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Speleological exploration of Jama na Vjetrenim brdima
by Jelena Ćalić and Mihajlo Mandić
The cave Jama na
Vjetrenim Brdima was discovered in 1984, by the cavers from the club KKS
from Katowice, Poland, who have started the exploration. The entrance is
situated at the altitude of 2170 m.
In 1985, international
speleological expedition was organized, with the aim of exploring a
number of deep caves in the southern part of Mt.Durmitor. Many clubs
from former Yugoslavia have participated (ASAK – Beograd, DISKF –
Zagreb, SOB – Beograd, D.I. "V.M.Manda" – Valjevo, SD Istra – Pazin, BH
Krš – Sarajevo, Atom – Zavidovići, SD Ponir – Banja Luka, SD Ursus
Spelaeus – Foča, SD Proteus – Beograd and SD "Zelena brda" – Trebinje),
as well as from Poland, France and Great Britain. On that occasion, Jama
na Vjetrenim brdima was explored to the siphon, and the results showed
the depth of –880 m (published in: Krešić, 1988). Before the results
were finally processed, the depth of –897 m (retrieved from the draft
sketch) was published by mistake, and usually cited later on.
During the international
expeditions organized by ASAK in 2002 and 2004 (with participants from
eight foreign countries – Great Britain, Hungary, Russia, Slovenia,
Poland, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Bosnia & Herzegovina), the cave was
re-mapped, using more precise instruments and methods. This re-mapping
showed that the previous mappings had a considerable mistake of about
120 m. The correct depth is –775 m. This was checked by various digital
altimeters (on different occasions, and at various depths within the
cave).
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JAMA NA
VJETRENIM BRDIMA
Mt. Durmitor, Montenegro
Dubina: -775 m
Topografski nacrt Jame na Vjetrenim brdima
In the first 300 m,
the passages are mainly vertical, with occasional percolation
waters. Hydrological continuation of this part is the lateral
passage (Bočni kanal), which collects the waters from the pit Mokra
vertikala and ends in a siphon at the depth of –437 m. The main
passage (leading to the deepest parts) continues through the
cascading dry horizon which becomes a structurally-guided meander
striking in the direction 225º-45º. Below the depth of 550 m, the
passage is permanently hydrologically active. Some parts of it are
formed in bedded and folded limestones, cherts and sandstones of
various colours, which is both attractive and geologically
interesting. For now, the siphon at the depth of 775 m has not been
bypassed nor dived (the water is murky, and the siphonal passage is
of relatively small dimensions). Nevertheless, the hydrogeological
characteristics point to the fact that the siphon is of hanging
character and that the passable channels continue downstream.
Therefore, the continuation of explorations should be encouraged.
Entrances to all
deep caves of Durmitor are situated in the geological formation
called “The Durmitor flysch”, with high carbonate content. The
flysch is of Cretaceous-Paleogene age, and about 400 m thick. From
the north-east, it is covered with a nappe of Jurassic and Triassic
limestones. Due to tectonically crushed zone at the front of the
nappe, the caves explored so far are few, and many of them are
completely choked with boulders and rubble at small depths. Durmitor
is encircled from north-east and south-west by deeply incised
canyons of the Tara River (580-520 m a.s.l. in the zone north of
Durmitor) and the Komarnica River (permanent flow from about 1000 m
a.s.l. downstream). The groundwaters drain to either of these two
directions. Regarding hydrogeological conditions, there is a great
potential for very deep caves in this area; however, complicated
tectonic conditions have so far been a limitation for sensational
speleological depths.
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