Quechua
Quechua may refer to:
*Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru
*Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...
for "rock cave") is a
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
cave
Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...
Lima Region
The Department of Lima (), known as the Department of the Capital () until 1823, is a department and region located in the central coast of Peru; the seat of the regional government is Huacho.
Lima Province, which contains the city of Lima, ...
in central
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, high in the
Andes
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
Mountains that was explored and surveyed in 2004 by an international expedition. At 4,930m above sea level, it is the highest surveyed cave in the world (subsequent GPS measurements suggest this elevation is understated). The entrance to the cave is in the mountain named Wamp'una.
Cave description
"It is thought that Qaqa Mach'ay is an abandoned glacial sink formed on a geologically-favourable bedding plane. Its enormous entrance, approximately fifty metres long, thirty metres wide and fifty metres deep, leads to a square-shaped descending passage twenty metres high and twenty metres wide. Although this large passage is almost completely blocked by boulders, two possible continuations were noted. Blue Lips Passage essentially follows the left (as you face into the cave) wall down past boulders and ice masses. Four pitches of 20m, 10m, 10m and 5m lead to a disappointing boulder ruckle 104m below the entrance. Red Face Passage descends down pitches of 18m, 9m, 4m and 38m to a breakdown floor at –125m. Both passages draught slightly. These passages were named for the effects of high altitude, cold and sun on the cavers’ complexions. About a third of the rigging in these passages was off
ice screw
An ice screw is a threaded tubular Screw fastener, screw used as a running belay or anchor by climbing, climbers on steep ice surface such as steep waterfall ice or alpine ice during ice climbing or crevasse rescue, to hold the climber in the even ...
s. No open leads remain in the cave."
- excerpt from ''Pumaqucha 2004 Expedition Report'' (unpublished)
*McKenzie, I. ''A Hole in the Sky'' Alpine Karst Vol 2, 2006
*''
The Canadian Caver
''The Canadian Caver'' is a semiannual publication that documents the activities of Canadian cavers exploring caves within Canada and overseas.
''The Canadian Caver'' was created by members of the McMaster University Climbing and Caving Club from ...