Saturday, June 28, 2014

Deer Cave, Mulu

Deer Cave is located near Miri,SarawakMalaysian Borneo and is a show cave attraction of Gunung Mulu National Park. It was surveyed in 1961 by G.E. Wilford, of the Malaysian Geological Survey, who predicted that Mulu would yield many more caves in the future (Wilford, 1964). 

The cave, which is also known as Gua Payau or Gua Rusa by the local Penan and Berawan people, is said to have received its name because of the deer that come to the cave to lick salt-bearing rocks (Tsen, 1993) and shelter themselves.

The cave was surveyed for the first time in the year 1978, producing measurements of 174 m wide and 122 m high in one section that passed through the mountain for a distance of one kilometer. Subsequently a next survey increased the acknowledged passage length to 4.1 kilometers and connected Lang Cave, another show cave within the park, to the Deer Cave System. This survey made in 2009 by the Hoffman Institute of Western Kentucky University revealed the maximum cross sectional area to be in the large southern passage. This was documented at 169 m wide with a ceiling height of 125 m. The northern passage registered the greatest ceiling height at 148m with a cross sectional width of 142 m. The main entrance of Deer Cave was measured at 146 m.[1]










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