by Anonymous_Coward » Oct 3, 2013 12:12 pm
I can attest to this cave having its own weather system. I had the good fortune to visit this cave system in 2009.
I remember a passage with a 100' high ceiling where you could feel strong wind. In several areas there were 15' long narrow trenches in the floor running parallel with the passage walls. It took me several days to realize that these were drip trenches. Drips fall from the high ceiling and depending on the wind speed and direction might fall anywhere along the 15' long trench. At another place in this passage, where the dimensions constricted to about 15' in diameter, the wind was strong enough to hurt your ears, make any conversation impossible, and I remember having to use some effort to walk against the wind in this passage. Coincidentally, this constriction is the entrance to the gigantic "Sea of Tranquility" that you can see in one of Robbie Shone's beautiful photos.
I have experienced some amazingly strong wind in some caves here in the U.S. but this was the strongest wind in a large trunk passage that I have ever experienced.
Andy Armstrong
American Carbide Council