GB Cave
Encyclopedia
GB Cave is a cave between Charterhouse
and Shipham
in the limestone of the Mendip Hills
, in Somerset
, England, and is close to Charterhouse Cave
, the deepest in the region.
The cave was first entered on 19 November 1939, after ten months of digging, by the University of Bristol Spelæological Society
, and was named in recognition of the two members, F. J. Goddard and C. C. Barker, who had done most of the work involved in its discovery. The cave is located within the Cheddar Complex
and the 17-acre GB Gruffy nature reserve and is close to Charterhouse Cave
, the deepest cave in the region.
Ladder Dig broke through in 1966 to gain access to the extremely well-decorated Bat Passage.
The entrance to the cave is kept locked, and access is controlled by the Charterhouse Caving Company.
Further into the cave is the Great Chamber, another large space, and a number of other chambers in the cave are well-decorated.
The trace elements Magnesium
, Strontium
and Barium
have been found by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
(LA-ICP-MS) from three Holocene
speleothems taken from the Great Chamber.
Charterhouse, Somerset
Charterhouse, also known as Charterhouse-on-Mendip, is a hamlet in the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the English county of Somerset...
and Shipham
Shipham
Shipham is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England on the western edge of the Mendip Hills near the A38, approximately south of Bristol. It is in the local government district of Sedgemoor. The parish includes the village of Rowberrow and the hamlet of Star...
in the limestone of the Mendip Hills
Mendip Hills
The Mendip Hills is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running east to west between Weston-super-Mare and Frome, the hills overlook the Somerset Levels to the south and the Avon Valley to the north...
, in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England, and is close to Charterhouse Cave
Charterhouse Cave
Charterhouse Cave,on the Mendip Hills in Somerset, is the deepest cave in southern England.- History :Charterhouse Cave was first excavated in 1972...
, the deepest in the region.
The cave was first entered on 19 November 1939, after ten months of digging, by the University of Bristol Spelæological Society
University of Bristol Spelæological Society
The University of Bristol Spelæological Society was founded in 1919 by cavers in the University of Bristol. Among its earliest activities was the archaeological excavation of Aveline's Hole....
, and was named in recognition of the two members, F. J. Goddard and C. C. Barker, who had done most of the work involved in its discovery. The cave is located within the Cheddar Complex
Cheddar Complex
The Cheddar Complex is a 441.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheddar around the Cheddar Gorge and north east to Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, notified in 1952....
and the 17-acre GB Gruffy nature reserve and is close to Charterhouse Cave
Charterhouse Cave
Charterhouse Cave,on the Mendip Hills in Somerset, is the deepest cave in southern England.- History :Charterhouse Cave was first excavated in 1972...
, the deepest cave in the region.
Ladder Dig broke through in 1966 to gain access to the extremely well-decorated Bat Passage.
The entrance to the cave is kept locked, and access is controlled by the Charterhouse Caving Company.
Description
GB Cave is remarkable for the Gorge, a river-passage up to 6 metres (20 ft) wide, 12 metres (39 ft) high and 90 metres (295 ft) long, which opens into the even larger Main Chamber (20 metres (66 ft) wide, 23 metres (75 ft) high, 122 metres (400 ft) long). Together these two form the largest known space under the Mendip Hills.Further into the cave is the Great Chamber, another large space, and a number of other chambers in the cave are well-decorated.
The trace elements Magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
, Strontium
Strontium
Strontium is a chemical element with the symbol Sr and the atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element that is highly reactive chemically. The metal turns yellow when exposed to air. It occurs naturally in the minerals celestine and...
and Barium
Barium
Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in Group 2, a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal. Barium is never found in nature in its pure form due to its reactivity with air. Its oxide is historically known as baryta but it reacts with...
have been found by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
Mass spectrometry
Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of charged particles.It is used for determining masses of particles, for determining the elemental composition of a sample or molecule, and for elucidating the chemical structures of molecules, such as peptides and...
(LA-ICP-MS) from three Holocene
Holocene
The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...
speleothems taken from the Great Chamber.