New caves discovered on the island of Crete by Sheffield university team
Last updated 8/25/2010 9:54:03 AM
New caves Crete - Ali Mortazavi in Oblivion - Photo Michael Soulby
Over a hundred new caves have been discovered on the Greek Island of Crete.
Fifteen members of the University of Sheffield´s Speleological Society visited the White Mountains of Crete in order to discover and record new caves. A total of 139 new caves were recorded which included 10 caves over 50m deep.
The team was the first to pioneer the network of caves within Mavri Laki Valley in the White Mountains of Crete. Rosie Hadfield, a society member, said: "This year´s discoveries have increased knowledge of the Mavri Laki Valley. It is clear from this expedition that there is still potential to explore a great deal of unchartered land in the Mavri Laki region and potential for further expeditions by the University´s Speleological Society."
The team were joined by members from the Greek caving clubs of SPOK and SELAS. Cave exploration involves firstly marking the cave entrance and recording its GPS co-ordinates on a log sheet.
For small caves, the team then descend by free-climbing or a wire ladder, and measure the depth using a tape measure. For larger caves, bolts were drilled into the limestone walls and ropes rigged for the team to descend using Single Rope Technique (SRT).
These larger caves were surveyed using compass and clinometers, in addition to a tape measure in order to give greater accuracy. The caves of Crete are very different in nature to English caves; they are very sharp and often end where frost shattered rocks block any further paths forward.
The deepest cave discovered was Pandora´s Pot which stretched 170.9m below the earth.