12MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies

Fifteen meter drop in Moria.(Thomas Moore)depth records, for Moria was the bestlead found yet on the trip. The followingday, April 3, all seven incamp gathered their vertical gear andheaded through the Gates of Moria tothe 15 meter drop. Jerry rappelledin, complaining of lots of mud andthen Dale, followed by Peter, Becky,Thomas, and Terri. The mos t obviousway was a duckway on the left wallof the room that led to another highceilinged room also covered in mud,and a breakdown choke that took airinto it. This is a promising leadif the breakdown can be pushed, sinceit is heading west into unknown territory.Back at the drop, on theopposite side of the room, was anotherpassage that could be seen. Itwas 5 meters up on the wall and aftertrying several routes, the passagewas reached. The 5 by 5 metertunnel sloped downward at a 30° anglefor 20 meters to the stillnessof a large pool named The Black Lagoon.Air rushed across the Lagoonto unseen passages they hoped wouldlead westward. Asellid isopods resemblingthose found in the MainSump were found, which indicates thepossibility of a hydrological connection.No one felt like swimming the15°C water, so they returned to mapping.Peter, Jerry, and Dale mappedeverything below the 15 meterdrop and connected it into the surveyof the day before. Then theyproceeded to map and explore whatlay below the 3 meter climbdown.They passed a going crawl on theleft and the main passage was followed150 meters to where it appears tohave come out under the Cobble Drainin the West Loop, similiar to theend of the Cobble Leads.91