Одесские катакомбы
Оде́сские катако́мбы — сеть подземных ходов и лабиринтов под Одессой. Бо́льшая часть катакомб — бывшие каменоломни, из которых добывался строительный камень. В настоящее время длина Одесских катакомб оценивается приблизительно в 2,5 тыс. км.
Большей частью (95-97 %) одесские катакомбы представляют собой подземные каменоломни, в которых добывался строительный камень — ракушняк или ракушечник, используемый для постройки города, и, благодаря которому молодую Одессу называли "Жёлтым городом". Также в систему катакомб входят полости естественного происхождения — карстовые и дилатансионные пещеры, геологоразведочные и строительные шурфы, подвалы, бункеры, дренажные тоннели, ливневые коллекторы и прочие подземные полости.
Первые подземные каменоломни начали возникать в первой половине XIX века, во время бурного строительства Одессы, как источник недорогого строительного материала — ракушечника. Добыча камня осуществлялась с помощью пил, и была столь интенсивной, что уже во второй половине XIX века обширная сеть подземных полостей стала доставлять неудобства городу. В послереволюционные годы в связи с участившимися просадками и обрушением зданий был объявлен запрет на добычу камня в черте города (в границах улиц Старопортофранковская — Новорыбная).
Во время Великой Отечественной войны катакомбы служили укрытием для советских партизан — в частности, отряда В. А. Молодцова. Писатель Валентин Катаев описал в своём произведении «Волны Чёрного моря» борьбу советских партизан в катакомбах под Одессой и Усатово против немецких войск. В 1961 году для изучения истории партизанского движения был создан спелестологический клуб «Поиск», который за прошедшие годы значительно расширил границы картографированных районов катакомб.
В начале XXI века добыча известняка продолжается в шахтах, расположенных в Н. Дофиновке, Булдынке, Фоминой балке. Таким образом, протяженность одесских катакомб возрастает и по сей день.
Известняк
Известня́к — осадочная горная порода органического, реже хемогенного происхождения, состоящая преимущественно из карбоната кальция (CaCO3) в виде кристаллов кальцита различного размера.
Известняк, состоящий преимущественно из раковин морских животных и их обломков, называется ракушечником. Кроме того, бывают нуммулитовые, мшанковые и мраморовидные известняки — массивнослоистые и тонкослоистые. При метаморфизме известняк перекристаллизуется и образует мрамор.
Входящий в состав известняка карбонат кальция способен медленно растворяться в воде, а также разлагаться на углекислый газ и соответствующие основания. Первый процесс — важнейший фактор образования карста, второй, происходящий на больших глубинах под действием глубинного тепла Земли, даёт источник газа для минеральных вод.
Ракушняк — известняк, состоящий преимущественно из раковин морских животных и их обломков. Образуется обычно в литоральной и сублиторальной зонах. По составу слагающих его раковин подразделяется на брахиоподовый, гастроподовый, нуммулитовый и др.
Ходить по катакомбам не безопасно. Если вы хотите зайти внутрь и исследовать их по своему, вы делаете это на свой страх и риск. Лучше не ходить в одиночку внутри и приняли по крайней мере 2 источника света с собой.
Вопросы. Пожалуйста, отправьте ответ через контактную форму, но не ждите моего ответа, если будет что то не так я напишу вам. Можете сделать впис сразу.
1. Посмотрите на известняк. Внутри него вы можете увидеть, что осталось от организмов, которые жили здесь давным-давно. Не смотрите на тех, кто в бетоне при входе, потому что люди приносят их сюда позже. Хорошие образцы известняка вы можете найти несколько метров справа от входа в катакомбы. Какй ест размер самых больших организмов которые вы можете увидеть в известняке?
2. Посмотрите на известняк снаружи и внутри которым. Какова самая большая разница между ними?
Необязательный:
1. Вы можете сделать несколько фотографий.
Odessa Catacombs
The Odessa Catacombs are a network of tunnels under Odessa, Ukraine and its surrounding region, that are mostly the result of stone mining, at first, and then smuggling. The Catacombs are on three levels and reach a depth of 60 metres below sea level.In the 19th-century, most houses in Odessa were built of limestone that was mined nearby. These mines were abandoned and later used, and widened, by local smugglers, creating a labyrinth of underground tunnels beneath Odessa.
The approximate topography of the Odessa underground labyrinth is unknown. The catacombs have not been fully mapped. Most (95–97%) of the catacombs are former sandstone multilevel mines, from which stone was extracted to construct the city above. The remaining catacombs (3-5%) are either natural cavities or were excavated for other purposes such as sewerage. As of 2012, there are more than 1000 known entrances to the tunnels.
The first underground stone mines started to appear in the 19th century, while vigorous construction took place in Odessa. They were used as a source of cheap construction materials. Limestone was cut using saws, and mining became so intensive that by the second half of the 19th century, the extensive network of catacombs created many inconveniences to the city.
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, stone mining was banned within the central part of Odessa (inside the Porto-Franko zone, bounded by Old Port Franko and Panteleymonovskaya streets).
During World War II the catacombs served as a hiding places for Soviet partisans, in particular the squad of V.A. Molodtsev. In his work The Waves of The Black Sea, Valentin Kataev described the battle between Soviet partisans against the axis forces, underneath Odessa and its nearby suburb Usatovo. In her book "Life from Stone", Sofiya de Havilland describes the catacombs and the part it played during WWII with the partisans' use of it in their guerilla warfare.
In 1961 the "Search" (Poisk) club was created in order to explore the history of partisan movement among the catacombs. Since its creation, it has expanded understanding of the catacombs, and provided information to expand mapping of the tunnels.
The city has a large population of over 1 million people, which some believe would benefit from the introduction of a subway system. The tunnels have been cited as the reason why such a subway system has never been built in Odessa.
Since the beginning of the 21st century limestone mining has continued in the mines located in Dofinovka, Byldynka, and "Fomina balka" near Odessa. As the result of contemporary mining, the catacombs continue to expand.
Inside of catacombs you can see also some natural structures and results of nature which is changing the shape of the tunnels now after the man left them.
What is Limestone?
Limestone is a sedimentary rock largely composed of calcium carbonate - CaCO3 (more than 50%) in the form of the minerals calcite and aragonite.
Most limestone forms in warm, shallow marine waters where organisms such as coral, foraminifers and molluscs occur in abundance. These organisms have shells and skeletal components rich in calcium carbonate. When they die, their calcareous remains accumulate as an organic layer along the seabed; eventually compacting to form limestone rock. In addition, this limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert, flint, jasper or siliceous skeletal fragments from sponge spicules, diatoms and radiolarians. Furthermore, quantities of silt, clay and river-carried terrestrial detritus may also be entrained in the limestone. Limestones formed from this type of organic sediment are called biological sedimentary rocks and are often rich in fossils.
Varieties of Limestone
There are many different names used for limestone. These names are based upon how the rock formed, its appearance or its composition, and other factors. Here are some of the more commonly used varieties.
Chalk: A pure, soft, well-jointed limestone with a very fine texture that is usually white, grey or yellow in color. It is formed mainly from the calcareous shell remains of microscopic marine organisms such as foraminifers, or the calcareous remains from numerous types of marine algae. Pure white chalk contains more than 90% CaCO3 and is usually found in thick beds.
Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically-sorted fragments of the shells of molluscs, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. The term coquina comes from the Spanish word for "cockle" and "shellfish". This kind of limestone you can find on the limestone around the enterence to catacombs and also on some places inside.
For a sediment to be considered to be a coquina, the particles composing it should average 2 mm or greater in size. Coquina can vary in hardness from poorly to moderately cemented. Incompletely consolidated and poorly cemented coquinas are considered grainstones in the Dunham classification system for carbonate sedimentary rocks. A well-cemented coquina is classified as a biosparite according to the Folk classification of sedimentary rocks.
Fossiliferous Limestone: A limestone that contains obvious and abundant fossils. These are normally shell and skeletal fossils of the organisms that produced the limestone.
Lithographic Limestone: A dense limestone with a very fine and very uniform grain size that occurs in thin beds which separate easily to form a very smooth surface. In the late 1700s, a printing process (lithography) was developed to reproduce images by drawing them on the stone with an oil-based ink and then using that stone to press multiple copies of the image.
Oolitic Limestone: A limestone composed mainly of calcium carbonate "oolites," which are sand-sized carbonate particles that have concentric rings of CaCO3. These rings are formed around grains of sand or shell fragments that were rolled around on the shallow sea floor, gathering layer after layer of limestone. It is white, grey or yellow.
Oolites form today in warm, supersaturated, shallow, highly aggitated marine water. They are commonly associated with zones of high tidal activity in a subtidal or lower intertidal environment. The mechanism of formation is to begin with a seed of some sort, perhaps a shell fragment. The strong currents wash this seed around on the bottom where it accumulates a layer of chemically precipitated calcite from the supersaturated water. Only this process is going on with uncounted trillions of oolites. The oolites are commonly found in large dunes. The concentric layers is formed as the oolites are alternately exposed to pick up a concentric layer, and then buried to set the layer. The next exposure then adds another layer. This limestone can be see also inside the catacombs.
Portland limestone is an example of an oolitic limestone. This limestone formed in a shallow sea, rather like the modern Bahamas, near the end of the Jurassic period (~135 million years ago). The rock has an even structure rather like cod roe and it can therefore be cut or sculpted in any direction. This feature, coupled with hardness, colour and durability, gives the limestone its quality as a building stone.
Travertine: A limestone that forms by evaporative precipitation, often in a cave, to produce formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, and flowstone.
Tufa: A limestone produced by precipitation of calcium-laden waters at a hot spring, lake shore, or other location.
It is not safe to walk around catacombs. If you want to go inside end explore them on your own you do it on your own responsibility. It is better not to go alone inside and took at least 2 sources of light with you.
Here are the questions for logging this cache as found. Please send the reply through the contact form, but do not wait for my reply, log it right away.
1. Take a look on a limestone. Inside of it you can see remainings of the organisms which lived here a long time ago. Don't look on those in concrete at entrance because people bring them here later. Good samples of limestone you can find a few meter to the right of the entrance to catacombs. What is the size of the biggest remainings of organisms which you can see in limestone?
2. Take a look on a limestone outside and compere it with the limestone whish you can find a few meters inside of the catacombs. What is the biggest difference between them?
Optional:
1. You can make some photos and add them to your log.
