The nature of the Inder region.

"Nature is not for all eyes
His secret cover rises.
We still read in it.
But who, reading, understands?”

D. Venevitinov.

Sights of Inder district.

Ice Fern Cave, located on the northeastern shore of Lake Inder, Inder District, Atyrau Region. The cave was discovered in May 2015 during expeditionary work carried out by members of the speleology and karstology section of the Astrakhan branch of the Russian Geographical Society.
It belongs to the caves of corrosion-erosion type and is the first largest cave in the area. The cave has one entrance. It was opened for the first time and was not previously known to the local population. The cave is the largest cave of the Inder-Emba karst okrug and the only cave of the Northern Caspian with many years of ice.
Long-term and seasonal glaciation forms in the cave, which leads to the accumulation in the karst cavities of a specific type of sediment - cryogenic minerals. Mineralogical studies of ice cryomaterial in the Ice Fern cave showed that the minerals are mainly represented by gypsum (99%) and calcite (1%).
For the first time, species diversity, mineralogical and crystallographic features, patterns of distribution throughout the cave, and the relationship with the zonality of the cave climate are described. The volume of the ice body is about 21 cubic meters.
Scientists have not yet been able to determine the age of ancient ice; for this, further comprehensive study of the phenomenon is required. The cave has an interesting flowery decoration: gypsum stalactites and stalagmites. It is difficult to visit.
The depth of the cave from the surface is about 25 meters.

Authority:
https://elibrary.ru

Photos:
Tatyana Starkova.