SUMGAN

SUMGAN, Sumgan-Kuguk (in translation from Bashkir — “gone underground”, “having an underground bed”), is the longest cave in the RB. It is located in the Kutuk stow. It is a 3‑tier system of horizontally inclined galleries, corridors and passages. Length — 9,860 m, depth — 134 m, aver. width — 5.3 m, aver. height — 8.3 m, area — 52.3 thous. m2, volume — 350 thous. m3. The entrance in the form of an abyss (102 m deep) begins in the following tiers: the upper tier — a winding corridor, the middle tier — the Grotto of Expectations (opposite there is Korovy Khod, to the W there are halls of Elephant and Cubes). In the eastern part of the cave it is followed by 3 canyon-shaped corridors, forming the “Library” system. The rise from the Cubes Hall leads to the Veis well and drops to the bottom tier. To the west from the hall the Metropolitan Gallery leads to the Aktoviy Hall (rise to Everest hill begins, to the west of which Prospekt Geofaka Gallery runs). In the east. p. of the hall there is a shallow lake, in the north. p. there is Tumanny well that drops to the bottom. Zmeyevik corridor runs to the south from Prospekt Geofaka in the middle part. The western part of the lower tier is flooded with a reservoir. The air temperature in summer is 6—12°C.