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ENGLISH
SHORT HISTORY
Baatara Pit Cave was discovered in 1952 by French bio-speleologist Henri Caiffait (1907-1989). The Spéléo Club du Liban began to explore the pothole the same year, reached the bottom in 1953 and mapped it during the 1980s. The pothole is located in Baala, near the village of Tannourine el Fawqa, on the Lebanon Mountain Trail.
Photo by: Missakassim – Panoramio
WHAT A PIT CAVE DOES MEAN???
A pit cave, shaft cave or vertical cave (often simply called a pit in the US or pot in the UK) is a type of natural cave which contains one or more significant vertical shafts rather than being predominantly a conventional horizontal cave passage. Pit caves typically form in limestone as a result of long-term erosion by water. They can be open to the surface or found deep within horizontal caves. Among cavers, a pit is generally defined as a vertical drop of any depth that cannot be negotiated safely without the use of ropes or ladders.
Photo by: Nicky Hill - flickr
BAATARA PIT CAVE GENESIS
Water carved the Baloo Baatara Pothole in the top sequences of a Jurassic limestone. The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from 201.3±0.6 million years ago to 145±4 million years ago. This geologic period lasts from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic Era, also known as the Age of Reptiles.
The Baloo Baatara Pothole is formed by the grinding action of sand and gravelly sediment swirled in tight circular patterns by strong eddies in the stream current. It start as a small irregularity on the bedrock floor of the stream. All it takes is few small pebbles to get caught there and a pothole begins. The abrasion is mainly caused by the circular motion of small sediments such as small stones in the river. The interiors of pit caves tend to be smooth and regular, unlike a plunge pool. They also differ in shape from plunge pools since potholes are almost always perfectly round. Pit caves are not common in slower moving streams with lots of sediment. The sediment would just tend to fill up the hole and protect it from further damage. The limestone in from this area provide an ideal location for a pit cave since the water is mostly free of sediment and usually flowing with enough velocity to keep the pebbles and sands moving in the holes. The action of the rocks swirling around in the pothole literally just "drills" down into the bedrock. In the process the stones and pebbles wear away at themselves as well as the bedrock until they are small enough to get out of the hole and they are replaced by other pebbles until the hole fills in or a stone breaks through the downstream side of this pit cave.
This geologic formation forms one of the most important sources of fresh water for Lebanon. Water from the Wadi Baatara stream infiltrated into the limestone (gray to blue color) and dissolved the rocks to reveal the top bridge. Over millenia, vertical and circular erosion coupled with series of collapses resulted in the formation of the middle and bottom bridges. The pothole is still developing and is connected to an existing underground network. Annual freezing and thawing of the walls inside the pothole can lead to the collapse of small and large blocks.
As per the geologists who have studied the reasons behind the creation of this spectacular landform, it is understood that the top most bridge of the gorge may have had the earliest presence. Perhaps it was following a number of erosions and collapses that the other two bridges may have got formed. The gorge of the Baatara Gorge Waterfall is still known to be constant changing because the severity of the winter ice many a times leads to breaking of huge chunks of the pothole from both sides of the wall.
During winter and spring, the pothole entirely swallows the Wadi Baatara stream and creates a magnificent waterfall with water vapours rising up to the surface. The stream is mainly fed by the springs of Ain Daaouq and Ain Arbit, in addition to runoff from rain and snowmelt during the winter and spring seasons. But where does the water flow? In 1985, SCL injected a dye in the pothole. It reappeared 13 hours later in Nabaa ed Dali spring, which emerges from a cave in Kharhilda, about 6 km to the northwest at an altitude of 620 meters above sea level (or approximately 860 meters lower than Baatara!)
Photo by: Serge Melki – flickr
TIPS AND ADVICES
- The edges are porous and slippery! Enjoy the view from a distance! Standing a safe distance away from the Pothole also offers the best view over The Three Bridges! Stay safe all the time!!!
- The best time to go there to see the waterfall certainly is in spring (March and April), when the melting snow makes the waterfall flows stronger.
- Although it is possible to camp there, you may prefer to book a hotel since it’s an easy drive from Byblos or Batroun. Also, the nearby hotels can surely provide you excursions and all info needed.
- The best time of the day for taking pictures (possibly) is in the afternoon. The first half of the day the waterfall appears against the sun, which gives you a hard time to take good pictures of it.
- The area is very popular for sport activities and you can find lots of people with climbing gear on the surrounding hills. It is also possible to climb to the various levels of the cavern with no special equipment. But you have to be very careful exploring it as the ground is slippery at some parts!
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