The Big Ice Cave at Paradana is known
worldwide due to the classical description of the inversion of the
vegetation belts in its western part. The cave is 1550 m
long.
In the Ice Cave ice blocks used to be cut. They were carried up to
the surface in baskets and transported to Gorizia or Trieste by
night. From there the ice was sold to the ships.
In the earlier days the ice was exported even to Egypt. Paradana is
protected as a Natural Reserve. The Tourist society in Lokve, which
is in charge of the cave, has marked a path leading to the
cave.
In the SW part of the Dinaric Karst, now in
the sub-Mediterranean climate, many karst features were generated
at the contact of impermeable Eocene flysch with Mezozoic
limestone. The flysch was tectonically partially overthrust by the
older sediment cover, mostly in the western part of the so-called
High border plateaus (Banjsice, Trnovski gozd, Nanos, Javorniki,
Notranjski Sneznik) which extend at altitudes from 700 to 1500 m
from Isonzo valley to Mt Sneznik. The Pleistocene glaciers on the
Mt Golaki and Notranjski Sneznik and periglacial climate around
them left dense deep potholes. With collapse of the cave roof, the
Great Ice Cave Velika Paradana opened to the surface at an altitude
of 1140 m. In its collapse doline is the internationally known
vegetation inversion as a consequence of temperature inversion. The
inverted stratification from bottom ice to mixed forest at its top
was researched in the year 1905 as one of the first cases in the
world. The 8 km long and 400 m deep dry valley of Cepovan on
Banjsice plateau was eroded by the river Idrijca before it was
captured by the Isonzo river and after the tectonics tore the
transverse stratigraphical belts on both sides.
The Trnovo Forest and the neighbouring Banjšcice plateau are the
most north-western spur of the grand Dinar mountains. The
mountainous area of the Trnovo Forest is karst-like, with no
running superficial water, full of closed hollows, hills of
different height and mountains, caves, abysses, shafts and minute
karstic forms: scallops, grooves, rockholes, etc. Among the most
impressive karstic phenomena are the caves with permanent ice and
snow. The Paradana Cave is one of the most renowned examples.
The Trnovo Forest is mainly overgrown with beech and fir trees
(Abieti-fagetum dinaricum). The highest point is Mt. Mali
Golak
(1495 m a.s.l.). The Trnovo Forest has two natural reserves:
Paradana with the natural monument of the Big Ice Cave and
Mt. Golaki with the pine tree vale Smrekova draga and the natural
monument Smrecje. Admirers of the nature can indulge themselves in
many other numerous curiosities and visit monuments of the natural
heritage.
Your Task:
Take a picture of yourself and the Front of Paradana Ice Cave.
Place the picture in your log.
Answer following questions and send me an email. If they are
correct, you get a permision to log.
a) How deep is the cave?
b) Which karstic forms do you find in the cave?
Logs and E-Mail only in english or german
Happy Hunting
See
also:
http://www.speleogenesis.info/pubalert/show_details.php?PubID=6.