Blue cave system
| Blue cave system
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| Location: | Swabian Alb . | |
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Geographic location: |
48 ° 24 '59 " N , 9 ° 47' 2" E | |
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| Cadastral number: | 7524/30 | |
| Type: | air-filled cave / water cave | |
| Overall length: | 15.3 km | |
| Level difference: | 123 m | |
As Blue cave system , the two contiguous caves are Blauhöhle and the Vetter cave in Blaubeuren referred.
It has been suggested that the two caves form a coherent system. But it was not until September 22nd, 2006 that it was possible to prove that the two caves are connected to one another in the so-called "cloud castle".
In September 2013, the explored and measured corridor length in the blue cave system was over 12 kilometers. Of the total length, the Blautopfhöhle is ascribed over 8 kilometers and the Vetterhöhle 2746 meters. The cave system is therefore the longest in the Swabian Alb .
The blue cave is an active water cave that feeds the blue pot as a spring pot. It can only be navigated by experienced cave divers. The rear, dry part can only be reached by divers.
The Vetterhöhle offers excavated, dry access to parts of the blue cave system.
Other candidates for membership of the blue cave system are the Hessenhaudoline and the Seligengrund cave , as well as the Steebschacht .
Current research work in the blue cave system
The “Arbeitsgemeinschaft Blautopf”, founded in 1997, is an association of cave research divers from southern Germany and scientists from the respective speleological fields. The focus is on scientific research into the Blautopfhöhle. The ARGE Blautopf operates in addition to the new land research numerous geological and biological research projects, as well as a data logger in the underwater cave.
The ARGE Blautopf has mapped the demanding underwater cave in great detail, thoroughly explored it and provided it with a lifeline, which is essential for all cave divers. In 2000 the ARGE Blautopf discovered the cloud castle. In December 2004, at the end of the diving route, under difficult conditions, we managed to get out of the water. Since then, ARGE Blautopf has been researching the cave system several kilometers long.
The air-filled passages of the Blautopfhöhle are of great interest to the public. Not only the number of stalactites, but also their size with a height of over 20 meters and the color arrangement is unique. Halls like the “Apocalypse” and the “Hall of the Lost River” are among the largest in Germany with a length of 160 meters and a height of 70 meters.
The "Stairway to Heaven" corridor, discovered in 2008, leads close to the surface of the B 28 and also opens up the stalactite world "Avalon". The blue cave system is already the longest in the Swabian Alb and the researchers are standing in spacious corridors that lead towards Laichingen. There is no end in sight to the research into new territory.
In November 2008 the "Höhlenverein Blaubeuren eV" was founded. He is taking over from ARGE Höhle und Karst Grabenstetten with regard to research in the Vetterhöhle . Some of its members had started digging on the eastern slope of the Galga Valley in November 2002 at a point that Karl Vetter and some other cave explorers had already noticed in the 1960s due to the strong cave wind . At that time they dug a few meters below the draft, but had to give up because of the risk of the shaft collapsing. In 2002 the dimensions of the shaft (1.4 × 1.8 meters) were made significantly larger than during the historical excavation in the 1960s. The shaft was built by mining with logs felled on the spot. In February 2006 we had reached a depth of 22 meters and the first crevasses, which could be called a cave with a lot of optimism, appeared. In May 2006 the breakthrough into the 'Herbert Griesinger Halle' was made at a depth of 38 meters. From there, a silt about 20 meters long had to be dug through the fall, always following the draft. The excavation ended with the discovery of the 'Palace of the Winds'. From there, a continuation was sought and found in the form of two shafts. In June 2006 the breakthrough into the large cave system took place with the discovery of the 'Walhalla', one of the large cavities on the Swabian Alb. Many survey tours followed, with the Drachenfelsgang being discovered at the end of July 2006. During further explorations in the north corridor, the 'Wolkenschloss' in the Blautopfhöhle was entered for the first time from the Vetterhöhle on September 22nd, 2006, which was confirmed by the divers of ARGE Blautopf on September 29th, 2006.
Since then, several geological and biological scientific works have been carried out in the Vetterhöhle. In order to be able to anchor the measured cave plan very precisely in the terrain model, several direction finding operations with self-made long-wave direction finding equipment took place. From January 2008 to July 2009 another entrance shaft was dug at the northern end of the cave, which on the one hand should ensure permanent access for cave research and on the other hand will facilitate research in the previously difficult to access area.
In mid-November 2009 the Blaubeuren cave association installed a wireless telemetry system in the Vetter cave. Every half an hour it delivers a measured value of the water and air temperature as well as the air speed at various points, as well as the water level in the cloud castle and in the branch hall. The data are forwarded directly to an internet server via cellular radio from an outdoor station that is wirelessly connected to two stations in the cave.
The “Projektgruppe Blauhöhle” is an association of cave divers from the Munich area who also have a diving permit issued by the city of Blaubeuren in the Blautopf. In a publication presented at the beginning of 2009, they report on research activities over the past few years. Conductivity studies were carried out as well as location location on the surface with a tracking device. A study of the distribution area of the cave crab Niphargus also includes the results of many other European water caves. In addition, members of the group succeeded in September 2008 in the 'Speleonautengang', beyond the end point of the ARGE Blautopf, up to 1,750 meters away from Blautopf and into uncharted territory. During a dive on June 19, 2009, divers from the Blue Cave project group found that the previous research endpoint in the frontal sinus duct at “Stachus” also marks its endpoint. A continuation upwards is limited by the cave ceiling at a depth of 11 m, a possible horizontal continuation is blocked by a large fall cone on the bottom.
After consultation with its discoverer Jochen Hasenmayer , a line was laid in the "Milky Way" and in the "Black Chimney" at the end of the "Milky Way" on February 13, 2010. In the “Black Chimney”, a shaft that has its bottom at 29 meters water depth, the divers of the project group Blue Cave were able to penetrate up to a water depth of 12 meters. The newly unleashed route was then measured and mapped. Their total length is 200 meters.
For a long time it was only possible to access the Blautopfhöhle by diving. In order to master the logistical challenges and to increase the safety for the researchers, a dry research access via the “stairway” in the Mörikedom of the Blautopfhöhle was created in April 2010 on behalf of the city of Blaubeuren under the direction of an engineering office with the help of heavy equipment.
During a dive on March 25, 2011, which took a total of 4.5 hours from the source pot, the Blue Cave project group was able to discover a new passage that continues from the black chimney. Although the corridor comes to the surface up to −3 meters, it remains in the phreatic area for the entire newly explored route . From the previous end point, 74 meters of new route could be leashed and explored. The corridor is adorned with a few stalactites and filigree rock formations and contains very fine sediment, which can lead to impaired vision even with the slightest movement. Since the corridor is winding, sometimes very narrow and sometimes wide, first upwards and then down again to the new research end point, it was given the name “The Crazy Labyrinth”.
The “Arbeitsgemeinschaft Blaukarst” was founded in mid-2005 to coordinate and carry out the excavation activities at the Hessenhaudoline. The members come almost exclusively from the four cave associations HFG Ostalb-Kirchheim, Arge Grabenstetten, HHV Laichingen and Friends of the Aach cave; these associations support the Arge Blaukarst as a joint project. After several years of excavation in the Hessenhaudoline, the Blaukarst consortium began excavating a ventilated rock crevice in the Seligengrund valley near Blaubeuren-Seißen as a further project. On February 8, 2009, cave explorers discovered the access to the Seligengrund cave, a labyrinth of cave passages and shafts with a total length of currently 330 meters at a height difference of 104 meters, at the bottom of the cliff in Seligengrund, which was enlarged to form a shaft. After a large cave river was discovered in the Hessenhau cave on March 26, 2011, a marking test with uranine on April 21, 2012 ensured that there was a hydraulic connection with the blue cave system.
Individual evidence
- ^ Longest and deepest caves in Germany - Arge Grabenstetten. Thilo Müller and Andreas Wolf, ARGE Höhle & Karst Grabenstetten eV, June 2019, accessed on January 27, 2020 .
- ↑ das blaumännle: Fantastic World - by Joachim Striebel, published on August 7, 2009
- ^ Vetterhöhle plan. Höhlenverein-Blaubeuren eV, January 2015, accessed on September 25, 2018 .
- ↑ Flyer about caving in the blue cave , accessed on September 26, 2018
- ↑ das blaumännle: A draft shows the way down - by Joachim Striebel, published on February 6, 2009
- ↑ Höhlenverein-Blaubeuren eV - Vetterhöhle Telemetry. Höhlenverein-Blaubeuren eV, accessed on September 26, 2018 .
- ↑ Andreas Dittrich, Wulf Schubert, Andreas Wolf: Interim results from the blue cave in Blaubeuren (cat. No. 7524/34), research period 2004-2008 . In: Communications of the Association of German Cave and Karst Researchers, Issue 1/2009, pages 12-16.
- ↑ Stefan Meszaros, Claus Jungkunz, Andreas Wolf: Interim report on the research results in the Blautopfhöhle 2009-2010 . In: Announcements of the Association of German Cave and Karst Researchers, Issue 1/2011 (PDF), pages 20–21.
- ↑ Joachim Striebel: Without diving deep into the blue cave ( Memento from May 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). Südwest Presse Ulm, April 14, 2010
- ↑ Speleology in the Blau catchment area. Blaukarst Working Group, accessed on September 26, 2018 .
