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Jamaican Caving Notes |
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Salmon Gully Cave August 2, 2010 |
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District: Merrywood |
Parish: St Elizabeth |
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WGS84 L/L: 18 12 32.7 , 77 50 36.6 |
JAD2001: 660775 E, 673345 N |
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JAD69: 160664 E, 173056 N |
Altitude: 210m WGS84 |
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Accuracy: +/- 5m horizontal; +/- 10m vertical |
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Type: Chamber |
Accessibility: Vertigear/scramble |
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Depth: 25m |
Length: 66m |
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Explorers: GSD, 1956 |
Survey: BRG McGrath |
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JU Ref: pg 325 |
JU Map: pg 325 |
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Entrance size: 10m W, 6m H |
Entrance aspect: SW, S |
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Vegetation in general locale: Forest/farm |
Vegetation at entrance: Scrub |
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Geology: White limestone |
Bedding: Poor |
Jointing: Poor |
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Speleothems: Stals |
Palaeo resources: None seen |
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Archaeo resources: None seen |
Hydrology: Dry |
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Dark zone: 0%. |
Climate: ~25 deg C, semi-humid. |
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Bats: <100 |
Bat guano: Some |
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Guano mining: Frequent |
Guano condition: very thin deposits of fresh/fluff |
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Visitation: Frequent |
Speleothem damage: None |
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Graffiti: None seen |
Trash: Some (fert bags, bottle torches) |
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Ownership: Private |
Protection: None |
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Vulnerability: Low. |
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Salmon Gully Cave
Salmon Gully Cave was visited by Stewart to assess its status as a bat roost, and to see if might serve as a replacement for Duanwarie, which is gated, as a NEPA bat-netting target. Hopeton Smith, a resident of the district, assisted.August 2, 2010 Team: RS Stewart, H Smith Notes: RS Stewart The entrance is large, and on the NE of a collapse pit that is 10-15 metres deep. The climb down into this is quite dicey, although some of the locals do so often to remove mud that had guano leach into it before the actual guano deposits were gone. The interior consists of one medium-sized chamber that extends for about 50 metres to the northeast with this entirely in the twilight zone. There are two large mud banks running from side to side midway in the chamber - these appear to have been deposited during severe weather events, with the input from the collapse pit. There is also an area of sand on the northwest side of one of the mud banks. Presumably, this originates in non-calcareous rock found to the north, in St James. Visitation to remove guano has been frequent. As noted above, this is mostly mud that retains nutrients from historical guano deposits that are now gone (other than in very thin, scattered surface layers). The bat inventory appears to consist only of Artibeus jamaicensis, with total numbers under 100 (probably closer to 50). Mist netting would be possible in the collapse pit about 10m outside of the entrance, although this will probably not be worthwhile because it is such a minor roost. The invertebrate inventory appears to consist mostly (or entirely) of terrestrial species, which is to be expected in a cave with no dark zone. |
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