Scientists have been locked out of two “live” caves on public land east of Tucson, threatening their research and the gathering of irreplaceable baseline data, according to scientists and cave experts familiar with Pima County’s La Tetera and Arkenstone caves.
And nearly three years after public announcement of La Tetera’s discovery, Pima County officials say there are no plans to re-open the cave to scientists who want to continue their work and begin new studies.
The two caves are “live” or “wet” and are both of interest to scientists, but particularly La Tetera, where they want to record humidity and temperature changes in this early stage following the cave’s discovery.
Scientists also want to continue study of microbes, animal bones and insects found inside during preliminary exploration.
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Arkenstone Cave, which had been open to cavers and researchers since the 1960s, was also closed not long after the discovery of La Tetera. A previously unknown species of pseudoscorpion was discovered in Arkenstone, and a hydrological study was underway when the cave was closed.
La Tetera — Spanish for “the Teapot” — was discovered on a cold winter day in 1996 when a Colossal Cave Mountain Park employee spotted water vapor spouting from a tennis ball-sized hole.
For several years the small circle of cavers who knew about the opening only monitored its slow erosion and made no attempt to enter, according to Martie Maierhauser. She and husband Joe Maierhauser run Colossal Cave Mountain Park for the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation Department under a contract with the Parklands Foundation.
Eventually, concern over safety to the public due to the enlarging hole led to the construction of a vault-like steel entrance with labor and materials supplied by the Maierhausers and the group of cavers.
The cave was considered “unremarkable” until a caver doing preliminary exploration of the first rooms noticed a draft coming through a small opening in a wall. Further investigation led to discovery of a larger room and dramatic, colorful formations, as well as mammalian bones — later determined to be of an Ice Age camel, pony-sized horse and a giant vampire bat.
In an instant, the cave went from being unremarkable to the kind of discovery that spreads among cavers worldwide.
