Aven Armand
Aven Armand (French Aven , dt. 'Vertical, natural shaft') is the name of a cave on the Causse Méjean near the town of Meyrueis in Lozère in France . The cave is at an altitude of 970 m. It bears the name of its discoverer Louis Armand , a blacksmith from the hamlet of Le Rozier, who entered the cave for the first time on September 19, 1897.
Discovery and opening to the public
The existence of the cave has been known since the area around Meyrueis was inhabited. A large, eponymous shaft, called cheminé ( Eng . 'Chimney'), connects the main hall with the surface, so that even a little daylight can penetrate the cave. The shaft leads down about 75 meters vertically and - as a number of bone finds show - has become the undoing of a number of farm animals and wild animals , as well as some careless people. Since the area was used for arable farming, farmers threw the large stones of their fields into the abyss, which otherwise hindered plowing. This devastated many of the stalagmites and left a thick layer of rubble to this day. This even seals another, another 90 meters deep and a smaller shaft, which start at the bottom of the grotto. It was not until September 19, 1897 that Louis Armand dared to rope down here for the first time.
On June 11, 1927, l'Aven Armand was opened to tourists. The development took a long time and was laborious because the cave lies deep below the plateau. Since 1963, a 208 m long artificial tunnel has been used to get to the main hall with a funicular .
The famous cave explorer Édouard Alfred Martel described the cave as a dream from the Arabian Nights . He was the leader of the first exploration expedition into the cave, in which Armand, as the explorer, had the privilege of descending into the cave first. He was also the driving force behind the development as he advised Armand to buy and expand the cave in order to get him a profitable business. Martel had already done this successfully with his own show cave.
Geology of the grotto
The main hall is 110 m long and 60 m wide, with an average height of 45 m. In it is a 'forest' of more than 400 stalagmites . The average grotto floor is 60 m below the surface. Due to the height of the hall, the stalagmites have a special shape, so-called stacked stalagmites , the largest up to 30 m high. They are among the largest in the world.
Their shape is due to the fact that the drops of seepage water do not always fall vertically. Depending on the season (temperature differences) and outside air pressure, there is a slight draft, which causes a corresponding deviation due to the sometimes very high fall height. On average, the structures grow a few centimeters per century. Their color is basically white due to the lime content, due to various natural acids that are washed into the hall by the rain from the ground, but also brown to grayish.
The grotto was created about 4 million years ago. Water ate its way into the limestone and seeped away. The vertical shape of the shafts still indicates this way of origin. The puit secondaire ( Eng . 'Second well') and the zone obstruée ( Eng . ' Blocked zone') were closed by a thick layer of rubble that was formed by stones and rubble thrown into the cave through erosion .
Web links
- Website of l'Aven Armand (English, French, Spanish)
- Description of the cave (private site)
- Show Caves of France: Aven Armand (English)
- Aven Armand, The stalactite cave Aven Armand, Guide, German.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Aven Armand, The cave Aven Armand, Guide, German
Coordinates: 44 ° 13 ′ 16 ″ N , 3 ° 21 ′ 26 ″ E