Large sea cave in Shetland

mrodoc

Well-known member
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04fc7fk

Sounds as though somebody thinks sea caves are in the same league as caves in limestone! Listen at 1 hour 18 minutes. BBC Scotland were greeted by a chorus of apathy when cavers were contacted about this being considered a rival to Frozen Deep (or GNTM  if we are talking about Scotland only).
 

Ian

Member
And according to the BBC article it's one and a half times larger than cheddar gorge!

I always thought Cheddar Gorge was classed as a gorge (an ex-cave) rather than a cave.

Someone's got something wrong somewhere!
 

kdxn

New member
I am in the loop so to speak on this and will be visiting Shetland in September to follow up my earlier visit of August.

The BBC quote about Cheddar Gorge is unfortunate.

The size of the chamber is sufficiently big enough to challenge both The Frozen Deep and Gaping Gill in terms of both area and volume.
More data is required and that will hopefully be forthcoming in September subject to weather.
That will permit a more detailed analysis and comparison.
 
So people still come up with this theory that Cheddar Gorge is an ex-cave. Good grief. It was disproved in the 1880s I think. Cheddar Gorge is a meltwater channel, formed in times of climate change.
 

grahams

Well-known member
chriscastle46 said:
So people still come up with this theory that Cheddar Gorge is an ex-cave. Good grief. It was disproved in the 1880s I think. Cheddar Gorge is a meltwater channel, formed in times of climate change.

The British Brainwashing Corporation is run by leftie luvvies who expect great dollops of money to fall into their laps from us and the EU every year. No need to earn a crust by doing proper research.
 

mrodoc

Well-known member
Sea caves are a completely different category of cave IMO particularly as daylight penetrates to the back of this one!
 

graham

New member
mrodoc said:
Sea caves are a completely different category of cave IMO particularly as daylight penetrates to the back of this one!

All the penetration of daylight means is that it is quite roomy, not that it is not a cave.

Have you ever been to ?kocjanske jame in Slovenia? if so you will have noticed that the show cave entrance is not at the sink but, rather, is a window into the stream passage. The upstream cave is called Mahorčičeva Jama & can be done without aid of a light as daylight penetrates all the way through, from each end. It is, however, most certainly a limestone stream cave.

I gather they replaced the steel bridge a few years ago & it's now open to tourists again. We did it, in about 1983, by traversing across the remains of the old bridge, damaged by flooding 20 years earlier. We did have permission, we may even have had a tour guide leader with us, I forget exactly. Nice cave, though.
 
Actually, Graham, I was having a bit of a dig at Ian who thought the Gorge was an ex-cave. The BBC are as accurate and blameless as ever.
 

graham

New member
chriscastle46 said:
Actually, Graham, I was having a bit of a dig at Ian who thought the Gorge was an ex-cave. The BBC are as accurate and blameless as ever.

I got that, Chris. I was commenting on Peter's "not really a cave" It was not me who had a go at the Beeb.
 

bograt

Active member
mrodoc said:
Sea caves are a completely different category of cave IMO particularly as daylight penetrates to the back of this one!


Ahh, more of a rock shelter then :-\ albeit a big one (y)
 

mrodoc

Well-known member
bograt said:
mrodoc said:
Sea caves are a completely different category of cave IMO particularly as daylight penetrates to the back of this one!


Ahh, more of a rock shelter then :-\ albeit a big one (y)
'Zackly - a big wet one so not even much of a shelter - except for kayakers.
 

Alex

Well-known member
The article says its the biggest cave though not the biggest chamber, so what its over 77km long, that's some cave!
 

Brains

Well-known member
"Floor space" (water surface?) quoted as 5600m2

"One and a half times the size of the previous record holder in Cheddar Gorge - ie TFD
 

JasonC

Well-known member
fat git said:
...and here's a video to whet the appetite of anyone who fancies a visit. OK, it's not a limestone cave and you don't need to grovel through mud to get to it, ....

so, call that a cave then ;) ?

Seriously, nice video, and I have to admit to never having encountered a seal whilst caving elsewhere !
 
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