The Migovec System () is a and
Alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National P ...
cave system
Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock s ...
within Mount
Tolmin Migovec () in the
Municipality of Tolmin
The Municipality of Tolmin (; ) is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia. Its seat and largest settlement is Tolmin. It borders Italy.
History
In ancient times the area was inhabited by the Illyrians and then by the Romans. In the 6th century ...
in northwestern
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
.
The mountain and the cave system are part of
Triglav National Park
Triglav National Park (TNP; ) is the only national park in Slovenia. It was established in its modern form in 1981 and is located in the northwestern part of the country, respectively the southeastern part of the Alps, Alpine massif. Mount Trigla ...
. The combined system is the longest known cave in the country, followed by the
Postojna Cave System ().
Entrances
The entrances include:
*Chough Cave () (M2), first explored in 1972; the highest entrance to the system, at 1861 m above sea level
*M16, first explored in 1982
*Torn T-Shirt Cave () (M18), first explored in 1994
*Gardeners' World (), first explored in 2000
*Fairies' Cave (), first explored in 2008
*Primadona, first explored in 1999, collapsed in 2018
*Monatip, first explored in 2007
*Belladonna, first explored in 2018, after the collapse of Primadona
Exploration
The majority of exploration has been carried out by the Caving Section of the
Tolmin Mountaineering Club (), joined since 1994 by
Imperial College Caving Club.
Chough Cave (M2), Torn T-Shirt (M18), and M16 were connected together in 1996
to form the initial Migovec System, which was then explored to an eventual depth of .
In 2008, exploration of Fairy Cave led to an almost immediate connection with Gardeners' World, and on 13 August 2012 Gardeners' World was connected to the Migovec System at a depth of .
Primadona and Monatip, two entrances located on the Western cliff of the Migovec plateau form a cave that was first explored in 1999. The cave had been explored to a length of 2.7km before being connected to the rest of the Migovec System at a depth of in late 2015.
See also
*
List of caves in Slovenia
The following article is a list of caves in Slovenia. About 43% of Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia ...
References
External links
Map of Registered Cave Entrances on Tolmin Migovec Geopedia.si
Caves of the Slovene Littoral
Limestone caves
Municipality of Tolmin
2012 in Slovenia
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