Gagra Range

Geography

Gagra Range is part of the Greater Caucasus in Abkhazia..It runs between the valleys of the Bzyb and Psou rivers to the south of the Caucasus Major, in a general North-South direction. The range spans 85 km, dropping abruptly toward the Black Sea, forming deep valleys along the coast. The range consists of steep slopes, with the highest elevation located at Mount Agepsta at 3357 m along the Abkhazian–Russian border. While the western slopes drop sharply toward the sea, while northeastern foothills are gentler and more vegetated. The Gagra Range approaches the Black Sea close to the city of Gagra and plays an important role in moderating the climate of that resort by blocking cold, continental winds from the north and east.

Geology

The mountain range is composed of limestone from Lower Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic period. These limestone form extensive karst landscapes includes caves, sinkholes, gorges, and subterranean rivers. The mountains host some of the deepest cave systems in earth. The Veryovkina Cave extending up to 2209 m deep, is the deepest-known cave on Earth. It was discovered in 1968 and explored to full depth via vertical exploration systems. The Sarma Cave is the third deepest globally at about 1830 m depth, with documented stygobiont amphipods. These cave systems incorporate numerous water springs, fed by deep cave aquifers formed five to six million years ago, and feed into the sea via the coastal foothills. A highway to Lake Ritsa, the deepest lake in Abkhazia (116 m), runs by the range, along the Bzyb, Iupshara and Gega rivers.

Notes

References

References

1. "Geography and Climate in Gagra". UsefulTravelArticles.
2. "Agepsta peak". PeakVisor.
3. "Arabika massif limestone stratigraphy". Madloba.info.
4. O. Klimchouk. (January 2018). "Development of the deepest karst systems and submarine discharge of the Arabika massif (Western Caucasus)". Geology and Mineral Resources of World Ocean.
5. "Veryovkina cave". ExplorersWeb.
6. "Veryovkina cave". Ilia State University.
7. O. Klimchouk. (July 2019). "Deepest cave in the world in the Arabika massif and its hydrogeological significance". Geology and Mineral Resources of World Ocean.
8. (1 June 2016). "State of the Environment Georgia - Biodiversity".
9. "Route through Bzyb, Iupshara, Gega". PeakVisor.