Sistema Nohoch Nah Chich (from

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and

Yucatec Maya Yucatec Maya (; referred to by its speakers simply as Maya or as , is one of the 32 Mayan languages of the Mayan language family. Yucatec Maya is spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula and northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic commu ...

meaning "Giant Birdcage System"), is located south of

Akumal Akumal is a small beach-front tourist resort community in Mexico, located south of Cancún, between the towns of Playa del Carmen and Tulum. It is located on Akumal Bay and Half Moon Bay on the site of a former coconut plantation in Tulum Munic ...

Tulum Municipality Tulum Municipality ( es, Municipio de Tulum, ) is one of the eleven municipalities that make up the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It became a municipality when it was formed on 13 March 2008, at which time it was separated from Solidaridad Mun ...

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo ( , ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 11 mu ...

state, southeastern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It is part of the underwater cave systems. It is an extensive water filled

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

system connected with the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

, fed via a coastal spring in a

cenote A cenote ( or ; ) is a natural pit cave, pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater. The regional term is specifically associated with the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, where cenotes were commonly ...

with a variety of names, including ''Cenote Manati'', ''Cenote Tankah'', and ''Casa Cenote'' after a nearby restaurant. The explored cave system extends to approximately inland from the coast. Sistema Nohoch Nah Chich was discovered to be connected to the Sistema Sac Actun, making the Sac Actun the longest surveyed underwater cave system in the world.

Exploration

For more than ten years the system was extensively explored by dedicated cave divers starting from

Cenote A cenote ( or ; ) is a natural pit cave, pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater. The regional term is specifically associated with the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, where cenotes were commonly ...

Nohoch Nah Chich. In 1987 Mike Madden of CEDAM International Dive Center established the CEDAM Cave Diving Team principally to conduct annual exploration projects to focus on cave exploration, while a number of cave research efforts were logistically supported, with contributions in the fields of karst

hydrogeology Hydrogeology (''hydro-'' meaning water, and ''-geology'' meaning the study of the Earth) is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust (commonly in aqui ...

water chemistry Water chemistry analyses are carried out to identify and quantify the chemical components and properties of water samples. The type and sensitivity of the analysis depends on the purpose of the analysis and the anticipated use of the water. Chemic ...

, microbiology, cave

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

, and

underwater archaeology Underwater archaeology is archaeology practiced underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology, it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras. Its acceptance has ...

. The technique of establishing jungle exploration camps at newly found

s and cave entrances of Sistema Nohoch Nah Chich was developed and refined during many cave exploration projects, thus allowing cave diving exploration effort to continue more efficiently at the edges of the known caves. The main camp of exploration became Cenote "Far Point Station", located from the coast, and further inland than Main Base Camp situated at the main Nohoch Nah Chich Cenote entrance. During the Nohoch 1997 expedition, the of total explored cave passage mark was surpassed. In early 2007, Nohoch Nah Chich included 36 cenotes and had a recorded length of , when it was connected to, and subsumed into the longer Sistema Sac Actun by the Sac Actun Exploration Team (SAET).Quintana Roo Speleological Survey
/ref> This portion of the system is now called the ''"Nohoch Nah Chich Historical section"'', where with also the greatest depth of the entire system was reached at "The Blue Abyss".

References

* Steve Gerrard (2000)

. retrieved January 14, 2011.

External links

{{Recreational dive sites, cavsit Sistema Sac Actun and Sistema Dos Ojos Caves of Mexico Landforms of Quintana Roo Limestone caves Natural history of Quintana Roo Tulum (municipality) Tourist attractions in Quintana Roo Underwater diving sites in Mexico

Exploration

See also

References

External links