Resurgence
Source de Landenouse
A walled resurgence pool on the north bank of the Lot about 1.75 km upstream of Cajarc, leading into a wide, shallow gallery that continues past 1,200 m to depths of about 90 m.
Landenouse rises in a masonry basin just below the D662, built long ago to hold water for two mills that no longer exist. In high water the basin overflows through a spillway; at low water its level can drop about 4 m because the spring no longer compensates for leaks.
From the bottom of the basin at about 3 m a vertical step leads to 6 m and a debris slope in a bedding plane descends to about 12 m, where a large horizontal gallery begins. The FFS fiche describes this gallery as 4 to 12 m wide and mostly 14 to 17 m deep, with a low point of 19 m, and calls it a large, clear sump that becomes slightly cloudy on the way out. The line was installed to 370 m at the time of the fiche.
Further in, earlier explorers reached 1,152 m at 60 m depth, and Jochen Hasenmayer reached 1,240 m and 90 m on 25 September 1980. The fiche also recalls that in 1970 two experienced cave divers died from bad air after surfacing beyond a sump in the nearby Cadrieu spring, about 1.5 km away.
The environment
A broad bedding-plane gallery with a clay-sand and cobble floor, erosion scallops and dark manganese and iron deposits on the walls.
Conditions
The basin level depends on the season: it overflows in high water and drops about 4 m at low water.
Typical ranges from published sources, not current conditions.
For orientation, not navigation. Hollow dots are approximate.
Every fact on this page, with its source (9)
| Fact | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The spring emerges in a masonry basin built to feed two former mills; it overflows in high water and drops about 4 m at low water. | Verified | [1] |
| From the basin floor at -3 m a step leads to -6 m and a debris slope to -12 m, where the horizontal gallery starts. | Verified | [1] |
| The first gallery is 14 to 17 m deep with a low point of 19 m over about 350 m. | Verified | [1] |
| Jochen Hasenmayer reached 1,240 m from the entrance and 90 m depth on 25 September 1980; the fiche describes the gallery continuing to about -95 m beyond a low boulder choke. | Verified | [1] |
| In 1970 two experienced cave divers died from gas, probably from a lignite layer, after surfacing beyond a sump at the Cadrieu spring about 1.5 km away. | Verified | [1] |
| Parking has room for only two or three vehicles; from September 2010 divers must not park in front of the barn doors used by the SIVOM de Cajarc, and obstructing cars will be removed.Landowner remark dated 2010 on the fiche; no newer notice found. | May be out of date | [1] |
| Published at N 44°29'15" E 1°51'57" (FFS) and N 44.487593 E 1.865144 (The Cave To Be). | Verified | [1] [2] |
| Published at N 44°29'15" E 1°51'57". | Verified | [1] [2] |
| The sources consulted publish no qualification, permit or registration requirement set by a land manager or access body for this site.Absence of a published rule, not confirmation that none exists. | Reported | [1] |
Verified: stated by an official or primary source we opened. Reported: from a secondary source only. Sources conflict: the note gives both versions. May be out of date: the newest source we found is old.
Written in our own words from the sources above. Report a correction