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Cova de la Dona Morta

Cova de la Dona Morta

Cavitat subvertical de 14 m. de fondària i 104 m. de recorregut a Montserrat

Monistrol de Montserrat • Bages104m14m

A subvertical cavity 14 m deep and 104 m long in Montserrat, on the south slope of the Piteus ridge. Developed in marine sandstones, with an entrance ramp, a 41 m main gallery and a final stalagmitic formation.

Characteristics

Location

On the south slope of the Piteus ridge, halfway up between the torrent and the crest line. The easiest path to reach it is the one that starts from the Paella bend, first descending along the north side of the ridge, quickly crossing it over a rocky area and positioning itself on the south slope. The path descends below a cliff to a second esplanade; on the south side one observes a large isolated stone, the height of a man, and behind it one can make out a very faint gully that descends rapidly towards the bottom of the torrent. It will be necessary to follow it until jumping a rocky bank, after which we will move to the right for about a hundred metres to reach the cave hidden among brambles.

Mapa

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Cova de la Dona Morta

    Elevation: 368 m

    41.617900, 1.824790
    UTM 31T (ETRS89) 402091 4608020
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Cova de la Dona Morta - Photo, Monistrol de Montserrat, BagesView image
Click to enlarge

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

Image 1 of 8

Description

Morphology

The cavity develops along a NNE-SSW joint that cuts a series of grey sandstones of marine origin, corresponding to the Calcina levels identified in the geological mapping (Berástegui & Losantos, 2003). In the first metres of vertical drop there is an intercalation of conglomerates and at the base of the cavity there is a level of marls. In the main chamber a small step of cm-dm order can be seen (sunken east block).

The entrance, a couple of metres high by one metre wide, gives access to a pronounced ramp almost 20 metres long. The inclination exceeds 40º and the floor is of sand and small pebbles, which makes the descent quite entertaining. The ceiling of the ramp remains horizontal from the entrance, which makes it gain height as we descend. Shortly before reaching the main chamber, we find on the left a small hollow through which one accesses the lower crawls of the North.

The large conduit of the main gallery is 41 metres long and develops towards the South, but turning slightly towards the West. The initial width is a good size, for it reaches 4 metres, although this lasts very little; as we advance it narrows rapidly to barely 2 metres, just where we find a large trunk placed expressly to access the upper level. If until now the ceiling seemed almost imperceptible to us, from this point we can follow it with ease.

For 16 metres, both the height of 2.5 metres and the width of 1.5 metres are almost constant. One can observe on the ceiling several holes that connect with the upper level, while the floor becomes flat, except for a small pit located at the end of the gallery, on the left side.

A right-angled fissure suddenly narrows the passage, at the same time as it reduces its height. The ceiling rises again until reaching 4 metres and 6 metres further on a pile of stones narrows the passage again. This time, the ceiling remains at the same level and it is the floor that drops one metre more suddenly, leaving us to continue for about 5 metres of gallery.

Speleothems

A stalagmitic formation in the form of a flowstone, which collects a 2 metre long pool where the main gallery ends.

Hydrology

It seems to be an ancient spring excavated following a marl stratum, like the Mentirosa de Monistrol, and which became dead when the torrent del Tortuguer was excavated.

Progression

Following the ramp down one must pass a short step to reach the main gallery. One must descend a half-metre step to continue the exploration.

History

The first reference we have of an exploration is the one carried out by the GES del CMB in October 1956.

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Bibliography

  1. Badiella, Xavier et al. (1992).- “La influència dels relleus epigeus en la gènesi de certes cavitats montserratines”. SIS (12): 4-22 / Arxiu del Centre Excursionista de Terrassa (75): 140-158, Terrassa.
  2. Berástegui, X.; Losantos, M. (2003): Mapa Geològic de Catalunya 1:25.000, Monistrol de Montserrat 392-1-1 (71-29). Institut Cartogràfic de Catalunya, Servei Geològic de Catalunya, Barcelona.


  • Fotografies facilitades per Antoni Ferro i Rosa González.
  • Revisió coordenades facilitades per Jordi Navarro, (Centre Excursionista de Castellar del Vallès).
  • Nota geològica i fotografia del detall facilitat per Marc Anglés. (actualització setembre de 2024).

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