Exploration
Exploration was from the very beginning what propelled GESS members towards a series of unprecedented discoveries, both in the Romanian underground and, over time, in other areas of the world. What differentiated us from other speleological groups was our ability to make increasingly important discoveries through cave diving, a practice that others adopted much later. Between 1981 and 1990, GESS members discovered, explored and mapped over 100 caves and underground galleries. The book "Submerged Caves", written by Cristian Lascu and Serban Sarbu, GESS members, which in 1990 was awarded the National Prize of the Romanian Academy, presents the most important discoveries made by GESS members in the first years of the group's existence.
Izverna Cave
1999 - Present
Izverna Cave is located in the Izverna commune of the Mehedinți Mountains, at an altitude of 390 m. It is over 1.5 km long and is traversed by an underground stream. It has the longest network of underwater galleries in Romania. The team formed by Romanian Mihai Baciu (GESS) and Hungarian Gabor Mogyorosi (Vertikum Budapest) are its main explorers. Between 1999 and 2004 they explored and mapped the three sumps, of which the longest and deepest is the Black siphon, the submerged passage with the greatest length in Romania (700 meters); it reaches a maximum depth of -45 m.
2010 - 2016
Between 2010 and 2016, two GESS members, Mihai Baciu and Andreea Cohn, participated in a series of speleology and cave diving expeditions in Laos and Vietnam. These expeditions had important results by connecting karst systems tens of kilometers long.
Expe Laos / Expe Vietnam
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Polovragi Cave
2017 - Present
Polovragi Cave is located in the Căpățânii Mountains, on the banks of the OlteÈ› River, at an altitude of 670 m and 20 m above the riverbed, on the territory of the Polovragi commune between the localities of Horezu and Baia de Fier, Gorj County. In 2017, two GESS members, Mihai Hristescu and Valeriu Lipcanu, began exploring the cave's submerged passages. In the last few years, Mihai has remained the only active explorer. Of the 6 siphons, only the last three can be dived; they have a total length of approx. 210m and a maximum depth of -21m.