Exploration and Cave Techniques – oral 2013 ICS Proceedings THE LONGEST LIMESTONE CAVES OF ISRAEL Boaz Langford, Amos Frumkin Cave Research Center (CRC), Geography Department, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, boazlangford@gmail.com, msamos@mscc.huji.ac.il Despite Israel’s small size and relative aridity, the country has thousands of caves in several rock types, spread out from Mt. Hermon in the north to Eilat in the south. The most common ones are hypogenic karst caves in limestone. Here we update the list of Israel longest limestone caves, originally published in 1983. The main changes since then result from the discovery of new long caves, as well as the development in caving and survey techniques. For example, the 150 m long southern part of the Abud Cave (western Shomron) was discovered by enlarging a tight squeeze. The newly discovered passages and chambers contained important archeological finds dated to the Chalcolithic and Bronze age. A new survey (by Boaz Langford and Mika Ulman in 2010) extended A’rak Na’sane Cave (eastern Shomron) from 310 to 1,150 m. Such developments led the Cave Research Center to re-survey the long limestone caves of Israel. After two years of intensive survey, it is now possible to present the updated list. Eight of the ten presently listed caves were unknown to us on 1983. The Judean and Samarian Desert continues to be the leading area in the number of caves. On 1983 only one limestone cave was known to be longer than half a kilometre, while today all 10 caves are longer than half a kilometer. Pushing the remote parts of A’rak Na’sane Cave (eastern Samaria) has “extended” its length from 310 m, measured by the the Cave Research Center in 1980 (Frumkin 1981) to 1,150 m as measured by Boaz Langford and Mika Ulman in 2010. These developments led the Cave Research Center to fully survey the long limestone caves of Israel. Thirty years after the first list was published and after two years of intensive work, the new list is presented here. Note that ine of the ten longest limestone caves are located in the central range of Israel, and only one is in the Galilee (Yana Cave). Most of the long caves are hypogenic mazes in origin (Frumkin and Fischhendler, 2005; Klimchouk 2007). One (Yana Cave) is a collapsed chamber cave. Another one (Ha’Umah Cave) is a vadose river cave. 1. General Despite Israel’s small size, it boasts of thousands of caves, in several types of rocks and spread out from the Gulf of Eilat in the south to Mt. Hermon in the north (Frumkin et al., 1998). Most common caves are karstic, formed mostly in limestone. In addition, over 100 caves are known in the salt rock of Mt. Sedom diapir (Frumkin 1994). Among these is Malham Cave, over 6 kilometers long, making it the longest cave in Israel and one of the longest salt caves in the world. Other caves in Mt. Sedom, such as Sedom, Dorban and Zchuchit cave are hundreds of meters to kms long. Here we present the longest limestone caves in Israel, without referring to the salt caves that have and will be referred to separately. 3. Description of the caves 2. The longest caves of Israel Below are details regarding the longest limestone caves of Israel. In 1983, several years after the establishment of the Cave Research Center, the list of the longest caves in Israel was presented in “Niqrot Zurim”, Israel journal for cave research. The list was updated in 1986 (Frumkin 1986a) and was also discussed in international literature (e.g., Frumkin 2001). Since then, there have been many changes in the list. The main changes result from the discovery of new long caves, as well as the development in the caving techniques in Israel. In particular, new techniques have allowed us to reach remote areas within caves. For example, a new branch was discovered in Tzavoa’ Cave in the Kidod hills. Three hours of tight crawl were needed to reach the 150 m long new branch. It contains a series of chambers where a human skull as found, apparently brought by striped hyenas. 3.1. Haritun Cave The Haritun cave was and still is the longest limestone cave in Israel. A small part of the cave was already surveyed by the PEF (Conder and Kitchener 1883) and also by Strobel (1967). A comprehensive compass and a tape polygon of the cave was measured by Gideon Mann and volunteers of the Society for the Protection of Nature between 1969 and 1971. The Cave Research Center began its research of the Nahal Tekoa caves between 1983 and 1985 (Frumkin 1986B) and re-mapped Haritun Cave (directed by Ahikam Amihai and Shmulik Avidan) the between 2006 and 2008. The new map was based on the polygon of Mann, to which the features of the walls were added. Selected profiles were also added. The cave is within the Late Cretaceous Shivta Formation, Judea Group.The cave is a rectilinear network maze of passages, with occasional chambers. The main direction of most passages is north-south (approximately) Improvements in cave survey techniques, such as the recent use of laser “disto” and digital inclinometer promotes better measurement and higher accuracy. 105 Exploration and Cave Techniques – oral 2013 ICS Proceedings and the secondary direction is east-west. The passages developed mostly in one level but in some places there are 2–4 levels. The measured length is 3,450 m and the cave area is 4,600 m2. The cave is constrained within a relatively limited rectangle, with an area of 30,000 m2. The cave has 3 entrances close to one another on the western cliff of Nahal Tekoa canyon, 540 m above sea level. No morphogenticic connection was found between the entrances and the canyon: it seems that the canyon breached the cave randomly. The morphology of the cave (e.g., feeders, cupolas, maze) indicates a hypogenic origin. accessible “window” that had not been explored before. This window led to a new area in the cave that doubled its length. Sela’ Cave origin is hypogenic, and it formed in late Creataceous limestone of Shivta Formation (Frumkin 1999). The cave has three entrances leading to a network of passages developed along fractures mainly in the northwestern direction. At several locations the passages expand forming four central chambers. 3.4. A’rak Na’sane Cave A’rak Na’sane Cave is in Wadi Ed-Daliyeh, eastern Shomron. On 1962, bedouins from the Ta’amra tribe looked for archeological items in this cave and nearby caves. Following their initial finds, the American School for the Study of the 3.2. Ayalon Cave Ayalon Cave is an isolated hypogenic cave developed in in late Cretaceous limestone (Bi’na Formation, Judea Group). Table 1. The length of the longest limestone cave in Israel as published in the past and according to new discoveries The longest limestone caves in Israel – 1983 The longest limestone caves in Israel – 2012 Name Overall length Name Overall length 1 * Haritun 4,000 Haritun 3,450 2 **A'rak Na'sane 500 Ayalon 2,700 3 Hagay (El-Gai) 500 Sela' 1,200 4 A'lma 400 A'rak Na'sane 1,150 5 Ornit 300 Kanaim 846 6 Haeigrot 270 Makuch 832 7 Bereniki 250 Yana 808 8 Hameraglim 250 ***Hauma 800 9 Sarah 200 Yogev 788 10 A'tarot 200 Tzavoa' 700 *This number has been estimated based on schematic measurements according to the old map of the cave. **This number is an estimate. ***The work in the hauma cave is currently continuing. The number stated in the table is the length of the cave as known today. The entrance of the cave was created by quarrying at the Nesher Quarry in Ramle and was found by Israel Na’aman in a cave exploration conducted by the Cave Research Center in 2006. The cave is 2,700 m long, constrained within a rectangle of 100 × 140 m. The cave is a network maze with two main levels, connected through vertical shafts. The upper level is a complex network of passages characterized by narrow passages with rounded or elliptic cross section. The lower level has wider passages with three large chambers. The largest chamber is on the northwestern side of the lower level, at the lowest point in the cave. This hall extends below the regional watertable, forming a fluctuating body of water. In this body of water, as well as in the dry parts of the cave, seven endemic invertebrate troglobite species were found, within a unique ecosystem (Na’aman 2011). East organized two excavation seasons, in the course of which the Arak A-Na’sane Cave was initially excavated (Lapp P. W. and Lapp N.L. 1974). On 1980 the Cave Research Center sketched an initial map of the cave whose measured length was then 310 m. On 2010 the cave was re-surveyed and its overall length was found to be 1,150 m. The cave has a large entrance located few m above Wadi Ed-Daliyeh streambed. The cave contains complex sub-horizontal passages with a simple network structure. The main guiding fractures and associated passages trend northwest-southeast. The eastern part of the cave is dominated by a large chamber whose length amounts to a third of the overall length of the cave. It is interesting to note that in the cave’s passages and its outer parts, there are regionally common insectivore bats of the species Rhinopoma hardwickei, while in the large hall and the inner parts of the cave there are rare bats of the species Asellia tridens. 3.3. Sela’ Cave 3.5. Kanaim Cave Sela’ Cave (Judean Desert) was discovered in 1991. Archeological excavation revealed finds from the Bar Kockba revolt period, including a coin called Sela’ after which the cave was named (Amit and Eshel 1991). Following the cave discovery, 600 m of passages and chambers were mapped by the Cave Research Center. In a recent visit to the cave, we managed to reach a high, hardly Kanaim Cave (northern Negev) was found on 1960, during the archeological survey of the Judean Desert. Following a report of Giora Ilani, the cave was examined by the Cave Research Center on 1984. After examining the cave, it was surveyed on several occasions and the mapping was completed on 2003. Its overall length is 846 m. 106 Exploration and Cave Techniques – oral 2013 ICS Proceedings The cave entrance is via a small vertical shaft, where the cave was breached by an entrenching wadi. The cave contains a complex series of sub-horizontal passages on one level. The cave passages formed mainly along fractures in the north-south direction. In the southwestern area of the cave calcite speleothem developed under previous wet conditions. In the inner area of the cave there are also gypsum deposits developed on the walls and the ceiling of the cave. 3.9. Yogev Cave Yogev Cave (eastern Shomron) was found in Wadi EdDaliyeh canyon on 1994 by Yogev Karasenty. Mapped by the Cave Research Center, its overall length is 788 m. The cave is hypogenic, formed in limestone of the late Cretaceous Bina Formation. The small cave entrance is hidden at the southern escarpment of the Wadi Ed-Daliyeh canyon. The cave consists of inclined two dimensional network of passages and halls. The cave developed along fracrures, and the passages are inclined, following the regional dip. Few active speleothems were observed, mainly cave corals and flowstone. 3.6. Makuch Cave Makuch Cave was discovered in the Binyamin Desert on 1984 during a regional cave survey by the Cave Research Center (Frumkin 1988). Following its discovery, it was artly mapped by Anan Zeidner and Yehuda Miron and its measured length was 520 m. The mapping was complex, mainly due to a large amount of cave ticks. In 2006 Ahikam Amihai and Matan Avital returned to the cave, measured additional 300 m and located a second entrance leading to a new northern area. We completed the mapping of the cave on 2011, with an overall length of 832 m. 3.10. Tzavoa’ Cave Tzavoa’ Cave, at the upper Zohar hills (northern Negev) was discovered on 1977 by Giora Ilani who found an impressive concentration of animal bones in the cave, brought by striped hyenas. The activity of large mammals in the cave attracted cave ticks throughout the cave, even in areas difficult to access. The cave was mapped by the Cave Research Center on 2011 with a length of 700 m. The cave has two entrances in the Wadi Mackuh canyon escarpment. The cave has a complex network of passages. The passages are usually inclined according to the local bedding dip. The cave is hypogenic, formed in limestone of the late Cretaceous Shivra Formation. The cave has two entrances at the bottom of a low cliff, close to a small wadi bed. The cave comprises a maze of chambers and passages developed into a complex structure, mostly along northwest-southeast trending fractures. 3.7. Yana Cave In the southern part of the cave is a large concentration of calcite speleothems including stalagmites, stalactites, columns, pool deposits and flowstones. They formed mainly during the wetter climate of last glacial period, indicated by U-Th dates (Vaks et al., 2006). Locaed at the edge of Ramat Shtula (Western Galilee), Yana Cave was discovered in the 1960s (?) by a team of the Society for the Protection of Nature, who explored only the entrance hall. In 2006 the cave was surveyed again by the Cave Research Center, led by Vladimir Boslov. The full mapping of the cave showed a length of 808 m and a depth of 62 m. The Yana cave developed by phreatic dissolution and collapse, in late Cenomanian limestone (Sakhnin Formation). The cave has a major phreatic chamber with dditionallower-levels voids. Following regional uplift, vadose processes began, including speleothem deposition, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Stoping of the main chamber formed a dome-like structure. Its distal lower parts lead currently to a complex series of extended rooms and passages, on lower levels. 4. Summary Nine of the ten caves in the list are isolated caves (sensu Frumkin and Fischhendler, 2005). Eight of the ten caves were unknown to us on 1983. These caves replaced caves from the original list that are now ranked lower in length. The Judea and Samaria Desert (including the Miditerranean-desert border zone) remains the area with the most large caves. For hydrogeologic spects of this distribution see Frumkin and Fischhendler (2005), Frumkin (1991). In 1983 only one limestone cave longer than half a kilometer was known in Israel. Today all ten largest caves are longer than half a kilometer. The lised caves define the southernmost long limestone caves close to the edge of the Sahao-Arabian desert belt in the Levant. 3.8. Hauma Cave Hauma Cave is a vadose stream cave in west Jerusalem. The cave was discovered in 2010 during the excavation of a shaft in a project of the Israel railay, 75 m below surface. Since its discovery, 800 m were mapped by the Cave Research Center, of which 627 m are in the central channel, and the rest are domepit-like vertical shafts. The mapping of Hauma Cave is ongoing. Hauma Cave is an actively flowing vadose canyon, following the regional dip to the southeast. The canyon formed in late Cretaceous limestone and chalk (Kefar Shaul Formation). The flow of water fluctuates seasonally. Within the meandering cave one waterfall shaft and several vadose domepit shafts were encountered. The surveyed part ends at a sump. Acknowledgments We thank Vladimir Boslov, Mika Ulman, Nevo Fishbein, Shmulik Avidan, Israel Na’aman, Ahikam Amihai, Dan Shtriech and all volunteers who assisted in surveying the caves. We also thank Yigal Sela’, Eitan Alumi, Dan Perry, Yoav Sagi and Mordechai Avrahami for the initial data that led us to the Yana cave. Finally, we thank Michal Kidron 107 Exploration and Cave Techniques – oral 2013 ICS Proceedings and Miri Shmida from the Center for Computational Geography at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for final drowing of the maps. Frumkin A, 2001. Karst and caves of Israel, in: Juberthie, C. and Decu, V., eds., Encyclopaedia Biospeleologica: Moulis, Société de Biospéologie, v. 3, 1840–1849. Frumkin A, Shimron AE, Miron Y, 1998, Karst morphology across a steep climatic gradient, southern Mount Hermon, Israel: Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie Supplementband, v. 109, 23–40. References Amit D, Eshel H, 1991. A Tetradrachm of Bar Kokhba from a Cave in Nahal Hever. Israel Numismatic Journal 11, 33–35. Frumkin A, 1994. Morphology and development of salt caves: NSS Bulletin, v. 56, 82–95. Conder CR, Kitchener H.H, 1883. The survey of Western Palestine. Palestine Exploration Fund 3, London, 375–6. Frumkin A, Fischhendler I, 2005. Morphometry and distribution of isolated caves as a guide for phreatic and confined paleohydrological conditions. Geomorphology, 67, 457–471. Frumkin A, 1986a. List of Largest Natural Caves in Israel, Niqrot Zurim 13, 7, Hebrew. Frumkin A, 1986b. Speleogenesis of the Nachal Teqoa Caves, Niqrot Zurim 13, 33–41, Hebrew. Klimchouk A, 2007. Hypogene speleogenesis: Hydrological and morphogenetic perspective, Special Paper. National Cave and Karst Research Institute, Carlsbad, 106. Frumkin A, 1981. Karstic network caves in eastern Samaria, Niqrot Zurim 4, 44–50, Hebrew. Lapp PW, Lapp NL, 1974. Discoveries in the Wadi Ed-Daliyeh. American Schools of Oriental Research, 41. Frumkin A, 1984. Mapping Caves, Niqrot Zurim 10, 113–124, Hebrew. Na’aman I, 2011. The karst system and the ecology of Ayalon Cave, Israel, Thesis for the Degree of Master of Science. June 2011, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Hebrew. Frumkin A, 1999. The geomorphology of Sela Cave, Israel, Niqrot Zurim 20, 23–28, Hebrew. Strobel VA, 1967. Die Charitonhöhle in der Wüste Juda. Zeitschrift Deutsehen Palästina-Vereins, 83, 46–63. Frumkin A, 1991. Upper Nahal Makuch Caves, Niqrot Zurim 14, 68–88, Hebrew. Vaks A, Bar-Matthews M, Ayalon A, Matthews A, Frumkin A, Dayan U, Halicz L, Almogi-Labin A, Schilman B, 2006. Paleoclimate and location of the border between Mediterranean climate region and the Saharo–Arabian Desert as revealed by speleothems from the northern Negev Desert, Israel: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 249, 384–399. Frumkin A, 1991. Development of phreatic caves in Eastern Samaria, in: The annual meeting of Samaria research studies: Ariel, The College of Judea and Samaria, 24. Hebrew. Figure 2. Typical profiles of the largest limestone caves of Israel. 108 Exploration and Cave Techniques – oral 2013 ICS Proceedings Figure 1. Maps of the largest limestone caves of Israel. Levels are not indicated. 109