in Upper Miocene (Tinnyei) limestone due to tectonic displacement. Its shape: a vertical fissure divided by collapse chambers. Slope conditions: stepped, vertical. Typical cross‑section type: fissure. Moving between the parallel walls, descending deeper, one reaches a wider, horizontally extending passage. This passage lies at the height of the lower entrance. After about 10 m the passage narrows into a tight section. After the narrow part the fissure widens and ends in a collapse chamber at the far end. Through the collapse chamber one can see into a neighboring artificial cut. In the cut, at several places, unknown‑height fissure shafts rise. The difficult‑to‑reach cave, which may be entered without a permit, can be traversed using basic cave‑passage equipment.

In 1990 the cave was first called Silicosis Cave in the literature. It received this name because the airflow through the cave makes the air very dry. Touching the floor or the dusty walls causes fine dust to be carried by the draft with the slightest movement, so the air in the cave quickly becomes difficult to breathe.

Research History

According to the 1990 report of the Acheron Cave Research Department, members of the department inspected the Gesztenyés quarry (Biatorbágy) located from Bolha Hill to K in July 1990. About 10 m from the Guillotine Cave and the Szinlő Cave in the quarry, and 5 m above the quarry floor level, they noticed a small hole. It is very difficult to climb into the opening. Squeezing through the narrow hole they entered a fissure. In the relatively comfortable (1 m wide) corridor they crossed a collapse chamber and entered a two‑level passage. They could not fully explore the lower level because of a narrow section. The upper level ends in a collapse chamber. The artificial cut is clearly visible among the rocks, into which it connects.

From the cave entrance they traversed up to the top of the fissure, where one can reach the surface through a flat opening. In the approximately 30 m long cave one can only proceed cautiously, because touching the floor or the walls releases fine dust into the air, so the air in the cave becomes bad within moments. For this reason the department named the cave Silicosis Cave. The manuscript includes the map of the Gesztenyés quarry. (The map marks the east direction.) The map was made by Zoltán Szabó in 1990. The map shows the floor plan of Silicosis Cave and its position relative to the other two caves.

On 23 March 2005 Zoltán Szabó (Bakart) surveyed the cave, and using the survey he prepared the floor‑plan map of Silicosis Cave (the east direction is marked on the map sheet for use of the floor‑plan map) and its longitudinal‑section map. The cave was made in 2005, and according to the register sheet of the Acheron Cave Research Department based on the 1990 report, Silicosis Cave (cave‑cadastral area 4720, Pest County, Biatorbágy, Budai Mountains) is 37 m long, 10 m deep, 2–3 m high and extends 25 m horizontally. These data were determined partly by estimation, partly by detailed surveying. The cave is located in the middle part of the Gesztenyés quarry on the outskirts of Biatorbágy. The two‑entrance cave had both entrances revealed during quarrying and opens in the quarry wall.

The lower entrance is about 5 m above the quarry floor level, the upper entrance about 10 m. The lower entrance is 0.4 m wide, 1 m high, fissure-shaped and vertically oriented. The upper entrance is 2.5 m wide, 0.5 m high, fissure-shaped and vertically oriented. Periodically dripping water appears in the cavity. Large forms: parallel walls, fissure cones. Small forms: fracture surfaces. Elements related to the host rock: fossils. Morphological elements of sediment fill: collapse cones. In‑situ inorganic fill of debris: collapse material, rock debris, other materials dead‑ended from the host rock. Transported inorganic fill of debris: sand. Airflow: intensive, dynamic. Temperature: not measured, fluctuating. Humidity: not measured. CO₂ content: not measured. Radon activity: not measured.

Bats also occur in the cave (guanó, winter colony). Thematic processing: map, photograph, cadastral, description, other. Competent nature‑protection authority: Danube–Ipoly National Park Directorate. The lower entrance is reachable by difficult rock climbing, the upper by using rope‑technical equipment. The cave’s traversability, equipment requirements: easy, by climbing, using basic caving gear. The protected, freely visitable, unlocked cave’s basic data were determined by Zoltán Szabó. Related documents: the draft map of the Gesztenyés quarry.