See how Nature has shaped magnificent sights over 400 million years
IMAGINE… long before
dinosaurs roamed Earth, the limestone hills in the Kinta Valley,
Malaysia, were nothing but a balmy sea where corals and single-celled
organisms thrived. They were complex life forms known to have existed
during the Palaeozoic era 570 million years ago. These life forms took
lime from the sea to make their shells. When these creatures died, their
shells made up thick masses of lime mud and all in time crystallised
into limestone. Limestone can be dissolved by rainwater, which picks up
carbon dioxide from the air and soil and turns the limestone into
calcium bicarbonate. The dissolving process happens along joints where
the water finds its way down. Some joints form sinkholes and these
become vertical chimneys and horizontal galleries or in short, they
become caves.
Gua Tempurung (Tempurung Cave) has
existed since early 8000 B.C. and it is one of the larger cave systems
found in the scenic limestone hills of Perak. In fact, it is the largest
natural limestone structure in Peninsular Malaysia. The cave measures
1.9 km in length and 120 metres in height. The cave follows a direct
course through a mountain range called Gunung Gajah-Tempurung, located
south of Ipoh towards Gopeng and Kampar. It is a cavern inside Gunung
Tempurung (Tempurung Mountain) standing 497 metres high and is about 250
million years old. This means Gua Tempurung is even older than the
mountain that rises majestically like a karst tower. Visible from the
North-South Expressway near Gopeng, the mountain is an erosional remnant
near an ancient coastline. Years of mineralisation of the limestone
rocks yielded deposits of tin, with some tungsten minerals and other
minor ores. In several locations inside the dry upper chambers of the
cave, vein deposits of tin (cassiterite) are evident in walls and
ceilings. Within the karst tower, there is a river-cave system. The
river, Sungai Gua Tempurung runs about 1.6 km. It originates from the
north and south outlets of a small catchment derived from the granite
upland area to the east.
Gua Tempurung was first identified in 1887 in the Map of Perak-Malay Peninsula, which indicated a mountain spelt as “Gunong Tempoo Rong”..... 
Gua Tempurung is an impressive cave
with beautiful speleotherms like stalagmites, stalactites, rim stone
pools, curtains, straws, calcite crystals and pillars. There are also
majestic columns of marble inside its huge cavern honeycombed with
smaller caves of different dimensions. The cave holds mystery and
intrigue that leave one curious about its deep, dark secrets dating back
to 400 million years ago.
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