Volume 5
Number 1
. ,.. July'· 1 977
Publication of the Papua New Guinea Cave Exploration Group
··.1 . Registered at the General Post Office, Port Moresby for transmission by post as a Qualified Publication. NIUGINI ·CAVER VOLUME 5 NUMBER 1
Niugini Caver is the pub.li.c.a.t.i.a..n... JJ..f.~~.tb,e ... .J2.apua New Guinea Cave ExploratT'Oii'Group, an informal association of persons engaged in ~peleology ~n Papua Ne~ Gwinea. " •"', <•• ~-···~ .... ~ *" c· ,,, •.• . .;,.,• .,.,~ ..• ··f• ,.... ~•• . . Voiume 5 Number 1 . July, 19770 ·Quarterly .
90 toea~per issueo K3.50 per annu~.
r~alcolm Pound ·p~ o. Box 3824,. Port Moresby, Nationai Capital District, PAPUA NEW GUINEA Assistant Editor Alison Pound
,. . ' Prodqction of ·Malcolm and Alison Pound, Allan.and Chris ____This Number ,__ Gqulbour,neo
' . . . ._,<·.,,~ .. ·.•. " ... ·• '.~ ...... ~· .... ~ ...... ,..._..... ' Contents ,t:::._~~~.i-·;F•·41""~.~ .E~ Toktok Bilong Editaoo••oo'· ...... 0,,00000~00•~0•00~0000; 2
E r r a ~a t o Ni u gin i Ca v er V o 1 um e . 4 Num b er. 4 '!, •• o •• o ••• 2 The Greatest Caves of Papua New.Guinea :.as·:a.. t December, ·1976. Ra Michael .. Bourkeooooooo•• 3 Hepo·r·t of a .Brief· ReConnaissance of' the Porgera and "Mount Kaije.nde Areas" of the Enga Province 11 . Ke v a n A • tJ i 1 d e • • • • • ,, o •· ,, • • ~- " • o • • • • ,, • " ~ • • ~ " ,, • " • ., c. • • 18,.. ;.< The New' Contributor: ••• ., • .,,.o ••.• ·o ,;·." 11"'. ~- •. " •. o • ., •• • •••• · 21 Leviathan Cave - A l
...... ' . . ' ...... •'•" ·.·~ ...... ,.. ,.,.._ ..,-·, 4·-· 7•·,•·····~~'""""~..... ,,,.,;.~.,,...,r·-·"4•~- ,,,.; ._. .. ··;.:,, . ..., .. ~ .... ,,..,,,._,. ·,, ·•..;,•... ,,,-,,,.,. ~. ,,.,~~~ •' •''!',.,,.~, ...... ·•;:!+ ...... , ..... ,.,. ~.~ .... ,,,_.,.~ Cover Photo9rash• . . . Lookir1·9 str·aiGht down into· the giant doline near Tuke V.illage, East New Britain. The white winding line at the bottom of the do~ine "Ts ci large streamo The dolirie has never bee·n descended but is· est'frnated .to be 200.,.300 m deep~ Far further information on this dOT'iri'e, ·r.efer the ·article by R. M· •. Bourke in thi·s. · issue (p~ge 3) and the article by C; JC> Borough (Niu~ini Caver 1 ( 2) ~ 2 5..., 2 6' ~ , • , ,_ I . ~ - " . •,
Photograph by Ro M~ ··ffourke. 2 NIUGINI CAVER VOLUME 5 NUMBER 1 NIUGINI CAVER VOLUME 5 NUMBER 1 3
I TOKTOK BILDNG EDITA THE GREATEST CAVE_..S OJ _PA.f2.. UA _NElJ_GUI.. NEA AS AT o~c.~~~BE.. R, _1976 Ro· Michael Bourke * This is the first issue of NiuQini Cavpr to ~e prod~ced by the Pounds in Port Moresby. However, you will still notice a lot of At the request of the Commission of the Greatest Caves of the Bourke work in it and this will continue for some time as he International Urilon of Speleology, I have prepared lists of Papua writes up the results of his cave studies. We hope th~ standard New Guinea's deepest, longest caves etco The -data is presented of produbtion is as high as in previous issues. You will have to here with soma. notes on how.these comp~re on a world wide·basis. bear with us for the first few issues as we experiment with Unless otherwise stated, all figures are ·d~~ived from surveyed data. is. up ,to date as at the end. of 1976. various means of reproducing maps, diagrams, etc. This iss~e we rt are using electtohic stencils to produce the two maps and in ·future issues we plari' to try several offset processes. I have not done a comparison with other caves of the Southern Hemisphere as I feel Papua Now Guinea's caves are into ·the big It is noted that this issue is very late in publication p_ue to a leaguo now and this comparison can be forgotten. It can be noted large number of reasons bu~ we hope to be up. t~ date by the· ehd"' ·'· how~~~r that, with one exception, P. N. G. ~olds the Southern Hemisphere record for every· 6ategory. For example, of the 1D of the year. Of course, this depends on receiving plenty.~( copy from all those people around Papua New Guinea who make 'the· ca·virg caves in the Southern Hemisphere documented as over 300 m deep, news - the subscribers of this magazine. So keep that copy ·rolling 5 are in Papua New Guinea including the deepest. The category in Remember if your trips aren't published in Niugini Caver, where Papua New Guinea will never hold the Southern·Hemi~phe~e th; sweat yo~ put into your caving exploits will 5e wasted as the record is_highest cave. Most of the high caves in the world (over 3000 m A.Sol.) are in Peru (Courbon 1972). information gained will be lost on your departure. 9 The following abbreviations are used in the Tables: The Papua New Guin~a Ca~e Exploration ·Group library is now with us in Port Mor8$by and this contains much of interest to cav~r.s,_ with a great deal of data on Papua New Gui~ea c~ves and pu~lications 1965 Star Mts. exped. 1965 Australian Star Mounta~ns from around the globe which have been received in exchange for. Expedi tio.n Niu~ini Cave~. Thi~ library is growi~g ,all ~he ~ime with mat~rial 1972~73 UQ~S N~Br~ exp~d. 1972-73 Uhiversity of Queensland sen in by cavets and all the.excha~ge publication~. Anyone is Speleological Society New Britain we 1 come to come to ou r f 1 a t a t F la t ' 3 , Lo t 4 9 S e c t. J. on 8 4 , P rut h Expedition Street, Port Mo~esby and brouse through the ~ibrary. Preferably 1 973 NSRE ring first (25 ~966b,h., 253204a,h. we are listed as C~ntral 1973 Niugini Speleological Research Surveys) in case we are out or ind).sposed ~ Cavers passing t~rough . Expedition to the Muller Ranga Moresby are pa~tically welcome a~d there is a spare bed available NG 75 Sri tish·· Speleological Expedition· as soon as we take t~e maps off it. to Papua New Guihea (1975) 1975 .NISE 1975 New Ireland Speleological Expedition ERRATA TO NIUGINI CAV~R VOLUME 4 NUMB§R 4 1976 NISE 1976 New :Ireland Speleological 'Expedition Preliminary Report on the 1976 Expedition to the Mulle..r. Range. Muller 76 1976 Muller Range Expedition . . . ' ' E.H.P. Kevan Wilde reports that the correct computed de~th for the . Eastern Highlands Province vertical d~op between the sink and assumed risinQ df ~he Atea is N.S.P. North Solomons Provirics now only -750 m and not -1 boo m as in· the a~ticle based on an ·soH.P. estimation by Neil Montgom~ry. Southern Hig~lands Province .. . ' ~ West Sepik Province Some Rock Art Ancestral and Prehistoric Sites of the· Hind~nburg Ranges and Tifalmin Areas of ~he Telef9mi~ Sub~province; with Dee.ees~ ~a,,,,ve.s. Thers are now 24 cave~ .documented as 100 m or Brief Notes Relating to Associated Legends and Mythology. more deep (T9.-""ble 1). Exploration is ·incomplote in four of these
P. 155 Sites are lis~ed from West to East and not as reported. 120 Jariws Street, Toowoomb~ 9 . Queensland, 4350• Australia~ NIUGINI CAVER VOLUME 5 NUMBER 1 NIUGINL CAVER VOLUME. 5 NUMBER 1 5 and also in Lamoragamas on New Ireland which is just under· 100 m. altitudes will not be known until more work is done on the NASA satellite photographs (J. M. James, per. comm.). Papua New Guinea's deepest, Bibim?, does~not f~ature too prominently on a world basis. Courbon and Chaoert (1J75) list 50 caves over 575 m b-..a.:i;-~e.st d ..o)ine?• Nine large dolinBs are listed iri Table 6;, dGep so come about ?Oth ,deepest. Unlike ~he cav~s, these have not b~en documented as systematically 9 B~bima ~i~ht ~n and,many other large· ones exist. There is a very large doline a few kilometres north-west of Pomio and·· another near Nutuve h,_or.i_g.,:o... 11 _ 1 ~t __e;:av~'.3. There are ca~es .rep~rted o~er ~rp. lo~g. in P·1ission ::'on ·New'· Britain · ( Bou;rke 1· 973a}., Other large dolines are Papua New Guinea (Table 2)~ OmaJ-: south-east o.f ~endi in ~he Southern 9 Highlands is also long (Van Amstel, 1973) ~ but it has not beon ·. report~~:f~om the Keriaka Plateau of Bougaihville and the Saruwaged Range· •. survoyod 0 Parker (1973} reports that Taema Cave at Lanahan, Buka Island tiis said to bo at least three miles longn so this may also Doline surveys on the ground are very difficult and will have exce.ed 1 km. to await photogrammetry for accurate measurement. ~lost dimensiorrs· Selminum Tern· is equal 36th longe~t in ~he wotld and ten couhtrias quoted in Table 6 are taken from aerial photographs. The largest have :Longer· caves according to the li.-st of C6urbon and Chabert of Papua New Guinea's dolines·are significant on a 'world basis but it is difficult to decide their ranking at this stage. ,The~e (1975)., . are ~arger uvalas than Ora in the Yugoslavian karst (J. N.' Jenni~gs? pers. co~m.)._The dolines near Koripobi Village on ~ g n 9,,E:l t :_ _p ~ ·t q 1J e s e Tw e ~ t y f iv e p i t c h e s of 5 0 m or 1 on g er ha V e no hi boon 9report13rfl'Table 3). Basod on the list of Courbon (1972) ~ the Bouga1nv1lle and Tuke Village on New Britain must rank as 232 m pitch in Tina Bu Tern would have been the 14th, longest in th s amdngst the hlorld's greatest. · world had it been reported then~ 1.a7g est __ ~a t~T_?l. b~ id9.e~. There are a number of large natural Lara CJst chamb ors. I hav 8 'listed only two very ~ar~ e chambers but bridges in Papua New Guinea, but measurements are few. It is ti'le=-rGl~_,.ay ..-604-8 ~rr;'ore reported (Tabla ~). The B~ugainvi~le ch~mber. wa: often difficult to distinguish between a natural bridge and a not included in Courbon's (1972) list. He give~ maximum dimonsiono cave• for a number of large chambers and his data s~gg~sts that there are only thr6e chambers largor than.the Bouga1nv1lla ~ne. These There is a largo natural bridge over the Mubi River a ·fdw kilo were Torca dol Carlista, Spain; La.Salls do la ~orne 1~ Gouffre metres south of the junction of the Mubi and Waga Rivers iri the Southern Highlands. The bridge was estimated from t'he .air as 120 m de la Pierre Saint-Martin 9 Francs; and Grotte.Gi~ante in Italy. Ths latter is only just largor than the Bougainville qhamber$ ~all and 200-300 m long. The cave mouth into which the river.flows . . . i is about 15 m tall a~d 50 m wide (Bourk~,_ 1973b). If one also included vertically walled dolines or shafts, the . . ·. . . situation is diffqrent as some of th~se ha~e very large ~olu~es. The Qra uvala in Nl:lw Britain is· split into two dolines by a For example Sima Major in Venezuela is a single huge s~art with n at u r a~ bridge • T. he bridge is 2 0 0 m 1 on g , 8 0 m wide and 1 5 O m a total depth of 314 m and 405·. m, of ~lan leng~h. (Urbani si 1976) • from the bottom of the uvela to the top of tha bridge. The cave El sotano and Las Golondrinas in Mexico are similarly shaf~s ?f mouth at the efflux end of the bridge· is 20 m high and 22 · m wide huge dimensions. The huge doline near Tuke Villagesi New Britain (Bourke 9 1973a). · ·· ..·. • ·. · . is estimated as 200 m deep with a diameter of 200 mat.the base (Edit~rts comments in Borough, 1973). Tho Southerh Ooline of the Tobia in the Southern Highlands should perhaps be considered as Ora uvala in New Britain is 150 m by 120 mat the baso9 110 m a natural bridge as the local villagers use it as such to cross deep and is cdntained in a uvala 268 m ~eep (Bourko9 1973a). the Iara River (Ryan;_: 1974). , , . · · These two dolines provide access to horizontal ~av~ systems. Tina Bu Tern in the Nang Valley south of Telefomin is a shaft 50 m The pbura Land Bridge spans the Lamari ~ivsr in the Eastern in diameter arid 232 m d~ep on the highest side (Beck a~d Goulbourne Highlandso The river runs under the bridge for 460 rn and can be followed if there is no flooding (Parker, 1975). · 1976). The Sting,·Finim Tel Plateau 9 Hindenburg Range is a shaft 110 m by 82 mat the b~so and 158 m deep (Eavis9 1976b). Verstappen (1960) quoting Montagne (1949) gfves an example of Hj:_ghest caves Four caves recorded. at over 2800 m aos.L ~ave a ~arge. natural bridg·e and und8rgrou.nd 'river in Irian Jaya. The 0 bridge .is formed over th'f3 deserted course of the LJorok River a b 8 en . r ep 0rt 8d (Ta b 1 8 5 } 0 Th ere a r 8 1 3 c a v 8 s . i n . t h 8 . LI DI' l d h J. g h er t~ibutary of the Grand V~lley of the Salim River. Elsmore (1~45). than Papua N~w GuineaYs highest 9 F4, accdrding to Courbon (1972). There are a number of caves in the Hqratio and Mamo areas of the gives the entrance as 90 m high. Muller Ra~ge, S~H 0 P 0 , that are about 2700 m ais.l. but exact T?ble-., __ 1_. -. j)EEPES_T CA_\/_~_s O'I
------~-·--_,,....,...... ,....==----== Explorer-s · References Cave Location Depth (m}
----~-.. -=t=sr-- -· ~ . ·- - - V. lJatson, K.· Wilde LJilde and 1 • Bibi ma Porol Escarpment 494 Chimb.u Province & others (1972) Watson {1973) Fault Valley 354 NG 75 lJilde et al. 2 2o Terbil Tern ( 1 976)=--- ~ H lJestern Province c [;) NG 75 LJilde et al. 1-1 Camp III Fault Valley 330 2 3. <1 s 1 6 r=--- c--= Hole Western Province H 1973 N5RE · Montgomery n 4. Kanada Muller Ranga 314 J:::> (1974) c:::: Heiowa Heia SoH.Po f1l Montg9mery ::0 Uli Guria Muller Range 314 1973 NSRE s. (1974) . c:::: SoH.P. 0 NG 75 Beck and r 6. Tina Bu Tern Nong Valley 277 Goulbourne c:: lJestern Province 3 ( 1976) - f1l U1 200 NG 75. Wilde et al. 7. Langlang Fault Valley (1"976}=-= ~ z Provine~ c Tern Western 3 1 8 7 ( 1-) · Vari au s · \.Jiltje (1973a) al H. Darua Muru Porol Escarpment Bourke (1976b f1l Chimbu ProvinGe - ( 1973/75) ::0 183(2 ) NG 75 D. Brook ...::. 9. Owillfore Feramin area pers. comm. Tern lJoSoPo 1973 NSRE Mqntgorner.y 10. UliUi Muller Range: 182 (1974) --- ,. S.H.P. ·NG 75 Yonge & lJilde 11. Agim Tern South of Tifalmin 167 (1976)- lJoS.Pci 160(3) Ao L. Brown Brown (1973) 120 Mebile Upper Chimbe Valley Llo Sander~ (1~73) Chimbe Province NG 75 Do Brook 13. The Sting Hindenburg Range 158 pers. comm. western Province
14. Girtoil Hindenburg Range 156 NG 75 o. Brook Llestern Province pers. comm. 15. Cave near Koripobi Village 1 52 ( 4) F. Parker_ (1963) Parker (1970) Sou~ainvillg Is. 16. Fungi Tern Mt. Wamtakin 142 NG 75 Eavis (1976a) Ll.S.P. 1 7 • La B u um ·_ Te m Hindenburg Range 138 NG 75 o. Brook Westein Province pers. comm. 18. Selminum Hindenburg Range 137 NG 75 D~ Brook· Tern Western Province pers~ comm. 19. Lili M~ller Range 130 1973 NSRE Montgomery Mulmulum S.H~P. (1974) z H 20. Ariyorba Mt. lJamtakin 122 NG 75 Eavis (1976a) c c;-f Tern w.s.P. t-1 z 2-.1 • Low at k us me r i L~let Plateau 102 1915 NISE Brown et al. H Lemet Silot New Irel~nd (1976)__. --=-=· n J::> 22. Obungeram 102 M. Bourke J. Farnworth c:::::: ~aining Mt~. R. f1l New Britai~ J. Farnworth pers.· comm. ::0 & others (1971-75) c:::::: 0 r 23. Atea Kanada Muller R~nge 1973 NSRE Jo Mo James c S~H~Po (5) Muller 76 pers. comm. 3 f"'l 24. Kabase Namatanai area 1 00 ( 4) Ho Gallasch (1974) Gallasch (1974) U1 ~e~ !~eland z 97(6) c 25. Lemeragamas L~let Plateau 1976 NISE Sprod (1976b) 3 New Ireland OJ f"'l ::0 --~--_,....,._._
~ ( 1) De~tended to 187m. Exploration stopped at. top of pitch estimated as ?m. ·-(2) Descended to 183m; estimated depth 26Dmo (3) Descended to an ·,estimated 160m; cave -cDntinues-., (4) Not surveyed. , ,. -~ 5} .,·-- Over 1 OOm deep; exact depth not know·n because,~ roof is too high for estimation. -..) (6) Desdended to 97m; exploration stopped at top of pitch estimated as 15m. NIUGINI CAVER VdLUME 5 NUMBER 1 9
NIUGINI CAVER VOLUME 5 NUMBER 1 8 klrg7st ~Q9~r~ro~~d rive~s. Beck (1975) estimates the river _..... f owing ~n Tobia \Iara River Cave) in the Southern Highlands as 85-113 m /sec. This exceptionally high rate has not been measured ._-- c !:'- 0 but even if the .flow is a fraction of this, it is an enormous flow" ,,,.-... Ol Cl) '",...... µ • Lf) ._,;Lf) E e' C' m E Average dry season stream flow in the Atea Kanada, Muller Range, • en >- cm 3 ::t.. 0 Q) E H Gl s.H.P. i.s estimated as 12 m3/sec. (James !¥J. .§].., 1977). : Q) 0'" 0 u E Cl)...._.. o8 m ::i.. 0 E en ,.-.. H a (I) ..µ H • 0 0 o,.-... ·.-1 Q) t!"l Q) (I) Mea$µrements of the tiver in Ora Cave, New Britain, of 4.0 and 0 ·:.01.::::1" u· !'-IH .::i.. co CJ) CD ill u ('- ro H • ..µ (' c ..-I O'I H l'-l 5.7 m3/sec were made in December, 1972 - January, 1973 (Bourke, ..0 •.-1 0 C) 0.. CD Cl) C CT'> co ·r-t ._.... m 0 Q) 0 CL 1973a). Th~ river effluxes from a cave entrance in a cliff face H 0'" H 3 ...... 0.. Q) • (i) a::E £.._,, !..i... E 1.5 km away in a spectacular 55 m waterfall. 0 0... a Cl),_ Cl) ,--.. H . Borough (1973) gives stream dimensions for an efflux cave riea~ Q) n CD E (I) \JJ ·.-1 E Tuke Village, New Britain that indicate a stream flow ~f 75 m /sec. ..c o H 01 ...... µ 0 ill '" G) Cl From Borough's photogra~hs, the pre~snt author has estimated the o8.::::I" c 0 ~ ..c ._... r 0 ,,,,...... ,...µ ~I flow as more like 4-6 m /sec • U)o8lD (J) Q) • (1) 0'\ C 0 H ..µ C'- ·r-1 ..c Cl) .,...;·'" 0 CJ H ,.-.... w \.0 H (j ....._.. i:-i i:-i m u ..µ .. (I) o8 ::i.. I have seen only a few figures for larg~ under~round ~ivets N 0::: C'- Q) Q) ill~ c ill CJ) ;:t. c Cl) _µ H ,'Cl) 0.. U) (' (tj'(J) .o·•.-1 . I co Lf) overseas, H H co OJ CI! but ncithing to compare with ths large flows found in '.:J'', .. z H H H H om.. ('- ctl CD Li... G) :;iu o.. 0 .::::!" m 1,.1.. .' Q) a:: s (' Papua New Guinea~ It may be that Tobia contains one of the greatest t"l r-1 . tL ..c r-1 •,...; \.0 ..c m • •.-1 CJ ~ E CD C'- r-1 0 0 0:- 0 ..µ underground rivers known in the world • !'-10'\ 0 ..µ ::::>3 Li... z m ::J . CJ a 0.. :C'-" CJ 0 :;::>....._..m'" o:- E u.. ;'""' by ,,...... N The longest reported underground river that can bs negotiated ....._.. :\:.. N -~~ boat in Papua New.Guinea is in Pumpulyun Cave, Manus Island • ...... _,. 0 0 N 0 ·O'E 0 I .:::j" Hero m 0 0 0 lD N D the passage can be followed up.stream by canoe -for 1250 ..c 0 0 0 ..µ~ 0 0 0 0 .ti"J Lf) N N N (J) (Francis, 1975). cnE 0 0 N lD lD ·r-tn ·. c...._.. I LlJ 0 ...... ,,, u OJ -:;;:t N ..c ...... I 0 ..µ-a The Ok Sibul in· the Star Mountains of Irian Jaya flows under _µ Q) Q) N l\:1 01 G) ground for 16 km. Dye placed in the river emerged in the East • (J) CJ1 0 ..µ CD CJ) c c > OJ OJ H Q) (j c c ill .ill Digul four hours later (Brongersma and Venema, 1962 p77-78). c Q) H cD •r-1 01 0 a:l E c .-1 :> c c Q) u (L•rl a: > E a) 0 H ro .,...; c (D H CD H :;;, '1J Q) ::J . (i) a:: :> O..•r-1 .-I ma c CTlH 9t~?r. Pa__eua ~Ne_w__ Gl:J~.'=18.a 9E3.Ve r_~o~ds. The ho-ttest reported water .-I CJ1 CD en .-1 . :> (,') 0 H :> :;;, ·c Cl t-i ('j f-40.. in a Papua New Guinea cave is a pool in a pseudokarst cave near .0 a:l 0 c .,...; ro c ro, 01 H •.-1 ' ct1 (I) 0.. .-1 ::J ) ' u ::J. CJ H a:l . h:: :> [j) ..0 c Tavurvur Volcano (Matupit), New Britain. The temperature at: the !'-10.. a: .-1 w I- ::J (J) CL 0:: r-1 c ::J H.• CH 0 •r-1 • co 'U OJ CD surface has b~en me~sured at between 47 °c and 40. c on different tt g ..D c w co u H C r-1 .D 0.. I CH :J H C co ·o.. '1J ..µ .,...; _µ·co 0 E m " occasions. The water at the bottom of ,the pool is too hot 'to swim .-1 ..0 _µ CU en •. c (I) ..µ OJ OJ Cr-1 f-1 .,...; .::i.. CJ) u ..µ a E· c ..-I :Jen •r-1 Q) inand is at lea~t 60 ·(sprod, 1976a). co OJ (I) 0 ..c ::J .. °c c (J) (:..J•r-1 Q) (I) 0 0 :r: 3 (j CD 2 UH o..u roz 0 .,...; Q) o..c UH 0.. u ...... I :r:3 The longest p~eudokarst cave is Rarururunga, Keravat, New Britain. E en It is 250 m long (J.·Farnworth, per. comm.) and is in welded tuff. m m c ·.-I _µ co ·.-1 Q) c CJ) (I) ::J ,,...... Of the described caves, Ir~kunguai (Irapui} in the Chimbe is m :r: >- CI! E ::i--...... -1 •.-1 co > CJ) r-1 E ..-I o probably the best decorated (Wilde, 1973b). The cave with the .--! co ill.,...; .D ::J 01•.-I H H CCI ctl ill E E ct1 c ::J ::J ::J I- ::i.. •...-l most exotic decoration would be a 15,m long hot cave ih one of c co ct1 u :3 c u D.. •.-1 OJ E .,...; ::J D.. c :J ct1 0 ::J .D > cum ·the craters of Tavurvur V6lcano, near Rabaul, .New Britain. The ::i.. co c.,...; 0.. c E ::i.. ru c E CD 0.. Q) ::J •r-1 ro +:> ::J H ('j 0 ~ :::i de~orated whit~P· .-I E ::i.. ·.-1 CT'.l ill 0 0.. c.o u cave is beautifully with a variety of yellow, Q) Q) HH ~ ~ z I-I.._.,. H~ :r: CJ) I- orange, brown and green crystals of volcanic origin (Bourke, 1972). ·o• • • • 0 • lD lD The cave with the most rock art in it? Probably Ak K~garnugl near t'1 lD N the Chimbe Gorge, Wilde (1974) describes the art. The cave with the most interesting history in my opinion is Matarai on New Table 3. LONGEST PITCHES ...... _.. -~----·- ....~ ···----~·~ ~ D ~--- ····-· -~··- ~--·· ...... :..~,.;= Reference Go.~~ '"'-~- Explorers Location Length cif Pitch (m)
232 ( 1 Beck and Nong Valley f NG 75 1 • Tina Bu Goulbourne Western Provine~ (1976) Jem z Beck and t-1 153 NG 75-. c Nang Valley Goulbourne CJ 2. Tina Bu 1-1 Tern \.Jestern Province (1976) z .Montgomery H Muller _Range 123 1973 NSRE n 3. Uli Guria . ( 1 97.4) J::> S.H.P. c::::: (The Shot r1 Tn~er) Eavis (1976b) ::0 Hindenburg Range . 122(Z) NG 75 c::::: 4o The ~ting D \.Jestern Province r Eavis (1976b) c Hindenburg Range 113. NG 75 3 5. Girtoil Western Province r1 Brown et al. Ul 81 1975 NISE (1976)=== ~ .Lelet Plateau z. 6. Lam·bolubung c New Ireland r1ontgomery 3 1973 NSRE 81 ( 1974) OJ . 6. Uli Ui Muller Range l'l S.H.P. . ::0 (Pendulum __:. Shaft) J. Pl. James EtO Mul1er 76 s. Muller Range pers. comm. S.H.P. lde et al. NG 75 fault Valley 76 (1976)=--= -=-=" 9. A nawol Tern western Province Brook (1976) 73 (_3) Local villagers 1 D. La Buum Tern Hindenburg Range NG 75 \.Jesterri Province · Eavis (1976b) NG 75 Hindenburg Range 73 10. The nz40 \.Jest~rn Province Montgomery feet~v Pot 1973 NSRE fV\uller Range 73 (1974) 1 0. uli Mulmulum S.H.P. Montgomery 71 1973 NSRE f11uller Range (1974) 13. ~1R116 s.H.Po
14. Darua f"iuru Porol Escarpment 70 Various (1973/76) !.Jilde (1973a) Chimbu Province Bourke (1976b) 15. Obi Tum Tern Tifalmin Valley 68 NG 75 D. Brook lJ.S.P. pers. comm. 15. Fungi Tern Mt. Ltlamtakin 68 NG 75 Eavis (1976a) lJ.S.P. 1 7 •. ,~1 eb,.i,l e Upper. _Chimbe 65 Ao L •. Brown. Br,own (1973} Valley W. Sanders (1973) Chimbu Province 18. Owill fore · Feramin area 61 NG 75 Eavis (1976a) Tern lJ.S.P. z 1 9. Uli Oogua ·- Mull~r ~~nge 60 19_73 NSRE Montgomery 1-1 c S.H.Po ( 1 974) c1 H 20.~Nosok Tern U~apmin· area 58 NG 75 D.- Brook z w.s.P. pers. comm. 1-1 n 21 •. Uli Guria Muller Range 55 1973NSRE r~ontgomery J::> c::::: (Absolute S.H.Po (1974) f"l1 Rip-off - ::0 Pitch) c::::: 0 r 22. Hells Gates . Hen.ganof i area 51 Local villagers Bourke (197·6a) c (Murafinka E.H.P. and various local 3 Shaft) cavers fT1 trl 23. Gagogangama Porol Escarpment 50 J. James LJa tson ( 1 973) 2 Chimbu Province V. Watson and c: 3 Ke1 Wilde (1972) rn r1 23. Langlang Tern Fault Valley 50 NG 75 LJilde et al. ::0 Western Province ( 1 976 )=-= ~- __:. 23. Tum Dabom Fault Valley 50 NG 75 lJilde et al. Tern Western Province . (1976)~ ==
-$7""';tt· i::--- ~~~~=~=-~·-=·~~~~~~~=~~~~== (1) Measured~ not descerded.
( 2) Ea v ~ s gives the pitch as rv 4 0 0 feet (1 2 tJ 111 ) rv iri the text but ·as 440 feet on the mapo
~ (3) An alternative hang is 9B~m~ · -l. Table 4. LARGEST CHA~BERS ~·:"ptT._ , __ - - .• ------·'l'TdM" -- ==·-· - -~... ..:..;.~ -~ N
~ •..,.,...,_ ...... ,., .... .,..,...,.,...,~.-=.. ~.:;;::;··· ...... ,...... ___ ...... _ ... , -··r=··r===e=-- ··""'e ~- ····=·· -··· - .•...... ,. .. -~ ::t:e· ------·- •. --- - . -...... ··-=---~~ Cave Location Length Max. Max. Explorer~ Reference · ( m) LJ i dth: -. Height ( m)
=--=-·· "'r"'- u ~ ...... - ·- ••• • • ...... =- . '17""7" ·-=r·· ._,,_. -- '• ·-====-= .... --~~'.--&--...I'"'__,,·._·_,..,._,,_._.~.,,,..._ --····-·---,...._.., ....,_~~~--,.....__ __-~·· =..:~t 1 o Gave near Koripobi village. 274 137(1) 152 F. Parker .Parker Boµgainville Is;~ NoS~Pa ( 1953) ( 1 970}
2. Matapara New Ireland 30B 60 43 Local Bourke z villagers '(1974b) H c
~ -r -'l'"Z';>t :e=-'hn: -- - ··ttr-- - . --e-·=t'7 ---=--~-~-~--~~--- ...... - --...... ,. - -- ;::...· ...,.,... .,. ..• CJ H z ( 1 ) .Cava Mouth is 107m wide and 91m high. H n Table 5. HIGHEST CAVES J::> -;= - • '1e·t=- ··c=- ~~- ..... - ~ .- __ ., c::::: fT1 ;:a
:=-;c ;;;;e· --== ...... - ...... -- .-· :C::::: Cave Location Entrance Explorers RBference 0 r Altitude (m) c ·--r=- ·- - 3 f'11
1 •. F4 , Mto Fugubil 2990 NG 75 Do Brook U1 West~~n Province pe~s. comm. z c 2. Small Ookfuma Plateau 2850 1 965 Star f·1ts .. -Hayllar (n.d.) 3 D. Brook OJ unnamed Star Mountains Expedition r1 cave NG 75 pers .. commo .:::0 3. · Ariyorba Mt. l.Jamtakin 2800-2850 NG 75 Do Brook ~ Tern LJ .. S~P .. pers. comm. 4. Fungi Mt .. \.Jamtakin 2800-2850 NG 75 D .. Brook Tern Ll .. 5 .. P .. pers .. comm.
_. --- n -ee-- ..,.... - ,- - - _____ ,___,~~"""'°'"~ _ ___,.._.,,,_,,,_ __~-=-""""'- ....., -e-r-=m- - • - -=--- "t""Y- -- --=-==*'=
T3ble 5! LARGEST QOLINES
~--~ .. -- -et rnr -~ =-=... ·r-=t-~ - ~--~~- Dolins Location· Depth Length LJidt.h Explorers (m) (m) (m) Re_ference ---= -...... --- .. .,.,,, .. ""~-=--=- Ora ( f) 1 • Nakanai P1ts 268 90ff 560 New Britain 1972-73 UQSS Bourke exped. 2. Doline near Koripobi 193 613 N.Br. ( 1973a) Village,:, Bougainville Is. 420. F. Parker Parker ( 1963) 3 •· Doline 1 Ookfuma Plateau 90 · 800 (1970) Star Mountains 80.0} 1965 Star Mts Shepherd expeditiono 3 • ·· Do 1 i n e 3 0 o k f um a P i"a t ea u 9 0 8 O0 ( 1969) z SOO · NG 75 favi.s· H Star Mountains. · ) c (1976c) C) s. Doline near Tuke Vlllageioo-3oo(2Joo H z Nakanai Mountains 400 c. Bcirough . Borou~h H New Britain . Ko Read {1968) (1973 1 n 6. MR201 Muller Range J::> 250 400 c::::: 400 1973 NSRE f'11 S .. H.Po . f1ontgomt;r ::0 7. (19·7 4) Lelet Plateau 20 <::::: J 300 300 0 New Ireland -. CoHo.Co r c . Shannon 3 6. - MR208 Muller Range · pers • com1 f'11 800 250 en S.H.P. 19·73 N.SRE Montgomer· z 9. MR202 Muller Range (1974). . c:: 400 200 :::s S .. H.P. 1 973 NSRE · Montgomer: m (1974) f'11 ...... -.. _.,,...... -,.~. ::0
~ ( 1 ) Ora is a Uvala (a Complex cl.o,sGd depression with more than one h.ollow). It consists of two dolines ·with a bridge a er.ass the centre. (2) Dimensions esti~ated by R. M. Bourke from aerial ob&ervations. Borough ·(1973) depth as 450 m. · · ·~stimates ·
~ tN
'~ ' \'l*czz.. , .. NIUGINI CAVER VOLUME 5 NUMBER 1 NIUGINI CAVER VOLUME 5 NUMBER 1 15
Ireland. It was used to house prisoners of-war in the Pacific War Borough 9 c. J. (1" 973 ) ·A Pomio Sub-Di"st ric= t ' LargeNew Br1ta1"nC~ve and N"Doline .. near Tuke Village 1 (Bourke, 1974a). Very little has been reborded about cave history c • iunini Cav 1 (2) as perceived by Papua New Guineans and no doubt there are caves with o u r e ' R .. M• ( 1 9 7 2 ) . o .....,....,._..... • ·. e r - 2 5-2 6 • 8 k ~ more interesting history that.have not been written up. ASF N .. Cavoa of New Britain - A. ___.. ,,,,_el:t,.~li?ttqr 57 g 3_6 • . PrGliminary Report. Discussion. Some of Papua New Guinea's caves are definitely world Bourke,_R._M. (1973a). The 1972-3 U ClaSS, although there is Still a long way to go to be Up with the N,,, i u gin i C? v e_r 1 ( 2 ) ~ 2 7-4 3 .. ~ • Q o S • S • Ne w Britain Expo di t ion • really big ones for deepest and longest, The amount of exploration Bourke Ll R • M! ( 1973o. ) • Speleo-hydrolo...... 1 .. and documentation that has occurred since 1971 can be ~pp~eciated ...a3g).a River, Southern Highland~ ~~c~ _Investigations o_n tho from the data presented. It also highlights the pioneering work of ~59-62. ' is rict. Niu£1_ini Cavor 1 Fred Parker and the contributions of the expeditions, especially ( B o Ur k e R r,1 ( , ·) ~~--= """ 9 • 1 • 1 9 7 4 a • r~ at a r a i p · o the 1975. Btitish expedition. C~,!~:t; l(3)~208-210. r1won Cave, New Iroland. ~~ug~ni Most of Papua New Guinea's greatest caves are f6und in th8 Bourke, R M (1974b) Highlands with a lessor number on the large islands of1 New Britain, ~(3) ~229-230. •, r1atapara Cava, New Ireland. Nil;l£ini Cavqr New Irela~d, Bougainville and Manus. Jennings and Bik s (1962) · suggestion that high tropical mountains may provide optimum Bourkej R. Mo (197~a>. The 1975-76 conditions for karst evolution appears to be more ~alid every year. .~~ v~~ ~ ( 1) ~ 17-1 9 • PNGCEG Highland Meet• N.il1__gini 8=ck_nowledgements. Dave Brook, Jim· Farnworth, Lex Brown, Julia Bourke, R". M= (1976b). Darua Muru Ch" . . a n d S t 1. 11 Go in g • N~ u.n i n i Ca~ . 4i_m( ·1b u) 0 p r o v J. n c e ~ 1 9 4 m Doe p James and Kevan Wilde provided unpublished data, Lex Brown commented -·~ ···- ... · e,r ·. o 20-22 rongersma L D . - .- - . • on a first draft of this articlo. B ' • •and Venema G ·r (1962 ) thf? Star~·· Hodder and. sto~ghto . L • T9 Th? fVl,,..ouotain~ ·of Footnote. In a number ofI articles consulted, information on ...... G. Readett. , · . · n, Dndon, Translated by A:' dePths Eind lengths was not given in the text and had to be scaled Brook' D ~ (19.76) • Th:e. Finim .R • ...... from small scale maps. ·This information should always be given The British New Guin6a ;g~~~· In.Brooks o •.. (Compiler).-. in the text tog other 1Ji th al ti tu de, at least for ea vos over' 2000 m Tr?D~· British cave R p ological Expedition 1975 a.s.l. I would appreciate receiving any corrections or additions Brown, L. (197;-)··-· ·r~ -b-·.--=l·, .. esea_rc::h Assoco ].(3,4) :165-175 •. • to these list~. finally I have listed a number of caves that • ·1e l o Cave Down U d ( .. require further exploration or surveying. These are as follows: Brown A L ' -- n er 11. 1) :22-24. 1 • •si Bourke, R M and Sh , . R~port of the 197~ N;~Irnlaannon, c. H. c. (1976), Lelet· Doep caves: Owillfore Tern near Feramin, West $epik Province; Nu!_g_ini f!l ver j; ( 3): 87-136 nd Speleological Expedition• . Oarua Muru, Mebile and·-Angunga in the Chimbu~ ~ ~abase and Lem8ragamaa on New Ireland. Courbcin, P. (1972). Atlas Dos·' . . et Coumes. Apt' PiDii enCe, Grand~~ Goufj'res ~ M_onde • vioud Long caves: Ikenar/~ipuari, Eastetn Highlands; ths caves at Mal~sahg and Lonahau 9 Buka Island; Cm.irbon, P and Chabert r ( · ) , ...... S_Eelunca.....-...~-~-~-. 4~5-8 • ' Lio 1975 • Les Grandes. CavitGs Mondiales. Ornai near Mendi. Eavis~ Sepik.A .. J .. In(1976~) Br~ok Thre(~~st~fn Llamtakin Plateau and Upper Large river caves: Speleological E~p~diti~~1 ~~).The British New Guihea. The cave and doline near Tuke Village and Ora . Researc;h ~.sac• ].( 3 , 4 }: ,:3 7_1 ~6: Traris • _B..£}. tish fa vc:; cave New Britain; 9 Eav1s9 A. J. (1976b). Girtoil . Atea Kanada and Tobia, Southern Highland~. The British New Guinea R~gion. ~n Brookp D. (Compiler) T:t(3.n s • Bri ti 'sh Cav R S p eleolog lea 1 Exp edition 1975 • . -· _____ ,,__,__ -e . eseareh Assoc 3 (3 .) 9 . o REFERENCES Eavis, A. J. ( c).Thc--::--- _ -:-:---" - ,4 :163-164, ~-··TT-'" • • 1976 H. M. (1975)~ Iara River Cave, Southern Highlands District. The British New ·Gui Star r~ounta1~1s. In Brook, D .. (Com .. }J?§ • ea 1 ,E( Beck 9 JJiu_gini _t;;a v er:. l (n : 4-5. . . . ··. . . . ~ ~rt.t~9J::. Cave n~:s~~ ~~~o*ogi ~pedi tion' 1975~1ler) • E ls m0 r 8 SI R 0 . T 0 ( 1 9 4· 5 )-.... ---'-:- "" ~ ' .,....§..§..9£. l ' -J 9 4 ) g 1 5 7 ou• 1 6 0 0 H. and Goulbourne, A•. (1976). The Nang Caves. In Brook, D. D ~- e Now Gu1noa's Mo t·~ .. ~ Beck, (Compiler). The British New Guinea Speleological-Expedition, wellers. National Ge .' ~ .· un ~in and Swampland ~--- . - _q..9}'~hic fl~azin,e~ ..l?J?.'( 6) ~ 670-694 • 1975. Jrans.·§ritish ~av~ Research 8ssos. }(3,4):145-147. NIUGINI CAVEr-~ VOLU~1E 5 NUMBE\~ 1 16 NIUGINI CAVER vDLUME 5 NUMBER 1. 17 Francis,. G. (1975), Caves of r~anus Island. _Nj-u_gi11i Caver ;2.(3):77-92 9 Van Amstel. ·h J • (1973)· • Caves .. in th· r1 • Gallasch' H •• ( 19.7.4). caves of the Nama tanai Area Of NBw I re land. H,lg lands District N. . .. e i·1end1 Area South H. Th. (1960):7;-:ni Cav,er em .. ~-~ \:! g ~S! ~. £.~ v 8 r: .?. ( 3 ), ~ 2 2 2 ~· 2 2 8 • . . Versta~pen, ~(3):56-58. Hayllar, T. (n,d.) An Account c~· the First Crossing Gf. the Australian in the Malay Archipela Observations on Karst 0 1 Star Mountains, 196~. ,Pacific Manuscripts Bureau.Microfilm I.Ja tson $ V• ( 1973) G go• l• T:i;:o_E • Geog_raphy 14: 1 ~1'~ opment D.is t r ict. Niunin'" agogangama . . • Cavo' Porol Es car ; -- . . • . PMB 83. w·1d . . . .,~.1:. Caver ..1.(2):46-47 pment, Chimbu Jam e s , J , f1 • , King , R , H • and Mon t g o mer y , N • R , ( 1 9 77 )( in . p r e s s) i .... e, K. A. (19.73) _. ..·... • · 8 1 Atea Kcnada • U.elliillEl 2): .· . N. .'.!:..1:19~,.Il~ · . . C~ver 1(3)0• The 6?'-691Hole p oro Escarpment Chi b. • • ~( .ld -== ~ 0 • ' . m u District J en n in g s , J • N • and Bi k , M• J • ( 1 96 2) • I< a r s t Mor p '.• o 1 o g y in Au s t r a 1 i an LJ i e, K A (197 ) . • . 0 ~ . 3b • I rapui Ca v N e tiJ Gu i n ea o l\l a.. t ~,£~ .1.. 9 4. ( 4 8 :3 3 ) : 1 0 3 6 •.,,1 0 3 8 o . \Jild e 0 ~strict• Hiugini Caver .1 ( ~ ~ :~Q,::~~ •E scarpmsnt' .Chimbu Meier, H. (1975). Nenduma cave, Bougainville Island• ii s·K. • A. (1974). . ·l\'otIM es of R k ~·"""".:~·Niugini ~~Caver =~3(4):137-1300 . . . .·· ' Nf8g?a~igl and Kwinigl V~~~a~rt and Burial Caves of the Montagne, D. G. (1949). Geologie en topografisch beeld, II. • .· !,£l..J,.!J.:L Caver 1_(2) :163-1BO y, of the Chimbu District. · Ilid '3,Ej£. !S_ol' • !1.~~a n d,ll ;eh 8.E d~J.).~ s i G - (30~(Jgy_~ · The entire tHG3 is satisfactorly ·covered by aerial photog raphy. The l.Jabag Sheet of tho Papua NeLl Guinea 1 ~ 250 OOO Geological Series (SB 54~8) shows tho geology (incomplete) and an accompanying geological report is 6 vailabl o. The Porg e ra limestones have. bo e n mapped as thG Tibinini Limestone Member (after the villa gB of the same na me ) a nd form the sp e cta cu la.r Faiam Cliffs 9 'whi eh bound th e h s ad of the Porg era \/alley and tho southern, flank of the L ai~ap Va lley nea r Tibinini . \Ji11age' <> The Tibinini limestone rri emb er \uppe r oligocen·e to"· middle ~ ocene) 9 tc c nsists of fine grained grey t o wh ite lim Gs ton o which. is massive to thick bedded with intorbods of ma rl a nd some cha lky bods crowd ed ,with macro-fossils including coral' 9 and ~ v e rlies the Laigap s~dimsntry beds consisting of grBy s l ate~ s ha l s s a nd sol t s ton us (Dow .and others, .1972).. Abundant f a u 1 ting a nd somo folding is apparent with the limestone around ~ Moun t Kaijend e dipping to the south .. ConclLlsions: The Kaijende - Porgera area is a speleol og i~al · llllflAutsrA.rP U=nf tn OlJ"n ;=1-h 8 D n 1 y . 0 th 8 r t i m8 · t h 8 8 r 88 ha S b 8 8 n Vi Sit 8 d by 8. C 8 V:B r •:s~ • vu .. ~~& (to tho writer's knowledge) was by Prof. Pnul l.Jilliams 'but no ·---·-_;_~:_;...~:SE~=~=~~:_~~~~- .. _ lf..'4.~. llibf17 substantial ca ves wore discovered by him (l.Jilliams 9 1 969.) • . J · . A short expedition of about two Weeks duration conc e ntra ting on the north~eastern slopes o~ Mount Kaijende and th e Mouht Faiam · . and Lapwnp , areas could. be most . rewa rding in terms ..of ._ larg o cavos ~ and . a 11 t ho are as a r o within t wu to t h r o o days wa lk, o-f Po r g or a. The plateau areas would .have to .be c.onsider:ed too extr:rnsive for an oxpedi.tion of such short duration' 11 but s hould b·o considered a prime P 0 NoG. 'home based' expedition target for th e future. ~ EF_E 8 f:.N£ E S THE NEW CONTRIBUTOR rn m Simonds · is the Honorar . . . . Oow ,- 0,., Bo et..aL (1972) Goology of the South Sepik .Region Now 1 9 v ~ _ Ex~loration Group of ta;~airm~n of the Na i:robi bas d Gu i mm • 8 u r .. r'1i n or • -Re s our .. /.\ u s t • Bu 11. .1 3 3 ( PT JG Bu 11 ., 4 ) o - Vi ng.in 1964 and was one of t~fr:ca. ~e comm e nc ed his Konya n l.Jilli~ms 9 P. \.Jo (1969) Cave and Karst in Eastern New Guihea. up ~n that ,year. He has ea e .oundi~g memb ers of th o o ,. ,· P r o c 5 C o n • Sp e l o o " ( s.tu t t g a r t ) , 1 9 6 7 Africa and published a num~=~ ~~d elf·1~ Kenya and el sewh rs ar ic es on Africa n c ves . 22 NIUGINI CAVER VOLUME 5 NUMBER 1 NIUGINI C/\\JL.n VUl ..... l,.J/V){·.·.~.·· ~- ...... - ·.. ~1 NUMBER 1' L sV I &}.H0.f1_ ..~.A VJ_. ..-: .... B ~ [~J.. ~ .. LA_Y,,B,. __ T__U BE OF INTER NAT I __D_iLAJ_ J.MJJ... E]lU}\ll..gf 23 :Jim lJ. Simons·)<- expedition was organised cave's· .· exact len·9 th·· and vsrtp n ~~y~rth rafora, to establish th During mid-April 1976~ a team· cff seven members of tho CovGJ :any upper levels ~hich rsmai l~nom M wall as to inv~sti t e oOUght and man K . . . . n 1 9 8 8 Exploration Group of East Africa undertook a ten-day~ locally donations. Y enya-based corn ~ ~, ~ n t~ ~ ...... ' . L r:J l s Pons ors.hi p r1 ;t('1 WMll ~l r () r \;/l{l r d l.J i ,J, I . wa s sponsored, e~pedition in what is at present claimed oa tho world's .. .. · ·· IJ "'1 generous longest and deepest lava cave~ A tented base cam • four recruited Af P. was establ1shr:nJ ~ t The cave lies in a rnagnificant wilderness of goologicolly rocont daily to maint : rican porters an h d from which ashcones and vast lava fi0lds which make up a 65 km long mountain entranceo ab. atin_an advanced base ~1·' k Mnd wnt r supplies range known ~s the Chyulu Hills~ bordaring upon Kenya's moue o .· ou . nud-wa y al th ... i"' !, - ,, fHHH nr1 f U advanced base cam .· te ong . e lr,;nitrfah t1r thm Vt..1, , ,n, ~le Tsavo National Park (Llest)e Many lava caves havs bssn diecovorod exploring an~ newpsec~~~ would survey both Up n clnwnf fo~ the in t h £3 pa ho eh o e f 1 ow s of t hi s fa s c i n a ting a re a by t h o C , E • G • S • /-\ • The ad-va_nced base was . ns on route r:rnd b \J ir1t tt ··.;. nam' during the past decade, most involving extended foot sa ria downpours th . . . . to have .been a l:JIJ;r . ··- •. J .. ~Lqt,d, • through forest and game "rich bush to reach.their entrcncoa. ~nva under ·. ~. fir.·st night f loaded all '" ... , t.. f;J ...... ··. mr.. i IJl1 l, ... {.;CH:'l.. :.·t.:Jri'b l ground bl-vouac sit h · ~,on · nnd b 1 r .. ... i flows, somo of which reach distances.of 20 km from thoir aourco -far 'from the · . 8 ad to be. se·c LJrl f. . _.... t> . · 10 r-rnr, n rH!HJ i· •• volcanoes 9 encompass an incredible area of many.hundrr:ide o'F ' main cave. n t'trrn ..J1~ VA t~1Jbt1Y riot conlescing Draters1 having pushod their way out through tho laces The ·pr · · 1 unconsolidated ashes at the bases of .tho cones. - .•. J.nc~p e tunn.t:Jl of Lev ia th l O 1 .5 .·.m diam et er a n d 1 a n Ca v e ' w1 t h m!!'\ n Y. explored from an ash arge. enough to ·permi ·t Cl htJ up ·ct1 A11 major .·tunnels so far. examinod show ov i dence. that thc1y \Joro vol can n' down stream• tc one di r e~tl y b en eat h thm 1 , rH>tiJ 1·nrn11 formed by the extrusion's cutting. channels· down into tl'H3 undmrlying -· ..., · . o a· se~:imin l · . ... nr Llii:1 r pyrocl~stics surrnunding the cons~~ lining them with auccmnsivo ~ vlngle pass.age length Of 8 km~ y 7mpenetrable;1 btJUld1:1t' ~H1ttl r1:.P.,.' in two places by c 11 . 111., This great le i I ' - ! f onion-skin layers of lava to Form underground conduits o ing the boulders. had to beoundapste.kentra nces' where link n:;,,···, J, F1 1.ml y b r fH'I f 1 ow s no u t .. P :r o g r e_s s i v e down cut t i n g 9 a s d em on s t r a t e d by l r.H( o and 2 o · er a en d" ·d· ~;1 r:Hr;1 hhr h verti ca1s (falls) repr osenting, nick-points of hoa cJwa rd r.iro ion -• km segments., Ten oth 9 ivi ing the pasatHJ .1,f'l'hn r 9 th e c a v e line b t er col lap s e en t r a n , . . . . - • ' ' d and lowering of the· flow lev~l within the activo ohannrol produced s ection.s :I the, ot~ e~ eh .of t~ese provides entr c C!l.r n ~ t.:>. l NIUGINI CAVER VOLUME 5 NUMBER 1 cave was completed revealin . 24 11 kml A pretty impressive ~o~a~ot~lts~rdveyed passage length of came to 470 m over the 8 k . • o a epth, by vertical ra long liquid guano crawl in bouldere marking the present •end' to In addition, it was found :hdistance from top to bottom 'e~d'nge, the cave. A dissapointing finish to a magnifi~ant lava cave, though camp w~s established was its=~~thebtu~~ in which the advanced.base it is suspected that the tube continues much further beyond this an estimated 1 km of passages an~ ar~~n~d ~pper l~vel system with choke as many kilometres of lava still lie ahead, Exp d·t· with Leviathan is expected Jim 8 Wi ions· personnel( consisted· of the follo · · • Geologically the cave exhibits some fine lava tube features. Not You e1Pmtons Expedition.Leader) Bob D .wing C.E.G.E.A. members: only are the passages of.unually large dimensions, varying from ngs, e er Roe Or. Al· .. · . ' avis, Graham Cole J h smooth ovals to high canyon-like areas often with 'key-hole' cross- team was assisted'by 5ame~s~~ Hillman and Chris Hillman, fheo n sections rather reminiscent of vadose stream passages (which porter~ Mutuku Mutinda Mulat~heko (~ase Quartermaster) and thre technically they are), but many lavatites and •mites abound. Large , ia Ngovia and Bernard Michael. e 1 'box-1Jork areas of sharp pointed ti te, blades are common1 and the1 lowe:ir end 1 .of the ea v s contains a profusion of curly· pipe-stem REFERENCE varietie~ and w~ird lavamites built up of solidified lava pellet upon p~llet~ Lava columns are elso present and some of an incredible Simons,Hills, J. w. Ke~ya.E (1974) Studie!h~nL~valCavles of(the Northern Chyulu blue-grey colour have been noted. Small ropey lava pavements, often __...... -.;:;:..;;.~ --- pe 82 ogy l 6)~238-255. forming solid seals in small pissages, were of a fascinating salmon pink colour. Of particular interest are a series of unusual lava NOTE outgrowths Dn the edge of a bench which are dendritic in character The article wa k' and greatly resemble ferns. Burst blister formations were obsorVB'd Cave abov~Ex~loration Gro~pionfdly provided by Jim w. Simons of the in both the walls and roof in certain passage sections, the former . . East Africa. consisting of pockets surrounded by solidif iod jagged lava protuberencos and the latter by deep pearl-shaped scoops where lava had trickled out at the lower end and down the ~alls. Long NOTES ON SOME CAVES ON BUKA IS LA.ND benches marked formor levels of molten ,flow and in places coalesced H. Gallasch1'E- to form nqtural bridgGs and tubes within tubes. I lioma Cave. A path from Lon h . Secondary formations, probably of, silica, were· not common but of c-i'.if'f to the beach Th u ahan Village goes down the coastal surprising length and beauty - a yellowish to orange colour being hundred metres souih o~ ~~vetentrance ,is at wa~er level, several prevalent. Both stalactites and stalagmites (with some 'fried-egg' rock and gravel bar th e rack. About 30 m into the cave is a fresh wi;.ter stream ;uns e o~=~~~l extent of" the tidal influence, A examples) and some long columns occurr~de lake which appears to be quiteh~eba~ and from there in forms a Biologically the cave was only briefly ~nvestigatod, the capture explo!ed by small outrig er ea ep. !he cave was entered and of cave.life being undortaken by the exp~dition's zoologists. Three !h~ village people consiaered ~~: t~ its appar7nt extremities. types of insectivorous bets were taken, species of Rhinol9,Eh'Is,, is and, however the length was notriver arose in the centre of the M~~ ().£~ erU.§. and ]:ilE.P.2..Sl.d.£.r.9_'2. - the latter f o i;mi ng a la-;98 co o ng at appear to resu~ge at the cave axt~e~~{Y great and the water would 'tfi .Brook, D~ .U976)(Compiler). The Britiah New Guinea Speleological Pas 6 age ~~{.:th upwa.rd.s slD?e Expedition, 1975·0 British Cove Aasooiation Tra'nsactions r~srnaH high g w~ 3(3,4)~117-243.. . . - -=:illf ., ' \ . ( Avn;ilabl.e ·from D. Brook, 40 .Broadgo te Creecimnt, Hare forth, Leeds, JIOMA CAVE Uriit~d Kingdom for. £2.50, including surface postage. Air mail l/6~~p posta~e ~1.70 ~xtra. } . lake \ ' ~ Tile report".cif the British speleological expedition to Papua.New Drawn: H.· Gallaach Guinea:has been published just over a year after tha completion la ga of ii the most ambitious speleological expedition ever lounchedn · (to quote the foreward). The ·raport,is substantial in both content and size with 127 pages plus 3 large maps~ It follows the now standa~d format for'expedition reports of diary, caves ·and karst des6ript~ons, special studies and expedition reports. \\ Offshoot with Ca\.'.e decoration \ 450 upwards The diary (D. Brook and H. M. Beck) is concise and well writton sl.ope ·oelinaatss water and after reading it one has a general picture of who did whnt ~ ...... and when~ The sketch maps of expedition routes are not:referred· ·in the cav~ to adequately in the text and finding the locations is not easy, A . especially as the two sketch maps are 14 pages apart. x ··Estimated height . . . . : ;:.'·;·.·,. • ' "(rn) I ·••. - . :p. ... ' -~' :,.• .:. The section Caves ·anrl Karst rightly occupi'es much of·.· the· report, abo~t a ·third in fact. It consists of regional .setting (S~ . Crabtree and A. J. Ea vis) and .descriptions of caves and karst · 40 m for each of the 11 regions investig~ted'by the expedition (various ·O· 1 o · 20 30 ,J ... '\,,.,..._:··' I I I authors). Co.ve descriptions o.re brief :ond generally ndequo.te and · are not cramped by numerous, de~criptions of minor· caves. They are quite.uneven however. Thus the Star Mountains (A. J. Eovis) is descfibed in deto.il although only a.few minor caves were found,· whilsti cave descFiptions from the Fctult Controlled Vo.llsy (K •. Wilde and others) are very brief and contain material that belongs to the diary. baachae I thought the more important cove and other discoveries could Offshoots Ylth have been given more .emphnsis 17 perhaps in the FoI;eward. One:i only 450 upwards slope· finds out about the· 232 m pitch in Tina Su Tern b~ loo~ing at tha Narmaf map and neither in the: text :nor on the ·map could I f i1;1d thG) :reache's length.of Selminum Tern, now the longest recorded cavo in thm point Southern Hemisphere. The.cave maps o.re generally well dona, Gepeciclly mlminum which is on a large sheet contained in a folder. No oon1i1t cave numbering system was used. In the Fault Control! Voll three'~nit numbers (DOOP 001 stce) have bean alloootod to r ) . features but in the Urbpmin region the prefix D,nnd n unit * 120 James Street, Toowoomba, Queensland 4350 1 Auetralic. * * * NIU(HNI VtA VOLUM S NUMBER 1 28 NIUGINI CAVER VOLUME s~ NUMBER 1 throughout without M T~a purist might argue that (01 '? 02 otc "} were used~ A mixture .. C?t the. olq Irnperl~l. and S. I~ the nams British Niw titl i unfortunate as this is units is ·used throughout the" ,report which is o. pity as s. I. units the old name f nr nre standard in Papua N~w Guinea and the BCRA Transactions1 requests them to be. used \i.lhE?~ever pos.s.ible. Generarry-t'Fie ·metr.:lc:-' e,quivalent To summarize~: iQM ri nt apaleologioal is given inbracket$ for each figUreo' The conversion factor used for expedit1on te1 ! VI y gnod nd is a feet-to metr~s ~as a~ appioxim~te~bn~ (x 0~3)"~· although.sometimo~ credit tc1 th fl\/Um b4!'.~tt r ttJith tho exact conversion (x 003048) seems to have b~en used. g r. ea t r1 x; ha riwalr:l tAt!d ir1 preperat on. It s l r 111n111 r'd t Thero ore four papers undo~ the'epecial "studies section: The Kar~t pure ~~. and Co.ve Development· of Finirn TeT (D. Brook)9 Sp8leobiology (P, Chapman); Tolefomin Anthropology (K. Ao Wilde); and The Language and Origin of the Telefomin and Their Neighbours (P. s. verett). The first three papers" are. comprehensive and technicEally eound, as far as I can judge. One can irnag~ne that they.will be fr uontly quoted in the futureo Chapman takes an ecological approi~c to the cave. biology rather than simply descriptive. Wilde's paper consists Since this is N~mber 1 for 1977 and the month 1 is quite a lag the caving scenw since the thara of a description' bf the local ant~ropology, mostly taken frcm ~n tn~w~uu!y• other authors, and, original recordings of legends, rock•art,, ~g(Jf],_t_J;'al_ Provinceo Thete ha · b- · · · '" ancestral and. prehistoric sites as published· in N~-~~.in;J. t~ ( 4) o Village caves TJa.vavGre) b~e th:e8 qu~ to a Fow trip111 tc1 tho [')cm I imagine that the enlightened attitude to Papua-N!lW 1'.iUJ. Tn this year,. mostly familiarisatlo o~n. s, ~oulbournes nd CJ'tlu1 the fiolci and evident in the publication.is largely a r ult hydrolcigy hav~ be~n done. The J n r~pa ut s?~a survGying and Llilde's influence. Everett's p~per adds little· new information on reopsned so access is n w •. avavere.Plant~t1on has b~en the Te1efomin languages .•. His theories on the origina thfhl pG3aple at Robinson Ri.ver sb we'\x S!·~fh~ly h easier. Jim Fc:rnwo,rth i now would have !Je~n better dmitted as he does not seam ewara nf the in tho future. p . ~ ear of caves in that area body of l'iterature on the prehistory of ·the highland , \ East N~w Britain Mike Bowrk d 5· The expedition.reports (logistic~·and finances; commun tione; lT181«lf51tok "tl'rcia· in January ~o~n a ~us~ ~ephens,on headed out tu e~uipment9 ·food report; photography; documentary film r or1~: day want as a caviri da sho . ·o oo a some 'naw' caves. Tho m2dical report; and notes on.histopla~mosis'~xposur1) r ni h off four pro\Jicrnsly unr~por~sd c~~~~ AB~~en ~now1e9geable guide and the publication. Thet are sound and ·make good relad:t &d. Qh I although thG last one for the da· a~ ng in pumice~ all were small would query the need to provide sd much detail. On on~ cc icn 1 on g a n d ha d n n i mI:) r o s s i v G ,...., . t . y .: 1 R5 a p 1 to k No • 4 wa s s o me 8 0 . m. severe damage occurred to a rcipe going ovet a clay in which affl . . .. , ·. i;:;n ranee m high All fo h d t c uxing at tho ontrance. Tho u"d • " ur a s reams a sharp boulder was ·buried ... a situation ta· be watch f"n by others but empty stomachs overrulad hi~.1 e was keen to show ten morG using S, R, T, The documentary. film r.ep ort ( S. Perou and N, Pluml y) is unusual and cons~quently .int~resting. Ths final not1J t e Things:~ill be.quite on the Gazolle . . . . . that histoplasrn6sis testing showed that two membere ovidance for cavin9 there6 Tim S rod ~ _no~ ~fter an active few years of histoplasmosis infection in Papua New Guinea. now off to England ovsr~and,h~i g~~e finish.and he and Anne' are and the Bourkes hav~ gohe fi .· ~ tarnworth ~s out of the aroa ~till in rssidsnce and repo;~1s1 o Australiaj Hal Gallasch is There are 22 photographs in the book and on the oovor. Te hnically . . s a rumour of a new cave near Gaulim. they are all good 9 but I felt a greater diversity ubjn t would have given better v~luc as most rire underground hot 1n NUJ t I ~-S,,o l o mon ? P r o v in c e • Ha M ...... Selminum Temc Perhaps the proposed book will offer a gr tru 1;'rTfii1 \;1~ Boiumai 3fi"cr fo M n\ ~ier hes ~een achce here, with 1 Pound was in Kieta ~ora~hr:~ area wh~ch is loo~ing ver,y good, photographic range? Y•~• ~nd visited Mahatai with ~an:o:ths at the begi~nJng of tho Th0ro are quite a number of errors in the book that hculd VD boen d :r y i a Pun a whi c h i the . . . n ~ e v er~ l o c .c a s i o ~ ~ • A r o c en t 1urod at about 5 m~/ ~rnpressive sink of a rivor lwhich picked :·up by the editor or compiler. For' example' on th r:tr t ga . . . . s~c :n average weathGr. ThG oa,..t (p117), and Niugini are incorrsctlyp thm r r nk t~au t 2 0 m but t h 1 8 i o d 8 f i · t 1 . . · ·. . ,.. .+. Y ~ayllar sp~lt 1 by th 1 . c • ni e y a cave for a dry Salt was organizing the Star ~1ounta,iqs .:0:xpedi ti,qn ( 1 rJ mj ·the length of Irapui (4 km) are givan ,incorrectly ~nd th rof onnce i: 20~~ ~=:~~d in the clif~ face abo~t 10 m Watson and Wilde (1972) is givsn a~ Llild6 (1972)0 On fi ru e is located near Madang and Strickland is spolt incorr c ly. Thu t noy has shifted to, Panguna with• Bo C• L o SCJ th 8 names Now Guin8a and Papua. New Guinea are u·sod intt:no oc1bly 30 NIUGINI CAVER VOLUME 5 NUMBER 1 Northern Solomon's caving scene~should be quite active now. ~1adang .P.F. gv ir:iqc.i o Hal Callas eh went ea v ing at Madang recently and explored and sketcherl two caves; one near Yagaum Mission Hospital and one near Omuru Agricult~ral Station. The latter is a rive~ cave which has a potential length of several kilometres. It w~s entered through one doline and followed for several hundred mettes until stopped at the top of a waterfall. Several kilometres furthr::ir on the stream crosses ,.the bottom nf a 50 m deep doline which couldn't be descended without adequate equipment. H~ghland§. Kevan Wildo reports tha~ some ••••••• knocked off his car from outside his front door. He recovered the vehiclB but they kept his caving gear which was insi~e. (maybe the locals are developing an interest in caving after all?) Kevan and Ron Britten have been on a reconnaissance to Kaijende (see report this issue). . . The September ca.ving meet is g.oing to the Chimbu wherf:l 'thGy LJill concentrate on Angunga (sink) near Chauve .which was partly explored in December 1975. This sink provides access to a ~ajor river cave which may connect with Kaimomo .(Kio.wa) •. Total depth potontial about 300 metres and. the distance :between _Afigu.nga and Kaimcimo is .. about 5 km. The system also extends upstre~~ and is a good wet~ sporting ca~e. Juli~ Jame~ wiil be coming u~ from Sydriey for this trip in Sept~~ber ~nd anyone who is interested ih going should contact Kevan Wilde at once. l s2~oj?h_,f02~pi~i_?n. A group of ten cavers from Barcelona, Spain plan to come to~Papua ·New Guinea in July-August 1978. Thoy are 'interested in exploring deep caves and have their Bye on c:in aroa around Koroba which has not bsen looked at by cavers yet, Tho /\TEA . 11 97 8 trip fr orn Sydney organised by Julia James and K?van: Wilde will be in the a;rea at the same time. The Spaniards are interested in having local speleologists join their sxpedition 0 Tho Editor' would be greteful to receive. brief 'ieports on ci0in~ n c i: iv it y _in Papua • New Guinea as an aid in preparing this co 1 um n ., This information also goes into the PNGCEG Library and forms·vsry valuablereference material for future cavers in this country. The nBxt issue is planned tp be published in August-SGptsmber.in order to catch up the backlog, $0 material for this column should arrive in Port Moresby before 31st August 1977.