A team of Chinese scientists have discovered a huge new cave with a forest floor. The sink hole is 630 feet (192 meters) deep enough to just swallow St. Louis’ Gateway Arch. A team of particulars and artisans entered the lake on Friday (May 6), and discovered that there were three doors in the cave in the gorge, as well as ancient trees up to 150 feet [40 m] long, extending their branches toward the passing sun sink door.
“This is good news,” said George Veni, executive director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) in the U.S., as well as international cave experts. Veni did not take part in the exploration of the cave, but the organization, formerly the Institute of Karst Geology of China Geological Survey, is a sister institution of NCKRI.
Discovery
The discovery is not surprising, Veni told Live Science, because southern China is home to karst topography, a place prone to amazing sinkholes and other world caves. The Karst area was built mainly by rock demolition, Veni said. Rainwater, slightly acidic, absorbs carbon dioxide as it runs through the soil, becoming more acidic. Then it flows, runs, and flows through the cracks in the rocks, gradually raising into tunnels and voids. Over time, if the cave room becomes large enough, the roof may slowly collapse, leaving large sinkholes.
“Because of geographical differences in geology, climate and other factors, the appearance of karst can vary greatly,” he said. “So in China you have this amazing looking karst with big sinks and big cave doors and so on. In some parts of the world you go karst and you don’t really see anything. Sinkholes can be defeated, only a meter or two wide. get into it. “
In fact, 25% of the United States is karst or pseudokarst, depicting caves carved into objects without being dispersed, such as volcanoes or winds, says Veni. About 20 percent of the world’s land area is made up of one of the two richest caves.
The new discovery took place in the autonomous region of Guangxi Zhuang, near the town of Ping’e in the Leye district, according to Xinhua. Guangxi is known for its beautiful karst architecture, from pillars to stone pillars to natural bridges and to the benefit of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Why sinkholes are important?
The interior of the sinkhole is 1,004 meters (306 m) long and 492 meters (150 m) wide, Zhang Yuanhai, senior engineer at the Institute of Karst Geology, told Xinhua. The Mandarin name for such large sinkholes is “tiankeng,” or “heavenly pit,” and the bottom of the sinkhole seemed to belong to another world. Chen Lixin, who led the cave inspection team, told Xinhua that the thick grass on the ground floor was as high as a man’s shoulders. Karst caves and sinkholes can provide a place to rest, Veni said.
“I would not be surprised to learn that there are animals found in these caves that have not been reported or described by scientists to date,” Lixin said.
In one cave in West Texas, Veni said, tropical ferns grew significantly; ferns were apparently carried by bats that migrated from South and Central America to a safer area.
Main source of water for 700 million people
Not only are the pits and caves a refuge for life, but they are also a channel for water sources, or deep underground water stores. Karst water resources provide the only or main source of water for 700 million people worldwide, Veni said. But they are easily accessible and accessible – or dirty.
“Karst water sources are the only types of wells that you can contaminate with solid waste,” said Veni. “I pulled out car batteries and car bodies and the barrels of God – you know – and the bottles of God you know – outside of the active river cave.”
The new acquisition brings the number of sinkholes in Leye County to 30, according to Xinhua. Similar researchers have previously discovered numerous wells in North China’s Shaanxi province and a group of connected Guanxi sinkers.
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