Jamaican Caving Notes

Pool Cave

April 2, 2005 - 10:00-12:00 EST

District: Rock Spring

Parish: Trelawny

WGS84 L/L: 18 18 28.5; 77 34 11.5 (Rising)

JAD69: 189643 E, 183885 N

JAD2001: 689754 E, 684174 N

Altitude: 490m WGS84

Accuracy: +/- 10m horizontal; +/- 15m vertical

Type: Stream passage

Accessibility: Walk-in

Depth: 0

Length: 175m

Explorers: KHE - 1965

Survey: KHE - 1965

JU Ref: Text - pg 293; Map - pg 136

Entrance size: 2m W x 2m H

Entrance aspect: 45 deg true

Vegetation in general locale: Farm, bush, scrub

Vegetation at entrance: Scrub

Rock type: Yellow - White limestone junction

Bedding: Moderate

Jointing: Undetermined

Speleothems: Stals, rimstone

Palaeo resources: None

Archaeo resources: None

Hydrology: Wet

Siltation: Low

Sink: Dry

Rising: Active

Stream passage with surface activity: Minor flow

Stream passage without surface activity: N/A

Dark zone: >90%.

Climate: Cool, humid.

Bats: None

Bat guano: N/A

Guano mining: N/A

Guano condition: N/A

Eleutherodactylus cundalli: Some

Neoditomyia farri: Some

Amblypygids: None

Periplaneta americana: None

Cave crickets: None

Sesarma: Some

Other species: None.

Visitation: None

Speleothem damage: None

Graffiti: None

Garbage: None

Ownership: Private

Protection: None

Vulnerability: Medium. The sink is currently one of the few in Rock Spring that has good vegetative cover upstream.

Pool Cave

April 2, 2005

Team: Stewart, Roggy

Notes: RS Stewart

Rising Entrance: WGS84 - 18 18' 28.5" N, 77 34 11.5" W; Alt: 490; Accuracy: +/- 10m; Aspect: 45 deg true
Sink Entrance: WGS84 - 18 18' 24.7" N, 77 34' 11.5" W; Alt: 490; Accuracy: +/- 10m; Aspect: 180 deg true

This cave was visited immediately after Crayfish Cave. We entered through the rising entrance, and exited from the sink entrance. We noticed soon after we were in the passage that siltation was low. When we came out at the far end, we found that the seasonal streambed that feeds into the cave had a very dense cover of bush and shrubs, with the more open areas covered with tall weeds. This was the only sink in the district that we found in this state, and it was the least muddy cave. The floor of the passage was clean rock, and rimstone pools held clear water. This cave can be contrasted well to Farmyard Cave which is not far away. Farmyard takes most of its flow from cultivated land and is almost entirely choked with silt.

The passage held no rafted-in garbage. Invasive roaches were not present.

Sesarma verleyi were present, as were N. farri, but we saw no other trogs.

We are listing this site with a medium vulnerability. There is no immediate threat, but if land-use changes upstream, it will be greatly changed by siltation.

Pool Cave

April 2, 2005

Notes: DK Roggy

I proceeded roughly 100m to the south of Crayfish cave, along a dry (at the time) streambed. I came to an accumulation of limestone on a hillside that had water slowly trickling over it, and ascended perhaps 3-4m before coming to the entrance of Pool cave.  The entrance was perhaps 2m tall by 1m wide and had clear, knee-deep water.  I saw some small fish in the water, which appeared to be Gambusia.

Stefan and I entered the cave and waded through the entire length of the mostly round, phreatic passage. We walked upstream, taking time to collect whichever samples presented themselves. After approximately 20 to 30 minutes, we came to a point where a small side passage came in from the right.  There was an accumulation of silt and sediment downstream of the side passage that obviously came from it.  As I remember it that was the only place in the passage where walking caused any significant amount of material to cloud the water.  After we passed the side passage there was again little or no accumulation of silt or sediment.  We proceeded for another 10-15 minutes to the upstream end of the cave. 
Exiting this cave was difficult, as this entrance lies in a depression full of thick vegetation.  The area had a lot of tough elephant grass-type stuff that was very resistant to cutting with a machete.  We mostly pushed our way through it, up to the top of the depression, where we found ourselves in a field of cultivation.  It is clear why so little silt and sediment is present in the cave.  The area of dense vegetation exists in a continuous swath that extends for a radius of perhaps 30m from the upstream entrance, and must act to trap particles that are carried from the cultivated land.  This is in stark contrast to a cave like Farmyard cave (approximately .5km away), which exists in the midst of cultivation and has accumulated so much silt that it is practically filled in.