Ghliana Cave Natural Monument

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
IUCN category III (natural monument or feature)
Lake in Ghliana cave.
Nearest cityTskaltubo
Coordinates42°22′20.3″N 42°35′50.5″E
Established2011
Governing bodyAgency of Protected Areas
Websiteღლიანას მღვიმის ბუნების ძეგლი

Morphology

Ghliana 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
Bats maternity colony in the cave.

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

References
  1. Ghliana Cave in Georgia Protected Planet
  2. Ghliana Cave Natural Monument National Parks of Georgia
  3. (in Georgian) ღლიანას მღვიმის ბუნების ძეგლი
  4. 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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