Niggly/Growling Swallet cave system (JF-237),

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

is the deepest cave in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Part of the extensive Junee-Florentine karst area near

Mt Field National Park Mount Field National Park is a national park in Tasmania, Australia, 64 km northwest of Hobart, Australia, Hobart. The landscape ranges from eucalyptus temperate rainforest to alpine moorland, rising to 1,434 metres (4,705 ft) at the ...

, it was considered to be the deepest explored cave in Australia since being discovered in 1994 until it was connected to and technically absorbed by the Growling Swallet (JF-36) system in 2019, bringing the depth record to 397m. The nearby Delta Variant Cave (JF-761) is expected to join the Niggly Cave/Growling Swallet system and push the depth record just over 400m in mid to late 2022. Recent exploration has been carried out by the Southern Tasmanian Caverneers - other deep caves they have explored nearby include Tachycardia Cave (JF-270). The entrance to Niggly Cave is somewhat uninspiring, immediately dropping down a tight vertical shaft, and interspersing tight horizontal passages with large and spectacular drops, the longest being 183m. After 250m of abseiling and squeezing, a large underground river is reached, supplied in part by Growling Swallet, and emerging some 5km away. All of the cave is very technical alpine caving; there are no commercial tours. Niggly Cave drains to the Junee River, in the Junee Cave State Reserve, adjacent to the

Mount Field National Park Mount Field National Park is a national park in Tasmania, Australia, 64 km northwest of Hobart. The landscape ranges from eucalyptus temperate rainforest to alpine moorland, rising to 1,434 metres (4,705 ft) at the summit of Mount Fi ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. The nearest town is

Maydena Maydena is a locality in Tasmania, Australia, alongside the River Tyenna. Maydena is on the Gordon River Road, south west of New Norfolk, through the Bushy Park Hop Fields, turn left at Westerway, past Mount Field National Park and Russell Fa ...

.Junee River Reserve
at Tasmania National Parks. The estimated terrain elevation above sea level is 800 metres and the local geology is permo-

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...

. The area is covered with thick

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaf, leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is paral ...

forest.

References

{{reflist Southern Tasmania Protected areas of Tasmania Caves of Tasmania

See also

References