Underwater Cave Systems in the Montenegrin Littoral

Abstract

The diversity and specificity of underwater cave systems in the Montenegrin Littoral is conditioned by the complex geological structure, tectonic structure and geomorphology of the terrain, as well as the climatic characteristics of the area. There are several gaping cave channels on the Montenegrin coast from which water occasionally emerges. The most known are Sopot, Spila Risanska, Gurdić and Orahovačka Ljuta. Insufficient volumes of drinking water during summer months and the importance of the problem from the aspect of hydrogeology and related scientific disciplines conditioned the organizing of exploration of these structures on several occasions. Numerous and diverse factors that determine the hydrogeological characteristics of an area required the use of numerous scientific methods and methodological research procedures during three years of work by the Geological Survey of Podgorica and other collaborators from the country and abroad (from 1996 to 1999). Only some of them are listed, including hydrogeological mapping, various geophysical surveys, hydrochemical, speleological, cave diving and other research, whose characteristics classify them as complex geological research aimed at defining specific characteristics of this area. The increasingly complex endeavours required increasingly modern technology, so the most modern achievements used in the world at the time were applied in the fields of cave diving and geophysical surveys.