Circle Cave, Nahal Teenim Survey, Western Samaria
- Grid ref.
- 156634/186299
- Location
- Lower Nahal Teenim
- Elevation
- 173 m above sea level
Cave mapView the map (PDF)Description of the Cave:
Circle Cave is a small cave consisting mainly of a rounded chamber (after which the cave is named) and a short passage. The total length of the cave reaches 22 m and its maximum depth 2 m. At various points in the cave there are rounded dissolution features indicating that the cave was formed by phreatic-hypogenic dissolution processes in massive dolomite of Cenomanian age (Sakhnin Formation).
The cave was discovered by Vladimir Boslov, Shemesh Yaran, Tuvia Night and Boaz Langford in October 2012.
The cave has a rounded entrance (measuring 2.1X2.7 m) opening on the slope of the northern bank of Lower Nahal Teenim, about 50 m above the base of the channel. The external surroundings of the entrance consist of a rocky slope inclined south at a gradient of about 30 degrees. On the slope grows herbaceous scrub, and olive trees have been planted at various points. In front of the cave entrance there is a small horizontal terrace.
The cave entrance leads to a small, rounded chamber measuring 8X8 m and 3.5 m high. The chamber floor is horizontal and covered with dark, dry soil. Near the entrance of the chamber the cave floor is covered with a pile of stones that apparently originated from the collapse of a poor wall built in the entrance area. The chamber ceiling consists of a uniform rock bed sloping gently downward from the inside of the cave toward its entrance. The cave walls are covered with many cave deposits (f.s, pagodas, stalactites). The cave deposits are dry and heavily damaged (apparently broken in looting attempts). On the northern side of the chamber wall, adjacent to the entrance, a dissolution dome open and bare of stalactites, so that the rounded outline of the dome is clearly visible.
On the inner-southern side of the chamber there is a low opening leading south to a narrow, low passage. The length of the passage is about 6 m and at its end it splits into two short branches. The floor of the passage is covered with dark soil descending gently southward and shallow domes open in its ceiling. In the outer part of the passage, above its entrance, there is a low stalactite column.
Notes
- The cave can be reached on foot from Road 557 (about 850 m). One can drive a 4X4 vehicle up to 70 m from the cave entrance along a dirt road running through the center of the Nahal Teenim channel.
- Many goat bones, fleas and ticks (possibly cave ticks) were found in the various parts of the cave. An abandoned jackdaw nest is built in a tiny hollow in the inner part of the entrance chamber, adjacent to its ceiling.
- No bats were observed in the cave and no guano was seen.
Written by: Boaz Langford
