Tribute to India in world’s oldest caves

SYDNEY: There is an Indian chamber in the Jenolan caves, which are said to be the world's oldest discovered open caves, according to cave-dating research published by Australian geologists.

“In the early 20th century, orientalism was a big theme in western societies, especially in the British Empire. Early cave explorers called it the Orient cave because of the red colour. It contains the Indian Chamber, Persian Chamber and the Egyptian Colllanade.

It was discovered in 1904,” explains Dr Armstrong Osborne, a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney.

A five-year study has shown that the limestone caves, which each year attract thousands of tourists, including Indian visitors, date back more than 340 million years.

Until 20 years ago most scientists thought the Jenolan Caves, 177 km west of Sydney, were no more than a few thousand years old. Dr  Osborne has long suspected that the caves are older than had been widely recognised, but says he was surprised to find they dated back to the Carboniferous (290 to 354 million years ago).

Dr Osborne says, “We've shown that these caves are hundreds of millions of years older than any reported date for an open cave anywhere in the world.

Even in geological terms, 340 million years is a very long time. To put it into context, the Blue Mountains began to form 100 million years ago and dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago.”

The study was conducted by scientists from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the University of Sydney and the Australian Museum, in cooperation with the Jenolan Caves Trust.

CSIRO Petroleum Resources researcher Dr Horst Zwingmann says the age of the caves was determined by dating the clay minerals that crystallised when volcanic ash entered the caves, and which now forms much of the mud in the Temple of Baal and Orient caves.

“We were able to provide evidence that the clays did form in-situ in the caves and that the sections regularly visited by tourists actually formed in the Carboniferous,” Dr Zwingmann adds.

The second oldest known open cave is in the Guadelupe Mountains in New Mexico (USA), which is 65 million years old. Most other famous caves, such as Postojna Cave in Slovenia, are thought to be only about 5 million years old.

Dr Osborne said the discovery, published in the Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, could assist in a push for Jenolan Caves to gain world heritage listing.

“They are one of the world's most complicated cave systems. Most ancient caves around the world have filled up with rock, and are no longer accessible,” he added. Jenolan caves are natural caves, while India’s world famous Ajanta and Ellora caves near Aurangabad are man-made.