GIANT CAVE PICTURES: World's Biggest Found in Vietnam-
Son Doong Cave
A massive cave recently uncovered in a remote Vietnamese jungle is the largest single cave passage yet found, a new survey shows.
At 262-by-262 feet (80-by-80 meters) in most places, the Son Doong cave beats out the previous world-record holder, Deer Cave in the Malaysian section of the island of Borneo.
A British caver wades through an underground river in Vietnam's Son Doong cave, the largest single cave passage yet found, a survey team reported in July 2009.
First explored in April, the cave has since been measured using high-tech lasers that give "dead accurate" sizes, according to an expert with the International Union of Speleology.
First explored in April, the cave has since been measured using high-tech lasers that give "dead accurate" sizes, according to an expert with the International Union of Speleology.
Deer Cave is no less than 300-by-300 feet (91-by-91 meters), but it's only about a mile (1.6 kilometers) long.
By contrast, explorers walked 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers) into Son Doong, in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, before being blocked by seasonal floodwaters—and they think that the passage is even longer.
In addition, for a couple of miles Son Doong reaches more than 460-by-460 feet (140-by-140 meters), said Adam Spillane, a member of the British Cave Research Association expedition that explored the massive cavern.
Spillane was in the first of two groups to enter the cave. His team followed the passage as far as a 46-foot-high (14-meter-high) wall.
"The second team that went in got flooded out," he said. "We're going back next year to climb that wall and explore the cave further."
The cave was found by a local man named Hồ-Khanh in 1991. The local jungle men were afraid of the cave for the whistling sound it makes from the underground river. However, not until 2009 was it made known to the public when a group of British scientists from the British Cave Research Association, led by Howard Limbert, conducted a survey in Phong Nha-Ke Bang from April 10-14, 2009. According to Limbert, this cave is five times larger than the Phong Nha cave, previously considered the biggest cave in Vietnam. The biggest chamber of Son Doong is over five kilometers in length, 200 meters high and 150 meters wide. With these dimensions, Son Doong overtakes Deer Cave in Malaysia to take the title of the world's largest cave
Laser Precision A local farmer, who had found the entrance to the Son Doong cave several years ago, led the joint British-Vietnamese expedition team to the cavern in April.
The team found an underground river running through the first 1.6 miles (2.5 kilometers) of the limestone cavern, as well as giant stalagmites more than 230 feet (70 meters) high.
A local farmer had found the mouth of Son Doong cave several years ago in the dense jungles of Vietnam's Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. He led the British expedition team to the cavern in April. The team was told that local people had known of the cave for some time but were too scared to delve inside.
"It has a very loud draft and you can hear the river from the cave entrance, so it is very noisy and intimidating," said caver Adam Spillane, a member of the British Cave Research Association expedition.
Andy Eavis, of the International Union of Speleology, added that there are almost certainly bigger cave passages awaiting discovery around the world.
"That's the fantastic thing about caving," he said.
Read more about the Son Doong cave >>
"It has a very loud draft and you can hear the river from the cave entrance, so it is very noisy and intimidating," said caver Adam Spillane, a member of the British Cave Research Association expedition.
Andy Eavis, of the International Union of Speleology, added that there are almost certainly bigger cave passages awaiting discovery around the world.
"That's the fantastic thing about caving," he said.
Read more about the Son Doong cave >>
— Photograph by BARM/Fame Pictures
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