Caves in Atyrau region.

“Mankind can no longer spontaneously build its history, but must coordinate it with the laws of the biosphere, from which man is inseparable. Mankind on Earth and the surrounding living and inanimate nature constitute something single, living according to the general laws of nature”

I. A. Vernadsky.

Visiting caves in Atyrau region.

The Bish-choho Upland (Kazakh. "Beshoky" - five hillocks) is located in the Kurmangazinsky district of the Atyrau region of the Republic of Kazakhstan and is located in the western part of Ryn-sands in the territory of the Caspian lowland. It is confined to the Shungai uplift zone.
The height of an area of ​​about 35 square kilometers is a salt dome raising with exits to the arch of a part of the karst gypsum rocks of the Lower Permian (P1kg). It has a flat surface with plaster tubercles and karst relief forms located on it.
The relative excess of this rise over the surrounding area is about 30 m. Astrakhan speleologists first met the caves of Bish-choho (Besshoky) in 1987. A more detailed survey of them was carried out only 10 years later, during the next four complex research expeditions through the Volga-Ural Sands, organized by the Astrakhan branch of the Russian Geographical Society in 1997 - 1999 and in 2009. It should be noted that in literary sources, the karst of the hill is almost not lit.
Only in the work of IB Auerbach gives a short description of karst craters and two caves. Yes, in the article by Yu.M. The rally briefly describes the karst failure well and mentions one of the caves (most likely Kenenbai cave).
Karst caves in Bish-choho (Besshoky) belong to the corrosion-erosion and corrosion-bursting classes. Almost all caves are bag-shaped cavities with one entrance, embedded in gypsum rocks of the salt dome. During a speleological survey on the Bish-choho Upland (Besshoky), a topographic survey of 10 discovered karst caves was carried out.
The largest and most interesting are the caves: Kenenbai, Dream, Kurmangazy.
Kenenbay Cave is located on the northeastern edge of the hill. For the first time and very briefly, I.B. Auerbach, and was examined in more detail by Astrakhan cavers in 1997 - 1998. The entrance is confined to the funnel of a failed genesis.
The cave belongs to the corrosion-erosion type. It is a large underground room with a horizontal floor. The hall is elongated in the sub-latitudinal direction, and has dimensions: 18 mx 11 m, with a height of up to 3 m. The cave is well lit thanks to a large arched entrance (6 m long and 3 m high).
The air temperature in the cave is about + 10ºС. Relative humidity is about 79%. However, due to the large size of the entrance, during the year the temperature and humidity in the cave noticeably change. The entrance to the cave is blocked in the central part by large blocks of gypsum.
The walls and arch of the cave are richly decorated with white bark of secondary gypsum crystallization. The cave is easily accessible and has been visited by locals for a long time.I.B. also writes about this. Auerbach:"... the neighboring Kirghiz arranged for themselves in it something like an underground chapel, where from time to time they perform their worship...".
Dream Cave is located in the southwestern part of the hill. The entrance to the cave is located at the base of the slope of the karst funnel. The dimensions of the inlet: width 1 m, height 0.8 m. The cave belongs to the corrosion-erosion type.
The underground cavity has an elongated oval in shape plan. Dimensions of the cave hall: 30 x 15 x 3 - 5 meters. The cave deposits are represented by coarse plaster material, loose sandy loam deposits and layers of dark red-brown and light yellow clay, broken by drying cracks into separate polygonal pieces.
The walls and arch of the cave are sometimes covered with bark of secondary crystallization of gypsum. In the far part of the cave hall there is a fresh lake with an area of ​​45 square meters and a depth of 1 m. The cave is dimly lit by daylight only at the entrance of the part.
The air temperature in the cave hall is + 11ºС, relative humidity is 84%. No traces of people were observed. The cave did not have a local name, because opened for the first time.
Kurmangazy Cave is also located in the southwestern part of the hill. The entrance is an inclined ponor, leading to the underground cavity. Entrance: width 0.35 m, height 0.55 m. The cave belongs to the corrosion-explosive class.
It is developed in the latitudinal direction, has an elongated shape and is developed according to a system of vertically secant rupture cracks. Cave deposits are represented by coarse gypsum material and loose sandy loam deposits. In places on the walls and arch of the cave there is a whitish bark of secondary gypsum crystallization.
In the western part of the cave, gypsum stalactites were found on the arch (Fig. 5). They have the following dimensions: the diameter at the base is up to 3 cm, the average thickness is 0.8 - 1.5 cm, the length is up to 10 - 12 cm.
The density of stalactites on the arch is up to 100 pieces per 1 square meter. The cave is not lit by daylight. The air temperature in the cave is + 8.9ºС, relative humidity is about 91%. No traces of people were observed. The cave did not have a local name, because opened for the first time.
The cave is named after the famous Kazakh akyn (songwriter) Kurmangazy. The most famous and most visited is Kenenbai cave. Of all the caves available on the Bish-choho hill, only it is littery. In general, all the caves examined are in excellent ecological condition due to the remoteness, inaccessibility and low fame of the Bish-choho hill (Besshoky).

Authority:
http://rosstroy.info "Caves of the Northern Caspian" I. V. Golovachev Astrakhan State University; Astrakhan branch of the Russian Geographical Society 414052, Astrakhan, ul. Artelnaya, 16. E-mail: bask_speleo@mail.ru

Photos
Tatyana Starkova.