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Cova del Garrofer

Cova del Garrofer

A little-known cavity of about 400 m of passage in Tortosa (Baix Ebre), with the Galeries Velles and the Galeries Noves.

Tortosa • Baix Ebre 400m 40m

A little-known cavity of about 400 m of passage in Tortosa (Baix Ebre), with the Galeries Velles and the Galeries Noves.

Characteristics

Location

On the south-western foothills of the serres de Cardó i del Boix, to the east of the city of Tortosa and in the area of the barranc de la Llet.

From the plaça d'Europa (Tortosa) you must cross the pont de Tirant lo Blanc and, once at the plaça de la Unió, turn right along the avinguda de Barcelona. Before reaching the Consell Comarcal del Baix Ebre, at a crossroads, you must keep to the left along a street that runs between cultivated fields and villas. After about 700 metres, on the left a track sets off up the barranc de la Llet until it leaves it, bearing off to the right. Very close by there is a high-tension line and, once past the second pylon, a few metres above the track and within an area of carob trees, the small cave entrance is found.

Map

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

  1. Cova del Garrofer

    Elevation: 112 m

    40.800680, 0.546000
    UTM 31T (ED 50) 293080 4519732
Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

Cova del Garrofer - Photo, Tortosa, Baix EbreView image
Click to enlarge

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

Image 1 of 5

Description

Morphology

Through a small entrance, one enters a descending ramp that connects with the entrance chamber. At the back, and to the left of this chamber, the so-called Galeries Velles begin, of which for the moment we have no reference, but which may total approximately a passage of a little more than 200 metres.

Back in the entrance chamber and below the initial ramp, on the right, there is a very narrow passage (Gatera de l'Estrella) that allows entry into the so-called Galeries Noves through a much smaller lower chamber, which connects with some very narrow vertical conduits that, once passed, lead to the base of a gallery that presents two possibilities of continuation. In one direction, the gallery gains height and advances through a series of somewhat sinuous side branches that climb slightly until reaching a point where the gallery meets practically halfway down a narrow shaft about 8 metres deep, at the bottom of which the point of maximum drop is reached (elevation – 40 approximately).

Back at the base of the entrance shafts and in the opposite direction, one must overcome a raised passage and descend again through a subvertical conduit that gives access to a low gallery with a ceiling and very narrow sections along almost its entire length, and which after about 70 metres of rather arduous passage becomes impassable.

The assigned passage of 400 metres is entirely an estimate, based on the oral accounts of colleagues from the Espeleo Club Tortosa and pending a new and complete survey.

Speleothems

The entrance chamber is decorated with quite a few lithogenic formations, in a state of decalcification.

History

This cave was certainly well known to the people of the area and to various excursionists from Tortosa, but it is not until around 1970 that the members of the incipient JET group (Joves Espeleòlegs Tortosins), and due to its proximity to Tortosa, use it as a reference point in their initial enthusiasm for speleology. On one of the many visits they made, they proceeded to clear a narrow passage in the entrance chamber (Gatera de l'Estrella) and thus discover the so-called Galeries Noves, which were surveyed in 1973 when most of them had already joined SIRE – UEC Tortosa (later Espeleo Club Tortosa). For many years this cave was a compulsory visit on the initiation courses of Tortosa speleologists, but little by little it was practically forgotten.

It should be said that at the time the survey of the Galeries Velles was also made, but we do not know whether it was ever drawn or whether it remains forgotten in some drawer.

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Bibliography

  • No tenim constància de cap cita bibliogràfica sobre la cavitat.

  • Les dades de la fitxa, encara que precàries, han estat fornides a partir de la topografia, fotografies i coordenades (totes elles inèdites) facilitades pels companys de l'Espeleo Club Tortosa.

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