Nahal Netafim Cave
- Location
- Nahal Netafim - Eilat Mountains
- Elevation
- 477 m above sea level
Description of the cave:
Nahal Netafim Cave is a small cave that developed in limestone of Lower Cenomanian age (Hazera Fm., Zafit Member) and was exposed in the northern bank of Nahal Netafim.
The cave has a vertical elliptical entrance that opens in the wall of the northern bank of Nahal Netafim about 2 m above the level of the stream bed. From the cave entrance a wide, lit passage extends north and after about 3 m turns east and continues as an elliptical corridor, narrower than the entrance passage. The corridor walls are rounded, and its floor is covered with loose soil and debris. 3 m from the start of the corridor it turns sharply north and continues in this direction for another 7 m, during which the corridor gets lower until it is blocked to passage. At the turning point of the corridor there is a very narrow, rounded karst tube extending south up to the wall in which the cave entrance opens. At this point there are two concentrations of dry cave deposits (flowstone and a stalagmite), dark and covered with a light, glittering coating. Plant material is cemented in the cave deposits, which was apparently swept in by the floods that visit the stream and became cemented in the cave deposits. Additional material, originating from the floods of Nahal Netafim (SWD), was transported and lodged in cracks in the cave walls and ceiling.
Notes:
- Access to the cave entrance is possible on foot in the bed of Nahal Netafim.
- No bats were observed in the cave. Inside the cave there is a concentration of guano.
Written by: Boaz Langford
