The Slavka cavern
The Slavka cavern is situated near the Kryvche village of Borshchiv district in Ternopil region. It was found by group of Kyiv speleoclub the 7th of November 1992 as a result of intensive excavation works during whole year. It became the greatest event of speleologists in Podilske Prydnistrovya for last 25 years. At once the steel tube with a hatch and lock was mounted at the entrance; the access to cavern is controlled by Kyiv speleoclub. In result of five filming expedition in winter-spring 1993 more of 8 km of corridors were charted.
The cave is laid in the narrow elongated array, that is confined by beams on three sides. In this ways the cave are explored almost to boundary contours. From the fourth side (on the south east of cave field) this array connects with much bigger array, where the growth of cave can be possible.
The cavern is a labyrinth of ways, which are laid on the two-three levels. As al l big gypseous caverns of region the Slavka cavern is formed in the closed hydrogeological conditions because of ascending leakage of pressure waters from the underlying aquifer. In the late Pleistocene – Holocene most part of cave was dehydrated and turned to relict state. In the south west part of cave field it intersects by the channel of underground creek which is active in rain periods and proceeds from the big ponor in the north east to the south west. Along the channel the clay filler, which often occupies a low part of ways sections, is blurred because of erosion activity. In result we can watch almost full profile of ways, with height to 10-12 m.
A.B. Klymchuk
"Vestnik Usa", n. 3(8), 1993
