Pridhamsleigh Cavern Crack update

caverbabe

New member
Just to update on this, I did install monitoring pins, and have been checking them regularly.  Please don't spend a lot of time standing under this feature in Bishop's Chamber - the monitoring pins are obvious, and shouldn't be touched.  After a 4 month period of monthly monitoring visits with no discernible change, I reverted to a quarterly visit (which was handy since I was in hospital and incapacitated for quite a while after the last monthly visit - that was why I missed Hidden Earth) but recent visits have again shown no discernible change.  I would continue to recommend diligence in this area, and I will continue monitoring on a quarterly basis unless some obvious change is noted in the interim. 

in other news, of note is a sizeable (nearing 1/4 to 1/2 a tonne) of clay which has collapsed on the Slide, making this feature a little bit more slimy, and the resulting clean clay face is displaying a fantastic bit of varve which indicates the cave was further disturbed AFTER it was filled with goo.....nice to know the history of this little system is so complex and interesting.  Please discourage groups from touching the newly exposed bits of clay if possible until I can get some pictures and measurements PLEASE!  Hopefully later this week.

Lastly, hubby is diving in there regularly when I go in to check (I'm not really allowed to be caving yet since my hospitalisation, but needs must) and so any dive equipment found near the lake is the property of Robbie Warke, and should not be disturbed.  He is doing some pushing and is keeping his kit down there to save some time and energy between dives.  Thanks!
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Please can you ask him to keep his eyes open for any underwater stalactites, note their depth and location - and if possible record this information on the CDG website message board? Thanks.
 

mrodoc

Well-known member
John, you might like to check the videos of diving in Pridhamsleigh which show stal underwater. Just do a Youtube search. However bear in mind that water levels in there can fluctuate by something like 5 metres. So check if they show it what the lake level was like when it was made.
 

maxf

New member
I have been planning a return for a while for a few things but was going to have a specific look for Johns stals. Water levels were very high at the start of the year
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Thanks both - should have said - mention of water level on the day as well as depth of any stal noticed would add considerable value.

I'm sure you two know (but other readers may not be aware) of the report by a military diver several decades ago which mentioned stals at a depth of 12 m. No-one else has ever seen these since but (if I remember rightly) the report was written before the discovery of Prid 2. So if they're there, they should be under the water surface of the main lake.

(Separately, I've received helpful correspondence from Duncan and from Christine some time ago. From what they said it seems that the military diver may have wrongly identified rock formations as stal - so these may not exist. Both the above pointed out to me that there certainly are some stals underwater below the Prid 2 water surface but at much shallower depth.

The bottom line is the more pairs of eyes who are looking the better. Also the more people who report their findings (including if they looked but didn't see any deep stal) the better! Best place for this is the CDG message board.

Cheers all.
 

Alex

Well-known member
I can see why this would be interesting underwater stals means the passage was once dry and I guess could be again.
 

maxf

New member
Pitlamp said:
Thanks both - should have said - mention of water level on the day as well as depth of any stal noticed would add considerable value.

I'm sure you two know (but other readers may not be aware) of the report by a military diver several decades ago which mentioned stals at a depth of 12 m. No-one else has ever seen these since but (if I remember rightly) the report was written before the discovery of Prid 2. So if they're there, they should be under the water surface of the main lake.

(Separately, I've received helpful correspondence from Duncan and from Christine some time ago. From what they said it seems that the military diver may have wrongly identified rock formations as stal - so these may not exist. Both the above pointed out to me that there certainly are some stals underwater below the Prid 2 water surface but at much shallower depth.

The bottom line is the more pairs of eyes who are looking the better. Also the more people who report their findings (including if they looked but didn't see any deep stal) the better! Best place for this is the CDG message board.

Cheers all.

A good common reference for depth might be the numbers on the shot line, if people reference their computer depth to the 6m depth tag then were all on the same page...
 

caverbabe

New member
I'll ask Robbie to look but he has only noticed those at the level of the fluctuating water table. Interestingly he has been playing in Bahamas Beckons and when he fixed his line to what looked like a pointy bit of solid tick it turned out to be sediment covering rotten rock and disintegrated. If that diver was Andy S I remember speaking to him about formations and I think this feature may be what he described, solutional not a speleothems but will ask Robbie to keep his eyes peeled. He is going to do some video warpath a go pro next dive so I can look at the structure of the rift he is working to see if I can spot a likely way on so I'll look too (provided there is a little vis!)
 

Cartwright26

New member
i must put my hand up and say with the best of intentions i removed a bag that was left in plain sight several months ago and was en route to Dart rock when i saw wendy and asked her who confirmed it was his and that i had been a bit of a numpty (with the best intentions) i thought it had been forgotton
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Alex said:
I can see why this would be interesting underwater stals means the passage was once dry and I guess could be again.

Absolutely Alex. The interest stems from the presence of many underwater formations in parts of the Kingsdale phreas. This is an unusual situation in that the valley floor was at least 9 metres lower before the last glaciation (the Devensian ice advance) than at present. We know this from stals as deep as 9 metres, one of which gave a date of around 90,000 years. (Kingsdale was filled with a glacial lake after things warmed up, dammed by moraine just up valley from the Waterfalls Walk; the lake then filled with sediment resulting in the flat floored Kingsdale which we all know and love today.)

This means that if you descended the familiar pitch from the Roof Tunnel into the KMC (before the most recent ice age) you could then have walked downstream in large passage for 600 metres to a second pitch down to a deep pool. It would have been a grand caving trip.

This sparked an interest in recording other examples of underwater stalactites elsewhere across the Dales (which is ongoing). We then started to receive reports of submerged stals in other parts of the country - in particular the mention of possible deep stals in Prid. I responded above simply to raise awareness amongst us sump floppers, so that more folk are on the lookout. At some stage this work will hopefully get written up somewhere.

 

caverbabe

New member
Cartwright26 said:
i must put my hand up and say with the best of intentions i removed a bag that was left in plain sight several months ago and was en route to Dart rock when i saw wendy and asked her who confirmed it was his and that i had been a bit of a numpty (with the best intentions) i thought it had been forgotton

That is OK Joe, was with the best intentions.  He has started leaving his stuff in a bit more obvious place, and most of it says "Warke" all over it, so I don't think anyone will mess with it.....but there have been instances of groups letting air out of the bottles for a kick (not to him, another diver) and that is, um really annoying..... :mad:

Just noticed my appalling autocorrect on my previous reply.....my phone hates me.....truly.....
 

caverbabe

New member
caverbabe said:
I'll ask Robbie to look but he has only noticed those at the level of the fluctuating water table. Interestingly he has been playing in Bahamas Beckons and when he fixed his line to what looked like a pointy bit of solid ROCK it turned out to be sediment covering rotten rock and disintegrated. If that diver was Andy S, I remember speaking to him about formations and I think this feature may be what he described, solutional not a speleothems but will ask Robbie to keep his eyes peeled. He is going to do some video WITH a go pro next dive so I can look at the structure of the rift he is working to see if I can spot a likely way on so I'll look too (provided there is a little vis!)

I've edited what I MEANT to say.....but since my phone hates me.....
 

Cartwright26

New member
caverbabe said:
but there have been instances of groups letting air out of the bottles for a kick (not to him, another diver) and that is, um really annoying..... :mad:

thats more than annoying that dangerous! well as an apology for my stupidity i did offer Robbie my services as a sherpa at any point for him, the offer still stands
 
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