Haitón del Guarataro

Haitón del Guarataro

The Haitón del Guarataro is a solutional cave system in the Sierra de San Luis in Falcón State, Venezuela, south-east of Curimagua. It is the deepest limestone 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 reefal limestone.

Details

Depth
305 m
Length
640 m
Survey
[http://www.braemoor.co.uk/caving/images/guarataro_survey.jpg BKRE 1973]
Geology
Oligocene limestone
Hazards
Verticality
Location
Falcón State, Venezuela
Discovery
April 1973
Elevation
1000 m
Map Width
256px
Photo Width
256px
Photo Caption
Entrance shaft of Haitón del Guarataro
Entrance Count
1