Generalka is a cave in

Zagorje Hrvatsko Zagorje (; Croatian Zagorje; ''zagorje'' is Croatian language, Croatian for 'backland' or 'behind the hills') is a cultural region in northern Croatia, traditionally separated from the country's capital Zagreb by the Medvednica mount ...

with a horizontal passage length, located on the north slope of the

Ivanščica Ivanščica () or Ivančica is a mountain in northern Croatia. The highest peak is the eponymous Ivanščica at . Together with Strahinjščica it forms the Očura massif. The rivers of Bednja (river), Bednja, Lonja, Krapina (river), Krapina and ...

massif, above the rock quarry Vudelja that opened in 1935 for road building purposes. It is a dry horizontal cave, and small, but complex. It is difficult to access, but a tourist path has been planned.

Description

The cave is located on the Generalski Stol plateau of Ivanščica. The cave formed in

Anisian In the geologic timescale, the Anisian is the lower stage (stratigraphy), stage or earliest geologic age, age of the Middle Triassic series (stratigraphy), series or geologic epoch, epoch and lasted from million years ago until million years ag ...

dolomite under a combination of

tectonic Tectonics ( via Latin ) are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. The field of ''planetary tectonics'' extends the concept to other planets and moons. These processes ...

, erosive, and

corrosive Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...

conditions. It is small, so at 6 points its passages remain incompletely explored because of narrowness alone. But its passages form a complex network of 4 interconnected passages. The cave likely continues to the northwest towards a second entrance.

Speleothem A speleothem (; ) is a geological formation made by mineral deposits that accumulate over time in natural caves. Speleothems most commonly form in calcareous caves due to carbonate dissolution reactions. They can take a variety of forms, depen ...

s include

stalactite A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension (chemistry ...

stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; ; ) is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically composed of calcium carbonate, but may consist ...

s, and

flowstone Flowstones are sheetlike deposits of calcite or other carbonate minerals, formed where water flows down the walls or along the floors of a cave. They are typically found in "solution caves", in limestone, where they are the most common speleothe ...

, along with the occasional

stalagnate A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension, or is ca ...

and coralloids. A map of the cave drawn in 2009 by Tomica Matišić.

History

Cavers from the newly founded section Kraševski Zviri discovered the cave on 7 November 2009. The cave had long been known to locals. A cache of spitzer bullets in the cave was found at the bottom of the entrance pit. They returned on the 14th and widened the very narrow entrance, removing the cache. They then mapped the cave topographically. A microclimate expedition was undertaken on 15 April 2012, during which the cave was systematically photographed.

Climate

A strong wind emanates from the lower entrance, indicating the presence of an upper entrance. The

air temperature Atmospheric temperature is a measure of temperature at different levels of the Earth's atmosphere. It is governed by many factors, including incoming solar radiation, humidity, and altitude. The abbreviation MAAT is often used for Mean Annual Air ...

of the cave is , with a

soil temperature The physical properties of soil, in order of decreasing importance for ecosystem services such as crop production, are texture, structure, bulk density, porosity, consistency, temperature, colour and resistivity. Soil texture is determined by th ...

of . The

relative humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

is 98%.

Biology

Fauna include

Araneae Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

and

Gastropoda Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

Tourism

A tourist path has been planned from Šumec to Bračkova jama and

Bračkova špilja Bračkova špilja is a cave and archaeological site in Zagorje about long, located on the north slope of the Ivanščica massif. It is a dry horizontal cave with a wide entrance at the foot of a short cliff. It is sometimes highlighted as the mos ...

, and from there to

Voska luknja Voska luknja is a cave on the north slope of the Ivanščica massif. It is a diagonal cave, so its horizontal length of is much smaller than its total passage length of . As mapped, it is the second deepest cave on Ivanščica behind Hanžekova ...

and Voska špilja, then to Šumec and Karlova špilja, then to Generalka and Polušpilja Generalski Stol.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Novosti Speleološke udruge "Kraševski zviri"
{{in lang, hr News page of the cave's explorers Caves of Croatia