Tzvaim Pit, Nahal Te'enim - Nahal Te'enim Survey, Western Samaria
- Grid ref.
- 156724/185625
- Location
- Lower Nahal Te'enim
- Elevation
- 136 m above sea level
Cave mapView the map (PDF)Description of the cave:
Tzvaim Pit is in massive dolomite rock of Cenomanian age (Sakhnin Formation).
The cave was discovered by Tuvia Knight, Vladimir Boslov, Shemesh Yaran and Boaz Langford in October 2012.
The cave has a rounded vertical opening (measuring 1.1X1.5 m) opening in the slope of the north bank of Lower Nahal Te'enim, a few tens of meters above the base of the channel. The external surroundings of the opening consist of a rocky slope inclined north at a gradient of about 25 degrees and covered with batha vegetation of the thorny burnet community. The cave opening, which opens from the slope surface downward, is not visible from the bottom of the slope. A horizontal opening of a shallow niche opening in a local cliff on the slope above the pit opening gives away its location.
The cave opening leads to a vertical chimney 6 m deep, whose walls are partly covered with green moss. At the bottom of the chimney there is a rounded space whose floor and ceiling slope to the northeast. The space floor is covered with a talus of soil and stones, while its ceiling and walls are bare or coated with a few dry cave deposits. The whole cave space is semi-lit and is thus a favored spot for many arthropods, chiefly several species of spiders that live mainly along the walls of the entrance shaft.
Notes
- Access to the cave is possible on foot from Road 557 (about 850 m). One can get to within 50 m of the cave opening by 4X4 vehicle on a dirt road running through the middle of the Nahal Te'enim channel.
- The descent into the cave requires 7 m of auxiliary rope, without the need for rappelling equipment. The rope can be anchored right next to the cave opening.
Written by: Boaz Langford
