Project number: FR/218/9-280/13
Project title: Identification of karst phenomena formation (genesis) in the territory of Georgia and prospects of use of the revealed cave systems for tourist purposes
Funding organization: Shota Rustaveli national Science Foundation of Georgia
Start and end dates: 30.10.2014-30.03.2017
Principal investigator: Nana Bolashvili
Key personnel: Nana Bolashvili, Kukuri Tsikarishvili, Lasha Asanidze, Nugzar Ghlonti, David Odilavadze, Givi Jashi, Avtandil Tarkhnishvili
Project Summary: There are great prospects for the development of Georgian speleotourism,as Georgia is one of the unique regions of the earth by distribution of karst rocks.
The karst caves are important resources for the tourism industry. Speleoturism is highly popular in highly developed countries and provides a significant income for the state.
The aim of the project was to study high mountainous limestone massifs in Georgia and to identify the perspectives of the use of cave systems for tourist purposes. Geographical and geophysical methods of research were used as well as the special equipment - georadar Zond 12e. It is a modern device that allows revealing the cavities formed due to karst processes with high accuracy, as well as the water filtration processes, etc. Also, the electrometric survey methods will be applied using constant power, which differentiates the study environment with quite high accuracy according to specific electrical resistance, identifies the limestone capacity and area, reveals the crack structures and identifies direction of filtration flows.
During the implementation of the project, complex karst-speleological investigations were carried out in the limestone massifs of Samegrelo (Migaria, Tsipuria), Zemo Imereti, Racha and Eki Mountain.
Within the project, on the basis of complex studies conducted by us about twenty promising karst caves (Shurubumu-Deidzakhi karst phenomena, Zakariasklde, Muradi cave, Solkota, Dzudzuana, etc.) were selected out of the caves detected and registered in different limestone massifs of Georgia for speleotourist purposes, the development and involvement into the cave tourism industry of which will provide a significant economic income to the country, which in turn gives a perspective of creation new local and international speleotours. The previously unknown cave systems (the watery corridor of Saadamio - 800 m, Satsuleiskiro, etc.), detected within the project, were included in the international database of the new geographical discoveries of the USA. And the cave (about 300 m in length), discovered in the southern Imereti (the Vani region, village of Bzvani), proved the presence of limestone massif beyond the karsts strip of western Georgia previously unknown in speleo-literature. In Baghdadi region, in the Khanistskali River gorge, the Kaka Bridge, a cave of significant size was discovered, which was the first for this region that is developed in the volcanic rocks and requires additional surveys. These findings are important with the fact that the existence of the cave in the territory of southern Imereti, namely in the Baghdadi and Vani regions, was not previously known.
Achieved results: As a result of implementation of the project, the newly discovered caves filled the cadastre of caves of Georgia. The main participant of the project prepared the doctoral thesis. Information about the caves and other inorganic monuments of nature (for example, the large-scale replaced boulders, waterfalls, etc.) found in the process of the project implementation were handed to the local authorities and the Department of Protected Areas for the purpose of declaring them as nature monuments and inclusion them in the tourist routes. On the basis of our recommendations, local authorities started to arrange tourist infrastructure at the "Shurubumu" cave – the overnight stay cottages were built, the bridge to the cave was repaired and so on. Also, the territory adjacent to "Deidzakhi" boulder was cleared. Schoolchildren visit it often and has several educational lessons were given.
Thus, the aspects of the research carried out in this direction and the organization of the monitoring of appropriate content is of particular interest, because we believe that together with the scientific results we will get a wide range of practical results.
Material obtained as a result of years of reconnaissance work carried out by the TSU Institute of Geography allows us to conclude that comprehensive studies of karst caves detected in different limestone massifs of Georgia and selected for speleotourism purposes, will have positive results and our country will be enriched is near future the speleo-objects of international level like the Akhali Atoni and Prometheus (Tskaltubo) caves, which will allow us to create new international speleo-routes. It is necessary to continue complex, measurable speleological and geophysical surveys of caves. Thus, the aspects of the research carried out in this direction and the organization of the monitoring of relevant contents are of particular interest, as we will get practical results together with scientific ones.