Avenc de la Miloquera
Interesting 769-metre-long fissure in Marçà, with five entrances and a drop reaching -78 metres.
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Avenc de la Miloquera
Interesting 769-metre-long fissure in Marçà, with five entrances and a drop reaching -78 metres.
Marçà · Priorat
Length: 769 m · Depth: 78 m
Updated record
https://espeleoworld.com/en/c/avenc-de-la-miloquera
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Interesting 769-metre-long fissure in Marçà, with five entrances and a drop reaching -78 metres.
Topographic
Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.
Photos
Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.
Description
Morphology
The pit, formed by a large fissure (it is the lower of the two main fissures of the hill), has five entrances. From NE to SW we would first find the entrance of Les Heures, where the dense vegetation prevents entry; this is a very steep ramp with some steps of a couple of metres, placing us at the base of the Pou del Cireret. Next, the entrance of the Miloquera Petita we would find further S. Some fifty metres from Les Heures we would find the Pou del Cireret; a little further apart we would find the entrances of the Pou dels Ossos and the Pou del Pastoret, both are in fact a single entrance with embedded blocks that subdivide it.
In this sector the gallery has its maximum widths.
Progression
Entering through the SW end of the Pou del Pastoret, one descends a 13-metre pit to reach a ledge where we have two options for continuing. Towards the SW we descend an 11-metre pit, rather narrow, which then links with another of 22 metres, wider, which places us in the Sala Fonda, where after a ramp we reach the point of maximum depth at -78 metres. Back at the previous point, towards the NE we finish descending to the bottom of the 34-metre pit, which we would descend directly if we had started the descent through the Pou dels Ossos. From its bottom we go down a ramp and, after climbing a large block, we find ourselves in the central gallery, which with a route of 100 metres, gaining width and climbing, places us at the base of the Pou del Cireret.
If we descend through the eastern part of the Pou del Cireret, where there is a 6-metre step, we find a narrow passage of 5 metres in length, where in the central part we find a small 7-metre pit with a bifurcated gallery at its base. If we follow the left-hand gallery, after descending two steps and covering a route of 61 metres, we find the passage blocked by a narrow section of the walls; the right-hand gallery begins with a very narrow 18-metre pit, followed by a ramp that connects with the sector of the Miloquera Petita.
If we enter through the entrance of the Miloquera Petita, we do so through a 22-metre pit. Four metres from the outside a gallery opens between blocks with a route of 30 metres. At the base of the pit and continuing in an E direction, one descends between large blocks; we find two ascending steps and little by little the gallery narrows until it becomes impenetrable.
History
Known forever by the residents of Marçà, the first exploration was carried out on 21 July 1899 by Mossèn Norbert Font i Sagué, who descended through the Pou del Cireret; once at the bottom and after covering a stretch of gallery with the help of a candle, he found himself in the middle of the darkness with some shining eyes watching him. After the initial fright, since he did not know what kind of beast he was dealing with, he lit the magnesium he was carrying and observed that it was a puppy, which ran to hide in a fissure through which Font i Sagué could not pass. On coming out and giving the description of the dog, he learned that the puppy and its mother, which was said to have died on falling, had been thrown into the pit about twenty days earlier.
Joan Ferraté explored it on 4 October 1908; in this pit was the first time he used a rope ladder. He first descended the Pou del Cireret and, on coming out, entered again through the entrance of les “Eures” (Heures would be correct), which is a ramp; they had to clear the entrance since the vegetation prevented passage. On reaching the bottom, he confirmed its connection with the Pou del Cireret. Curiously, in his book on speleology in the Tarragona regions, Ferraté refers to the exploration by Font i Sagué, saying that he did not reach the bottom of the pit, interrupting the descent when he heard the barking of the dog, according to comments from some villagers.
On 19 and 20 March 1955, J. Coromines and E. Auqué of the GES of Club Muntanyenc Barcelonès explore the cavity, carry out the survey and discover a new sector called Sala Fonda, which reaches -75 metres of depth; they also make the connection with the entrances of the Pou del Pastoret and the Pou dels Ossos, and they name the whole Avenc-Cova de l'Esquerda Gran.
In 1979 the Espeleo Club de Gràcia connects the Miloquera Petita with the Miloquera Gran, publishing it as Avenc de la Miloquera Gran; later this group of cavities has ended up being called simply Avenc de la Miloquera, since the rest of the nearby fissures already have their respective names. All this group of fissures had been explored prior to the visit of the ECG by groups mainly from Reus, Tarragona, Valls and Barcelona, but they never published anything about it.
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Bibliography
- Auqué, E.(1956).-”Ficha técnica. Avenc de l'Esquerda Gran”. Ciencia y Montaña (3º-4º trimestre). Club Muntanyenc Barcelonès.
- Borrás, J.;Miñarro, JM.;Talavera, F.(1984).-”el baix camp, el priorat i la ribera d'ebre”. Catàleg Espeleològic de Catalunya (vol. 7):1-283. Ed. Políglota. Barcelona.
- Cardona i Oliván, Ferran.(1990).-”El sistema mediterrani i la depressió central” Grans Cavitats de Catalunya (Segon Volum):1-484. ECG. Barcelona.
- Ferraté i Gili, Joan. (1918).-Espeleologia de les comarques tarragonines pp: 1-134. AE de Reus.
- Ferreres i Gabarda, Jaume; Cardona Oliván, Ferran; Delgado i Alberich, Xavier; Garcia i Arroyo, Josep.(1982).-”Les cavitats del Turó de la Miloquera. Marçà (Priorat)”. Exploracions (6):19-31. EC Gràcia. Barcelona.
- Font i Sagué, Norbert.(1900).-”Sota Terra. Excursió Espeleòloch-Geològica al Priorat, Montanyes de Prades y Alt Panadès” Butlletí del CEC (68):209-226. CEC. (Conferencia llegida el 29 de desembre de 1899).
- Fotos facilitades per Ferran Alexandri, i dades extretes del blog ferranalexandri.blogspot.com
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Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/