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Jamaican Caving Notes |
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Sand Hole Gully Cave June 29, 2011 |
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District: Worthy Park |
Parish: St Catherine |
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WGS84 L/L: 18 10 42.8, 77 09 01.6 |
JAD2001: 734083 E, 669769 N |
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JAD69: 233972 E, 169480 N |
Altitude: 378m WGS84 |
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Accuracy: +/- 5m horizontal; +/- 10m vertical |
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Type: Sumped rising |
Accessibility: Walk-in |
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Depth: 11m |
Length: 34m |
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Explorers: GSD - 1960 |
Survey: BRG McGrath & Adams |
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JU Ref: pg 327 |
JU Map: None |
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Entrance size: 10m W, 3m H |
Entrance aspect: 90 |
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Vegetation in general locale: Forest/sugar cane |
Vegetation at entrance: Forest |
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Geology: White limestone |
Bedding: Moderate |
Jointing: Poor |
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Speleothems: Stals |
Palaeo resources: None seen |
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Archaeo resources: None seen |
Hydrology: Seasonal resurgence |
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Dark zone: 0%. |
Climate: 25 deg C, humid. |
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Bats: <500 (?) |
Bat guano: None |
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Guano mining: None |
Guano condition: N/A |
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Visitation: Occasional |
Speleothem damage: None |
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Graffiti: None |
Trash: None |
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Ownership: Worthy Park |
Protection: None |
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Vulnerability: Low |
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Sand Hole Gully Cave June 29, 2011 Team: RS Stewart, EA Slack Video: Sand Hole Gully WMV (20 MB WMV) Notes: RS Stewart Sand Hole Gully Cave was one of two sites located by Stewart and Slack in Lluidas Vale, St Catherine, on June 29. The other was Gully Head Cave. Both are resurgences on the west side of the vale. The entrance is quite close to Swansea Cave, only 50m to the south, and is at the top of a sandy gully that leads to the cane fields of Worthy Park estate. During our visit, the resurgence was not active, but had been recently as shown by fresh sand and silt in the gully. The flow seemed to have been substantial. As with the visit to Tydixon Ratbat Cave four days before, the mosquitoes were fierce, and we were besieged whenever we stopped moving. As a result, we did not linger at the entrance, just long enough to get a GPS reading. The entrance is fairly wide, arch-shaped, and leads to a sandy descending slope that hits pooled water after about 15m. Both Elizabeth and I declined to swim through the rest of the cave - we knew from the GSD records that it sumped after another 20m or so, and it didn't seem worth it. That said, this may be a site that has potential for divers. The passage above-water is large, and it may continue so underwater. As far as we know, the sink for the rising has not been identified. GIS research to find possible condidates is on the to-do list. |
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