Avenc de la Tronada
A pit 86 m deep at the Mola de Catí (el Port, Tortosa), with an entrance gallery, gours and pits of 26, 47 and 14 m. Discovered in 1958 by the GES-CMB and also known as Avenc de la Tronada.
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Avenc de la Tronada
A pit 86 m deep at the Mola de Catí (el Port, Tortosa), with an entrance gallery, gours and pits of 26, 47 and 14 m. Discovered in 1958 by the GES-CMB and also known as Avenc de la Tronada.
Tortosa · Baix Ebre
Length: 145 m · Depth: 86 m
Updated record
https://espeleoworld.com/en/c/avenc-de-la-tronada
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A pit 86 m deep at the Mola de Catí (el Port, Tortosa), with an entrance gallery, gours and pits of 26, 47 and 14 m. Discovered in 1958 by the GES-CMB and also known as Avenc de la Tronada.
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
Its mouth is located at the head of a torrent and among some bedding planes that give rise to the entrance gallery, descending and low-roofed, with a length of just over 20 metres.
To the left of the gours a first pit of 26 metres begins, subdivided by a small ledge at 8 metres of descent. At the base of this pit and after skirting a narrow passage at the generating joint, we find a new vertical, this one of 47 metres, but with two ledges at its start that divide it into three sections (10.5; 3.5; 33).
From the -81 level, the base of this last pit, we must look for the continuation of the cavity in the N wall; at this point 7.5 metres must be climbed up to a window that communicates with a small gallery about 5 metres long, which communicates with a pit of 14 metres at the bottom of which the maximum depth level is reached.
Hydrology
In the entrance gallery there are some gours generally full of water.
Progression
The entrance gallery, descending and low-roofed, has a length of just over 20 metres. To the left of the gours a first pit of 26 metres begins, subdivided by a small ledge at 8 metres of descent. At the base of this pit, after skirting a narrow passage at the generating joint, there is a new vertical of 47 metres, with two ledges at its start that divide it into three sections (10.5; 3.5; 33). From the -81 level, the base of this last pit, the continuation must be looked for in the N wall: 7.5 metres must be climbed up to a window that communicates with a small gallery about 5 metres long, which communicates with a pit of 14 metres at the bottom of which the maximum depth level is reached.
History
In August 1958, members of the GES-CMB, on one of their campaigns in the el Port massif, explore an unknown cavity and explore it partially (they calculate level -48). The following month they return and finish the exploration (they calculate level -85). They name it Avenc Emili Tafalla (perhaps the name of the person who showed it to them?). The fact is that the cavity remains known only among its explorers and other cavers know of it only by word of mouth.
In the early years of the 1970s it is the ERE-CEC that carries out prospecting and discovery campaigns at the Mola de Catí. When they locate the cavity they find at the mouth a painted inscription stating: Avenc de la Tronada. They explored it and again no written reference remained.
Shortly afterwards, in 1975, and also during their campaigns at the Mola, the SIE-CEA rediscover the pit, explore it and survey it. Aware of the May 1915 exploration by the French biospeleologist H. Breuil, in which he gives a brief description of what the local people know as Cova Terrera and which seems to coincide with this one, they think with good judgement that it is the same cavity and it is thus published in 1978.
Almost 30 years pass with this belief, but in 2005, the colleagues of the Espeleo Club Tortosa find in the same area of the Mola a cavity they believe to be unknown and name it Cova de l'Instint. With many doubts about it, they see that this small cave coincides greatly with the description made by H. Breuil of the Cova Terrera and also with an unpublished survey made by N. Llopis Lladó in 1935. Having contacted Mr. Josep Tomàs, a good connoisseur of the stories and regions of el Port, he confirms to them that what they call Cova de l'Instint is what has always been known as Cova Terrera.
Now a dilemma and an enigma present themselves to us: What shall we call the pit confused with Cova Terrera? Who, between the exploration of the GES and that of the ERE, painted at the mouth Avenc de la Tronada?
For the moment we will keep the name Avenc de la Tronada, which is the one normally used by our friends from Tortosa, but... would it not be legitimate to do so with the name given to it by its first explorers in 1958?.
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Bibliography
- SIE (1978).- “Contribució al coneixement espeleològic dels Ports del Caro (Baix Ebre) (IV): La Mola de Catí i el Mont Caro”. EspeleoSie (21): 27-70. SIE-CE Àliga. Barcelona.
- Martínez, C. (2011).- “Coves de la Mola de Catí: Terrera – Orgui – Gerret” (post penjat al blog de l'Espeleo Club Tortosa)
· Coordenades, fotografies i altres dades facilitades per l'Espeleo Club Tortosa.
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Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/