| Violet cave | description |
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Violet cave has three entrances and a small
window that give light to the atrium. The main peculiarity is the
presence of a dark violet manganese patina on the walls of the four
subaerial rooms. The sulphureous water presence obliges us not to take
off mask and regulator when we surface
in the Inner domes because the sulphydric acid vapours (rotten egg smell)
could be the cause of disgust and headache. We enter at -14 mt. and from
the rocky bottom atrium we can see the four openings. Going inside we
meet a muddy bottom (let's stay far from it) and we enter in the warm
(24°C) and milky water for the suspended particles of colloidal sulphur.
It's an unreal atmosphere. It seems to fly among clouds. On the wall the
white soft carpet of sulphur bacteria and the holes of date mussels,
molluscs by that time dead in consequence of the chemical composition of
the water After surfacing we find in the big lake and we can see the
violet colour of the manganese. small columns, stalagmites. stalactites
and helictites. Some metres above our head a corrosion furrow owed to
the mixing of different nature waters. The date mussels holes are Index
of ancient sea levels. We meet a line I anchored here in 1991 during the
survey operations. There is no fouling on it because of sulphureous
water We dive again and al seven metres of depth we find the clear
separation line between sulphureous and sea waters. The life starts
again and we can feel the difference in temperature. We visit the
smaller domes and the atrium walls where many animals live: bryozoans,
nudibranchs, sponges, cardinal fishes, spirographs, and tunicates. On
the main entrance vault the flow of warm waters. |
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