Caves of Saldes
Saldes, in Berguedà, contains 17 cavities: 6 caves and 11 pits, with 2195 m of total passage and a maximum depth of 166 m. Notable are the Grallera del Carabasser, 166 m deep, and Esquerdes de Palomera, 500 m long.
Saldes has 17 catalogued caves, including 11 potholes and 6 caves. The longest is Esquerdes de Palomera (500 m) and the deepest is Grallera del Carabasser (166 m). Most caves are found in limestone.
Length adds each cave once (a system counts once), and depth is that of the deepest cave, canyons excluded.
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The municipality of Saldes, in Berguedà, has 17 inventoried cavities: 6 caves and 11 pits. Together they total 2195 m of passage and reach a maximum depth of 166 m. The recorded lithologies are limestone (15 cavities), travertine (1) and conglomerate (1).
Among the most significant cavities is the Grallera del Carabasser, a pit 166 m deep in the Pedraforca, whose route begins with a 34 m shaft and reaches the -166 level. Esquerdes de Palomera, near the Pleta de la Vila, in the upper part of the Palomera cliff, form an important group of fissures with a complex network of aerial and underground sections, and reach 500 m of passage. The Forats de Sant Telm, at the western end of the Serra d'Ensija, south of Feners, are a tectonic cavity 51 m deep and 316 m long, with five entrances in the main cavity and a sixth independent one.
Other notable cavities are the Forat de les Olles, a pit with 60 m of vertical drop in the Pedraforca with 268 m of passage and a total vertical drop of +8/-52 m; the Graller de Roca Cerdana, 96 m deep, located in 1983, with a 95 m shaft; and the Graller de la Pleta de l'ós, with 70 m of vertical drop, explored for the first time by the ERE del CEC on 29 and 30 June 1968.
The 20 longest
| # | Cave | Location | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Esquerdes de Palomera | Saldes, Barcelona | 500 m |
| 2 | Grallera del Carabasser | Saldes, Barcelona | 470 m |
| 3 | Forats de Sant Telm | Saldes, Barcelona | 316 m |
| 4 | Forat de les Olles | Saldes, Barcelona | 268 m |
| 5 | Graller de la Pleta de l'ós | Saldes, Barcelona | 140 m |
| 6 | Graller de Roca Cerdana | Saldes, Barcelona | 130 m |
| 7 | Forat del Gat | Saldes, Barcelona | 95 m |
| 8 | Forat Gran de la Feixa Alta | Saldes, Barcelona | 82 m |
| 9 | Grallera de Forat Micó | Saldes, Barcelona | 65 m |
| 10 | Cova de Roset | Saldes, Barcelona | 35 m |
| 11 | Cova del Diedre | Saldes, Barcelona | 30 m |
| 12 | Cova del Roset | Saldes, Barcelona | 18 m |
| 13 | Espluga Rodona | Saldes, Barcelona | 14 m |
| 14 | Bauma del Calderer | Saldes, Barcelona | 10 m |
| 15 | Forat del Coll de les Agudes | Saldes, Barcelona | 8 m |
| 16 | Esquerda del Coll de les Agudes | Saldes, Barcelona | 7 m |
| 17 | Forat del Calderer | Saldes, Barcelona | 7 m |
The 20 deepest
| # | Cave | Location | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grallera del Carabasser | Saldes, Barcelona | 166 m |
| 2 | Graller de Roca Cerdana | Saldes, Barcelona | 96 m |
| 3 | Graller de la Pleta de l'ós | Saldes, Barcelona | 70 m |
| 4 | Esquerdes de Palomera | Saldes, Barcelona | 65 m |
| 5 | Forat de les Olles | Saldes, Barcelona | 60 m |
| 6 | Forat del Gat | Saldes, Barcelona | 54 m |
| 7 | Forats de Sant Telm | Saldes, Barcelona | 51 m |
| 8 | Forat Gran de la Feixa Alta | Saldes, Barcelona | 50 m |
| 9 | Grallera de Forat Micó | Saldes, Barcelona | 26 m |
| 10 | Cova de Roset | Saldes, Barcelona | 17 m |
| 11 | Cova del Diedre | Saldes, Barcelona | 10 m |
| 12 | Forat del Coll de les Agudes | Saldes, Barcelona | 5 m |
| 13 | Esquerda del Coll de les Agudes | Saldes, Barcelona | 3 m |
| 14 | Cova del Roset | Saldes, Barcelona | 2 m |
Map
Name↕ | Length↓ | Depth↕ | Municipality↕ | Region↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esquerdes de Palomera | 500 meters | 65 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Grallera del Carabasser | 470 meters | 166 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Forats de Sant Telm | 316 meters | 51 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Forat de les Olles | 268 meters | 60 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Graller de la Pleta de l'ós | 140 meters | 70 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Graller de Roca Cerdana | 130 meters | 96 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Forat del Gat | 95 meters | 54 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Forat Gran de la Feixa Alta | 82 meters | 50 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Grallera de Forat Micó | 65 meters | 26 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Cova de Roset | 35 meters | 17 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Cova del Diedre | 30 meters | 10 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Cova del Roset | 18 meters | 2 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Espluga Rodona | 14 meters | 0 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Bauma del Calderer | 10 meters | 0 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Forat del Coll de les Agudes | 8 meters | 5 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Forat del Calderer | 7 meters | 0 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
| Esquerda del Coll de les Agudes | 7 meters | 3 meters | Saldes | Berguedà |
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Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/