Avenc del Vallaric
A 103-metre-deep cavity in the Garraf (Sitges), known as avenc del Vallaric, with a 52-metre entrance shaft and a vertical route down to the -103 level.
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Avenc del Vallaric
A 103-metre-deep cavity in the Garraf (Sitges), known as avenc del Vallaric, with a 52-metre entrance shaft and a vertical route down to the -103 level.
Sitges · Garraf
Length: 215 m · Depth: 103 m
Updated record
https://espeleoworld.com/en/c/avenc-del-vallaric
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A 103-metre-deep cavity in the Garraf (Sitges), known as avenc del Vallaric, with a 52-metre entrance shaft and a vertical route down to the -103 level.
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
An elongated opening 3 x 1 and a half metres, covered by blocks, gives way to the 52-metre vertical entrance shaft. At the -40 level, and where the shaft loses its verticality on the E. wall, there is a low passage, normally muddy, slightly descending and broken by a couple of steps, leading out into an irregular chamber with a sloping floor covered by a large chaos of blocks. From this chamber a couple of semi-vertical passages emerge that end after a few metres, but at the lowest point of the chamber, among the blocks, it is possible to reach a new shaft a little over 14 metres deep, followed by a new 23-metre vertical that remains closed at its bottom, but halfway down a short pendulum allows access to a narrow fissure through which a narrow 13-metre shaft is reached, at the bottom of which the point of maximum depth is attained.
Progression
It should be noted that at some point a risk of hypoxia has been detected from the bottom of the entrance shaft onwards.
History
Faura i Sans in his Recull espeleològic de Catalunya (1909) mentions an avenc de les Basses, locating it at Sitges-La Plana Novella and with no further data.
It is not until 1957 that members of the SES-CE Puigmal explore the cavity for the first time, renaming it avenc del Vallaric and assigning it a depth of 81 metres. Two later surveys lower this level to -71 (SIE-1970) and then to -66 (GES-1974) at the final point of the chamber (current level: -61).
A relatively little-visited cavity due to being outside the classic routes of the Garraf. At the end of 1987, members of the GERS-AE Muntanya manage to dig through at the bottom known until then and deepen it to the current level (-103 m.). In February 1988 they themselves resurvey the entire cavity.
Bio
Some specimens of the interesting pseudoscorpion Troglobisium racovitzai Ell. have been collected.
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Bibliography
- Bengoetxea, A. (1990).- “Avenc dels Vallarics”. Carbonato (6): 2-3. GERS – AE Muntanya. Barcelona
- Borràs, J. (1974).- Catálogo espeleológico del macizo de Garraf. Vol. III . 207 pp. Barcelona.
- Cardona, F. (1990).- Grans cavitats de Catalunya, vol 2. 484 pp. EC Gràcia, Barcelona
- Ferrer, V. (2006).- Avencs de Garraf i d'Ordal. 152 pp. + llibret fitxes i topografies. Edició de l'autor. Barcelona.
- Iñigo, G. (1970).- “El Avenc del Vallaric”. EspeleoSie (7): 28-30. SIE-CE Àliga. Barcelona
- Revisió de coordenades i fotografies facilitades per membres de l'ERE – CEC (febrer 2020)
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Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/