Cave Murada – the unique speleological object on the Nakerala range.
2016
The complex karst-speleological investigations were conducted in the cave Murada for the first time. All proven major research methods were used to study the classic karst areas and underground cavities. The situation plan and a section of the cave were done on the basis of a large-scale survey. The structural-fissure directions of the cave were determined by using a compass-chronometer. Almost all types and subtypes of the water chemogenic and water-mechanical sediments are gathered in the cave, which are recorded in the caves of the Caucasus. The detected mineral aggregates (limestone dough, moon milk) are rare for the caves of Georgia, while oolites and pisolithes exceed the similar speleothemes in sizes and diversity. The cave is unique due to the eccentric ball-shaped formations, which have no analogue in the Caucasus and are rare in the world. The cave is unique also due to the large section of the powerful natural outcrop (about 3 meters) of the terrigenous sediments, where the sedimentation complete cycle (the ancient sediments) is preserved untouched, which has not been observed in the caves of the Caucasus so far. The calcite layered sediments (fossilized bark) of a large area (15-20 m2) and thickness (30-40 mm) are found in the cave with the well-marked rhythmical bedding. In our opinion the calcite bark and terrigenous sediments carry an interesting information, and hence their complete laboratory study is important in order to restore the picture of the cave and in general, the paleogeographic picture of the region. Identification of the age of the oldest sediments (pre-pleistocene) was possible based on the study of the region's geological and geomorphological features. Fig. 7, Ref. 6.
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