Blauhöhle

Blue pot

The blue pot cave ( also sometimes referred to as " blue cave " or " Blue Pot underwater cave " ) is part of the Blue cave system, the largest system of caves of the Swabian Alb. The large transition cross-sections suggest, despite the relatively low so far known length of a considerably greater extent. Particularly well known is the blue pot, which forms the drain of the blue cave and the river Blue feeds.

Formation

The blue pot cave is believed to have originated at a time when the Blautal was still drained by the Danube, at the time of his deepest depression. At this time the blue pot cave could have drained directly into the Danube. Since the relocation of the Danube to the south, the valley is drained by the Schmiech Oh, and blue. These small rivers are not able to carry away the sediment material, and so the valley about twenty meters has now been filled. The cave was flooded and the water that still follows the blue pot cave must ascend from the original source about 20 meters to reach the valley floor. If the bed lower, the blue would not have managed to keep this cave exit freely. The exact relationships are not yet fully understood.

Expansion

The blue pot cave begins at the base of the blue pot in about 21 m water depth and extends from there to the west. They quickly reached 42 m water depth, and bends to the north- west. The course rises and falls several times, but overall he is continuously increasing and finally reached after about 1,250 m the karst water surface. Long this was considered as the first Auftauchstelle, but there are after about 380 m and 550 m ( Cloud Castle ) more Auftauchstellen.

By August 2009, the Blue cave system was traveled on a total length of approximately 10 km, of which, however, only 7063 m were measured precisely - of which 4900 m on the blue pot cave and 2257 m on the blue cave system belonging cousin cave. One can only speculate about the actual overall length of the blue cave system. Due to the large catchment area of the blue pot source of 150 km ² and recorded in numerous dyeing tests high outflow velocity, however, can be concluded that the existence of a wide spread open river cave network of several dozen kilometers in total length.

History of Research

The blue pot cave was finally discovered after many unsuccessful attempts diving since the 19th century in the 1960s by cavers group Göppingen -Eschenbach and directed by Manfred Keller. In the following, the research was mainly driven by Jochen Hasenmayer ever. Here, the state of research has always been dependent on the performance of diving equipment and the diver. Hasenmayer made ​​this worldwide unique pioneering work and drove both the exploration of the Blue Cave and the art of cave diving forward all the time. This research took place in 1985 culminating with the discovery of the " Moerike Cathedral ," the first large air -filled hall.

After a diving accident rabbits Mayers in the Wolfgangsee in 1989, by which he is now a quadriplegic, the result was a multi-year break in exploring the blue pot cave. He developed, however, together with the organ builder Konrad Gehringer, a Speleonaut called caves submarine, with whom he re-emerged in the blue pot since the nineties. He used it to sequence halls of Moerike Cathedral, discover the " nave " and " Äonendom ". This is comparable to large halls, which are separated by bridge-like structures that can be both climbs and submerges. With some justification, all three together as a large hall of 30 m width and 30 meters in height can be described, filled with a five to ten meters deep lake. At its end, followed by a further underwater passage ( " Speleonautenweg " ) to the north, which divides after a short time, but both ends are too tight soon for further research with the submarine.

Since the mid- 1990s, the blue cave is explored by a group of cave divers, the Working Group Blue Pot founded in 1997. The cave divers, who come from several regional cave clubs came together club across. You have driven the research varied, so the first time the entire cave was measured precisely. They have the " Cloud Castle ", a large air- filled hall before Mörikedom discovered. The cave diving technology has been revolutionized by the availability of compact respirators, by rebreathers, which prepare the exhaled air again and thus extend both dive time and reduce the necessary weight considerably. In conjunction with submersible scooters ( propeller thrust devices) they have pushed the dive until Mörikedom from several hours to less than an hour, an important prerequisite for further research.

With the discovery of the so-called land, an open flow path behind the cave Äonendom, the Working Group Blue Pot succeeded in 2005 a big success in research. In 2006, this transition was almost two kilometers traveled and 2007, measured, up to a huge hall, the Apocalypse. It measures 170 meters in length and in both width and height of 50 meters.

Since 2002 also tried to dig with his cousin cave project near the blue pot a dry access to the large air -filled halls of the Blue cave system, the Working Group cave and karst grave Stetten. As of May 2006, several large halls were discovered in the cave cousin. The connection between " cousin cave " and the " Cloud Castle " in the blue pot cave was found in autumn 2006, as the " Argentine Blue pot " and the " Arge grave Stetten " confirmed on 5 October 2006. As access to the " land " this link is not helpful because then still follow about 700 meters immersion zone.

Therefore, so far could the tagfernen parts of the cave only be reached by divers, said further research because of the great difficulty in Befahrung required two bivouacs. By October 2008, " Blue Canyon " were in this way after the apocalypse the cave sections " Hall of the Lost River ," " primary blue ", discovered and " Pet Sematary " and measured in several research trips to the end of July 2009. The actual cave end forms a Versturz in about 4400 meters from the blue pot.

End of April 2008 divers discovered the Argentina blue pot as a "Stairway to Heaven" called gang continued at the southern end of the Moerike Cathedral. This dry transition section ends after 270 meters in a Versturz directly under the B 28 The distance from the end of Stairway to Heaven to the north end of the cave cousin is only 60 meters. Probably has been destroyed in this area through the valley formation an earlier connection between the two caves. By creating a research tunnel right next to the B 28 on 12 April 2010, a dry access in at that point a good 17 meters thick rock was drilled.

Other means of access to the blue pot cave are suspected by the Argentine Blue karst in the Hessenhaudoline and in the Blessed underground cavern.

Media reports

The blue pot cave was in recent decades repeatedly in the media. Several fatal diving accidents since the late 1960s created headlines and led to a general ban on diving. Since then must only be immersed to a regulatory special permit in the blue pot.

• The blue cave research was made popular especially by the broadcast in 1986 TV movie " dive trip into the cold heart of the Alps " by Ernst Waldemar Bauer, in which the knowledge obtained Hasenmayer films of Moerike Doms were presented to the public for the first time.
• The latest research results " myth Blue Pot " on ARTE, in January 2007 in the 45 - minute documentary shown.
• In the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of 18 November 2012, reported on pages 62 and 63 of the state of explorations in 2012.
• In the April 2014 issue of National Geographic magazine Germany was reported on pages 38 to 65 relating to the study of the blue pot cave.