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rlboyce wrote:Thanks!
The in-progress survey shows that the cave drops 236' within only 419' of passage. The cave is dropping like a stone! Surprisingly, we haven't needed vertical gear yet, but you definitely get a weird sense of vertigo climbing back up these heavily inclined passages. There is about 300' of unsurveyed passage left, but the bottom of the cave continues downward as a disappointing too-tight squeeze. Rocks thrown through the squeeze fall and continue to bounce for quite some time, suggesting that the passage widens again. The entire cave contains a quite substantial airflow.
The cave is developed in the Mississippian Greenbrier formation. More specifically, it starts out in the Deer Valley member, and cuts its way into the Loyalhanna member. It is our belief this cave continues to follow the dipping Greenbrier, eventually connecting with another cave we discovered near the bottom of the valley. A conservative estimate for the total depth, if such a connection were realized, is approximately 800 feet. We believe a future connection is probable, and we're continuing to work hard to prove it. Wish us luck!
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