Cave Description
Following the steeply-dipping limestone beds, Sima Pumacocha generally consists of several vertical shafts connected by short sections of horizontal to steeply-sloping passages. Although closely grouped together, the three main entrances each lead to extensive independent passages before meeting underground. SP1 and SP2 are within 60 m of each other but their passages join at about the –300 m level, while SP3, a further 30 m away, is thought to join the main cave at a depth of –550 m based on observations of relative water volumes (SP3 is blocked at –120 m). All three entrances lead to big shafts: SP1 has the deepest shaft in the Andes (282 m), SP2 leads to the 113-meter-deep Ammonite Shaft, and SP3 is a 120 m shaft. Several fossilized ammonites up to 20cm in diameter were observed within Ammonite Shaft’s walls. Below the junction of SP1 and SP2 are several wet shafts between 15 m and 75 m in depth, leading to a gravelled sump at –638 m. All explored passages have been surveyed, with a total length of 1,427 m.
It was hoped that the strong inward draught indicated a junction with a large underground river, but after losing the draught near the sump some cavers concluded that it might be due to the cave’s own stream.
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