# Morca Cave > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Morca_Cave > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Morca_Cave.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morca_Cave > Source revision: 1332499552 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Third-deepest cave in Turkey}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Infobox cave | name = Morca Cave | other_name = Morca Sinkhole / Morca Doline | photo = Morca düdeninin girişi.jpg | caption = [Doline](/source/Doline) ([sinkhole](/source/sinkhole)) with the entrance of Morca Cave on the [Taşeli](/source/Ta%C5%9Feli) [Plateau](/source/Plateau) | coordinates = {{coord|36|18|34.41|N|32|39|37.12|E|format=dms|type:landmark_region:Turquey|display=inline}} | photo_caption = Map of Morca cave | map = Turkey | relief = yes | map_width = | map_caption = Location of Morca Cave in the south of [Turkey](/source/Turkey) | map_alt = Location of Morca Cave in Turkey | depth = 1,276 m | length = 5,714 m | elevation = 1,950 m [a.s.l.](/source/Height_above_mean_sea_level){{cite web | title=Morca Cave, Taseli Turkey. Expedition led by ASPEG. Cave stats. | website=The Cave Exploration Society | url=https://www.caveexploration.org/caves | year=2019 | access-date=2023-09-15}} | entrance_count = 1 | discovery = 1996 | website = }} The '''Morca Cave''' is located on the [Taşeli](/source/Ta%C5%9Feli) plateau of the [Taurus Mountains](/source/Taurus_Mountains) in the south of [Turkey](/source/Turkey). Discovered in 1996, it had reached an explored depth of 1,276 meters and a length of 5,714 meters at the end of 2020. By then, Morca was Turkey's third deepest and eighth longest known cave. It has not been fully explored. == History == The Morca [doline](/source/doline) was discovered in 1996 by a team of Turkish cave explorers from the Aspeg (Anadolu Speleology Group Association) with the guidance of a village leader. In the first exploration in 2013, the team reached a depth of 120 meters, and the following year, they reached 447 meters.{{Cite web|title=Aspeg Taseli Projesi Ara Raporu 2012-2015|url=https://issuu.com/aspeg/docs/ta__el__ |author= Anatolian Speleogical Society (ASPEG) |date=2016-04-06|language=tr |access-date=2023-09-15}} In 2018, they reached a depth of 919 meters and a length of almost 3 kilometers.{{Cite web|title=Morca 2018 |url=https://issuu.com/aspeg/docs/morca_d_deni_raporu |author= Anatolian Speleogical Society (ASPEG) |date=2019-03-10|language=en, tr |access-date=2023-09-14}}{{Cite web |title=A new top 10 deepest cave in the world? |url=https://www.caveexploration.org/caves |access-date=September 14, 2023 |website=Caveexploration.org}} In August 2019, Turkish, Bulgarian, Lebanese, and US teams jointly conducted a one-month expedition. They reached a depth of -1210 meters, discovered several waterfalls, one of which was 40 meters high, and a large lake. The total length reached was 4068 meters.{{Cite web|title=Morca 2019 |url=https://issuu.com/aspeg/docs/morca2019-son |author=Anadolu Speleoloji Grubu / Anatolian Speleogical Society (ASPEG) |date=2019-11-19|language=en, tr |access-date=2023-09-14}} In 2020, Ali Hakan Eğilmez dived into the [siphon](/source/sump_(cave)) located at a depth of 1259 meters in the main passage but could only advance about ten meters deeper due to insufficient equipment. He observed a multitude of [shrimps](/source/Niphargus) and concluded, that several watercourses needed further exploration.{{Cite web |last=Ümit Günhan, John Fioroni |date=2022-09-18 |title=Morca Cave and its speleogenesis.Vol. II – Karstologia Mémoires n°22 – Symposium 02 – Caving and explorations |url=https://uis-speleo.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ACTES_CONGRES_UIS_WEB_VOLUME_2.pdf |website=uis-speleo.org. International Congress of Speleology – Savoie Mont Blanc 2022}} In the same year, when measuring another side passage, a depth of -1276 meters was reached, and a labyrinthine system of passages was discovered that requires further exploration.{{Cite web|title=The Morca cave system 2020 - Expedition report|url=https://www.eurospeleo.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ESP2020-03_Morca_Report.pdf|author= Ümit Günhan, Poyraz Uhri, Aron Balla & Mert Gürbüz|language=en, tr|date=2020 |access-date=2023-09-14}} In early September 2023, US cave explorer Mark Dickey fell ill during an expedition with an international team at a depth of -1120 meters.{{Cite web|title=Morca Cave System 2023 Expedition & Training|url=https://www.morcaexpeditions.org/about|access-date=2023-09-14}} On September 2, a [cave rescue](/source/cave_rescue) operation involving nearly 200 experienced people (cavers, rescuers, and doctors) from eight countries including the European Cave Rescue Association{{Cite web |date=2023-09-07 |title=Cave rescue in the Morca cave system in Turkey |url=https://caverescue.eu/news/cave-rescue-in-the-morca-cave-system-in-turkey/ |access-date=2023-09-12 |website= ECRA - European Cave Rescue Association |language=en-GB}} was launched to provide medical care and by September 11 he was evacuated successfully.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66777887|title=Mark Dickey: US explorer freed from one of Turkey's deepest caves|work=BBC News |date=September 11, 2023}} He suffered from [stomach bleeding](/source/Upper_gastrointestinal_bleeding),{{Cite news |date=2023-09-08 |title=An American researcher is trapped deep inside a Turkish cave. Here's what to know |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/09/08/1198368017/american-trapped-turkish-cave-awaits-rescue}} received a [blood transfusion](/source/blood_transfusion){{Cite news |last=Isil Sariyuce, Mostafa Salem, Hande Atay Alam, Jonny Hallam, Heather Chen |date=2023-09-11 |title='Amazing to be above ground': American rescued from cave in Turkey after being trapped for days |language=en |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/11/europe/turkey-cave-rescue-mark-dickey-intl/index.html |access-date=2023-09-12}} and was "[fed intravenously](/source/Parenteral_nutrition)” all the way out.{{Cite news |date=2023-09-11 |title=Mark Dickey: US man trapped in Turkey cave nears surface |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66777196 |access-date=2023-09-12}} Dickey gave the Turkish government credit for his rescue because of the prompt delivery of medical supplies he needed.{{Cite news |last=Nick Visser |date=2023-09-11 |title=American Caver Mark Dickey Rescued After Getting Trapped 3,400 Feet Below Ground |language=en |work=Huffinton Post |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mark-dickey-rescued_n_64feb338e4b01bb291f745c7 |access-date=2023-09-12}} == Geography and geology == The cave is located in the district of [Anamur](/source/Anamur), about 20 kilometers northwest of the city, in the province of [Mersin](/source/Mersin).{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} The Morca cave system develops in the [orogenic belt](/source/orogenic_belt) in the southern part of the [Taşeli](/source/Ta%C5%9Feli) Plateau of the central [Taurus Mountains](/source/Taurus_Mountains). It is situated on the same plateau as the dolines [Çukurpınar Cave](/source/%C3%87ukurp%C4%B1nar_Cave) and the [Egma Sinkhole](/source/Egma_Sinkhole) (also known as Peynirlikönü, the deepest cave in Turkey). At an elevation of about 2120 meters,{{rp| 90}} it presents as a 27 meters deep doline,{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} and transitions into a cave shaft which at the end of 2020 was up to a total depth of 1276 meters and a length of 5192 m.{{rp| 89}} The cave lies at the contact point of [limestone](/source/limestone)s from the [Miocene](/source/Miocene) and the [Jurassic](/source/Jurassic)-[Cretaceous](/source/Cretaceous). The cave deepened in the [vadose zone](/source/vadose_zone) (unsaturated [aquifer](/source/aquifer) above the [water table](/source/water_table)) due to the [uplift](/source/orogeny) of the [Taşeli](/source/Ta%C5%9Feli) [Plateau](/source/Plateau) during the late [Pliocene](/source/Pliocene)-[Quaternary](/source/Quaternary) period. Besides limestone, the cave also contains [clay](/source/clay)ey limestone and [sediment](/source/sediment)s.{{rp| 90}} The cave [shafts](/source/Pit_cave) and underground galleries are further [eroded](/source/Erosion) by water and [snowmelt](/source/snowmelt), and also under the chemical action of dissolved {{CO2|link=Carbon dioxide}}.{{rp| 90}} Regular water inflow occurs at depths of 80 meters, 120 meters, 1015 meters, 1030 meters, and 1040 meters.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} The cave contains an [underground river](/source/Subterranean_river) and at least eight side passages, seven of which have different watercourses.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} {{as of|2019}}, investigations regarding a possible [karst spring](/source/karst_spring) at lower elevation in the area had not yielded results. == Underground biology == In 2019, researchers discovered a species of [amphipod](/source/amphipod)s in the water of Morca Cave. In 2022, Turkish [zoologists](/source/Zoology) Murat Özbek and Gökhan Aydın described it as a new species named ''[Gammarus](/source/Gammarus) morcae''.{{cite journal | last=Özbek | first=Murat | last2=Aydin | first2=Gökhan | title=A new amphipod from the depths of the Morca Sinkhole (Anamur, Türkiye): ''Gammarus morcae n. sp. (Amphipoda: Gammaridae)'', with notes on cavernicolous amphipods of Türkiye | journal=Turkish Journal of Zoology | publisher=The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Tubitak-Ulakbim) – Digital Commons Journals | volume=47 | issue=2 | date=2023-01-01 | issn=1300-0179 | doi=10.55730/1300-0179.3118 | pages=81–93| doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal|url=https://zse.pensoft.net/article/89957/|title=A new freshwater amphipod ''(Amphipoda, Gammaridae), Gammarus tumaf sp. nov.'' from the Gökgöl Cave, Türkiye|first1=Murat|last1=Özbek|first2=İsmail|last2=Aksu|first3=Hazel|last3=Baytaşoğlu|date=June 1, 2023|journal=Zoosystematics and Evolution|volume=99|issue=1|pages=15–27|via=zse.pensoft.net|doi=10.3897/zse.99.89957 |doi-access=free }} These small [crustacean](/source/crustacean)s are colorless, eyeless, and slightly over two cm in length. They were identified by [stereomicroscopic](/source/stereo_microscope) examination only, without applying [molecular biology techniques](/source/Molecular_biology) ([DNA sequencing](/source/DNA_sequencing)) because they were preserved in water containing [formaldehyde](/source/formaldehyde). == See also == * [List of deepest caves](/source/List_of_deepest_caves) * [Gammaridae](/source/Gammaridae) * [Niphargidae](/source/Niphargidae) == References == {{Reflist}} Category:Anamur Category:Caves of Turkey Category:Landforms of Mersin Province Category:Sinkholes of Turkey --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Morca Cave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morca_Cave) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morca_Cave?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.