Thanks to discoveries made during a recent expedition to Vietnam, it seems that the biggest cave on the planet, Son Doong, is even larger than previously thought. CNN reported.
Last month, three British divers – the identical ones who helped rescue a trapped soccer team in Thailand in 2018 – traveled to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, within the jungle-heavy Quang Binh province in central Vietnam, to explore the cave’s waterways.
During the groundbreaking dive, they found a brand new underwater tunnel that connects Son Doong (meaning “Mountain River Cave”) with one other huge cave called Hang Thung.
Son Doong currently measures a complete of 38.5 million cubic meters (roughly 1.35 billion cubic feet). Once officially connected to Thung Cave, it’ll expand by an extra 1.6 million cubic meters.
“It could be like someone finding a lump on the highest of Mount Everest and lifting it one other 1,000 meters higher,” says Howard Limbert, technical adviser for the Quang Binh-based company Sorrel adventure tour company and one in every of the cave experts who helped organize the dive.
Says CNN Journey“Any cave on the planet will find a way to suit comfortably into Song Dong once it’s connected – it’s just outrageous in size.”
Some members of the team participated within the dive last 12 months he rescued Thai footballers from a cave where they were trapped for 2 weeks.
Son Doong is situated in central Vietnam, in the center of Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park. In terms of volume, it is taken into account the biggest cave on the planet. It was discovered by accident in 1990 and was only explored by the British Cave Research Association in 2009. It was opened to the general public in 2013 and is now available exclusively through adventure tour company Oxalis.
The river cave is believed to be at the least 3 million years old. It measures over three miles long, and the biggest cave is over 800 feet high and almost 500 feet wide.
Divers plan to return in April 2020. This month is taken into account the most effective for diving since it is then easiest to explore the caves as a consequence of low water levels and good visibility.
It was inscribed on the World Heritage List for the second time for its ecological system and biodiversity on the thirty ninth session of the World Heritage Committee in Bonn, Germany, in 2015. It was first inscribed in 2003 for its geological and geomorphological values .
It is home to over 300 magnificent caves and is amongst the most well-liked tourist destinations in Vietnam, including the biggest cave on the planet, Son Doong; the third largest cave on the planet, En Cave; and the longest dry cave in Asia, Thien Duong (Paradise) Cave.
