Cova del Iaio
An interesting and beautiful cave on the cliff of the Mola de Catí (el Port), a fossil spring above active cavities, with 169 m of passage and 15 m of vertical extent (-1.20; +13.80), explored by the Espeleo Club Tortosa.
EspeleoWorld
Cova del Iaio
An interesting and beautiful cave on the cliff of the Mola de Catí (el Port), a fossil spring above active cavities, with 169 m of passage and 15 m of vertical extent (-1.20; +13.80), explored by the Espeleo Club Tortosa.
Roquetes · Baix Ebre
Length: 169 m · Depth: 15 m
Updated record
https://espeleoworld.com/en/c/cova-del-iaio
Information can change. Always verify coordinates, access, weather, and cave conditions before setting out.
An interesting and beautiful cave on the cliff of the Mola de Catí (el Port), a fossil spring above active cavities, with 169 m of passage and 15 m of vertical extent (-1.20; +13.80), explored by the Espeleo Club Tortosa.
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
The cavity, hanging on the cliff of La Mola, is a fossil spring located above other known active cavities. Through a rounded mouth 2 m in diameter one reaches, within a few metres, a crawlway that had to be dug open. It is about 8 m long and leaves us in a chamber from which three possible continuations emerge. Two of them, fossil and taking a N and S direction, form a loop, where chambers of larger volumes are found that end up short-circuiting through a pressure tube to an upper level.
The most evident continuation is through the Galeria Mascarell, with a low ceiling, in a SW direction, which leads us to a chamber with a collapse. Through the Pas de la Baldana, a muddy, winding crawlway of reduced dimensions and about 5 m in length, we reach a large, highly decorated chamber, the Sala Fresca.
Following the same direction and overcoming various narrows we find a small meander that connects with the Sala de les Estalagmites. After this chamber, we continue through a small window hanging 2 m up among blocks and reach the Sala de la Colada. A small round hole (forat rodó) leads us to the last two chambers, the place where the exploration work of the Sala del Dia Sense Llum is being carried out.
Currently the passage is 169 m and the vertical extent 15 m (-1.20; +13.80).
Speleothems
The Sala de les Estalagmites is a chamber full of pencil-shaped stalagmites, very beautiful and at the same time very fragile. Special care must be taken and one must progress through a crawlway along the lower part, so as not to damage the formation, one of the reasons why the entire cavity is roped off. In the Sala de la Colada, as its name indicates, a large flowstone decorates one of its walls and part of the floor.
Progression
Through a rounded mouth 2 m in diameter one reaches, within a few metres, a crawlway that had to be dug open. It is about 8 m long and leaves us in a chamber from which three possible continuations emerge. Two of them, fossil and taking a N and S direction, form a loop, where chambers of larger volumes are found that end up short-circuiting through a pressure tube to an upper level.
The most evident continuation is through the Galeria Mascarell, with a low ceiling, in a SW direction, which leads us to a chamber with a collapse. Through the Pas de la Baldana, a muddy, winding crawlway of reduced dimensions and about 5 m in length, we reach a large, highly decorated chamber, the Sala Fresca.
Following the same direction and overcoming various narrows we find a small meander that connects with the Sala de les Estalagmites. One must progress through a crawlway along the lower part. After this chamber, we continue through a small window hanging 2 m up among blocks and reach the Sala de la Colada. A small round hole (forat rodó) leads us to the last two chambers, the place where the exploration work of the Sala del Dia Sense Llum is being carried out.
Other details
The digging and exploration work continues to be carried out by the Espeleo Club Tortosa.
History
On 9 March 2019 members of the Espeleo Club Tortosa, while doing activity at the Avenc de la Barcina and thanks to some binoculars, located a hole on the cliff of the Mola de Catí. Found on foot thanks to the binoculars and to communication by mobile phones, it was verified that the cavity had a continuation. On various trips members of the ECT and the UEC Tortosa explored the cavity; after forcing various narrows, they found chambers of considerable volumes and a passage quite worthy of note. In April of the same 2019, Vicente Barraquet carried out the survey of the entire known cavity.
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Bibliography
- Dades, topografia i fotografies facilitades per Vicente Barraquet.
- Altres dades i fotografies extretes del blog de l'Espeleo Club Tortosa: espeleoclubtortosa.blogspot Apunts de març i abril 2019
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Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/