Sima Pumacocha

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Sima Pumacocha (possibly from Spanish sima deep and dark cavern/abyss,[1] Quechua
puma cougar, puma, qucha lake[2]) is a limestone cave located in the Lima Region,
Yauyos Province, Laraos District, in central Peru near the village of Laraos, high
in the Andes mountains. At 638 meters deep, it held the record for deepest known
cave in South America from 2001 to 2006 when it was surpassed by Abismo Guy Collet.
With the entrance being 4372 meters above sea level and the depth being over 500
meters, it is the highest major cave in the world.[3] and It is located at
12.3914�S 75.7�W.

Contents
1 Physical and geological setting
2 Cave description
3 Cave exploration
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
Physical and geological setting

Cavers at Pumaqucha ("cougar lake") offloading equipment for Sima Pumaqucha. The
mountain in the background is L�on Pitakana.

Rock formations 700 meters from road and cave entrance.

At 4,300 m to 4,400 m above sea level, the Pumaqucha valley is a typical Andes
'puna' � high, treeless, and surrounded by 5,000 m peaks.[4] The valley is
traversed by a dirt road serving active and abandoned mines nearby, and is dotted
with stone huts used by locals tending flocks of sheep, llamas and alpacas. At the
head of the valley is Pumaqucha, a small lake which along with its catchment area
sits atop Miocene age granodiorite. Where the lake's outfall stream meets near-
vertically bedded Cretaceous age Jumasha limestones, it has carved a short, shallow
canyon containing several abandoned and one active sinkpoint where the entire
stream disappears underground. Underlying the limestone is the Lower Cretaceous
Pariatambo Formation.

A small concrete canal, intended to keep the lake outfall on the surface by
diverting it around the canyon, is in poor shape and normally does not function at
all. When local repairs occur, the active sinkpoint (SP1) becomes enterable, but
considerable water then leaks into the abandoned sinks (SP2 and SP3).

On a regional scale, the long, irregular band of limestone containing Sima

Pumaqucha and several other caves runs roughly south-southeast to north-northwest.
The Pumaqucha waters sink at an elevation of 4,375 m above sea level, and are
thought to resurge in the Rio Alis valley some 14 km to the north at an elevation
of about 3,300 m above sea level.

Cave description

Sign at Pumaqucha cave entrance

Pumaqucha cave entrance

Following the steeply-dipping limestone beds, Sima Pumaqucha generally consists of
several vertical shafts connected by short sections of horizontal to steeply-
sloping passages.[5][6][7][8] Although closely grouped together, the three main
entrances each lead to extensive independent passages before meeting underground.
SP1 and SP2 are within 60 m of each other but their passages join at about the �300
m level, while SP3, a further 30 m away, is thought to join the main cave at a
depth of �550 m based on observations of relative water volumes (SP3 is blocked at
�120 m). All three entrances lead to big shafts: SP1 has the deepest shaft in the
Andes (282 m), SP2 leads to the 113-meter-deep Ammonite Shaft, and SP3 is a 120 m
shaft. Several fossilized ammonites up to 20 cm in diameter were observed within
Ammonite Shaft�s walls. Below the junction of SP1 and SP2 are several wet shafts
between 15 m and 75 m in depth, leading to a gravelled sump at �638 m. All explored
passages have been surveyed, with a total length of 1,427 m.

It was hoped that the strong inward draught indicated a junction with a large
underground river, but after losing the draught near the sump some cavers concluded
that it might be due to the cave�s own stream.

Cave exploration
Sima Pumaqucha was explored and surveyed during three international expeditions.

In June 2001 an expedition of five cavers ran out of rope and time at the head of
The Perfect Storm at about �375 m.[9][10]
In September 2002 an expedition of nine cavers reached the sump at �638 m, and
located other cave entrances within the same limestone formation.[11][12][13]
In September 2004 an expedition of fourteen cavers explored the SP1 series and five
other caves, including Qaqa Mach'ay.[14][15][16]
See also
Qaqa Mach'ay
Wamp'una
References
spanishdict.com
Teofilo Laime Ajacopa, Diccionario Biling�e Iskay simipi yuyayk'ancha, La Paz,
2007 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary)
http://cuevasdelperu.org/publicaciones/peru/2004_Pumacocha2004.pdf
http://cuevasdelperu.org/publicaciones/peru/2004_Pumacocha2004.pdf
"Sima Pumacocha (SP1 � SP2 � SP15)"
.
"Sima Pumacocha Peru 2002 - Page 7"
.
"Expedici�n internacional descubri� en Yauyos la caverna m�s profunda de
Sudam�rica"
. 29 September 2002.
"� Journal Peru Caving"
.
"Pumacocha 2001 - Page 5"
.
http://cuevasdelperu.org/publicaciones/peru/2003_Pumacocha2001-2002_Harper.pdf
"Vet Eats Guinea Pig!!! Peru 2002 - Page 6"
.
http://cuevasdelperu.org/publicaciones/peru/2002_GeoNoticias_Hawkes.pdf
http://cuevasdelperu.org/publicaciones/peru/2002_CanadianCaver_McKenzie.pdf
http://cuevasdelperu.org/publicaciones/peru/2004_Pumacocha2004.pdf
http://cuevasdelperu.org/publicaciones/peru/2004_CanadianCaver_VanLeperen.pdf
"Peru Caving Expedition 2004 - Page 5"
.
Further reading
The Canadian Caver nos. 57, 59, 63
Coordinates: 12�23'29?S 75�42'0?W

Categories: Caves of PeruLimestone cavesLandforms of Lima Region

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