Cosquer Cave: Difference between revisions

▲The cave can now be accessed by divers through a {{convert|175|m|ft|abbr=on}} long tunnel; the entrance is located {{convert|37|m|ft|abbr=on}} below sea level, which has risen since the cave was inhabited. During the glacial periods of the [[Pleistocene]], the shore of the [[Mediterranean]] was several kilometers to the south and the sea level up to {{convert|100|m|ft|abbr=on}} below the entrance of the cave.<ref name="Billaud2017">Billaud, Yves (2017). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Rk8mDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA333 Chapter 12 Western Mediterranean: Annex. Submerged Karst Structures of the French Mediterranean Coast: An Assessment]. pp. 333–340. In: Submerged Landscapes of the European Continental Shelf: Quaternary Paleoenvironments. John Wiley & Sons. {{ISBN|978-1-118-92213-2}}.</ref><ref name="Flemming2017">{{cite book | author1 = Nicholas C. Flemming | author2 = Jan Harff | author3 = Delminda Moura | author4 = Anthony Burgess | author5 = Geoffrey N. Bailey | date = 7 August 2017 | title = Submerged Landscapes of the European Continental Shelf: Quaternary Paleoenvironments | publisher = John Wiley & Sons | pages = 333–340 |isbn=978-1-118-92213-2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Rk8mDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA340}}</ref>

▲==Discovery and history==

▲Henri Cosquer, a [[Professional diving|professional diver]] in [[Cassis]], discovered the drowned entrance to the cave which had been indicated to him by a diver friend in 1985.<ref>{{Cite book|first1=François|last1=Herbaux|title=Nos ancètres du midi – Enquêtes sur la préhistoire de Sigean à Menton|trans-title=Our ancestors of the south – Investigations into prehistory from Sigean to Menton|at= See 7. Morgiou, 127–144|publisher=Éditions Jeanne Laffitte|date=2005}}</ref> That same year, he progressively explored the submersed gallery alone and then with a friend and [[diving instructor]] from his club until he reached the "''stratum''" (the part where the gallery narrows and turns 90° to open into the underground lake). Cosquer went back alone once in 1985, discovered the underground lake, but a lamp breakdown forced him to turn back and he was left with a good scare. In June 1990, Cosquer asked for the help of two Belgian [[Cave diving|cave divers]], the brothers Bernard and Marc Van Espen, who had come to dive in Cassis. Following Cosquer's instructions, the two brothers found the entrance of the gallery at -37 metres at the foot of the Pointe de la Voile, near Cap Morgiou. They followed the ascending gallery, swimming slowly and carefully near the ceiling of the gallery to avoid lifting the particles of [[silt]] and fine [[clay]]ey [[sediment]]s covering the floor in order to not compromise the underwater visibility (to avoid [[silt out]]). They arrived at the underground lake topped by the air bell seen by Cosquer in 1985. Their [[Distance line|guide line]] being too short, the Van Espen brothers were forced to turn back in order to exit safely by following their guide line towards the entrance of the gallery without being able to emerge in the bell.<ref name="Mildonian_2022a">{{Cite web |title=Vidéo : 30 ans après, les oubliés de la grotte Cosquer se retrouvent à Marseille |trans-title=Video: 30 years later, the forgotten of the Cosquer cave find themselves in Marseille |last1=Mildonian |first1=Laurence |last2=U. |first2=F. |work=LaProvence.com |date=16 September 2022 |access-date=19 October 2022 |url= https://www.laprovence.com/actu/en-direct/6901832/video-30-ans-apres-les-oublies-de-la-grotte-cosquer-se-retrouvent-a-marseille.html |language=fr|quote=Pascale Oriol, Yann Gogan, Cendrine Cosquer et Marc Van Espen se sont retrouvés à Marseille, plus de trente ans après la découverte de la grotte Cosquer. [Pascale Oriol, Yann Gogan, Cendrine Cosquer and Marc Van Espen met in Marseille, more than thirty years after the discovery of the Cosquer cave.]}}</ref> At this stage, the non-submerged part of the cave had still not been explored.