Southern Arizona has a major "new" cave near Vail, one that could be a
million years old, with a "scientific treasure trove" that could take
decades to explore.
A group of Tucson scientists announced this week that they've spent the
past eight years researching in and around a cave they call "La Tetera"
- Spanish for "the teapot."
La Tetera is in Pima County's 2,400-acre Colossal Cave Mountain Park.
The researchers call themselves Sonoran Science Solutions, a team of
Tucsonans with more than 250 combined years of cave research experience,
according to Bill Peachey, member and spokesman for the group.
Even compared to the area's other notable caves, Peachey said, the
evidence indicates that La Tetera is remarkable: bones from a camel and
a prehistoric horse; 2-foot-wide shells from extinct tortoises; geologic
formations that are "almost Disney-like" in their brilliant colors; the
possibility of new mineral discoveries; and clues to how the area's
climate has changed through the millennia.
La Tetera offers a glimpse of a million years of geologic history
unpolluted by forces that have defaced many of the state's other caves -
vandals, souvenir hunters and careless amateur explorers.
"This is a scientific treasure trove," Peachey said. "It's the best site
in terms of large animal bones in the Tucson Basin."
The cave's research value, along with safety concerns, means that the
public shouldn't anticipate visiting La Tetera anytime soon.
It will become the second major "research cave" at Colossal Cave
Mountain Park, along with Arkenstone, which was discovered 25 years ago,
said Martie Maierhauser, director of the mountain park. Martie and Joe
Maierhauser operate the park for the nonprofit Pima County Parklands
Foundation, which leases the land from the county.
"The whole purpose of the thing is to keep the cave as undisturbed and
pristine as possible," Martie Maierhauser said. "The county is in
agreement that it should be protected."
Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said that La Tetera should
be conserved for scientific and research purposes, and that current
operating agreements and the Maierhausers' stewardship should ensure
that outcome.
"We will be interested in its long-term preservation instead of
commercial exploitation," Huckelberry said.
Explorers can't be certain yet that the cave floor will withstand
traffic over time, Peachey said. At 72 or 73 degrees and 100 percent
humidity, La Tetera is hotter or more humid than other local caves open
to tourists.
The cave is too small and too fragile to accommodate development and
visitors, said Anita Pittenger, who worked on predevelopment studies on
Kartchner Caverns and has researched within La Tetera.
"They did a great job at Kartchner," Pittenger said. "Here, even if we
tried to work as careful, even the same people, I feel the cave would be
destroyed."
Already home to Kartchner Caverns and Colossal Cave, the area south and
east of Tucson offers fertile ground for cave discovery. It's likely
that other caves will be found in the area, Peachey said, although
there's no telling whether the next discovery will arrive tomorrow
afternoon or in the next millennium.
"These things are on their own schedule," he said. "It may be thousands
of years before another one shows up."
The latest discovery may have been a million years or more in the
making: Peachey said there's geological evidence in the cave that may be
at least a million years old - more than twice as old as the renowned
Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.
La Tetera began to reveal its secrets on a winter day about eight years
ago, when a passer-by noticed a jet of steam rising from a small hole in
the ground, Martie Maierhauser said.
The researchers at Sonoran Science Solutions were alerted. They watched,
years passed, and a cave opening formed.
On New Year's Day 2001, researchers entered the cave for the first time.
Fewer than 20 people have been inside, Peachey said.
Researchers have mapped about 1,000 square feet and explored a handful
of rooms, Peachey said, but the volume of airflow inside suggests the
cave is considerably larger that what they've encountered so far.
"We're exploring this as we go," Peachey said. "It is possible to walk
into virgin cave every time you walk into the cave."
Progress has been painstaking, he said. A day in the cave is followed by
a day cleaning clothes and equipment to avoid contaminating La Tetera.
Researchers have been cataloging what Peachey called an unprecedented
collection of animal bones that include bones from birds, a camel and a
species of ancient horse. How the bones came to rest in the cave, which
is at least 100 feet deep, remains a mystery.
Pittenger said researchers have been "blown away" by the discovery.
"It's like hearing the siren's song," Peachey said. "Every caver - this
is the situation you dream about."
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