In January 2001, the expedition of theUkrainian Speleological Associationexplored Krubera (Voronja) cave inArabika to a record-breaking depth of1710m. For the first time in the history ofspeleology, the world's deepest cave hasbeen explored outside of Central/WesternEurope. It stands alone as the mostremarkable achievement in super-deepexploration of the recent decades, thelargest single breakthrough in depth since1975. Overcoming of the previous depthrecord of Lamprechtsofen-Vogelschachtin Austria by 80m is particularly impres-sive compared to the three previousrecords, each of which raised the bar nomore than 20 meters (to - 1602m in 1989,-1610m in 1998, -1632m in 1998). Thisarticle briefly describes speleologicalpotential of the Arabika massif and historyof its exploration and gives some detailsof the Krubera cave and the recentrecord-breaking exploration.

ARABIKA MASSIF: SPELEOLOGICAL,GEOLOGICAL, AND HYDROLOGICAL

FEATURES

The Arabika Massif is one of thelargest limestone massifs of the WesternCaucasus. It is located in Abkhasia, therepublic that officially belongs to Georgiaalthough claims itself as an independentstate. The latter is the matter of still unre-solved political contradictions betweenAbkhasia and Georgia that caused themajor conflict in 1993-1994.

The massif has strongly pronouncedglaciokarstic surfaces at elevations rang-ing between 1900 to 2500m, and is com-posed of Lower Cretaceous and UpperJurassic limestones. In the central part ofArabika the formations of Cretaceous ageremained only in some ridges and peaks,as well as in patches within trough val-leys. The core part of the massif is com-posed of Upper Jurassic strata that dipcontinuously to the Black Sea shore andsubmerge below the modern sea level(Figure 1, profile). Geologically, Arabikacorresponds to the large anticline of thesub- Caucasian (NW-SE) direction withthe gentle dipping south-western mega-flank (complicated by several low-orderfolds of the same direction) and steeplydipping north-eastern flank. The massif isseverely tectonised, with the fault-blockstructure strongly controlling both cavedevelopment and groundwater flow sys-

tems (Klimchouk, 1990). On the north-west, northeast, and east, Arabika is bor-dered by the deeply incised canyons ofthe Sandripsh, Gega and Bzyb rivers.The latter separates Arabika from theadjacent Bzybsky Massif, another area ofmajor speleological significance in theWestern Caucasus with SnezhnajaMezhonogo (-1370m), Pantjukhina (-1508m) caves and many other consider-able caves.

Glacial trough valleys formed duringthe late Pleistocene glaciations are themain features of the central part of theArabika massif (Klimchouk, 1984), withridges and peaks in-between them. The

central part is shown in beige tint inFigure 1 and indicates the area above thetree line at approximately 1800-1900m.The highest peak (the Peak ofSpeleologists) rises to an altitude of2705m. Some low-altitude ridges coveredwith forest stretch from the central parttowards the Black Sea.

Among several hundred caves knownin the Arabika massif, some deep caveswere explored during the 1980s (indicat-ed by red dots in the Figure 1), includingIljukhina system (-1240m), Arabikskajasystem (Kujbyshevskaja-GenrikhovaBezdna; - iliUm), Dzou Cave (-1080m),Moskovskaja Cave (-970m), Sarma Cave

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In a search for the route to 2000 meters depth: The Deepest Cavein the World in the Arabika Massif, Western Caucasus

by Alexander Klimchouk and Yury Kasjan--Ukranian Speleological AssociationPhotographs by Oleg Klimchouk, Denis Provalov, Yury Kasjan, Vladimir Kisseljov, and Alexander Klimchouk

(-700m) and Cherepash'ja Cave (-650m).The deepest cave, Krubera, is located inthe Ortobalagan trough valley, some300m to the southeast of, and 60m abovethe Kujbyshevskaja Cave, the mainentrance to the Arabikskaja system(Figures 2 and 3). Although Krubera Caveis not connected directly to theArabikskaja system, it most probablyforms a single hydrologic system with thelatter. Figure 2 depicts quite strong tectonic con-trol of cave development in the plan view.Some segments of the major cavesstretch along faults, other parts twist with-in major tectonic blocks and reflect backinside blocks when reaching a fault. Themain branch of the Krubera Cave slewmany times and goes steeply in depth byvertical pits separated by short meanders.The cave remains within a small tectonicblock and does not extend beyond thelimits of the trough valley.

Major karst springs with individualaverage discharges of 1 to 4 m are locat-ed at altitudes ranging from 1m (ReproaSpring) to 540m (Gegsky Vodopad) abovethe sea. Submarine springs are alsoknown here, emerging from the Black Seafloor at depths of 20 to 40m and probablybelow. Some boreholes located along theBlack Sea shore yield karstic groundwaterfrom depths of 40 to 280m below sealevel. An outline of the hydrogeologicalstructure of the massif and its true speleo-logical potential were revealed in the1980s, when spectacular progress wasmade in deep cave explorations and twolarge-scale dye tracing tests (in 1984 and1985) proved connections between themajor caves and springs (Klimchouk,1990; see Figure 1). Tracers injected inthe Kujbyshevskaja and lljukhina caveswere detected in Kholodnaja Rechka(1.5m3/s;50m a.s.l.) and Reproa (2.5m3/s;1m a.s.l..) springs on the seashore. Thetracer from Kujbyshevskaja has also beendetected in a borehole that yields ground-water from the depth of 40m below sealevel, located between these two springs.This gave a reason to distinguish thelarge Central karst circulation system(number 1 on Figure 1), the deepest inthe world at that time with the verticalamplitude being over 2300m. It corre-sponds to the most of the southeasternflank of the major Arabika anticline. Thetracer injected in the Moskovskaja Cave (-970m) have been detected at theGegsky Vodopad spring, indicating thepresence of the karst circulation systemcomprising the northeastern flank of theArabika anticline (the Northern system,number 2 on Figure 1). No connectionswere revealed with yet another majorspring, Goluboje Ozero in the Bzyb River

canyon, although it apparently drains alarge area in the southeast of the massif(the hypothetical Eastern karst circulationsystem, number 3 on Figure 1). This out-line remains rough, and catchment areasof some other considerable springs (inparticular those located in Gagra town)are not yet clarified. Increase of the num-ber of deep caves with shaft flows andfurther tracing experiments will clarify thepicture in the future.

HISTORY OF KARST STUDIES ANDCAVE

EXPLORATION IN ARABIKAOf the rather rich history of karst and

speleological investigations in Arabika weshall mention below only some names,events and circumstances which seem tobe the most important in the context of themodern state- of-the-art in cave explo-ration.

In the beginning of the 20th century,Arabika was visited by famous Frenchspeleologist Edward Alfred Martel, whopublished several works about the massif(i.e. Martel, 1909). In 1909-1910 well-known Russian karstologist AlexanderKruber, a founder of karst science inRussia, performed some field studies inArabika. He published his observations ina series of specific papers (Kruber, 1911,1912a, 1912b) and in his major mono-graphs. During the following 50 years nospecial studies of karst and caves of themassif had been done, although the karstof Arabika was referred to in many worksdealing with regional geology and hydro-geology.In the beginning of the 1960s, specificspeleological investigations were startedby Georgian researchers (Maruashvili,Tintilozov and Changashvili, 1961, 1962;Maruashvili and Tintilozov, 1963). Theyrecognised an important role of theQuaternary glaciations in karst develop-ment in Arabika and began to explorecaves in the high altitude part of the mas-sif. Despite obvious limitations imposed bypoor equipment and technique and thegeneral "infant" state of Soviet speleologythen, Georgian researchers explored sev-eral vertical caves (up to -250m) andpointed out the considerable depth poten-tial of the massif. In particular, they madea first exploration of an open-air 60m shaftin the Ortobalagan trough valley andnamed it after A.Kruber, the cave that inthe very beginning of the 21st centurybecame the deepest in the world. Fortyyears ago, however, Georgian speleolo-gists were stopped by an impassablesqueeze in a meandering passage thatstretched from the bottom of the entranceshaft.The Georgian researcher Tamaz

Kiknadze made some additional investiga-tions in Arabika, analysed available dataon geology and hydrogeology of the mas-sif, and published its monographicdescription (Kiknadze, 1972). Although hisideas on the structure of karst circulationsystems were not confirmed by later dyetracing experiments, this book was animportant summary of karst and caves ofArabika.During the late 60s and 70s the cavingclubs of Moscow, Crimea and Krasnojarskmade several expeditions to the massif.Major discoveries were the GenrikhovaBezdna cave in the Ortobalagan troughvalley (the 120m deep entrance shaftended with a squeeze) and theJubilejnaja, Karrovaja, and Akhtiarskajacaves in the northern part, exploredrespectively to -260, -200 and-160m. With only six 100m+ deep caves,two 200m+ and no 300m+ deep cavesexplored before the late 70s, Arabika hadacquired somewhat contradictory reputa-tion among cavers ("Good potential but no

deep caves"). Discouragement aboutArabika was strengthening by contrastwith the adjacent Bzybsky massif wheremany 100 to 300m deep caves and sev-eral 500m+ caves were under activeexploration, including Snezhnaja Cavewith its -1380m. By the late 70s, Arabikahad been virtually abandoned by cavers.In 1980 the Kiev Speleological club led byAlexander Klimchouk chose Arabika asthe main focus for its exploration effortsand implemented a strategy of thoroughand systematic search on an area-by-areabasis. This appeared to be particularlysuccessful in this formerly glaciated karstmassif, in contrast to the previous "quick-search" practice, because of glacial debrisblockage of most open-mouth shafts. In

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addition, a "no dead ends" concept wasadopted that implied re-inspection of allknown caves and systematically challeng-ing such common obstacles as boulderchokes and squeezes that previouslyblocked exploration. The PerovskySpeleological Club of Moscow, led byVladimir Iljukhin, joined our explorationactivity in Arabika in the same year.This approach quickly led to importantdiscoveries. Kiev cavers concentratedtheir efforts in the Ortobalagan trough val-ley where, among other caves, theypushed Kujbyshevskaja Cave through aseries of expeditions (-450m in 1981, -700m in 1982, -900m in 1985, -1110m in1986). The main obstacles in this cavewere boulder chokes, penetration throughjust one of which (Ugrjum-Zaval at -700m)took three years of arduous work.Meantime, exploration progressed in thenearby Genrikhova Bezdna cave, eventu-ally connected to Kujbyshevskaja at -965m in 1989. The resultant system wasnamed Arabikskaja. In the Krubera Cave,which was supposed to connect theArabikskaja system and increase its totaldepth by 60m, exploration progressedslowly because of critically tight meandersbetween pits that required some wideningto get through. The cave was pushed to -340m during 1982-1987 and then explo-ration was suspended. Two "windows" inthe P43 in the depth range of 220-250m,indicated on the cave survey, remainedunexplored. During this period the cavereceived its second name Voronja (Crow'scave) due to a number of crows whichnested in the entrance shaft. Anothercave in this valley, the Berchil'skaja Cave,(located 150m higher than Krubera and210m higher that Kujbyshevskaja) waspushed by Kiev and Moldavian caversdown through a vertical boulder chokethat extended almost continuously fromthe bottom of the upper 60m deep shaftto the current end at -500m.Cavers of the Perovsky club, based main-ly in the upstream part of the Centraltrough valley, invested most of their efforts

in pushing the Perovskaja Cave. Thecave was renamed after an outstandingSoviet speleologist, Vladimir Iljukhin, wasaccidentally killed by a car after the 1992Arabika expedition. They reached the firstsump at -950m in 1984 and spent hugeefforts in the subsequent years negotiat-ing through a series of three sumps and"dry" sections in-between them (includinga 230m deep section between the 2ndand 3rd sumps). The forth sump, at -1240m, explored for about ilOm in lengthin 1987, remains the end of the system tillnow. In this extreme exploration one ofthe leading roles had been played byanother outstanding Soviet speleologist,Vladimir Kisseljov.Important discoveries made in Arabika byKiev and Moscow cavers in the early 80sattracted many caving clubs of the formerSoviet Union. Cavers from Leningrad,Sverdlovsk, Krasnojarsk, Minsk, Kishinev,Poltava, and also foreign cavers fromBelgium, Britain, Hungary, Italy andFrance got involved in Arabika in various

years. All explorationsduring the 80s wereclosely co ordinated,by planning workahead for each com-ing year and assign-ing certain areas forinvolved groups.Results were reportedon the regular Arabikaconferences held inKiev after each fieldseason. By the end ofthat decade, 36 cavesexceeding lOOmdeep had been

explored in the massif, including sevenexceeding 500m+ deep.In 1984-1985 two large-scale dye tracingexperiments were conducted in Arabika,in which three different tracers were usedto trace shaft flows in Kujbyshevskaja,Iljukhina, and Moskovskaja caves. Allknown springs and boreholes were moni-tored around the massif. These experi-ments have proven hydrologic links fromKujbyshevskaja and Iljukhina caves withthe major springs at the seashore over adirect lateral distance of 14- 20km andvertical amplitude of over 2300m.Obviously, the decade of the 1980s result-ed in dramatic progress in speleologicalexploration in Arabika and in revealing itstrue depth potential (Klimchouk, 1990,1991).The political and ethnical conflict inAbkhasia in 1992-1994 and instability andborder problems, which continuedthroughout the subsequent years, sus-pended speleological explorations inArabika. Although some small groups ofcavers occasionally visited the massif dur-ing this period, planning and realisation oflarge and serious expeditions was notfeasible. Stabilization of the situation inAbkhasia since 1997 has allowed us tore-activate exploration efforts in Arabika.

RECENT EXPLORATIONS IN ARABIKA:

BREAKTHROUGH IN KRUBERA CAVEIn 1998 the CAVEX team, consistingmainly of Kiev and Moscow cavers, madea breakthrough in the Dzou Cave in thenorthern part of Arabika, previouslyexplored by French Villefontaine andMoscow Perovo Speleoclub teams

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to -493m and after Vladimir Kisseljovteam to -750m in another part of thecave. The expeditions of 1998 and 1999resulted in discovery of a laterally exten-sive major river passage at the bottomarea and in pushing the cave to -1080m.In August 1999 the expedition of theUkrainian Speleological Association (thatincluded cavers from Poltava, Kharkov,Uzhghorod and Dnepropefrovsk) led byYury Kasjan, re-started the work in theOrtobalagan trough valley, in theArabikskaja system, and in Krubera. Infact, the main target was to find a connec-tion between the Krubera andKujbyshevskaja caves that wouldincrease the total depth of the system by60m. In Krubera, the team checked thetwo "windows" in the walls of the P43 inthe depth range of 220-250m, whichremained unexplored since the 1980s,and found continuations in both. Thelower window led to a new branch thatseemingly headed towardKujbyshevskaja, but eventually missed itand ended up with a chamber (NonKujbyshevskaja) at -490m. The upperwindow opened to another branch thatwas explored to -750m during the 1999expedition. Alexey Zhdanovich fromUzhghorod was instrumental in this break-through and exploration.The Ukr.S.A. expedition in 2000 ran intwo stages, both led by Yury Kasjan.During the first stage (August), in whichcavers from Poltava, Uzhghorod, Kiev,Kotel'va and Novaja Kakhovka participat-ed, the main branch was explored andsurveyed to

-1215m. On the second stage the MTDEteam, composed of six cavers from Spain(Sergio Garsia Dils de la Vega, VilafrancaJavier la Pera, Enrico Ogando Lastra,Juan Alberto Martin Otero, AifredoMorena Rioxa, Ramos Ignacio de Rafael)and two cavers from France (BernardTourte and Olivie Ubiergo) joined YuryKasjan and Denis Provalov to continueexploration. They reached a depth of1410m in a branch piece that seemed tolose airflow and ended with a squeeze.When ascending after the very last trip tothe "bottom," Yury Kasjan found a "win-dow" in the wall of a pit at -1340m, whichpromised to give a continuation.There are many aspects, some of whichlie beyond the scope of rational thinking,which experienced cavers evaluate whenassessing the prospects for further explo-ration. In the fall of 2000 we clearly heard"The Call of an Abyss" and felt a smell ofthe super depth. It was a mixture ofknowledge of general prospects ofArabika, historical aspects, impetus of therecent explorations, excellent teamresources at our disposal and other,sometimes mysterious, feelings. Even thecoming turn of the centuries took its role.We could not wait until the next summerand decided to organise the next expedi-tion to the Krubera cave in the winter, asevere period in Arabika in terms ofaccess and conditions at the surface.Among rational reasons for such decisionwas a fear of sudden flooding at greatdepths that could be expected in summerif the cave entered a hypothetical majorriver passage collector.

A core of the winter expedition,organised under the banner ofthe Ukrainian SpeleologicalAssociation, was composedfrom the members of CAVEX(Cave Exploration) Association,a strong group of dedicatedKiev and Moscow cavers whichhave extensive experience ofdeep caving expeditions in win-ter conditions.

THE WINTER EXPEDITION2000-2001

The expedition began onDecember 25 and consisted ofeleven members: Yury Kasjan(the leader), JuljaTimoshevskaja and AnatolijPovjakalo (all from Poltava,Ukraine); Oleg Klimchouk,Nikolai Solovjov, Sergey Zubkov(Kiev, Ukraine); Vitalij Galas(Uzhghorod); KonstantinMoukhin, Denis Provalov,Dmitry Skljarenko (Moscow,Russia) and lljua Zharkov, for-

mer Sverdlovsk caver, currently based inPennsylvania, USA.On December 27 the expedition arrived inSochi, the main city on the Russian side,and crossed the Abkhasian border. OnDecember28 a helicopter from Sukhumi,the Abkhasian capital, brought all mem-bers and expedition material to theOrtobalagan trough valley in Arabika.Work in the cave started on December29and in the same day the route was riggedto the first camp at -500m. Such a quickstart was possible due to preparationsmade during previous expeditions andropes conserved at the tops of main pits.By December 31 the route was riggeddown to -850m and many bags transport-ed to that point. Meantime, a special teamwidened three squeezes in the upper sec-tion of the cave (begun back in the 80s byKiev cavers but still being hardly pass-able) to a degree that allowed easy travelof many people and bags back and forththough them.On midnight of December 31 all the expe-dition members gathered on the surface,in a small cave near the camp, convertedinto a kitchen and dining room, to cele-brate the New Year and the beginning ofthe new century and the millennium.Everything and everyone were preparedto achieve the new world's depth record.On January 1 the work in the cave contin-ued. On the next day an advanced groupset up the main camp at -1215m and nowno one remained at the surface. All theexpedition members carried out varioustasks of this assault. On January 3rd theadvanced group reached the "window" at-1340m and began new exploration. Theright to descend the first new pit in thisexpedition was granted to the youngestmember, Anatolij Povjakalo, who'd had his18th birthday. By the end of the day a

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depth of about 1450m was reached.The previous depth record ofLamprechtsofen-Vogelschacht was bro-ken during the night of January 4-5 by thepair of Moukhin-Zharkov. They descendeda few new pits, including impressive P49that went through almost black lime-stones, reached the depth of about -1680m, and stopped at the mouth of thenext pit. This news, delivered to the campat -1215 on the morning of January 5th,brought all its population into a greatexcitement. Next, two pairs of explorerswent to push the cave further and DenisProvalov went to the surface to bring thisnews to the rest of the world via mobilephone. On January 6th the news wasreported to civilization.The pit at -1680m turned out to be thelast one in this expedition. It led to a bigchamber with a boulder choke in the farend, the deepest point reached so far (-1710m). A "window" above the boulderchoke led to a series of smaller break-down chambers but gave no apparentcontinuation. Four other expedition mem-

bers visited the bottom area for additionalinspection, survey, and de rigging. Thebig chamber was named the Chamber ofSoviet Speleologists, to appreciate thelong and hard work of many generationsof cave explorers of the former SovietUnion leading to this remarkable achieve-ment.By the night of January 9th all the expedi-tion members and equipment werealready on the surface. The next day wasspent for recovery and on January 11theverything was prepared for evacuationby helicopter ordered for this date.However, the helicopter had not arriveddue to weather conditions in Sukhumi.The time had come to pay for suchsmooth work in the cave. During the nightthe weather deteriorated dramatically inArabika and on January 12th they bidfarewell to their hope for a helicopter: astrong wind, heavy snowfall and low visi-bility. This continued through the nextnight and the weather forecast for thecoming few days, received via phone,was unfavorable. Eventually, the team

decided to leave all the equipment butlight camping stuff and force their waydown by foot. It was a risky venture dueto the apparent avalanche hazard on theway to the tree line, some 5km distancewith a considerable traverse. The team,split in two groups, was making a trailthrough heavy snow with great difficultieswhen a big avalanche crossed the coursejust before the first group. It caught andburied a front man, Anatolij Povjakalo. Hewas immediately dug out, frightened butsafe. The night was spent in a forest andin the afternoon of the next day, January14, the team met a track in the Sandripshcanyon, led by local supporting personVatik Vartanjan and a caver from Brest,Sergey Krasko. Sergey had arrived by aira day before to coordinate an expectedrescue operation. This was a happy endof the active part of the expedition.On January 16 the weather improved to adegree that allowed making a quick heli-copter fly to Arabika to take away the con-served equipment. In Kiev and Moscowthe expedition members were greeted by

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orchestras, champagne, flowers, cavingfriends, reporters and television crews.

TECHNIQUE AND EQUIPMENTThe exploration was made using standardEuropean single-rope technique andequipment. The total rigging required over2000m of ropes and about 300 anchors.Almost everywhere ropes were riggedaway from water flows and intense dripsso that no dry suits were required to workin thecave.During the winter expedition two under-ground camps were used, at -500m andat -1215m respectively. The former camp,located at the bottom of P152, is subjectto rock fall hazard. For further works inthe bottom area a camp can be set up inthe Chamber of Soviet Speleologists at -1710m although a possibility of localflooding due to boulder choke constrictionshould be additionally evaluated.The camp at -1215m could accommodateeight cavers. Exploration of the lower partof the cave proceeded continuously in twoshifts, through the work of four pairs ofcavers. All the expedition members had achance to work in the bottom area below-1600m and nine of them were at the verybottom.SURVEY AND DEPTH ESTIMATESThe survey of the cave was performedusing Suunto and Soviet "geological"compasses and clinometers. In addition,two Casio watch altimeters were used tocontrol the depth by repeated incrementalmeasurements. The depth of the lowestpoint in the cave was 1720m according toaltimeters, but 1710m according to the cli-nometer measurements; the latter figurewas eventually taken as an "official" one.In general, the resultant map and profile(Figure 4) correspond to the BCRA Grade 4.In September 2000 the MRDE teammade independent depth measurementsup to the -1410m point with two precisealtimeters and found a coincidence withinfive meters with the depth estimates forvarious points previously made on thebasis of clinometer survey.

BRIEF NOTES ON THECAVE ANDFURTHER

PERSPECTIVESThe cave is developed inthe thick-bedded and mas-sive Upper Jurassic lime-stones, in the vault zone ofthe Berchil'sky anticline.The limestones becomeincreasingly sandy startingfrom the depth of about300m, with maximum sandcontent in the depth interval

of 400-600m, the feature previously notedfor the adjacent Kujbyshevskaja Cave.The main branch of the Krubera Cavedevelops steeply in depth by vertical pitsseparated by short meanders and shifts alittle to the southern slope of the anticline.Apart from the "Non-Kujbyshevskaja"branch, which stretches for almost 500mto the north west, the cave is looping with-in a quite small area (400 by 400m),remains within a small tectonic block, anddoes not extend beyond the southernridge of the trough valley.By both the degree of morphologicaldevelopment and hydrologically, the cavecedes to the adjacent KujbyshevskajaCave. Small water flow (up to 1 1/sec)appears in the cave at the depth of about340m. It disappears and reappears onvarious levels but never increases consid-erably. At its present bottom at -1710m(530m above sea level) the cave neitherenters a main collector river passage norshows any signs of considerable floodingthat would indicate close proximity to itsbase level collector. These features,together with the previously proven con-nection of the Arabikskaja system to largesprings at the Black Sea shore, suggestsclear potential to deepen the cave by atleast 150-200m (estimated conservative-ly) or up to 300- 350m with more opti-mistic estimation.Equally realistic is the attempt to connectcaves with entrances that are at higherelevations into the Krubera Cave mainsystem. The best prospects are the near-by Berchil'skaja Cave (-500m) entered150m above, and Martel's Cave locatedsome 80m above. Hence, the possibilitiesof gaining a 2000m + system in this areain the near future are exceptionally good.The Ukrainian Speleological Associationand CAVEX Association will continuestrong and regular efforts during next sev-eral years, both in summer and winterperiods, in order to fully explore Kruberaand other caves of the Ortobalagantrough valleys with an ultimate goal toexplore the first 2000m + cave on theEarth.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The BASK and Alpindustria companiesbased in Moscow donated some equip-ment to the winter expedition. The Canonrepresentative office in Moscow spon-sored us with video and photo cameras.We sincerely thank them for this help.

REFERENCES

Kiknadze, T.Z. 1972. Karst of the Arabikamassif. Thilisi: Metzniereba. 245 pp. (inrussian).Klimchouk, A.B. 1984. On impact of thelate Quaternary glaciations on the karstdevelopment of the Arabika massif(Caucasus). Izvestia VGO (Leningrad),116 (2). 165-170. (in russian).Klimchouk, A.B. 1990. Karst circulationsystems of the Arabika massif. Peschery(Caves), inter- university scientific trans-actions, Perm: Perm University. 6-16. (inrussian).Klimchouk, A. 1991. Le grotte del massic-cio di Arabika. La Rivista del CAl, 112 (1).37-47.Kruber, A. A. 1911. Karabi-Yuajla and theArabika massif. Zemlevedenie (Moscow),18 (3). (in russian).Kruber, A.A. 1912a. The voyage toArabika. Estestviznanie i geografia. (inrussian).Kruber, A.A. 1912b. From observations ofkarst in the vicinity of Gagra and Karabi-Yuajla. Zemlevedenie (Moscow), 19 (1-2).(in russian).Martel, E.A. 1909. La Cote dAzur Russe(Riviera du Caucase). Ch. XVI: La massifde l'Arabika. Paris.Maruashvili, LI., Tintilozov, Z.K. andChangashvili, G.Z. 1961. The results ofspeleological explorations carried out in1960 on the Arabika limestone massif.Izvestia AN GSSR (Tbilisi), XXVI (5). (inrussian).Maruashvili, LI., Tintilozov, Z.K andChangashvili, G.Z. 1962. Karst andancient glaciation in Arabika. Absfracts ofpapers of the 2nd scientific session ofspeleologists. Thilisi: AN GSSR. (in russ-ian).Maruashvili, LI. and Tintilozov, Z.K. 1963.The results of the recent speleologicalexplorations in the karstic belt of theWestern Georgia in 1957- 1960.Zemlevedenie (Moscow), nov. ser. VI. (inrussian).

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