Since then explorations in Madagascar (Marosakabe - 113km) and Algeria (Rhar Bou Ma’za - the Tafna River Cave 18.4 km) have overtaken it.

In 1967, Eric Robson, Chris Clapham and Kabir Ahmed explored and surveyed the cave, recording 8 km of passage.

[7] Although the area was not easily accessible and the organized adventure tourist industry did not yet exist, a few intrepid visitors made the trip to the then remote cave.

In February 1971 Professor Théodore Monod of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in France, Bill Morton (ex Manchester University Speleological Society caver), a geologist at Haile Selassie I University, and Ato Mezmure Hailemeskale recorded another 1 km new passages to the known cave.

[8] In the same year Dick Ashford and Malcolm Largen of Haile Selassie University made a study of some of the bats in the cave.

In 1972, a British Expedition to Ethiopia arrived with a team which included Dick Ramsden and Tim Renvoize (Preston Caving Club), Simon Amatt (Birmingham Plytechnic Karabiner Club), Dave Catlin (University of Bradford Pothole Club), Paul Ramsden (Whernside Manor Scout Centre), Terry Raynor (9th and 12th Royal Lancers) and Steve Worthington (Sheffield University Speleological Society).

The Web river makes its way from the 4,300 metres (14,100 ft) high Bale Mountains through a 150 kilometres (93 mi) wide outcrop of Anatole limestone to the cave.

At some point the limestone dissolved producing a series of phreatic passages, which became big enough to capture the whole flow of the Web river.

Eventually the river abandoned the meander, creating a dry valley running from the cave sink at Ayiew Maco to the resurgence at Holuca.

Infill into the valley makes it rise to a high point of about 45 m above the Web, before it drops away to a pebble beach downstream of Holuca.

The cave is formed along a network of joints: one set runs approximately north to south and the other east to west.

The Ayiew Maco Series is a set of interconnecting passages of varying in width between 1 m and 10 m. Several can be passed through to the pebble beach on the left bank of the river.

These probably connected to those on the left bank until severed by the vadose action of the Web cutting the river passage deeper.

The river passage continues around a curve for about 250 m before flowing around a massive boulder into the sunlight at the Holuca Resurgence.

The exception is the 25 m wide Great Hall that follows the north – south joint pattern breaking into the canyon at the resurgence.

Following the infilling process a vadose trench has been cut the length of the passage revealing that the mud is formed of thin laminations.

The underground debris from the collapse forms the Big Rapids and is responsible for the boulder chokes seen near Blank Passage.