Pınargözü Cave is one of the most fascinating natural formations in Turkey. It is located 18 kilometers west of the Yenişarbademli district of Isparta province. Although it is considered the longest cave in Turkey, it has not yet been fully explored. There is no definite information about the length of the explored section.
The entrance of the cave, Kizildag National ParkIt is located on the slopes of Dedegöl Mountain at an altitude of 1,550 meters in the forest area of . A water stream called Devre Su constantly comes out of the entrance and there is a wind blowing at a speed of 166 km/h due to the chimney effect at the narrow entrance of the cave.
Since its discovery, the cave has been extremely difficult for researchers to explore due to the numerous waterfalls and water-filled passages inside. Therefore, the cave It is not on the list of Turkish caves open to the public. and entry is only permitted to authorized persons with appropriate caving equipment.
Discovery of Pınargözü Cave and Its Interesting Features
Pınargözü Cave was discovered in 1964 by the “father of caves” of Turkey. Temujin Aygen The first exploration attempt, made together with the Turkish Speleological Society, was cut short due to a water-filled passage at the entrance of the cave. Later, French speleologists from the Spéléo-club de Paris, in collaboration with local Turkish cavers, carried out the actual exploration of the cave. J. L. Pintaux and Doniat, In August 1965, they became the first to cross the water-filled passage and explore the interior of the cave.
In August 1968, Claude Chabert and Michel Bakalowicz of the Spéléo-club de Paris, from the British Speleological Association Michael Clarke It became the second team to cross the waterway at the entrance of the cave. The team, which continued to explore the interior of the cave, documented the first waterfall but a water-filled passage 80 metres above them prevented their progress. At this point, the investigation of the cave was handed over to a British team from the Chelsea Speleological Society. They returned in August 1969 British teami were able to advance approximately 1,600 meters, and this exploration took them 138 meters above the entrance.
In August 1970 French Alpine Club, Accompanied by Michael Clarke, he advanced 3,220 meters further along the underground river and reached 190 meters above the entrance, but a waterfall stopped his explorations. Clarke entered the cave again in August 1971 with members of the Turkish Speleology Association and followed the river through fossil-bearing galleries to reach a 15-meter well at a depth of 248 meters. With these discoveries, a total of 4,685 meters of passage in Pınargözü Cave were documented.
In September 1975 the Red Rose Cave & Pothole Club discovered and explored a side passage which they called the “Affluent Sump”. Shortly after the Red Rose team left, a team from the Bristol University Speleological Society entered the cave and discovered the 7-meter water filled passage managed to cross it by free diving, but an 18-meter waterfall stopped them.
By the mid-1970s the cave was recorded as being 248 metres above the entrance and approximately 5,275 metres long. More than 100 individual caves have been mapped. In August 1987, 1988 and 1989 a team from the French Speleological Federation attempted to reach deeper into the cave. On their last expedition in 1989 they managed to bypass the waterfall that had stopped the Bristol University team and reached a depth of 661.5 metres from the entrance. In total, 4 kilometres of new passages were discovered and 2.4 kilometres of new galleries were mapped during these expeditions.
In 1992, it was claimed that the length of the cave reached 12 kilometers. In 2011, a French team explored the cave. More than 16 kilometers long It was claimed that he mapped the caves. In 2011, the Turkish government launched a study to catalogue and explore the caves in the Kızıldağ National Park, especially the Pınargözü Cave. “Kızıldağ National Park Caves Research Project”The project was initially planned to last until 2014, but due to the extremely challenging nature of the cave, the 12-person team was still conducting research in 2015.
In August 2015, project manager Selim Erdoğan announced that the French team’s 16-kilometer estimate was not proven. His team managed to advance 10.5 kilometers into the cave. The exact length of Pınargözü Cave has still not been determined.
Geological Features of Pınargözü Cave
Pınargözü Cave is approximately 40,000 km² wide. Western Taurus MountainsIt is located in the karst region of . The karst structure in this region consists of limestones belonging to the Triassic period. Since the limestone is quite porous, it is not resistant to erosion and this situation occurs in karst regions. many caves and galleries leads to the formation of.
Pınargözü Cave also has these features. Estimates of the number of caves in the region vary greatly; the Turkey Archaeological Settlements Project (TAY) Around 2,400 caves While the Ministry of Culture and Tourism estimates that this number is It could be over 20,000 indicates.
Pınargözü Cave lies mostly horizontally and contains numerous vertical chimneys and waterfalls between horizontal galleries and passages. The cave is located at an altitude of 1,550 meters. Dedegol Mountain It rises approximately 720 meters up from its 0.5 meter wide entrance located on the slope.
Waterfalls, Ponds and Stalactite Pools in the Cave
Pınargözü Cave is an active cave, meaning that there are continuous flow of water There is. Water coming out of a spring inside the cave makes the cave a cave with an exit. The location of the source has not yet been determined with certainty. However, the terrain above the cave contains semi-permanent snowfields and a large glacial lake.
The cave has many water sources that make exploration quite difficult. These include large waterfalls, ponds, stalactite pools, puddles and siphons. The water flow rate varies according to the season; while it flows at over 700 liters per second for most of the year, this value drops to 500-600 liters per second in the summer. Therefore, the best time to explore the cave is in the summer.
The water temperature is around 4-5 °C year-round, requiring divers to wear heavy protective clothing when exploring the water-filled parts of the cave. The air temperature in most of the cave system is 5 °C.
Wind Speeds Over 160 Kilometers Per Hour
The speed of the wind coming out of the cave mouth is From 100 kilometers to over 160 kilometersAccording to the Beaufort wind force scale, winds blowing at speeds greater than 89 kilometers per hour “severe storm” while winds exceeding 118 kilometers per hour are defined as “hurricane force winds.”
This wind is created by the draft effect. The temperature differences between the openings at high and low altitudes cause strong wind currents to come from the lower positioned inlet.
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