(Eco-Carst, Nr. 3, Soc. Rom. de Carst. şi Speo., Buc., 2002).
Pictures (Galeria cu gururi and Galeria cu meandre)
CONTENT:
The position of Ratei cave, in the south of Leaota Mountains, on the left side of Ialomita river, favors a relatively easy access to Bucharest cavers, who can easily reach it for week-end trips. That is why "Focul Viu" caving club uses it as "novice-training cave". It is a complex network, that requires several trips before getting thoroughly acquainted with, and even cavers having performed several visits may get lost when trying to reach the remote large chambers at the end of the cave. Nor the amount, neither the variety of speleothems (that are scarce and common) is what impresses in Ratei cave, but its erosional and dissolution morphology.
Ratei cave is located in Leaota mountains, yet close to their border with Bucegi mountains - with Ialomita river separating the two mountain ranges in this very area.
The easiest access is from the south (fig...), by train to Pietrosita, then along the road DN 71 that connects Pietrosita to Sinaia. After 8 km, the junction of Ialomita and Ialomicioara valleys is reached. In this place take the sealed road opening to the left, which follows Ialomita valley (heading to Lespezi quarry). Another 8 kilometers further there is a major crossroad, where the sealed road (the one at the middle) has to be taken. 500-600 m further, the road crosses Ratei valley, and after another 150 m a footpath opens to the left. The footpath follows the water pipe coming from the cave and leads, in 10-15 minutes, to an wood exploitation road that comes from the previously mentioned crossroad and heads toward the cave. Follow the wood exploitation road to the left, and after about 1 km you can see on the right an abundant stream, that comes out of the cave entrance. A well-maintained footpath (provided with stair steps and railings) parallels the streamcourse and leads, in about 5 minutes, to the entrance of Ratei cave.
Known since the XIX-th century, the Ratei resurgence or "Izvorul Rateiului" was tapped in 1909, the works being coordinated by T.H. Ionescu and D. Cair. On that occasion, a plate honouring king Carol I was placed on the wall to the right of the entrance.
In 1956, T. Orghidan and M. Dumitrescu explored the passages situated downstream of the sump in the entrance area, producing a 146 m long survey and collecting cave fauna.
In 1969 D. Patrulius carried out geologic investigations in the area and mentioned that the entrance of Ratei cave, blocked by an iron gate, is situated at the bottom of a cliff of Late-Jurassic limestones and displays very modest dimensions, compared to the extent of the karst system developing underground.
In the spring, then in the autumn of 1970, the members of "Focul Viu" caving club decided to give a closer inspection to the suggestion of D. Patrulius. They managed to enter the main stream network and to discover two major dry passages. Exploring the first 1.8 km of the cave required bivouacking underground for 3 days.
In 1971, a by-pass to the wet duck situated immediately after the entrance was found. As a result, underground camps were not felt necessary anymore. The surveyed cave length reached 5160 m, and a complex study was published (Povara et. al, 1973). Besides information concerning the morphology, the hydrology and the sedimentology, the paper also proposes a genetic model of the cave.
In the early '80-ies, frequent trips performed by "Hades" - Ploiesti and "Focul Viu" - Bucuresti caving clubs resulted in new discoveries, that eventually were included in the updated cave survey, peformed during that period by "Focul Viu" club.
The cave area includes the following geological succession:
Over the crystalline basement, consisting of the "Leaota series" metamorphosed in the green schists facies, Bajocian - Callovian deposits lie, that include quartz sandstones, marls, limestones and radiolarites.
The Late Jurassic deposits consist of both massif and thickly layered, white - greyish and red limestones. In the southern part of Bucegi mountains range, the bottom of the Late Jurassic stack includes, over a thickness of few meters, few abundant, grey chert interbeddings. Such formations are normally difficult to notice, except on karstically corroded surfaces (that are rather common within Ratei cave).
The stratigraphic succession next includes Late Aptian deposits, consisting of sandstone flysch formations, that include sandstone conglomerates and the "Raciu breccia". The latter horizon, well developed in the southern part of Bucegi mountains, includes white and yellowish limestones (85%), and sericite-chlorite crystalline schists, originating in the Leaota series. The Raciu breccia horizon parallels the bottom of the main "Bucegi conglomerates" body.
The Albian upper molasse follows, including the upper "Bucegi conglomerates", that consist of various sandstone deposits and several types of rudites.
At the cave entrance there is a rather elaborate installation for tapping the underground streamcourse.
The stream passage at the entrance becomes inaccessible after 40 m, being blocked by two sumps. They are by-passed via a narrow and intricate passage situated to the right, "The Conflagration Passage", that 150 m afterwards again reaches the underground stream. It flows down a roomy passage, with specific morphology: erosional blades, scallops, cauldron pots, etc. 100 m upstream, an important right hand tributary arrives. It can be followed for several tens of meters, ending in the Sump 3. Back to the main stream passage, that will be followed for another 250-300 m before reaching Sump 4, which extends across the whole width of the passage. The way on opens to the right, and after 100 m along a dry and rather narrow passage, the Halt Room is reached. Situated 4 m above the passage floor, the room is not immediately visible while progressing toward the interior of the cave.
The Halt Room is the starting point for a circuit trip, the easier way along it being via the Dry Junction, the Straight Passage, and back down the Meanders Passage.
Starting from the Halt Room southeastward, the Dry Junction is reached after 40 m. Two distinct passages open up: straight ahead is the Rimstone Pools passage, and to the right is the Straight Passage. The Rimstone Pools passage is roomy, with two pillars along its way. A section of it is richly decorated (rimstone pools included). The passage reaches a dead end, positioned roughyly above the cave entrance area.
Back to the Dry Junction, the westward directed Straight Passage is followed. It provides a very easy acces to the Waterfalls passage. The downstream end of the Waterfalls passage, reached after a few meanders and waterfalls, is a rather narrow sump, yet accessible for diving. (All the sumps in the cave have been dived in 1983 by Serban S_ rbu, yet all proved to be too narrow to provide a breakthrough). The upstream end of the Waterfalls passage is Sump 5.
Some 60 m before Sump 5 a wet area occurs, where abundant dripping comes down a giant flowstone, "The Jellyfish". After climbing for some 10 m between the flowstone and the opposite wall, the very low and difficult to notice entrance in The New Passage must be spotted. The first section of the New Passage, excavated exclusively in the Bucegi conglomerates, is steeply ascending (over an elevation range of 37 m) and extremely tight. This section ends at the "Little Gate", where in the left wall there is a clearly visible contact between the limestones and the overlying conglomerates. Between this place and the Breakdown Chamber, the New Passage intercepts only a few minor branches. Occasionally its walls are coated with gypsum crystals displaying the "cockscomb" macle.
The Breakdown Chamber is relatively large, steeply descending, with a stream flowing across its bottom. At about two thirds of the height between the most elevated part of the chamber and the streamcourse, in the left wall, a rathole has been declogged. It gives access to a short meander that reaches the Titans Chamber, where an upstream section of the streamcourse flowing across the Breakdown Chamber is intercepted.
The chaotic Titans Chamber is the largest in the cave, and reaches the highest elevation, +64 m above the entrance. Bones accumulations occur on its floor.
Back to the New Passage, 200 m beyond the Breakdown Chamber, the entrance in the Big Maze opens up (+55 m above the entrance). It can be easily recognized after the corrosion blades protruding from the ceiling. The Maze is steeply descending and coated with slick clay, which obviously makes the way down much easier than the way up, and eventually explains why this specific course of progression along the circuit has been recommended. 25 m below there is "The Scraper" (+30 m above the entrance), where the Clay Passage begins. By following it eastward, a junction is reached, where to the left opens Marianne passage, while to the right the Meanders passage starts. The Clay Passage is a 2-4 tall, narrow rift, abundantly coated with clay. In turn, Marianne passage is a phreatic tube of modest heights, with horizontal ceiling.
Several 1-2 m diameter water pools with calcite films floating on their water are met immediately after entering Marianne passage. Further on, old Ursus Spaelaeus dens and an accumulation of mammals bones occur. At the end of the passage, via a chaotic section that includes the Sands Chamber and the Junctions Chamber, the Great Chamber of Ratei cave is attained. Its name has been given by the first explorers, who arrived here from the Breakdown Chamber, by following the river downstream.
In the Great Chamber, during high discharge periods, the streamcourse splits into two branches, the most abundant flowing nortward, while the other one runs eastward. During draught periods the entire stream flows northward.
The Scraper can also be reached, via a severe crawl, from the Junctions Chamber.
Back to the entrance of Marianne passage, the SE directed branch will be followed, in order to readily arrive at "The Shelf", a junction with another streamcourse. This is the upstream end of the Meanders passage, by far the most spectacular in the cave: meanders, scenic erosional ledges (photo) and the stream that runs along part of it. Beyond the Water Shaft, where the stream sinks away, the passage down to the Halt Room is dry.
The hydrology of the cavity essentially includes two distinct streamcourses, that junction in the proximity of Sump 3.
At the surface there are several swallets. One is situated in Ratei gorge, at its upstream extremity, while diffuse losses still occur all along the streambed of the gorge. The left hand tributaries of Ratei brook also form swallets at their entrance in the limestone area.
During draught pariods, Ratei brook entirely sinks in the swallet in the gorge. A flow rate gauging performed by D. Slavoaca at 15.07.1993 indicated 64 l/s at the swallet, while at the resurgence, at the cave entrance, the flow rate was 94 l/s. Hence some 70% of the outlet discharge originates in the gorge area.
Since the stream in the cave is tapped for water supply, it has been not possible to perform tracer tests. As a result, hypotheses on the origin of the streamcourses in the cave are based on flow rate, chemical content, temperature, relative position, etc. criteria, and opinions on this matter are still controversial.
The first of the previously mentioned two stream courses enters the cave via Sump 5, at the upstream end of the Waterfalls passage, flows all along that passage, then sinks at its downstream end, to emerge again in Sump 3. This streamcourse accounts for about two thirds of the total discharge at the cave outlet, and probably originates in the swallets situated in Ratei gorge.
The second stream course is first met in the Titans Chamber, then it crosses the large chambers of the cave, prior to sinking at the bottom of the northern wall of the Great Chamber. Next it is met, in our opinion, at the end of the Piss passage, wherefrom it flows down the Meanders passage, to sink down the Water Shaft, to re-emerge in Sump 4.
The left hand tributary that is met between sumps 3 and 4 (in the spot indicated on the cave map by the 3.5 m mark), has a small flow rate and seems to originate in diffuse seepage, concentrated within the limestone body, presumably far away from the known cave passages. This hypothesis is supported by its temperature, at least 1oC higher than the temperature of any other water occurence within the cave. Together with the streamcourse emerging via Sump 4, this small tributary provides the remaining one third of the total discharge at the cave outlet.
The overall features of the stream emerging at the cave entrance are: 60 - 140 l/s discharge range, calcium and sodium bicarbonate water type, with 600 mg/l TDS content and 5.4o german hardness.
Ratei cave was formed by water enlargening a system of ante- and post-Albian cracks, that extend mainly along three directions: N- S, E-W and NW-SE. The same cracks system has been identified both within the Jurassic limestones and within the Cretaceous Bucegi conglomerates.
When considering relative elevations, three distinct floors may be separated within the cave: the upper section, consisting mainly of the New Passage; the median positioned section, that includes the large chambers at the end of the cave, the Straight Passage, the Rimstone Pools passage, the Clay passage, and Marianne passage; the lower positioned section, where most of the present day drainage occurs: the Meanders passage, the Waterfalls passage and the Entrance passage.
The speleogenetic process included several underground stream piracies and diversions. The upper positioned passages have been formed first, with the process evolving toward the present-day stage: the upper floor has been completely drained out, while the stream courses follow the median floor level (short sections of it), and most of the lower floor level.
The Meanders passage has been permanently occupied by a streamcourse, the older streambed levels being preserved as a vertical succession of protruding benches, that extends over 10- 20 m elevation range.
The cave is still liable to undergo an active evolution, as a consequence of the fact that the present-day outlet is situated 32 m above the base level of Ratei brook.
Ratei is a complex, rather difficult cave. The main problem is route finding, the risk of getting lost being permanent. Even experienced cavers should be accompanied by a guide, while for other categories of tourists we strongly recommend not to attempt the visit. Additional difficulties consist in the long distances and many obstacles to be overcome, and although none of them is really critical, the combination resulting when the 4-8oC cold water is also considered is quite demanding.
Since the cave is roughly horizontal, no tackling is required.
A homogenous team, acquainted with the cave, should normally perform the previously described trip in 7-8 hours.
It is our pleasure to aknowledge the merits of Cristian Panaiotu, who has been the true soul of "Focul Viu" club during the entire period when the cave survey was performed, and whose efforts resulted in all the graphic representations related to Ratei cave, as they are available at the present-day stage.
BLEAHU, M., DECU, V., NEGREA, ST., PLESA, C., POVARA, I. & VIEHMANN, I. (1976) Pesteri din Rom_ nia, Ed. Stiintifica si enciclopedica, Bucuresti, pp. 369-376.
GRIGORE, S. (1988) Fenomene carstice _ n Muntii Leaota, Bul. stiintific Cerc. Speol. Hades - Ploiesti, pp. 48-50.
LASCU, C. (1972) Pestera Ratei, A.B.C. turistic, U.T.C.-B.T.T., Bucuresti, pp. 34-37.
ORGHIDAN, T., NEGREA, ST., RACOVITA, GH. & LASCU C. (1984) Pesteri din Romania, Ed. Sport-Turism, Bucuresti, pp 399-405.
PATRULIUS, D. (1969) Geologia Masivului Bucegi si a Culoarului D_ mbovicioara, Ed. Academiei R.S.R., Bucuresti, 321 p.
POVARA, I., LASCU, C., GORAN, C., HERDLICKA, W. & JIBOTEAN M. (1973) Observations preliminaires dans la grotte de Ratei (M-ts. Bucegi, Carpathes Meridionales de Roumanie), Livre Cinquantenaire Inst. Speol. "E. Racovitza", Ed. Academiei R.S.R., Bucuresti, pp. 633-642.
SLAVOACA, D.C. & SLAVOACA R. (1994) Studiul hidrogeologic la masivelor Bucegi si Postavaru si al Muntilor Persani, _ n vederea evaluarii potentialului de ape subterane potabile (perimetrul Masivul Bucegi), Arh. "Prospectiuni" S.A., Bucuresti (unpublished).