Jiang Kou

Introduction And Area Map

The 1996 expedition followed the 1994 expedition and a reconnaissance by Andy Eavis and Brian Judd in 1995. The objective was to push shafts and caves on the mountain above the giant show cave, Furong Dong, which was in the valley below. The expedition was also to investigate other sites to the east of Tian Xing village, which had been identified on the map.

It was hoped that at least one of the sites on the mountain, would provide a continuation of Furong Dong and so discover more of that spectacular cave system. The expedition was successful, but not quite in the way intended!

Jiang Kou Area Map

Geology, geomorphology and cave development
- Kev Senior (1994)

The Landscape around Jiang Kou is dominated by two major rivers: the Wu Jiang and the Furong Jiang. A major fault runs north-south just west of Jiang Kou and the Wu Jiang follows this for part of it's course. Approximately 500m of Permo-Triassic limestones are thrown down to the west of this fault, which is responsible for the 1250m escarpment above the west bank of the Wu Jiang.

Jiang Kou: Furong Jiang (river) joins the Wu Jiang

Wu Jiang, 9 kilometres up river from Jiang Kou

The Wu Jiang turns northwards at Jiang Kou, cutting a gorge through the dip slopes of the Triassic limestones. To the east of the fault the Triassic limestones rest unconformably on Palaeozoic formations and form an outlier in the hills north of Jiang Kou. The Palaeozoic formations consist of Silurian and Ordovician shales, but beneath these are lower Ordovician and Cambrian Limestones. The Triassic limestone cover has been eroded from the karst plateau above Furong Dong show cave. In summary, the structure of the Cambrian limestones consists of folds with north-south axes, associated reverse faults, and major joints trending east-west. This means that water must flow across the geological structures to reach base level in the Furong Jiang. There is no obvious resurgence into the Furong Jiang, but a reduction in the river water temperature below Furong Dong and the position of the major flood resurgence, 'English Speakers Cave', indicate that a deeper phreatic system resurges beneath the surface of the Furong Jiang near this point.

More detailed larger scale

Jiang Kou Area Map (192KB)

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