Caves are a natural underground cavity accessible to human infiltration. They are the object of the science of speleology. It is the speleologists who make the greatest contribution to the exploration of the caves. Some of the creations of nature are striking with their beauty, others with bizarre forms, and others with their sizes.
The top 10 includes the largest caves in the world in terms of length, volume or area occupied.
10
Optimistic cave
Optimistic cave ( Ukraine) opens the top ten largest caves. It is also the longest gypsum cave in the world. The investigated territory is 230 kilometers, but the cave itself is much longer. The rest of it has not yet been studied by researchers. Optimistic cave was opened in 1966 by Lviv cave explorers. Initially it was assumed that its length is not more than 3 meters, but further stubborn studies have shown that the cave is one of the longest in the world. It got its name because skeptical speleologists to study the cave, they called the Lviv optimists. Since then over 200 expeditions have been made here.
9
Sarma
Sarma ( Abkhazia) is on the list of the deepest caves in the world, which is located in the Arabica mountain range. It was discovered in 1990 by Sergei Shipitsin. The entrance to it is at an altitude of 2150 meters above sea level. The maximum known depth of Sarma is 1830 meters. The cave is formed by limestone and gypsum rocks. Many speleologists participated in its research. Among them Rudko Pavel, Koreshnikov Eugene, Plotnikov Vladimir, Alexander Osintsev, Vasily Sukhachev, Andrei Zakrepka, Safin Rafail, Bezverkhiy Anatoly, Verbitsky Alexander, Kalachev Artem and many others.
8
Krubera-Voronja
Krubera-Voronia ( Abkhazia) - the deepest in the world, known speleology, a cave. Its depth is 2.2 kilometers, and it is located in the Arabica mountain massif in Georgia. The entrance to it is at an altitude of 2250 meters above sea level. It is a cavern of the subvertical type, consisting of a series of wells, which are interconnected by crossings and galleries. Another entrance to the Crown-Raven was opened in 2014 and is located at an altitude of 2253 meters above sea level. At a depth of two hundred meters, the cave branches into the Main and Neukuibyshevskaya branches, which are the main branches. Then there are many smaller offshoots. Krubera-Voronya was first discovered in 1960 by the speleological expedition of the Institute of Geography named after. Vakhushti Bagrationi AN GSSR.In 2014, a new entrance was opened by a team of speleologists, located above the main one, which allowed setting a new world record for the depth of the cave system, which became equal to 2199 meters.
7
Sak-Actun
Sak-Actun ( Mexico) - one of the largest caves in the world, almost completely flooded with water. Also included in the list of the longest caves in the world. Its total length is over 317 kilometers, of which only 5 kilometers are not flooded with water. Her research explored the speleologists in the second half of the 20th century.
6
Mammoth Cave
Mammoth Cave ( USA) is recognized as the longest in the world. It was located in the state of Kentucky USA, in the homonymous national park. Its length is more than 587 kilometers. In fact, the cave is much longer, but the researchers studied only so far this part. Now in this cave system there are 225 underground passages and about 20 huge halls. Its name was received because of its impressive size. In one of the passages a fairly large river Echo flows, the width of which is 60 meters, and the depth is 10 meters. Mammoth cave was formed about 10 million years ago. Indians knew about its existence from ancient times. Subsequently, scientists have been found in a cave of Indian burials. Its discovery by the Americans took place in the late 18th century.
5
Red Cave
Red Cave ( Russia, Crimea) is one of the longest caves, the length of which is 16 kilometers. Its area is 52 thousand square meters.m, and the volume - 200 thousand cubic meters.m. The Red Cave is located about 30% of the territory of the Crimea, and along the length it occupies about 19%.
4
Aisrizenwelt
Aisrizenwelt ( Austria) is the world's largest ice cave, where permafrost remains throughout the year. Its length is 42 kilometers, and the depth is 407 meters. People knew about its existence long ago, but in fact it was discovered in 1879 by naturalist Anton von Posselt-Kzorich. The most thorough study of it was occupied by the Salzburg speleologist Alexander von Murk, who died during the World War( 1914) and was buried in one of the niches of Aisraisenwelt. Currently, this cave is one of the most popular places for recreation. For the first time the excursion here was made in 1920.Each year, Aisraisenvelt is visited by about 150 thousand tourists. Excursions are held from May to October, but in the winter, visiting the cave is prohibited because of the danger of avalanches.
3
Miao
Miao ( China) is one of the largest caves in the world in terms of volume. It was opened in 1989 by the Sino-European Expedition. Miao is located in the largest cave system of Gabihe in the national park of China Ziyun Gatu He Chuandung. To get to Miao it is possible only on an underground stream. To determine the boundaries of the cave, researchers used laser scanning. According to the data received, Miao's volume was 10.78 million cubic meters.m.
2
Lubang Nasib Bagus
Lubang Nasib Bugus ( Malaysia) - a cave with the largest in the world grotto of Sarawak. The grotto is 600 meters long and 415 meters wide. In height, it reaches a hundred meters, and its area is 163 thousand cubic meters. The total volume of the mainsail is 25 million cubic meters. It was opened in 1981 by three English speleologists who explored the karst massif in the Gunung Mulu national park. The British climbed up the river flowing from the cave and found themselves in a grotto that could not be lit by the lanterns available to the researchers. Such a huge was the area of the hall. In the territory of Sarawak able to accommodate 50 huge aircraft.
1
Shondong
Shondong ( Vietnam) - the largest cave in the world. It is located in the Vietnamese national park Phongna-Kebang in the province of Kuangbin. About its existence, locals learned in 1991, and in 2009 it was discovered by a British group of speleologists. In some places, Shondong is two hundred meters high and one hundred and fifty meters wide. It is recognized as a cave with the highest and broadest passages. Its volume is approximately equal to 38.5 million cubic meters.m. In places where light penetrates, there is grass and even trees.