The cave Kuk-Karauk is typical for the low piedmont ranges of the Southern Urals and is formed in the dark-grey limestones of the Visean Stage of the Low Carboniferous (C1 v), dipping to the west with the angle of 15º.
The cave has six entrances. It is located around a low (~ 15 m) karst massif, broken by vertical and steeply inclined fractures. The widest entrance is 4, 0х1, 2 m in dimensions, (entrance 1) and has the altitude of 220 m. The cave is inclined-horizontal, two-stage. The inclined ways of the cave are formed along the limestone layers, while the horizontal go along their stretch and are parallel to the slope of the Sikasya river. The total length of all ways and grottos of the cave is 160 m, the amplitude is 14 m, the area is 549 m2, the volume is 940 m3.
The age of the cave is relatively young – not more than 0,7 Ma. Now it is at the stage of an active formation. The secondary new formations (stalactites, calcite sinter, etc.) are rare in the cave. The floor is covered with boulders, crushed stone, clay.
Plan, sections and cross-secions of Kuk-Karauk Cave
The material was prepared jointly with the Institute of Geology of the Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS)
