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Ferenc-Hegy És Balogh Ádám-Szikla
Ferenc-Hegy És Balogh Ádám-Szikla
Ferenc-Hegy És Balogh Ádám-Szikla
A terület,
számos kisebb üreg mellett, a nagykiterjedésű, hévizes eredetű Ferenc-hegyi-barlangot rejti magában (A), míg a vonulat Ny-i végén a Balogh Ádám-szik-
la található földtani érdekességként (B).
The 265 m-high Ferenc Hill is the most elevated part of the Rózsadomb area. It can be reached by buses No 11 and No 29. In addition to the many
smaller cavities, there is also a large cave in the hill, the Ferenc Hill Cave (A). Another geological curiosity is the Balogh Ádám Cliff at the western end
of the range (B).
76 Budapest geokalauza
A) Ferenc Hill and the Ferenc Hill Cave (Szépvölgy Limestone sE3)
The narrow ridge of the eastern part of the Ferenc Hill is made up of Upper Eocene
nummulites–dyscocycline Szépvölgy Limestone. At the north-eastern end of the ridge the underlying
formation of the limestone gets close to the surface as well. The lower part of the 15 m-deep cave in
Zsindely Street (see map of Site No 3) is situated in Upper Triassic cherty Mátyáshegy Limestone.
Commercial exploitation of this material began as early as the Middle Ages in the small quarries at the
southern side of the ridge. The exploited material was used as building material for the walls of the build-
ings of the Buda Castle. Under the built-up area to the south, partly downthrown Buda Marl and Kiscell
Clay are to be found.
The Ferenc Hill Cave was discovered on 23 September 1933, during sewer groundwork in front
of the house at 162 Törökvész Street. A ca. 500 m-long cave section was explored by speleologists
lead by Hubert Kessler. The original entrance to the cave was a manhole, constructed in the pave-
ment. Later, a new entrance was opened in the shrubby area along Ferenchegyi Street (47° 31'
35"N, 19° 00' 31"E). By the end of 1980, the explored total length of the cave exceeded 4 km.
The passages in the cave were developed as a result of dissolution processes taking place along
tectonic crevices (11), mostly in the Szépvölgy Limestone. The sections, which penetrate into the low-
est part of the overlying bryozoan marl become narrower. The cave layout is grid-like; at the western
part, the NW–SE-trending main passages are connected by NE–SW-trending transversal passages. 3
Mineral precipitations occur only at certain parts of the cave. There are formations of ther-
mal water origin, such as barite veins of tabular crystals which reach 1cm in length, and also calcite veins with barite rims. However, the main curios-
ity is the botryoidal stalactite that covers the walls with variable thicknesses (22). Under the botryoidal stalactites, black, ferrous-manganese saturations
can frequently be observed (33). As a result of dissolution processes, specific cave formations have also evolved on the barren walls. 5–15 cm-large
bivalve-form imprints are common features. Spherical niches (11) of 10m diameter are present at the upper part of the cave and the vertical half-tubes
and, albeit less frequently, tubes of 5–13cm diameter on the side walls are also spectacular (these are upwelling channels).
4 5
Budapest geokalauza 77