Topolnița Cave
{{Infobox cave
| child =
| name = Topolnița Cave
| other_name = Topolnițsa Cave
| alt_name = Peștera Topolnița
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| map = Romania
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| map_caption = Location of the cave in Romania
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| location = Mehedinți County, Romania
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| coords = {{coord|44|49|05.9|N|22|33|46.6|E|display=inline,title}}
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| length = {{convert|11|-|20.5|km|mi|abbr=on}}
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| elevation = {{convert|453|m|ft|abbr=on}}[https://www.freemaptools.com/elevation-finder.htm Google Maps Elevation Finder]
| discovery = V. Dumitrescu (1880)
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| entrance_count = 4
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| access = Once a year (August)
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| language = Romanian
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| survey = Emil Racoviță Institute of Speleology (1962)
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Topolnița Cave ({{langx|ro|Peștera Topolnița}}) is a karst cave located in Mehedinți County, Romania.{{Cite book|title=Natural Wonders of the World|publisher=Reader's Digest Association, Inc|year=1980|isbn=0-89577-087-3|editor-last=Scheffel|editor-first=Richard L.|location=United States of America|pages=386|editor-last2=Wernet|editor-first2=Susan J.}} It is the fourth-longest cave in Romania: only Peștera Vântului, Humpleu-Poienița Cave, and Hodobana Cave are longer.{{Cite news|url=https://travelguideromania.com/all-you-have-to-know-about-caving-in-romania/|title=All you have to know about caving in Romania|date=2013-05-29|work=Travel Guide Romania|access-date=2017-10-10|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.speologie.org/statistici|title=Statistici interesante despre peşterile din România|website=www.speologie.org|language=ro|access-date=2017-10-10}} Most speleological sources estimate its length at {{Cvt|20.5|km|}},{{Cite web|url=https://www.speologie.org/pestera-topolnita|title=Peştera Topolnița| website=www.speologie.org|language=ro|access-date=2017-10-10}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Ap_AAAAMAAJ&q=topolnita|title=Atlas of the Great Caves of the World|last=Courbon|first=Paul|date=1989|publisher=Cave Books|isbn=9780939748211|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bhiJ10Xx9VwC&q=topolnita&pg=PA681|title=Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science|last=Gunn|first=John|date=2004|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781579583996|language=en}} although a length of {{Cvt|22|km||abbr=}} has also been reported.{{Citation|last1=Goran|first1=Cristian|title=Mehedinti Plateau: Epuran-Topolnita Karst System|date=2019|work=Cave and Karst Systems of Romania|pages=183–201|editor-last=Ponta|editor-first=Gheorghe M. L.|series=Cave and Karst Systems of the World|publisher=Springer International Publishing|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-90747-5_23|isbn=9783319907475|last2=Povară|first2=Ioan|editor2-last=Onac|editor2-first=Bogdan P.}} Some Romanian news sources report a more conservative {{convert|11000|m|ft|abbr=off}}.{{Cite news|url=http://adevarul.ro/locale/turnu-severin/o-minune-putin-cunoscuta-pestera-topolnita-doua-lungime-romania-1_51b0d74ec7b855ff56661a92/index.html|title=O minune puţin cunoscută – Peștera Topolnița a doua ca lungime din România|date=2013-06-07|newspaper=Adevărul|access-date=2017-10-09|language=ro}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.agerpres.ro/social/2014/08/24/reportaj-mehedinti-pestera-topolnita-sarbatoarea-lumii-din-adancurile-pamantului-17-22-00|title=Reportaj Mehedinți: Peștera Topolnița – sărbătoarea lumii din adâncurile pământului|work=Agerpres|access-date=2017-10-09|language=ro}} It is considered a natural monument of Romania.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SGNHF0_NISEC&q=topolnita+cave&pg=PA371|title=Language and Travel Guide to Romania|last=Rennon|first=Rosemary|date=2007|publisher=Hippocrene Books|isbn=9780781811507|pages=371|language=en}}
The cave was first historically documented in 1880 by V. Dumitrescu. The first serious attempt at scientific exploration was made in 1956 by Sever Popescu of Turnu Severin. Finally, specialists from the Emil Racoviță Institute of Speleology at the Romanian Academy began true systematic exploration in 1962.
Description
Topolnița Cave is located at {{convert|30|km|mi}} from Drobeta-Turnu Severin, between the villages of Marga and Cireșu. It has at least four entrances. The cave's primary entrance is in the central part of the Mehedinți Plateau, where the Topolnița River plunges {{Cvt|50|m|}} down into the earth. The river later emerges farther downstream at the foot of a hill.
Topolnița Cave has a huge number of passages and galleries arranged over five floors, many of which have attracted fanciful names as a result of the speleothems that have formed in them. One of the largest galleries, at {{Cvt|1570|m|}} long, is named the Racoviță Gallery in honor of Emil Racoviță, a noted Romanian explorer.{{Cite web|url=http://www.romaniajournal.ro/topolnita-the-second-longest-cave-in-romania/|title=Topolnita, the second longest cave in Romania – The Romania Journal|website=www.romaniajournal.ro|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-10-10}} Approximately {{Cvt|100|-|150|m}} from the entrance is the Bat's Gallery, containing a bat colony and a large guano heap.{{Cite journal|last1=Cleary|first1=Daniel M.|last2=Feurdean|first2=Angelica|last3=Tanțău|first3=Ioan|last4=Forray|first4=Ferenc L.|date=2019-06-01|title=Pollen, δ15N and δ13C guano-derived record of late Holocene vegetation and climate in the southern Carpathians, Romania|journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology|volume=265|pages=63|doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2019.03.002|s2cid=134662099|issn=0034-6667}} Other features within the cave include lakes, waterfalls, rapids, and massive forests of stalactites and stalagmites. Neolithic remains have also been found within the cave.
Cave access
Best described as "labyrinthine", Topolnița Cave is a difficult cave to explore even for experienced cavers.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UB5PAQAAIAAJ&q=topolnita|title=Geologica Balcanica|date=1996|publisher=Izd-vo na Bŭlgarskata akademii︠a︡ na naukite|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.inromania.info/pestera-topolnita.html|title=Pestera Topolnita, Pesteri Romania|website=www.inromania.info|access-date=2017-10-10|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019220243/http://www.inromania.info/pestera-topolnita.html|archive-date=2017-10-19}} Access for tourists is permitted only once per year, on a feast day in August, where guides lead tours {{Cvt|100|m|}} into the cave to view the Racoviță Gallery.{{Cite news|url=http://www.mehedinteanul.ro/2017/08/19/pestera-topolnita-isi-deschide-portile-duminica/|title=Peștera Topolnița își deschide porțile duminică|date=2017-08-19|work=Mehedințeanul|access-date=2017-10-10|language=ro-RO}} Otherwise, the cave is gated and access is only available by permission of the Romanian Academy. In the 1980s, there was some government interest in adding tourist-access features such as stairs, railings, and electric lights, but funding fell through before the Romanian Revolution and nothing was completed.
Fauna
The cave's temperature hovers between {{Convert|8.2-10.8|C|}}, making it a relatively warm cave. As a result, it is a suitable habitat for some fauna, including the largest colony of greater horseshoe bats in Europe. A 2015 survey conducted as part of an effort to protect Romania's bats found 7,482 individual horseshoe bats living in the cave.{{Cite web|url=http://www.fauna-flora.org/a-record-breaking-bat-discovery-in-romania/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224141358/http://www.fauna-flora.org/a-record-breaking-bat-discovery-in-romania/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-02-24|title=A record-breaking bat discovery in Romania {{!}} Fauna & Flora International|website=www.fauna-flora.org|language=en-gb|access-date=2017-10-17}} The colony in the Bat's Gallery is mainly composed of insectivorous Mediterranean horseshoe bats, Daubenton's bats, and long-fingered bats. Radiocarbon dating has shown that the bat guano from that colony has been continuously deposited since 1694.
In 2009, a pair of bearded vultures was spotted at the cave by hunters. The sighting was treated with some excitement, as the bearded vulture is no longer extant in Romania.{{Cite news|url=http://evz.ro/o-familie-de-zagani-a-fost-vazuta-la-pestera-topolnitei-848914.html|title=O familie de zăgani a fost văzută la Peștera Topolniței|newspaper=Evenimentul Zilei|access-date=2017-10-17|language=ro-RO}}
Plenty of invertebrate species live in or around Topolnița Cave. Specimens of Clausiliidae, or door snails, such as Macedonica marginata, have been found in the cave.Loosjes, F. E., and A. Negrea. "Contributions to the distribution of the Clausiliidae (Gastropoda, Pulmonta) in the Karst regions of Romania." Zool. Meded 43.4 (1968): 41–55. Via [http://arno.uva.nl/cgi/arno/show.cgi?fid=149598 Google Scholar]. A number of species of Opiliones, colloquially known as harvestmen, have been recorded.Ilie, Victoria. "A check-list of the harvestmen (Opilionida) from the Romanian caves." Archives of Biological Sciences 54.1–2 (2002): 49–55. Via [http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0354-4664/2002/0354-46640202049I.pdf Google Scholar].