M2 Blue Cave System Exploration Project

Principal Applicant: Dr. Andrew Pitkin

Date of Application: December 19, 2010

 Background:

 Located in Madison County, the M2 Blue cave system was discovered by Buford Pruitt in the early 1990s and initially explored by him with Mark Long and Fred Davis. Further exploration has occurred sporadically since then by several other teams. Most exploration prior to 2010 has concentrated on the upstream end of the cave which is shallower and has excellent visibility.

 Progress in 2010

 In the summer of 2010 the M2 Blue entrance cleared and over several dives the downstream  end of the line was extended significantly by our team, eventually connected to old cave line in an unknown cave system to the south. After some research, the unknown cave system was discovered to be originating in an offset sink known as Fannel’s Funnel. Although it had been previously explored for about 3000 feet of passage, no survey or map of this system was available. Subsequent survey of it by us showed that Fannel’s Funnel was indeed the unknown system connected to the downstream end of M2 Blue.

 Further exploration in the area of the connection yielded an important discovery: a breakdown room at the junction of at least four passages, the most significant being a large siphon passage trending south at a depth considerably greater (150-160 feet) than the rest of the system (100 – 120 feet). Observations suggest that this deep siphon passage is draining a substantial portion of the water that traverses the upstream M2 system, the rest draining southeast to Fannel’s Funnel.

 Further exploration of the downstream siphon has pushed the limits of exploration out to 7200 feet from Fannel’s Funnel, most of which is deeper than 150 feet depth, necessitating bottom times of over 3 ½ hours and total bottom times of over 9 hours. In addition, investigation of other potential karst windows the area has resulted in a second cave system being identified to the south; the upstream end of this cave is trending towards and looks likely to connect to the main M2 Blue system. Currently, the length of the entire system is around 20,000 feet of surveyed passage, 10,000 of which has been added by our team in 2010.

This exploration work is being carried under permit from the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD). Additionally, the Florida Geological Survey (FGS) has written a letter in support of the project.

National Association for Cave Diving, PO Box 14492, Gainesville, FL 32604, Telephone and Fax: 386-497-3011