| Kapitel | Titel | Seite |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | 11 |
| 2 | General Notes | 11 |
| 2.1 | Geographical location | 11 |
| 2.2 | Morphology | 12 |
| 2.3 | Geology | 14 |
| 2.4 | Hydrology and climate | 17 |
| 2.5 | Flora | 18 |
| 3 | History of Speleological Research | 18 |
| 4 | Documentation | 20 |
| 4.1 | Geological and morphological features | 20 |
| 4.2 | Karst phenomena | 22 |
| 4.2.1 | Karren | 22 |
| 4.2.2 | Dolines and sinkholes | 22 |
| 4.2.3 | Ponors | 24 |
| 4.2.4 | Caves | 24 |
| 4.2.5 | Further karst phenomena | 25 |
| 4.3 | Caves as biotopes | 25 |
| 4.4 | Caves as archaeological archives | 25 |
| 4.5 | Caves as palaeoclimatic archives | 25 |
| 5 | Caves | 31 |
| 5.1 | Malyj Kotël | 31 |
| 5.1.1 | Spring cave | 31 |
| 5.1.2 | Nameless pit | 31 |
| 5.2 | Polyana Knyazheskaya | 31 |
| 5.2.1 | Kostyanaya Peshchera | 31 |
| 5.2.2 | Khod v Preispodnyuyu | 35 |
| 5.2.3 | Shelter cave | 36 |
| 5.3 | Bol’shoj Tkhach | 36 |
| 5.3.1 | Moonmilk cave | 36 |
| 5.3.2 | Medvezh’ya Peshchera | 36 |
| 5.3.3 | Larisochkina Peshchera | 37 |
| 5.3.4 | Kristal’naya Peshchera | 38 |
| 5.3.5 | Proval Peshchera | 39 |
| 5.3.6 | Peshchera Robinsona | 39 |
| 5.3.7 | Breaking fissures – potential deep vertical caves | 44 |
| 5.4 | Polyana Sokolova | 44 |
| 5.4.1 | Aromatnaya Peshchera | 44 |
| 5.4.2 | Further Sokolova caves | 45 |
| 5.5 | Khodz’ Kotël | 45 |
| 5.5.1 | Tunnel cave | 45 |
| 5.5.2 | Unexplored pit | 45 |
| 5.5.3 | Grot Izumrudnyj | 45 |
| 5.5.4 | Ambicukova Peshchera | 49 |
| 5.5.5 | Caves in the wall | 53 |
| 5.5.6 | Further caves without names | 53 |
| 5.6 | Polyana Baronova and Koryto | 54 |
| 5.6.1 | BP–1 | 54 |
| 5.6.2 | BP–2, Lyudmilina Peshchera | 54 |
| 5.6.3 | BP–3 | 54 |
| 5.6.4 | BP–4, Kamyshovaya Peshchera | 54 |
| 5.6.5 | BP–5 | 56 |
| 5.6.6 | BP–6 | 56 |
| 5.6.7 | BP–7, Ashurkovskaya Peshchera | 56 |
| 5.6.8 | BP–8 | 56 |
| 5.6.9 | BP–9 | 56 |
| 5.6.10 | BP–10 | 56 |
| 5.6.11 | BP–11 | 59 |
| 5.6.12 | BP–12 | 59 |
| 5.6.13 | BP–13 | 59 |
| 5.6.14 | BP–14 | 59 |
| 5.7 | Malyj Tkhach | 59 |
| 5.7.1 | Fly cave | 59 |
| 6 | Conclusions | 62 |
| 7 | Final Note | 62 |
| Acknowledgements | 62 | |
| References | 63 |
The Bol’shoj Tkhach massif in the NW Caucasus is a small but beautiful karst area of sub–alpine/ alpine characteristic. It comprises several, rather different caves. Visitable caves are mostly fossil, with large calcite crystals (decimetres range) or thick layers of moonmilk. Moreover, some vertical caves and siphons await future exploration and promise much unexplored continuation. Cave exploration in this area was done mainly by local speleologists. Additional research was done by various external speleologists and international expeditions. This report summarises the current knowledge about the karst area of the Bol’shoj Tkhach based on the work done so far by the several data sources available.