Travis, Yes, the Frio River sinks into it's bed as it crosses the recharge zone of the Edwards Aquifer; however, it doesn't discharge 14 miles to the south but is a major recharge source of the Edwards Aquifer and pirates water more than a 100 miles to the east to discharge at San Antonio, San Pedro, Comal, Hueco, and San Marcos Springs. T
Why haven't there been caves with rivers found, I've often wondered that myself. Part of the problem is that most of the major conduits formed directly under the river are either full of water or are full of sediment making it difficult to get in them. There is a relatively short distance between the recharge zone of the aquifer and the artesian zone. Once the conduit hits the artesian zone, it's probably full of water. There are a few good examples of this in the Edwards, probably the best is Indian Creek Cave and possibly Valdina Farm Cave. The area with greatest potential for finding a large river cave in the Balcones Fault Zone segment of the Edwards Aquifer is between Cibolo Creek (Bexar-Comal County line) and San Marcos Springs. There is sufficient flow of groundwater in this area and there is sufficient thickness of limestone above the water table that the longest and largest cave in Texas is probably located here. The problem is finding the way in. It will require a lot of persistence and some luck but the geologic data says it's there. Geary Schindel, Chief Technical Officer Edwards Aquifer Authority San Antonio, Texas -----Original Message----- From: Travis Scott [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, June 06, 2008 11:18 AM To: TexasCavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] Major underground river? Caver-types, Something I have always been fascinated with, yet have rarely heard a mention of in the caving community, is the fact that Texas limestone sucks up an entire river (albeit not the biggest river in the world), and spits it out several miles downstream (~14 miles or so according to Google Earth imagery). Maybe this doesn't need to be a communal discussion, but I figured I would throw it out nonetheless. Are there any Frio River Experts that know something about this and might be willing to share with an inquiring mind? (and not the "experts" at drinking beer while floating the river, I know enough about that one although I need to study it more!) Anyways, if nothing else, does it actually go into an underground "cave", or maybe just flow under the gravel for the several miles? I have seen references to a fault that sucks it up too. Maybe there is a chance for some good underground tubing! Travis --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
