Exploration of caves in Kazakhstan.

“Of course, we learn about travels to unknown lands at the dawn of history only when and only where important events have been preserved for subsequent generations in images or writings, whether in the form of inscriptions carved on stone and other evidence or records made by poets and scientists. who mastered the art of writing. However, it goes without saying that both voluntary and forced travel had already been made long before this time, perhaps at the dawn of human history.

Richard Hennig. "Unknown Lands".

Walks in caves of Kazakhstan.

Caves of Mangyshlak, according to their genesis, are divided into karst-abrasion, karst and artificial. Karst-abrasion caves are confined to the lower part of the coastal ledges of the Mangyshlak plateau and the high shores of the Caspian Sea, are less common in the upper part, sometimes arranged in 2 tiers.
Mangyshlak caves are developed in limestones of the Neogene. Most of the caves are bag-shaped, consist of one, rarely two grottoes ending in a gap, have a wide open entrance. Length from 10 to 50 meters, width 2 - 20 meters, height 2 - 10 meters.
The largest caves are located near the villages: Akshukyr and Araldy, on capes Melovoy and Zhilandy. Karst caves are located in tectonic cracks, in dense white limestones of the Upper Cretaceous. There are three bag-shaped linear caves on the Tyub-Karagan peninsula. The largest of them is Ushauz, 20 meters long.
The karst caves of Ustyurt are confined mainly to the bottom of karst sinkholes, but they are also found in crevices (ledges), plateaus and walls of erosion-karst ravines. Such large caves exist in the southern part of Ustyurt in the valley Bulyoyik and Utebay.
The entrance to the Bulyoyik cave is located in the north-eastern wall of the karst funnel at a depth of 7 meters, 40 - 80 meters long, 4 - 6 meters wide and 6 - 8 meters high. The cave has three halls with a domed ceiling, the halls are 15 - 20 meters long, 8 - 10 meters wide and 6 - 15 meters high, located at a depth of 28, 75 and 120 meters.
More than a dozen cavities, caves and grottoes are located 50 kilometers southeast of the Kenderli saline land (Karynzharyk depression) and 25 kilometers northeast of the border with Turkmenistan, in the vicinity of the valleys: Kulniyaz Kalka, Syrtashanzhal, Aksekseul.
Bulyoyik cave belongs to the category of unique caves. On the Tyub-Karagai peninsula there are artificial caves Beket ata, Sultan Epe, Shakpak ata, Sholpan ata and others. They arose as a result of the processing of natural karst cavities for household needs.
Geographical coordinates of Buloyik cave: E 54º 43י58.28ײ N 42º 26י47.91'
Geographical coordinates of Utebay cavity: N42°29'04.98" E54°38'50.58"

Authority:
G. M. Potapov. Brief encyclopedia "Kazakh SSR", 1990, 2 volume.

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.