12MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies
Share Embed Flag
Download ePaper

12MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies

12MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies 12MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies

amcs.pubs.org
from amcs.pubs.org More from this publisher
12.07.2015 Views

CuetzalanSteve KnutsonSpring 1979Massive entrance to Sumidero de Jonotla.(Steve Knutson)At various times in late March1979 a group of Western cavers arrivedat the caver house, Casa Carmen,about a mile up the road fromCuetzalan, for a couple weeks ofcaving. This included Chris Albers,Bill Bockstiegle, and Bob Benedictin Chris' Power Wagon; Dick LaForge,Warren Anderson, and myself' in myCarryall; and Bill Liebman, Joe64Lieberz, Ernie Garza, AllejandroVillagomez, David Johnson, and NormPace by plane and bus.Cuetzalan is on a karst upland,which in general, slopes to the eas twhere it merges with a plain of lowelevation (~ 100 meters) which continuesto the Gulf of Mexico. Thearea is isolated from similar terrain

to the north by the R!o Zempoa1a(Tecuantepec on one map) and to thesouth by the Rio Apu1co. The dip ofthe bedrock is somewhat varied butis generally to the north, and thecaves trend in that direction. Pitsare not common as most entrances areof the sumidero type. Sistema Cuetza1an(and several closely relatedcaves) lie beneath the town of Cuetzalanand vicinity. The highest entranceto this is at about 1300 metersand the lowest point is the bottomof a separate cave, Atepolehuit(which is the local Indian word forSumidero) at about 500 meters. Thisgives a depth potential for the systemof about 800 meters.Joe Lieberz has taken over thecoordination of cave surveys for thearea and this is now being computerized.This spring, however, the workof locating stations in the caves fromthe field notes of prior surveys hadnot been done so there seemed to belittle point in expanding SistemaCuetza1an with new surveys that couldnotbe linked to the old. Thus weworked on a few other caves in thearea and entered Sistema Cuetza1anonly to do some photography and pokearound.Sumidero de JonotlaSumidero de Jonot1a, locatedabout 4 to 5 kilometers east of SistemaCuetza1an near the town of Jonotla,had been known for severalyears and partially mapped. It hasa huge main passage. A few hundredmeters along this a large side leadtakes off on a higher level. Wepushed and mapped both the side leadand main passage. The latter involveda number of swims and some verticalwork, and a group finally cameto a sump with a high level by-pass.This dropped back into the main passagebut rope for this drop waslacking. The considerable airflowand the general NW trend of Jonot1aleads us to believe that this is theback of the cave which Nevin Davisreported in '73, called Cuexalocstoc.This opens on the canyon of the RioZempoala (Tecuantepec) north of thetown of Zoquiapan and its passage isreportedly huge such that 350 metersin one still doesn't need a light.At this point 500 meters from the entrancea sump pool was encounteredwith an unreachable higher level fromwhich air was issuing. Thus, a Jonotlathru-trip seems almost a reality.A stream cave about 3 kilometersfurther up the Canon Zempoa1a fromJonotla, called Xi1iapa-Ceccla by locals,was mapped for 800 meters to adrop which required rope. This seemsto trend directly toward the side leadarea of Jonotla, which also containsa stream. About 1.5 kilometers separatesthe two caves.65

CuetzalanSteve KnutsonSpring 1979Massive entrance to Sumidero de Jonotla.(Steve Knutson)At various times in late March1979 a group of Western cavers arrivedat the caver house, Casa Carmen,about a mile up the road fromCuetzalan, <strong>for</strong> a couple weeks ofcaving. This included Chris Albers,Bill Bockstiegle, and Bob Benedictin Chris' Power Wagon; Dick LaForge,Warren Anderson, and myself' in myCarryall; and Bill Liebman, Joe64Lieberz, Ernie Garza, AllejandroVillagomez, David Johnson, and NormPace by plane and bus.Cuetzalan is on a karst upland,which in general, slopes to the eas twhere it merges with a plain of lowelevation (~ 100 meters) which continuesto the Gulf of Mexico. Thearea is isolated from similar terrain

logo

products

Resources

Company

Terms of service
Privacy policy
Cookie policy
Cookie settings
Imprint
Change language
Made with love in Switzerland
© 2024 Yumpu.com all rights reserved

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!