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Avenc Desencadenat

Avenc Desencadenat

Cavitat de 79 m de fondària i 267 m de recorregut a la serra del Masiet, Mont-ral.

Mont-ral • Alt Camp267m79m

A cavity 79 m deep and 267 m long in the Serra del Masiet, Mont-ral, explored in 2021 by Juli Serrano and Montse Roca (SIE-CEA).

Characteristics

Location

On the TV-7041 road heading from Alcover to Capafonts, 135 metres after passing kilometre 12, on the right-hand side of the road we find an entrance with a grate; this bars the way of the track that leads to a currently abandoned quarry.

Once we have reached the northernmost point of the quarry, a path emerges that will take us to the avenc de la Serra del Masiet; at this point we must follow the fissure parallel in a southerly direction, and the descent soon begins down the left-hand slope of the barranc dels Esclots; after descending only the first few metres we will find the upper mouth of the cavity, the middle mouth is found about twenty metres further on, while the lower mouth is about 7 metres from the previous one.

The route from the road is 1.8 kilometres if we go past the upper part of the quarry; if we follow the track along the lower part of the quarry then the route is 425 metres longer. The path leaves us right beside the mouth of the Avenc de la Serra del Masiet; 19 metres from it in a SW direction we will find the mouth of the Avenc Desencadenat.

Mapa

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Boca Superior

    Elevation: 639 m

    41.305280, 1.109986
    UTM 31T (ETRS89) 341778 4574369
  2. Boca Intermèdia

    Elevation: 628 m

    41.304943, 1.109831
    UTM 31T (ETRS89) 341765 4574332
  3. Boca Inferior

    Elevation: 623 m

    41.304784, 1.109740
    UTM 31T (ETRS89) 341757 4574315
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Avenc Desencadenat - Photo, Mont-ral, Alt CampView image
Click to enlarge

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

Image 1 of 22

Description

Morphology

Cavity formed along a fissure running NE-SW, parallel to and 19 metres away from the one that forms the avenc de la Serra del Masiet.

The cavity has a total length of 267 metres.

Progression

At the mouth a tree serves us to re-rig the first 8.65 metre pit; at the base, if we continue in a NE direction we find a steep descending ramp that soon eases off until reaching a 7.4 metre pit; at the base we find a narrow pit that ends 5 metres further down.

Back at the base of the first pit, continuing in a SW direction we find a pit of less than 4 metres, followed by a steep ramp that places us at the head of a narrower pit 10 metres deep. At the base of the pit and in a SW direction a fairly narrow passage gives access to a short 10 metre gallery with a small pit among blocks. Back at the base of the 10 metre pit and in a NE direction, a steep ramp leads us to the head of a 9 metre pit; at its base and in a NE direction we must pass through a very narrow crawl that places us above a pit 7 metres deep and 0.5 metres wide; once at the base we reach a wide descending gallery until arriving at an area of large blocks down which we can descend a drop of about 9 metres. At this point we are at the -63.5 metre level; from here, among fairly unstable blocks, there is a pit one metre wide that for prudence has not been descended but which, measured with a distance meter, gives a drop of 15.6 metres, which would give the cavity a total drop of -79 metres.

If from the mouth of the pit we head outside in the direction of the barranc dels Esclots following the line of the fissure, once we have begun to descend the slope we find a double mouth; at floor level we enter a gallery while at the same point at our feet a pit opens up. Following the gallery we soon find a collapse that connects with a lower gallery; continuing on we pass under a large slab and reach the pit that comes from the upper mouth.

Back at the double mouth, we enter a pit that at -5 metres places us in a gallery that connects with the collapsed point of the upper gallery.

Continuing down the pit, after -8 metres we reach the lower gallery; this can be followed in both directions, towards the SW one reaches the -26.6 metre level while in a NE direction one reaches the -23 metre level.

History

Cavity located and explored in 2021 by Juli Serrano and Montse Roca (SIE-CEA). In May 2021 Juli Serrano together with Francesc Rubinat (ERE-CEC) visited it to carry out the survey of the cavity.

On 1 January 2022 Montse Roca and Juli Serrano returned to the cavity to remove material left over from the previous exploration and took the opportunity to explore the lower mouths and survey the new galleries of the cavity.

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Bibliography

  • Cavitat inèdita, dades aportades Juli Serrano, Montse Roca (SIE-CEA) i Francesc Rubinat (ERE-CEC) maig de 2021.
  • Noves dades i ampliació de topografia aportades el gener de 2022 per Montse Roca i Juli Serrano (SIE-CEA).

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