Aven de la Candelosa

The entrance (0.80 x 0.90) is hidden in the blocks of the lapiaz. This aven opens in a well-lapiazated sector. Several steps of small north-south cliffs prove significant fracturing, hence the general orientation of the cavity. The latter appears to have been carved by running water when the combe des Banquières was active (note that the Occitan term Banquières designates precisely a succession of small cliffs forming staircases). Beautiful forms of erosion on the one hand, and on the other its presence in the supposed recharge zone of the "Force Male" spring adds to the interest of the aven.

The P 30 is a fairly narrow fissure shaft (1m x 1m); it ends at -49 m in a small chamber of 3m x 1.5 m, the lowest point of the aven. From this chamber a small chimney starts, quickly choked.

The remarkable point of the complex system of galleries is a chamber adorned with beautiful flowstone; from it several chimneys reach the various levels of the shaft.

An original feature of this network (50 m) is a small descending helical gallery (the helix), on whose ceiling a perfectly regular gutter well illustrates the over-erosion by flowing water in galleries clogged with sediment.

The entrance gives access to a P 20 interspersed with several steps (levels at -8 and -13). At the base of the shaft, 2 possibilities:

1) Either a complex system of galleries whose remarkable point is a chamber adorned with beautiful flowstone; from it several chimneys reach the various levels of the shaft.

2) Or, returning under the access shaft, a 5-metre climb, followed by a small gallery, leads to the "Ponts rocheux" chamber. In the ceiling opens a P 30 composed of 2 parts:

a) at 10 m, a 30 m corridor whose floor is clogged with clay cuts across the shaft. At the bottom a 10 m chimney should lead back near the surface, while on the other side a corridor develops ending in a small chamber blocked by clay.

b) the continuation of the P 30 begins with a constriction under Ponts rocheux.