The Haitón del Guarataro is a

solutional cave A solutional cave, solution cave, or karst cave is a cave usually formed in a soluble rock like limestone (Calcium carbonate, with chemical formula ''CaCO3''). It is the most frequently occurring type of cave. It can also form in other rocks, incl ...

system in the Sierra de San Luis in

Falcón State Falcón State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Coro. The state was named after Juan Crisóstomo Falcón. History Early history Present day Falcón State was first explored in 1499 by Juan de la Cosa and Amé ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, south-east of Curimagua. It is the deepest

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 in Venezuela, and the entrance is a tourist attraction within the Juan Crisóstomo Falcón National Park. A large entrance shaft in diameter leads via drops of , , and to a stream passage which follows the dip down for a distance of about to the north to where it eventually chokes. An upstream passage is intercepted which runs south for about to the base of a shaft. The cave has a depth of , and a total passage length of . It was first explored and surveyed in April 1973 by members of the Venezuela '73 British Karst Research Expedition. It is formed in

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

al limestone. A faunal survey was undertaken during the exploration of the cave, but only a few cavernicoles were recorded. They included

cave crickets The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae of the suborder Ensifera has a worldwide distribution. Common names for these insects include cave crickets, camel crickets, spider crickets (sometimes shortened to "criders" or "sprickets"), and sand trea ...

, phalangodid harvestmen, a depigmented troglophile garnmarid shrimp ( ''Hyalella meinerti'') found in a large pool, and a troglobitic trichopolydesmid

millipede Millipedes (originating from the Latin , "thousand", and , "foot") are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derive ...

found on the roof of the terminal chamber.

References

External links

The Venezuela '73 British Karst Research Expedition survey of Haitón del Guarataro

Video of a December 2018 descent by members of the Sociedad Venezolana de Espeleologia
Haiton del Guarataro underground camp

{{Commons category, Haitón_del_Guarataro, Haitón del Guarataro Geography of Falcón Caves of Venezuela Limestone caves Wild caves Tourist attractions in Falcón