Sima Pumacocha (possibly from

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

''sima'' deep and dark cavern/abyss,

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

''puma''

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

, puma, ''qucha'' lake) is a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

located in the

Lima Region The Department of Lima () 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, the country's capital, is located west of the Departmen ...

Yauyos Province The Yauyos Province is a Provinces of Peru, province located in the Lima Region of Peru. It is one of the eleven that make up that region. Boundaries *North: Huarochirí Province *East: Junín Region, Huancavelica Region *South: Ica Region *West: ...

Laraos District Laraos District is one of thirty-three districts of the province Yauyos in the Lima Region in Peru. Elderly people in Laraos still speak an archaic Quechua dialect. As no more children speak the language, it is in imminent danger of extinction. ...

, in central

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

near the village of

Laraos Laraos District is one of thirty-three districts of the province Yauyos in the Lima Region in Peru. Elderly people in Laraos still speak an archaic Quechua dialect. As no more children speak the language, it is in imminent danger of extinction. ...

, high in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

mountains. At 638 meters deep, it held the record for deepest known cave in South America from 2001 to 2006 when it was surpassed by Abismo Guy Collet. With the entrance being 4372 meters above sea level and the depth being over 500 meters, it is the highest major cave in the world. and It is located at .

Physical and geological setting

At 4,300 m to 4,400 m above sea level, the Pumaqucha valley is a typical Andes 'puna' – high, treeless, and surrounded by 5,000 m peaks. The valley is traversed by a dirt road serving active and abandoned mines nearby, and is dotted with stone huts used by locals tending flocks of

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

llama The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with othe ...

s and

alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. It is similar to, and often confused with, the llama. However, alpacas are often noticeably smaller than llamas. The two animals are closely related and can successfu ...

s. At the head of the valley is Pumaqucha, a small lake which along with its catchment area sits atop Miocene age

granodiorite Granodiorite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase feldspar than orthoclase feldspar. The term banatite is sometimes used informally for various rocks ranging from gra ...

. Where the lake's outfall stream meets near-vertically bedded Cretaceous age Jumasha limestones, it has carved a short, shallow canyon containing several abandoned and one active sinkpoint where the entire stream disappears underground. Underlying the limestone is the Lower Cretaceous Pariatambo Formation. A small concrete canal, intended to keep the lake outfall on the surface by diverting it around the canyon, is in poor shape and normally does not function at all. When local repairs occur, the active sinkpoint (SP1) becomes enterable, but considerable water then leaks into the abandoned sinks (SP2 and SP3). On a regional scale, the long, irregular band of limestone containing Sima Pumaqucha and several other caves runs roughly south-southeast to north-northwest. The Pumaqucha waters sink at an elevation of 4,375 m above sea level, and are thought to resurge in the Rio Alis valley some 14 km to the north at an elevation of about 3,300 m above sea level.

Cave description

330px, Sign at Pumaqucha cave entrance 330px, Pumaqucha cave entrance Following the steeply-dipping limestone beds, Sima Pumaqucha generally consists of several vertical shafts connected by short sections of horizontal to steeply-sloping passages. Although closely grouped together, the three main entrances each lead to extensive independent passages before meeting underground. SP1 and SP2 are within 60 m of each other but their passages join at about the –300 m level, while SP3, a further 30 m away, is thought to join the main cave at a depth of –550 m based on observations of relative water volumes (SP3 is blocked at –120 m). All three entrances lead to big shafts: SP1 has the deepest shaft in the Andes (282 m), SP2 leads to the 113-meter-deep Ammonite Shaft, and SP3 is a 120 m shaft. Several fossilized

ammonite Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) ...

s up to 20 cm in diameter were observed within Ammonite Shaft’s walls. Below the junction of SP1 and SP2 are several wet shafts between 15 m and 75 m in depth, leading to a gravelled

sump A sump is a low space that collects often undesirable liquids such as water or chemicals. A sump can also be an infiltration basin used to manage surface runoff water and recharge underground aquifers. Sump can also refer to an area in a cave ...

at –638 m. All explored passages have been surveyed, with a total length of 1,427 m. It was hoped that the strong inward draught indicated a junction with a large underground river, but after losing the draught near the sump some cavers concluded that it might be due to the cave’s own stream.

Cave exploration

Sima Pumaqucha was explored and surveyed during three international expeditions. *In June 2001 an expedition of five cavers ran out of rope and time at the head of The Perfect Storm at about –375 m. *In September 2002 an expedition of nine cavers reached the sump at –638 m, and located other cave entrances within the same limestone formation. * In September 2004 an expedition of fourteen cavers explored the SP1 series and five other caves, including

Qaqa Mach'ay Qaqa Mach'ay (Quechua for "rock cave") is a limestone cave located in the Yauyos Province of the Lima Region in central Peru, high in the Andes Mountains that was explored and surveyed in 2004 by an international expedition. At 4,930m above sea lev ...

Physical and geological setting

Cave description

Cave exploration

See also

References

Further reading