A Newly Discovered Cave in China, Volume Up to 5 Million Cubic Meters, Considered a Paradise Oasis.
Geologically, Karst is a limestone mountain range that has been eroded by water into large cavities, forming deep valleys or gorges.
A karst sinkhole in Xuan’en County, not the newly discovered sinkhole. (Photo: Song Wen/Xinhua).
Recently, a group of Chinese scientists discovered a massive limestone sinkhole in Leye County, southern China. Notably, inside it is a well-preserved primeval forest, with trees reaching heights of up to 40 meters.
This gigantic sinkhole is located in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (within Leye County), southern China. Approximately 30 sinkholes have been identified in this area.
According to the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) in the United States, the karst terrain in southern China is a breeding ground for spectacular sinkholes.
The karstic landscapes are primarily formed by acidic water reacting with the surfaces of fractures in limestone or sedimentary rock, which erodes over time, leading to increasingly widened cracks that create deep valleys and enormous caves.
These sinkholes are mainly found in China, Mexico, and Papua New Guinea, with large sinkholes known in Chinese as Tiankeng (heavenly pit).
This underground mystery was uncovered by a group of cave explorers in China last May in the Leye Fengshan Global Geopark, situated in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southwestern China.
“Due to local geological, climatic, and other factors, the karst terrain on the surface can vary significantly. Therefore, in China, many spectacular limestone mountains with sinkholes and enormous caves emerge,” said the director of NCKRI.
In other parts of the world, sinkholes are quite small, difficult to detect, with diameters of only one or two meters.
Currently, 30 new sinkholes have been identified in southern China. Nestled in moist forests, they are hard to access and host a preserved ecosystem. (Photo: Ma Lie).
The newly discovered sinkhole is considered a living oasis, measuring 306 meters in length, 150 meters in width, and 192 meters in depth, with a volume exceeding 5 million cubic meters.
According to Zhang Shuanhou, a senior engineer at the Shaanxi Geological Survey Institute, a sinkhole is considered large if its diameter ranges from 300 to 500 meters, and super large if it exceeds 500 meters in diameter.
Inside this large new sinkhole, explorers discovered three cave entrances surrounded by dense foliage and towering trees nearly 40 meters high.
The cause of the gigantic sinkhole phenomenon is often due to groundwater dissolving the limestone substrate prevalent in this area.
However, the unique forest found below is truly extraordinary. The trees can thrive due to the opening of the sinkhole, allowing sufficient light to penetrate.
According to the website of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Leye Fengshan Park is famous for its sedimentary blocks, largely composed of carbonate rocks over 3,000 meters thick that date back over 400 million years. It is also known as the land of the longest natural caves and bridges in the world.
These caves and chasms can create an ecosystem or serve as conduits to underground aquifers. They will form the primary or sole water source for 700 million people worldwide.
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