Druid's Country Retirement

Chapter 533 Exploration

Two days passed in a flash.

The old house has returned to its former peace.

Li Hongbing's temporary deafness has recovered, and he finally doesn't have to look at other people's faces to speak.

The Tiankeng Lake Plank Road in the mountain col of the backyard proceeds in an orderly manner, and various materials are pulled into the backyard.

Under the supervision of Sun Qiang and Wang Hai, the pontoon plank road on the lake slowly took shape. The workers were like assembling toys, laying anti-slip floor wooden strips on the pontoons, installing guardrails, and even the frame of the pontoon pavilion in the lake was built. It can be completed in one day.

There is also good news.

After inspection by the exploration team, the hot spring wells and pipelines were not damaged due to geological accidents. There were gaps in the joints of some pipelines, but this did not affect use.

So, the hot spring pool project was started again.

Workers connected the pipes to the hot spring wells and laid them through channels to the hot spring pool outside the old house for waterproof testing.

When the valve is opened, hot spring water pours into the pool.

How afraid are you that something will happen to me!

"Village Chief Li, you must obey the instructions after entering. Because the underground cave environment is complicated, we are not completely sure." Zhou Dasheng repeated the instructions dozens of times like his mother-in-law.

I personally led a team to conduct a careful survey of the geological conditions near the Li family's old house. Even Yuanbao Mountain in Caogou Village was inspected inside and out.

The team members climbed up the cave, fixed the rope and threw it on the boat. After taking the rope, Zhou Dasheng diligently wrapped it around Li Hongbing's waist, "Tie it tighter for safety!"

Hearing that he was going to explore the cave, Li Hongbing immediately became interested and asked to participate. He even agreed to waive medical expenses in exchange.

Wait for the remaining two people to climb to the entrance of the cave.

The good news is that drilling hot spring wells induced landslide collapse on the fault surface in advance, which later contributed to the formation and development of faults. If the faults become active again, it will take hundreds or even thousands of years.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two team members snickering, and he felt angry and kicked each other.

The next step is to prepare the exploration tools.

Xiao Jiangren woke up that afternoon. He has recovered well in the past two days. He can eat and drink, but cannot move. After all, there are many fractures from the pelvis to the leg bones. It is God's blessing to survive. If you can't move, you don't need it. important.

Who can avoid 40 in medical expenses and not have to compensate for the losses caused by the exploration accident?

This deal is a good deal no matter how you look at it.

Not to mention being a licking dog, I am willing to call him daddy.

Li Hongbing was speechless and raised his head. The cave was only over two meters high and could hold so many coils.

Li Hongbing felt relieved. After all, no one wanted to live in a place that could collapse at any time due to an earthquake.

The news is mixed.

The well-drilling equipment was salvaged from the water. After inspection, it was in good condition. There was only slight water leakage. It can be used normally with simple repairs, thus saving the cost of compensating the equipment.

When Zhou Dasheng heard the ridicule from his team members, he faced it calmly.

For this, Zhou Dasheng is grateful.

"Have a laugh, why don't you hurry up and get up there."

These days, it’s not easy to earn some hard-earned money.

Equally happy was Zhou Dasheng.

I!

Zhou Dasheng paused for a moment and sighed with sadness and anger in his heart.

The four of them were at the entrance of the cave, and Zhou Dasheng began to assign tasks.

"Wu Zi, pull Village Chief Li up. Xizi, support Village Chief Li below. You must pay attention to safety."

Get the geological report.

There is another thing, Zhou Dasheng wanted to make up for his mistakes.

After a brief discussion with the team members, Zhou Dasheng immediately agreed for fear that Li Hongbing would regret it.

The four trapped team members, except for the injured Xiao Jiang, were fine after a day of observation and were kicked out of the infirmary.

Prepare to personally lead the team into the underground cave that appeared due to mountain collapse to conduct underground exploration.

Li Hongbing's ears tingled when he heard these words, and he said impatiently, "If you keep nagging me, send me back. I'll figure out how to pay for the medical expenses myself."

An exploration team composed of four people took the equipment on an inflatable boat and came to the cave where the trapped members escaped.

If you take him into the cave to explore, you can save 40 in treatment fees.

The two team members can no longer describe their captain in words. He used to be selfless and always told the truth, but now he has become like this, like...

"Lick the dog!!"

Headlamps, searchlights, hard hats, protective gloves, non-slip shoes, ropes, safety hooks, etc.

If you hadn't caught my weak spot, I could have humbled myself like a grandson.

Li Hongbing climbed up the cave. The cave was about two meters high and triangular in shape, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. There was running water under his feet, and the wind blew out. The air was exceptionally fresh and there was no strange smell.

The bad news is that the mountain behind the Li family’s old house is right on the edge of the stratigraphic branch fault zone of the Qinba Mountains.

It was a very simple project, but it suffered from landslides and ground subsidence.

Knowing that their brother-in-law was going to explore underground caves, the two brothers-in-law became very interested and strongly requested to participate together. Unfortunately, Zhou Dasheng directly refused to accept their request due to the danger.

Sun Qiang and the workers were moved to tears.

"Wu Zi, Xi Zi, you two have walked through this cave and have experience. Wu Zi is responsible for exploring the way in front, Xi Zi is responsible for taking care of Village Chief Li, and I am the rear."

"Village Chief Li, this is not a joke. Follow the command in all actions. Don't act without authorization."

“Check your gear, turn on your headlights, check your safety ropes!”

The four of them pressed the overhead lights on their helmets at the same time and tugged on the safety ropes around their waists.

"Safety!"

"Safety!"

"Safety!"

Li Hongbing also said "safety".

Zhou Dasheng nodded, "Let's go, Wu Zi will go first."

The player named Wu Zi turned around and was the first to walk into the cave, followed by the second player, Li Hongbing, and finally Zhou Dasheng.

Stepping into the underground cave feels like entering a mysterious and ghostly world.

The cave was dark and gloomy, with cold air blowing towards my face, carrying the slightest hint of moisture.

The overhead lights cast swaying shadows on the stone walls, barely illuminating the road ahead.

The team members moved forward cautiously, and the cave was silent. Only the sound of water drops and the crisp sound of footsteps on the wet ground echoed in the empty space, making the atmosphere increasingly oppressive.

Like a curious baby, Li Hongbing turned his head to explore the stone wall. Under the headlight, the stone wall was covered with strange stalactites and stalagmites. The stalactites were shaped like dragons and the stalagmites were like pillars. They were lifelike, especially under the light. Shining with strange light, it is amazing the wonder of nature. "Stop!" Zhou Dasheng, who had been delayed, suddenly spoke, and the echoes of his voice spread layer by layer in the cave.

Takeko at the front of the team stopped.

"Xizi, turn on the searchlights!" Zhou Dasheng said again.

The team has a searchlight, which consumes a lot of power and is only used to determine the environment.

The searchlight was turned on, and everything in front of me was suddenly bright.

The environment inside the cave is even more shocking.

The place where the four of them were standing was an empty cave hall, which was at least as big as a basketball court. The dazzling array of stalactites captured everyone's attention. The tall stone pillars were shaped like a huge stone wall, blocking everyone's sight. Above their heads, Countless stone stalactites of different sizes are hung, and a layer of shallow water flows on the uneven ground.

This is the greatness and mystery of nature!

"It's a typical carbonate karst limestone cave." Zhou Dasheng picked up a piece of gravel, rubbed it in his hands, and analyzed it from a professional perspective.

After I finished speaking, I remembered that the sponsor’s father was around, and I was afraid that he wouldn’t understand the professional terminology, so I quickly explained it in easy-to-understand terms.

“Limestone caves are underground spaces formed by karst in soluble rocks. The formation of limestone caves is the result of long-term dissolution of groundwater in limestone areas. Insoluble calcium carbonate in limestone can be converted into soluble calcium bicarbonate by the action of water and carbon dioxide. "

"Karst landform is a general term for the surface and underground forms formed by the dissolution of soluble rocks, mostly limestone, by water with dissolving power. It is also called karst rock landform."

“Karst landforms are widely distributed in my country. The distribution area of ​​carbonate rocks nationwide, including those exposed on the surface, is about 125 million square kilometers. The distribution area of ​​limestone in several southwestern provinces reaches 55 square kilometers, accounting for about half of the national distribution area. "

There are specialties in the art industry, and professional people do professional things.

Anyway, Li Hongbing could understand these words when they were taken apart, but when they were put together, he was fascinated by them.

"Captain Zhou, just tell me what to do next!"

Forehead!

Zhou Dasheng, who wanted to show off his professionalism, was frustrated.

After picking up a searchlight and looking around the cave hall, I found that there were two more caves. There was water flowing in the left cave, and the right cave was about half a meter above the ground. The two cave entrances faced the cave entrance.

After pondering for a moment, Zhou Dasheng pointed at the flowing water cave and said, "This should be a composite cave. The water cave on the left should be connected to the underground river. Wu Zi and you should have escaped from the water cave. The other one is a dry cave."

Wu Zi nodded, "Yes, the phone was flooded with water. We came out in the dark. There was water under our feet. We should have walked through the water hole."

"Then let's go to the dry cave first!" Zhou Dasheng made a decision and turned off the searchlight.

The team set off again, stepping on the water towards the dry cave. The four of them were connected by a safety rope.

Wu Zi, who was exploring the path at the front, warned, "I'm about to enter the cave!"

The remaining three people held on to the safety rope to prevent Wu Zi from falling after entering the cave and to catch him immediately.

The safety rope was extended for more than ten meters.

Wu Zi's voice came from inside the dry cave.

"It's safe, you can come in!"

The three of them walked into the cave one after another after hearing the sound. The overhead lights swept over the place. It was unusually empty and the air was a bit dull, indicating that the oxygen content was very low.

"Boss, this seems to be a dead hole."

Zhou Dasheng turned on the searchlight again, and the cave that had been sealed for hundreds of millions of years welcomed guests for the first time.

Within the light range, there are stone walls formed by stone mantles all around, and the cave landscapes such as stone pillars, stalagmites, stone mantles, edge stone dams, etc. are all dazzling.

Turn the light beam upwards, and the ceiling of the cave is at least forty or fifty meters high from the ground. It is a huge dome-shaped hall, and every voice has echoes.

Zhou Dasheng looked a little hesitant.

"This is a dead cavity, but there's something wrong with it."

"What's the problem?" Li Hongbing asked curiously.

Zhou Dasheng did not explain, but took off an instrument from his waist, "At this time, the depth measuring instrument, according to the above data, our position is not at the ground level, or is slightly higher than the ground level, then It means this is not an underground cave."

"It's not an underground cave!" Li Hongbing thought for a moment, then suddenly widened his eyes and pointed to the top of his head, "You mean we are in the middle of the mountain."

Zhou Dasheng nodded.

"Yes, we should be located in the cavity in the middle of the mountain. This is the main cave hall. The one just now is the branch cave hall washed out by water. Let me show you."

As he spoke, Zhou Dasheng knelt down, picked up a stone, and drew a simple figure on the ground.

"Limestone is a very hard rock. If you hit it with a hammer, sparks will appear; and limestone is also very resistant to pressure. It can withstand a pressure of about 1,300 kilograms per square centimeter without breaking. As solid as granite.”

"The formation of limestone caves is due to the karstification of water. Limestone is formed by the precipitation of excess calcium in the sea or lake at a depth of more than 60 meters, and calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate are its main chemical components."

"Because limestone is cemented with colloidal particles, the lithology is particularly strong, but it is also because these two carbonates are water-soluble that they lack resistance to water."

"Once water penetrates deep into the rock mass and dissolves, the dissolved gaps and pores will continue to expand over time, and eventually a cave will be formed."

"According to the summary of exploration results, there are currently three molten caves. This is a dry cave, this is a water cave, and this is an exit cave."

"The direction of the dry cave and the water cave are opposite, which simply simulates the water erosion environment at that time. A large amount of water containing two kinds of carbonates rushed from the water cave into the dry cave, and then washed out a sealed molten cave in the dry cave until the geological A change occurred, and the water flow changed its course and rushed to the cave hall just now."

Li Hongbing couldn't understand the first sentence, but the last sentence was much simpler.

I don't care at all how it was formed, but whether it is dangerous or not.

If the cave in front of you is in the middle of the mountain, it doesn't mean that the mountain behind is strong and hollow.

Will there be another collapse?

"Just tell me if the back mountain is in danger. It's empty in the middle. It might collapse again."

Zhou Dasheng shook his head and laughed. For professionals, this question is a layman's question.

Continue to pick up the stones and draw a mountain shape, and then draw a circle in the middle.

"As I just said, limestone is very strong, and the limestone mountain is even stronger. After hundreds of millions of years of geological changes, this cave and the mountain have formed a perfectly stable structural layer, and we have come so far."

"The straight-line distance is 50 meters, which means that the thickness of the mountain is at least 50 meters, and such a thick mountain is entirely composed of limestone layers, so there will be no collapse at all."

"Really? Then where did the Tiankeng Lake outside come from?" Li Hongbing said with a venomous tongue.

Zhou Dasheng was speechless for a long time.

What a stain on life!

I probably won’t be able to erase it until the day I die! !

"The Tiankeng Lake was an accident. Cracks appeared on the outside of the mountain due to weathering, and the rock peeling caused by geological shaking is two different things from the collapse of the main body of the mountain."

"Okay, let's trust you again for the time being. What should we do now?" Li Hongbing felt much better after finishing his argument.

The water cave is the main attraction of this trip.

After all, it is related to underground rivers, and intricate waterways are extremely prone to danger.

Zhou Dasheng thought for a moment and said with a serious expression.

"There is still one water cave that has not been explored. The terrain is complicated and it is recommended not to go too deep. If Village Chief Li needs detailed data, I will organize an exploration team separately."

(End of this chapter)