The

/nternatıbna/ Ca ııer Magazne

Number Six January 1 993

CoNTENTS

Auyantepuy: the Devil's mountain (Estado Bolivar, Venezuela)- /Wauro /nglese & Pao/a Tognini....

Cave of Thunder : the exploration of the Baliem River Cave,lrian Jaya, lndonesia - Daye Check/ey.

caves and cave conservation in Brazil- Wollgang Sdıulte & Wlfred Brandt

The caves oi Sofular and Cayirköy, Black Sea Coast, Turkey- Georg Kaufmann

Namoroka 1992 : expedition to the karst of Namoroka andNarinda, Madagascar - Mı?hae/ laumanns & H.D.Gebauer.,,..,

Gear Review

Film Review

Book Reviews

The Caving Scene : the latest lnternational News

Coverphobgnphs: Fronİ- CloudChambeı Dan-yr-ogıot fuut/ı Wabş UK (Chris Howes)Back , Town Drain ,foutlı klıa/es, I/.K, ıh fbücondiibns (Chns Howes)

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The lntemaüonal Caver MagazinePub/ıslıed quaıbny in fubfuc January Apil, and Ju/ylsslvo!ffi:?-7o95@Copyrİght 1993No aıticles, map§, or photogıaphs may be ıeproduoed wilhout the oxpıesspermbsion of the author and/or ıhe Edilor.

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T}ıe Inteınaabnal &ver (6) 1993

The caves of Sofular and Cayirköy, Turkey. 25-29

The caves of

Sofular and CayirköyBlack Sea Coast, Turkey

Georg lkufmann

ıntroductıonBesides the most important karstified area in

Turkey, the Taurus mountains, there are otherregions of speleological interest, for example the

Black Sea Coast. For our investigation we chose the

area of Zonguldalç the major coal mining region ofTurkey. Here you can find several long caves,almost all containing an underground river orstream. The caves are mainly horizontal, despite the

surface shafts which give access to them. The area

itself offers a variety of resurgences but they are

mostly impenetrable. Only a few give access to amajor underground river system.

?]ıe lıtemaabnal Caver (6) 1993 25

The Caves of Sofular and Cayirköy, Turkey. 25-29

All the caves are well known by the localpeople, but there is a lack of documentation until the

early 50's.

Historical ReviewOne of the first visitors to the Zonguldak

region, from the point of speleological interast, wasKnut Lindberg in 1952. His explorations of the

Illiksu and Cayirköy caves were based mainly onbiological research. In 1970 and 1971, the Spanish'Club montanes Barcelones' investigated some cavesin the region, amongst others the Cayirköyresurgence. They explored the river forapproximately 500 metres up as far as a temporarysump but did not publish a map.

In the following years, the president of the

Turkish Speleological Society, Temucin Aygen,made several explorations in the area, e.g. Kizilelmaand Cumayani caves. After the exploration of somecoastal caves in 1977 by the Spöleo-Club de Paris,

the British expedition from the Trent PolytechnicCaving Club published in 1978 a detailed report oftheir activities in the Mencelis, Cumayani andKizilelma caves, including actual surveys.

In recent years, the area has been worked byTurkish cavers who founded the Zonguldak CavingClub (ZOMAK). Also the BÜMAK club fromIstanbul and the MAD club from Ankara are activein the region.

Based on these explorations, we chose thearea of Cayirköy and Sofular for our investigations.Here üere were two interesting caves which hadn'tbeen mapped, the Cayirköy hydrological system andthe Sofular cave. In co-operation with the MADgroup from Ankara, we made srırveys of these cavesduring our two expeditions in 1988 and 1989.

Geological SettingThe area of Zonguldak is the major coal

mining region in Turkey. The Carboniferous coalsare surrounded by Cretacious limestones which arein tum covered by Cretacious flysch, whose localfacies is a gritty calcareous shale.

The dip in the Cayirköy region varies beteen30 and 45 degrees, but in most cases the activecaves follow the strike and form horizontal passages.

The shale forms vast plateaus whİch aresparsely covered with vegetation. The limestones arevisible in steep-sided valleys which are moredensely covered in vegetation and üis makes itdifficult to locate the caves without the help of thelocals.

Sofu|ar mağaraslThe cave of Sofular is situated on the slopes

of the Sofular deresi valley, east of üe village ofSofular. The entrance is approximately 40 m belowthe road to Cayirköy and is difficult to find. Thecave was surveyed during our 1988 stay and was325 m long with a depth of -84 m. The character ofthe cave is predominantly vertical, following the dipof 45 degrees. The passages are mainly large andwell decorated until a depth of -64 m. From here thecontinuation leads to a chasm of big dimensions,ending at its deepest point in a muddy sump. Thissump is situated in the area of the oscillating waterlevel, as the mud deposits indicate.

In a small chamber after the crawl, theZOMAK group have found another chasm, which

Cabıte decoraİions üh the büğ chamfurıh fufular

26 Tlıe Inteınaabnal Caver 6) 1993

The caves of Sofular and Cayirköy, Turkey. 25-29

Aİl

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s(ıFUIAR ]ilAĞAnA§ıtıtiıtı sııru[^ı rörii, zoııuroırl§urrıy : u. v. M, oEMinc|oÖLU, YlLM^z,

K. v. i, PinEcioöLU. söNMEz.UTx^N. KAUFMANN. LAUMANNs

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also reaches the water level at a similar depth. This system which is formed by the Sofular and Egriindicates üat the cave is blocked at its lowest level creeks between the villages of Sapca and Cayİrköy.

with large mud deposits and it is therefore not The direct distance between the sinkhole and the

possible to reach the leVel of the sources at the resurgence is 1300 m. In 1988 and 1989, we

bottom of the valley. explored and mapped the maİn parts of thİs system.

In üe area above the Sofular cave, we found The impressive entrance of the Dazdaği

an active sinkhole which seems to go, but we sinkhole leads to a large passage with a huge

haven't explored it. collapse after 10O m. The ongoing passııge finishes

Gayırköy system soon after, in an impenetrable sump where the river

The resurgence of the Cayirköy cave and the $:""'*' The total length of the sinkhole is 216

sinkhole Dazdaği düdeni, are part of a hydrological In the Cayirköy resurgence, we mapped a total

Trte Inteınational Cauer (6) 1993 27

The Gaves of Soiular and Cayirköy, Turkey. 25-29

of |282 m of the active system and reachedimpenetrable sumps both in the main gallery and thetwo side passages. The main passage follows thestrike of the bedding, having a large rectangularprofile with a varying width from 3 to 10 m and aheight of 4 m. It is intemıpted by two faults. Oneforms a low bedding plane, half filled with water,and üe other forms the temporary sump which theSpanish group reached in l97O.

Due to the low water condİtİons İn 1988 wewere able to explore the river further upstream,reaching the end of üe main passage at two smallimpenetrable cracks. Here, several intruded treesindicate üat the Dazdaği sinkhole is not far away.The southward leading side passage follows the dipdirection, and here üe profile is more canyon-like,showing the 45 degree dip angle. Both sectionscontain large river pass:ıges intemıpted by deeperlakes and this makes the use of boats necessary.

In 1989 we found the other sinkholementioned in the literature, but it was completelydry and blocked with sediments. The Büyük Kuyu, apit leading to the Cayirköy resurgence was alsofound but not mapped due to lack of time. We alsofound some dry fossil galleries between üe entranceand the souüern branch but again these were notsurveyed due to lack of time.

APW Entraııe chamfurof Cayıı/röy magaasi

AcknowledgementsOur successful invesügaüons are mainly a result of tıedetailed literature researcfı canied out Qy MiüaelLaumanns, a member of the expedition. Also theco{peration with he MAD group from Ankara, he MTAlnsütute (especially Dr.Nuri Güldali), and tiıe ZOMAK groupirom Zongu|dak, helped to make the results possible. Totıern we otfer our grateful hanks.

ReferencesAYGEN,T. 1984. Tunrıye llagara/an Türkiye Turing veOtomobil Kurumu Yayinlari. 88pp.

CHABERT,C. 1977. les g/ottes de /a mernoı?e. Grottes etGouffres (66), pp 3-13.

LAU MAN NS,M.& l(AU FMAN N,G. 1 988. Drei Höh/en derBegion Zonguldaft, Sdıwarzes l,leea Tüüei Mitl.YdHK,München 34 (4).

LAUMANNs,M.& ÖZBEK,o. 1 99o. Tu*ıshGetmanspe/eo/ogica/ act yiıbs n tıe area oır Zongu/dak M ADBülteni, Ankara ğ).LINDBERG,K. 1952. Alotes sur que/ques goİbs de /aTurquıb auec/isle de Cldopıdes reanei//is dans esgmlıe§. Annales de sp6löologie \lll (1), pp 55€6.MASRIERA,A.& ULLASTRE,M.J. 1970. l,|emon? de /aExpedıinbn Espe/eo/ogı?a Turquia /97O de/ C/ubfilonianes Bare/ones. Federaciön Catalana deMonıanismo 3€-21pp.WATKI N S, P. 1 97 8. rren i PoL,ted?nic expedı iıon ıo Tu*ey/ 978. Trenl Polytecfınic, Nottingham. 49 pp.

28 Tlıe Intematıbnal Cauer (6) /993

The caves of Sofular and Cayirköy, Turkey. 2§-29

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