Earth:Abrakurrie Cave
| Abrakurrie Cave | |
|---|---|
| Location | Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia |
| Coordinates | [ ⚑ ] : 31°39′26″S 128°29′23″E / 31.6572°S 128.4898°E |
| Depth | -70m |
| Length | 300+m |
| Discovery | bef. 1930s |
| Geology | Karst |
| Difficulty | easy |
Abrakurrie Cave is a wild cave on the Nullarbor Plain in Western Australia. It is located about 48 kilometres (30 mi) north west of Eucla[1] and is reported to have the largest single cave chamber in the southern hemisphere,[2] and that stencils in the cave are the deepest penetration of Aboriginal art of any cave system in Australia.[3]
Visits to the cave occurred as early as the 1880s.[4]
The cave was explored by an expedition led by Captain J. M. Thompson in 1935. The explorers described a cave that was 1,200 feet (366 m) in length, 160 feet (49 m) wide and 150 feet (46 m) deep.[5] After progressing a further 250 feet (76 m) the group found the passage forked into two passages one of which continued a further 1,500 feet (457 m) leading to a huge cavern.[5]
Photographs of the cave were published after the 1935 expedition.[6][7]
It was a well documented cave by the 1960s.[8]
See also
- List of caves in Australia
References
- ↑ "Abrakurrie Cave". 2012. http://www.showcaves.com/english/au/caves/Abrakurrie.html.
- ↑ "South Australia: Whales & Wildcaves". Diverse Travel Australia. http://www.diversetravel.com.au/experiencesNatureAndCulture/whalesWildcaves.htm.
- ↑ "Abstracts of Papers, Reviews and Abstracts published in Volume 1 (1962) to Volume 9 (1971) of Helictite – Journal of Australasian Speleological Research". Helictite – Journal of Australasian Speleological Research. http://home.mira.net/~gnb/helictite/abstracts0.html.
- ↑ "A TRIP TO THE CAVES ON THE NULLABOR PLAINS.". Western Mail (Perth: National Library of Australia): p. 36. 23 November 1889. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32726460.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Caves and Lakes.". The Sydney Morning Herald (National Library of Australia): p. 12. 20 November 1935. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17221733.
- ↑ "A Camera Beyond Perth.". Western Mail (Perth: National Library of Australia): p. 71. 1 December 1938. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44789453.
- ↑ "Exploring the Nullarbor Caves:.". The Chronicle (Adelaide: National Library of Australia): p. 33. 12 December 1935. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92330098.
- ↑ Hill, A. L. (1963), Checklist of caves and related features, http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/38822396, retrieved 7 June 2014 which includes Abrakurrie Cave (SE WA Nullarbor SH52-14),Koonalda Cave (Far West SA Nullarbor SH52-15) , Knowles Cave (Far West SA Nullarbor SH52-16), Murrawijinie Caves (Far West Nullarbor SA SH52-16) and mentions 154 mapped and 39 unmapped caves by that time
External links
- Inside Abrakurrie Cave (1935) State Library of South Australia
- Abrakurrie Cave Caves of Australia
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