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Jamaican Caving Notes |
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Grierfield Cave February 11, 2010 |
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District: Grierfield |
Parish: St Ann |
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WGS84 L/L: 18 15 19.8, 77 09 00.6 |
JAD2001: 734120 E, 678286 N |
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JAD69: 234009 E, 177997 N |
Altitude: Undetermined |
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Accuracy: +/- 20m horizontal; +/- N/A vertical |
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Type: Chamber (from JU) |
Accessibility: Vertigear |
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Depth: 6m (from JU) |
Length: 20m (from JU) |
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Explorers: GSD |
Survey: None |
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JU Ref: pg 190 |
JU Map: N/A |
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Entrance size: 6m W, 2m H |
Entrance aspect: 90 |
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Vegetation in general locale: Scrub/farm |
Vegetation at entrance: Scrub |
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Geology: White limestone |
Bedding: Undetermined |
Jointing: Undetermined |
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Speleothems: Undetermined |
Palaeo resources: Undetermined |
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Archaeo resources: Undetermined |
Hydrology: Dry |
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Dark zone: Undetermined |
Climate: Undetermined |
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Bats: Undetermined |
Bat guano: Undetermined |
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Guano mining: Historical |
Guano condition: Undetermined |
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Visitation: Rare |
Speleothem damage: Undetermined |
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Graffiti: Undetermined |
Trash: Undetermined |
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Ownership: Undetermined |
Protection: None |
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Vulnerability: Undetermined |
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Grierfield Cave was found on February 11, 2010, as part of NEPA's St Ann bat netting project. As with most GSD positions, the coordinates given in Jamaica Underground are inaccurate in the extreme, in this case out by 1.58 km. There is no doubt in my mind that I had the right site - the description and local info are a perfect match. I did not enter the cave for reasons that will become obvious further in the report, but it is on the to-do list. The Jamaica Underground entry is quoted below: "On Griefield property, west of the road to Gibraltar. A 20m ladder needed to enter a 6m diametre hole 15m from the clifftop. Some guano was mined here, but operations proved too difficult." A little asking around in Griefield soon resulted in information, and actual guidance to the area close to the cave by a man named "Manners", done pro bono. Indeed, if I had first driven down the road a little more I would have found it myself - the entrance is visible from over a km away, since it is about two-thirds of the way up a prominent cliff. We drove to a spot on the nearest backroad that was due east of the cave, where I recorded a position, and took a bearing with the survey compass. This was later used with Ozi to plot the actual entrance on the 1:50k topo map (the cliff shows well because of the tight contour lines). My guide confirmed that guano had been taken out in the past using a ladder for access, and that some of the locals had occasionally accessed the cave by climbing trees growing at the base of the cliff. I could not tackle the vertical work required to enter the cave because I was on my own (other than the guide), but it will be done in the future when others in the group are with me. Unfortunately, I had to inform Andrea Donaldson that netting would be impossible unless they hung from ropes in front of the cave while doing it. I'm not sure if I would even attempt that myself. |
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