Ghliana Cave Natural Monument (Georgian: ღლიანას მრვიმე) is a karst cave located near village Kumistavi, Tsqaltubo Municipality in Imereti region of Georgia, 142 meters above sea level.[1]
| Ghliana Cave Natural Monument | |
|---|---|
 Lake in Ghliana cave. | |
   | |
| Nearest city | Tskaltubo |
| Coordinates | 42°22′20.3″N 42°35′50.5″E / 42.372306°N 42.597361°E |
| Established | 2011 |
| Governing body | Agency of Protected Areas |
| Website | ღლიანას მღვიმის ბუნების ძეგლი |
Morphology
editGhliana karst cave is carved in limestone and has two entrances. The main entrance has height 3.5-4 meters, and width – 7 meters.[2] The main underground stream flows from this entrance. The second entrance to the left from the main entrance is very steep and measures 35-40 m from cave floor to the surface. 60 meters from entrance there is a deep siphon lake, 3-4 m wide, 2.5 m height above lake surface and 50 meters long. Behind the lake there is a 200 m long siphon corridor with it floor under water with depth of 0.5-2 meters. Behind the corridor there is a gallery with a length of 30 m and a width of 1-2 m. It traverses the bigger 150 m gallery with ceiling covered with stalactites almost it entire length. This gallery again has water and several siphonous exits to the bottom of the cave. The underground flow measures 50-55 litre per second in a flood. The water streams from the cave end up in Kumi river.[3]
Fauna
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Numerous colonies of bats inhabit the dry corridors of the cave.[3] The inhabitants of the cave also include Trachysphaera, Attheyella, Pilocamptus, Deuterosminthurus, Proisotoma, Hypoaspis and Macrocheles.[4]
See also
editReferences
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- ^ Ghliana Cave in Georgia Protected Planet
- ^ Ghliana Cave Natural Monument National Parks of Georgia
- ^ a b (in Georgian) ღლიანას მღვიმის ბუნების ძეგლი
- ^ Barjadze, Sh., Arabuli, T., Mumladze, L., Maghradze, E., Asanidze, Z., Kutalia, T. Ghliana Cave Cave Biodiversity of Georgia, Open Access Database. 2019. Institute of Zoology at Ilia State University
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