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to the Table of the  Regions
to the statistical  summary

PREFACE

All the syngenetic caves are non-karstic caves. The postgeneticcaves listed here are those caves, which have  been developed mainly  through rock fragmentation, weathering and wearing or corrasion. Corrosion, the acidic dissolution process, has  played only a subordinate part. This is a  simplified definition. We have to state that these cave forming processes are mainly effective in magmatic rocks or in highly siliceous metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.

The list includes 1299 non-karstic caves have been listed.   We have listed all the caves  known up to  2019.  Some cave which are known to have existed,  have  been destroyed   and  these  have been specially noted. Furthermore, listed are caves of the border  regions of Austria and Slovakia, which belong to similar geomorphological and geological  formations.  Also included  in the list are artificial or artificially  widened  cavities,  which are considered as caves by the local population. These include  abandoned mine  workings,  rock shelters, former  hermitages, underground commercial  premises which are several  hundred years old, rock-chapels  and other cavities used  for religious purposes   throughout  history. However, the list does not include cellars, former cave-dwellings  in built up areas, basements, former military bunkers, industrial objects or air-raid  shelters.

The majority of the non-karstic caves in Hungary (928 caves) developed in igneous rocks, in andesite, basalt, rhyolite and in their tuffaceous formations as well as in granite porphyry. Some 287 caves are  known in sedimentary  rocks, mainly in sandstones and conglomerate  and 84 caves are formed in  metamorphic rocks, in calcareous phillite and in green schist.

The caves have been formed in various ways. Between the syngenetic caves in the magmatic rocks, gas bubbles occurred, forming crystal caves, which have been opened by mine workings. Also in magmatic rocks holes formed by alkaline solution can be found, as well as fumarole cavities ,hollows resulting from steam explosions, holes formed by weathering between the basaltic columns and natural bridges. In the magmatic, sedimentary  and metamorphic rock formations tectonic fracture caves frequently appear, collapse labyrinths, atectonic and consequence caves. Erosion niches,  rock shelters, and small tunnels are formed mainly in tuffaceous formations, sandstones and loess.

During the deposition of the calc-tufas, characteristic syngenetic caves formed concurrently. Corridors, tunnels and chambers  and other a rtificial holes were frequently  mined and  enlarged  in volcanic tuffs and sandstones but rarely  in other rock formations.

In some non-karstic caves Neolithic, Bronze Age and.  Iron Age archeological remains were discovered, e.g. at Nagy-barlang  in Legyesbénye and Pokol-lik in Kapolcs.  The first  written reference  to  a non-karstic cave dates from 1295 (Likas-kő  in Lovasberény). In 1869  the geologist József Szabó led the first  expedition to the Mátra  Mountains in order to explore  the Csörgő-lyuk. It was many years later in the 1930’s that  some researchers again investigated non-karstic caves. In the 1950’s and  1960’s  exploration was further revived in these caves.

Organised research beganin1983 with the launch of  the Volcanspeleological Collective. Their comprehensive activityis still ongoing. The organisation, led  by István Eszterhás, consists of a nucleus  of  15 persons, who are occasionally joined  by several more  cavers They have listed and surveyed 1246 non-karstic caves. In 40 caves they dug and  discovered nearly 1000 m  of new  cave passages. They studied the development of the non-karstic caves, and they determined new types of cave development (consequence caves ,holes  formed by alkaline solution, fumarole cavities).

They have found, and  described,  some speleothems  previously unknown in Hungary, such  as silicat stalactitesand isingerit discs. They have solved  the problem of ice development in  low elevation basalt caves.They  have classified 200 speciesof  animals and 18 species of fungii  (some of   them are unusual)which are  to be found in the caves. The results have been summarized in 7 separate volumes and in 188 articles mainly in Hungarian, but occasionally in German or in English.    

The following is a short  listof  the longest non-karstic caves in Hungary:

1. Csörgő Hole (rhyodacit tuff) Mátra Mountains  428/-30 m

2. Anna Calc-tufa Cave ,partly  man-made (calc-tufa) Bükk Mountains  600/ ±18m

3. Várhegyi  Calc-tufa  Cave, partly man-made  (calc-tufa) Budai Mountains  3300/±15m  (3. according to the appr. length of the natural part)                             

4. Papp Ferenc Cave,partly karstic (sandstone,  conglomerate,  limestone)  Pilis Mountains  335/-66m

5. Tettyei calc-tufa  Cave, partly  man-made (calc-tufa) Mecsek Mountains  218/+2 m

6. Szabó József Cave,  partly karstic (sandstone, marl) Pilis Mountains  200/-25 m

7. Pulai Basalt Cave(basalt) Bakony Mountains  151/-22 m

8. Csák-kői Big  Cave,partly man-made (rhyolite )  Mátra  Mountains  133/+14 m

9. Soltészkerti  Calc-tufaCave, partly man-made  (calc-tufa) Bükk Region  115/+2m

10. Betyár Cave  (calcareoussandstone) Mátra Mountains 87/±7m

11. Kő-hegyi Cave (calc-tufa)   Gerecse  Mountains 85/±12 m

12. Halász Árpád Cave, partly man-made (basalt)  Bakony  Mountains 72/-6m

13. Disznós-árki-Cave (andezite agglomerate)  Visegrádi  Mountains  70/-13 m

14. Szilvás-kői  Cave (basalt)Medves-Ajnácskői  Mountains  65/-13 m

15. Sas-kövi Cave (andesite tuff) Visegrádi Mountains  63/-10m

16. "Táncterem"- Lepkés Passage (andesite  agglomerate)  BükkRegion  58/-6 m

17. Panka Shaft Cave (basalt) Badacsony 56/-18 m

18. Sárkánytorok Cave (basalt) Medves - Ajnácskői Mountains  51/-16 m

19. Pokol Hole (basalt)  BakonyMountains  51/+4 m

20. Vasas Chasm NoI.Cave (andesite agglomerate) Visegrádi Mountains  50/-19m

21. Széchy Dénes Cave (limestone and sandstone) Esztergom  50 /±10 m

22. Arany Cave (rhyolite  tuff) Tokaj -Eperjesi  Mountain Chain  50/+3 m

23. Rózsa Sándor Cave (andesite) Tokaj -Eperjesi Mountain Chain  46/-14m

The digital development of the Non-karstic Cave Registry was carried out using Arcview GIS with the available digital map material. .Digital maps with different scales have been developed for the specific regions as project files (apr).The number of map pages for a region depends  on the number and distribution of caves.

The cave entrances have been marked on the maps  on a separate layer (shp file). Originally the caves were recorded  in survey books, topographic  maps, and  in notes following many years of research  and exploration.

Arcview determines the eov_x and eov_y  coordinates (eov= uniform national projection) of cave entrances in shp file format. The  z coordinate, or the elevation of  the cave entrances (a.s.l.) can  be read  from the contour lines of the base  maps or on the base of GPS measurements.

The maps were drawn  using color ,and different line  thickness etc. The most important item  was the indication of the cave entrances and cave  names. .The maps were exported in jpg file  format.   This enables further utilization and handling.

From the twenty-one regions the caves of 16 regions can be drawn in more  then one map page. Therefore the preparation of regional index maps was  necessary. These maps show  the exact location of  the map  pages with  th ecave entrances indicated.

The Index Map of  Hungary shows the 21  locations of the regions with non-karstic caves and  a table of  the regions has been prepared, too..  

The. Index Map of  Hungary  and  the Regional  Index maps were converted to jpg  file format, as were the detailed maps, the advantage  being that jpg format is also similar.

The dbf database, which  was compiled automatically  from the  shp files was filled with  cave data.  Thisincluded: identification  nnumber, name and length of  the cave, special notes  (artificial, collapsed etc.) and the enclosing  rock. The eov_xand eov_y coordinates of the cave entrances (eov= uniform national projection) were enterd as numeric fields in the data base.

 In order to present regional datasheets, the dbf database  was copied in and xls (MsExcell) file  formats and the data is sorted in alphabetic order in some cases the z coordinate is  indicated .  Where Regional Index  Maps exist this data is also sorted  according to the indicated map pages of the Index Map.

The cave surveys and  photographs were  saved in gif and jpg file format. The cave descriptions  were written in txt format.

The digital data in the non-karstic cave list, such as detailed maps and the  index maps, the cave  surveys and the photographs the data sheets and the descriptions allows the transfer and presentation of the  cave list.

The Home Page of the  cave list summarises the non-karstic caves in Hungary.

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