EuroSpeleo 2016

The Fuchslabyrinth Maze - a speleogenetic obstacle?

Oral|Mr Michael Ross

Abstract

The "Fuchslabyrinth" is a maze of 11 km of passages, located near Rothenburg ob der Tauber in southwestern Germany, in triassic limestone strata. The cave’s ceiling is covered by a layer of minimal permeability, therefore a very dry cave with minimal amount of formations evolved.

In contrast to the prevailing dense maze pattern of clay-filled fossil passages, an underlying active stream passage shows completely different and rather traditional, features.

After a brief introduction to the cave’s hydrological environment, the talk summarizes 40 years of exploration.

Centerpiece of the talk is a description of morphology and cave contents, leading to ideas about the speleogenesis of this unique cave system.

This includes a discussion about whether the maze pattern and underlying water passage are speleo-genetically separate caves.