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Avenc de Can Torrella

Avenc de Can Torrella

Small 6 m deep pit in the riera de les Arenes, in Matadepera, located in March 1996 and explored by the SIS del CET on 30 March.

Matadepera • Vallès Occidental 12m 6m

Small 6 m deep pit in the riera de les Arenes, in Matadepera, located in March 1996 and explored by the SIS del CET on 30 March.

Characteristics

Location

A few metres after km. 4 of the BV-1221 road from Terrassa to Talamanca, a turn-off opens to the right and one passes over the bridge of the riera de les Arenes and enters the passeig del Pla. One must turn into the second street on the left (c/ de les Fogueroses), which curves to the right until reaching a junction with a pine tree in the middle. From here, to the left, the carrer Transversal begins, heading towards the riera, and at the end, on the right, an unpaved street runs parallel between the riera and the houses. One must follow it until finding, on the left, an earth ramp that descends to the riera, and continue upstream along it for about 175 metres. The pit is about 9 metres to the right of the channel (hydrographic left) and just over one metre above it.

The entrance is protected by an iron grille.

Map

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Can Torrella, Avenc de

    Elevation: 493 m

    41.614180, 2.008130
    UTM 31T (ED 50) 417455 4607620
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Avenc de Can Torrella - Photo, Matadepera, Vallès OccidentalView image
Click to enlarge

Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.

Image 1 of 3

Description

Morphology

The circular entrance, 80 centimetres in diameter, gives way to a first shaft of 4 metres which at its base forms a small chamber of 4 x 1.5 metres. On the SW side of the chamber there is an almost impenetrable crawl of just over one metre in length, while on the opposite side (NW) there is a second shaft, of 2.3 metres. Its width is only half a metre and it leads to the maximum depth of the pit at – 6.3 metres. At the NW end of this second shaft there is a narrow chimney 3 metres high.

Hydrology

It is a swallow hole of the riera de les Arenes when it flows in flood and the level reaches the entrance. This happens very occasionally, but at some point it could become blocked due to dragged materials.

Other details

The pit has been excavated following a NW joint within the Eocene conglomerates (puddingstones), predominant throughout the massif. But in this cavity it must be noted that the entrance and the first metre and a half of the entrance shaft are excavated in Vallesian conglomerates (upper Miocene) which have not been affected by the joint, but being a softer material, it gave way to the erosion of the riera, opening the entrance and connecting it with the lower part of the pit.

History

In this sector of the riera de les Arenes there are reports of some small pits that have disappeared over time after being filled by drag during different floods.

The avenc de Can Torrella was located in mid-March 1996 by a bricklayer from some works at the Can Torrella urbanisation, who encircled it and notified the town council of Matadepera. On Saturday 30 March, members of the SIS del CET explored the cavity.

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Bibliography

Badiella, E. (1996).- “Avenc de Can Torrella” Arxiu del Centre Excursionista de Terrassa (88-89): 73-75. Terrassa.

Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/