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National nature monuments – Veľká ľadová Abyss

The caves are a part natural heritage of the Slovak Republic. The Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic no. 543/2002 of the Legal Codes On Nature and Landscape Protection enacted all the caves and abysses natural monuments. The most important ones are declared by the Ministry of the Environment the national nature monuments. All the show caves belong by now among the most important caves.

Veľká ľadová Abyss

The protestant priest Pavol Rebery from Boca briefly described some caves in the massif of Ohnišťe in the Low Tatras at the beginning of the 18th century. This plain was used for cattle and sheep grazing. The entrances to the abyss were known from long ago.

The first caving expedition took place in August 1939 headed by Vojtech Benický from the Museum of the Slovak Karst. They descended to the bottom of the 80 m deep abyss, with ice, boulders and wood on the floor. Further expeditions measured and documented the cave in better detail. The abyss is formed in Middle Triassic Gutenstein limestones of the Biely Váh series of the Choč Nappe.

There are two openings on the surface. The upper one at 1,529 m, and the lower one at elevation of 1,515 m above the sea. Ice coatings from several cm to 15-20 cm are on the walls in the entrance 89 m deep abyss. Ice cone protrudes from the bottom covered with a lot of detritus. The ice have an ellipse shape of asymmetric dimension 9 x 6 m. The ice cone is covered with firn and ice. Its height is around 10 m, and is dependent on climatic conditions.

There is inclined side fissure passage in NE direction with 30 m deep vertical at its end, and continues further to sedimented bottom. The total length of the abyss is 125 m.