Interstellar gas towards CTB 37A and the TeV gamma-ray source HESS
  J1714-385
  Observations of dense molecular gas towards the supernova remnants CTB 37A
(G348.5+0.1) and G348.5-0.0 were carried out using the Mopra and Nanten2 radio
telescopes. We present CO(2-1) and CS(1-0) emission maps of a region
encompassing the CTB 37A TeV gamma-ray emission, HESS J1714-385, revealing
regions of dense gas within associated molecular clouds. Some gas displays good
overlap with gamma-ray emission, consistent with hadronic gamma-ray emission
scenarios. Masses of gas towards the HESS J1714-385 TeV gamma-ray emission
region were estimated, and were of the order of 10^3-10^4 solar masses. In the
case of a purely hadronic origin for the gamma-ray emission, the cosmic ray
flux enhancement is ~80-1100 times the local solar value. This enhancement
factor and other considerations allow a discussion of the age of CTB 37A, which
is consistent with ~10^4 yr.
