What do the caves look like? Ten most unusual caves in the world (10 photos). Kungur cave. Russia
On December 27, 1966, the Swallow Cave in Mexico was discovered, the most big cave well in the world. In terms of depth, the Swallow Cave ranks 2nd in Mexico and 11th on Earth. We decided to talk about the ten most unusual caves ah in the world.
Cave karst origin, is located in Mexico, in the state of San Lui Potosi. It looks smaller than it actually is. The shape of the cave resembles a bottle: the entrance to the cave is 55 meters, and in depth it expands to 130–160 meters. The depth reaches 376 meters, which is commensurate with the height of the Empire State Building (381 meters without a spire). The famous New York skyscraper Chrysler Building, whose height reaches 319 meters, could easily be placed in the cave. Black swifts live in the cave, but the name is derived from the Spanish word Golondrinas (“swallow”).
In the morning, flocks of birds fly in a spiral, gaining height until they reach the exit of the cave. In order not to violate quiet life swifts, descents into the cave are allowed only at certain times: from 12:00 to 16:00. In addition, a collision with a flock of birds during a free flight is very dangerous: a cave that has become a Mecca for lovers extreme sports, is a serious challenge even for very experienced and physically fit BASE jumpers. The descent into the cave takes about 20 minutes. climbing equipment and about 10 seconds during a long parachute jump, while opening the parachute is possible only at a strictly defined time: at 6-7 seconds of falling. Climbing up takes about two hours and requires good climbing and physical fitness.
carlsbad cave
The 250-million-year-old Carlsbad Cave is part of a chain of 80 karst caves in the Guadalupe mountains on southeast State of New Mexico, USA. The depth of the cave is 339 meters, the total length of all passages and halls is about 12 kilometers.
Most Big hall has the shape of the letter T with dimensions in two directions of 610 and 335 meters, a height of up to 87 meters and an area of 5.7 hectares. The cave is a system of huge halls and galleries and is famous for the special beauty and grace of mineral formations. Carlsbad Cave was formed during the deposition of thick layers of limestone in the rock. Small cracks formed in this limestone, into which water seeped through, dissolving softer minerals and forming caves and tunnels.
In all the caves of the Carlsbad chain, stalactites formed fantastic figures: Bashful Elephant (Shameful Elephant) looks like an elephant turned back to the passage, Rock of Edges (Century Rock) is a lone giant stalagmite. The caves have become a haven for a colony of bats: at dusk, the entrance to the caves turns black due to the nocturnal inhabitants flying away to hunt.
crystal cave
It is located in the Mexican desert of the state of Chiahua at a depth of 300 meters and was found while drilling a local mine. The cave is famous giant crystals selenite - a mineral, a structural variety of gypsum. The largest of the found crystals has a size of 11 meters in length and 4 meters in width, with a mass of 55 tons. These are the largest natural crystals ever found on the planet. The cave is also known for its unusual climate: it is very hot here. Temperatures reach 58 °C with 90–100% humidity, which makes it very difficult to explore the cave. Even with equipment, being in a cave usually does not exceed 20 minutes. Access to the cave is open only to scientists.
Han Son Dung Cave
The largest cave on planet Earth, Khan Song Dung, which means "Cave mountain river is located in Vietnam. It was discovered only in 2009 by a group of British researchers. The largest hall of the cave has a total length of more than 5 thousand meters, the total length of the cave is presumably 9 thousand meters. The halls and corridors are 100 meters wide and 200 meters high.
The cave is unusual in that many years ago, gaps formed in the roof of the cave, through which light and plant seeds entered the underground halls. Now you can find real jungle in the cave. In addition, another interesting rare phenomenon attracts speleologists: cave pearls form in the cave. This rare type of pearl grows by itself in pools of lime water. Its composition differs little from traditional shellfish pearls, but it does not have a beautiful mother-of-pearl luster.
Photo: travel times.ru
Abyss of Three Bridges
Limestone cave of the Jurassic period, a karst sinkhole in Lebanon 255 meters deep, whose age is 160 million years. The cave owes its name to the fact that the opposite walls of the abyss are connected by three bridges, each of which hangs over the other. A powerful waterfall passes through them. For thousands of years, the water from the stream slowly washed away the limestone and gradually destroyed the vaults of the cave. After the appearance of the upper bridge, it was destroyed for a long time by vertical and ring erosion, which, in combination with a series of collapses, created the middle and lower bridges.
Fingal's Cave
famous sea cave located on the tiny isle of Staffa in Scotland. Rains and sea water drilled a whole system of caves on it, the largest of which is named after the giant Fingal, the hero of the Irish epic, who built a dam connecting Scotland and Ireland.
The main hall of Fingal's Cave is 75 meters long, 20 meters wide and 14 meters high, and the entrance to it is so narrow that it is impossible to get there by boat. In the Gaelic language, the cave was called Uam Bin, "Cave of Melodies": the huge hall of the cave repeatedly repeats the sounds of the surf, and the whole cave literally sings. An interesting fact is that when the famous author of the "Wedding March" composer Felix Mendelssohn visited the cave in 1829, he was so amazed by the amazing play of sounds and echoes that it inspired him to create an overture called "The Hebrides, or Fingal's Cave".
The cave is also famous for its impressive basalt colonnade of surprisingly regular shape. Most columns are 6-sided, but there are also 3-sided and 8-sided ones. They acquired such an unusual shape due to the long process of crystallization of volcanic lava. According to legend, these are the remains of piles driven into the bottom of the Irish Sea by the giant Fingal.
Marble Caves of Chile
Marble Caves - the main attraction of Lake Lago General Carrera in Chile and one of the most beautiful places in Patagonia. They are also called the marble cathedral (Marble Cathedral or Las Cavernas de Marmol), which is a maze of beautiful geological formations. In fact, the walls of the cave labyrinth are not made of marble, but of limestone. Numerous tunnels and columns have been formed due to the impact of waves over the past 6200 years.
Most famous caves- Marble Cathedral, marble cave and Marble Chapel. All three grottoes are part of the peninsula and used to be completely flooded with water. The glacier that filled the lake melted over time, the water level dropped significantly, revealing to the world marble labyrinths, partially filled with turquoise water. Tourists can explore the caves in a small boat or kayak, but only if the weather is good and calm.
Reed Flute Cave
Reed Flute Cave - an amazingly beautiful cave near Chinese city Guilin. One of the largest karst caves in the region, reaching a length of 240 meters. The cave got its name from the special kind of reed growing around it, from which some of the best flutes in all of China have been made since ancient times. The age of the cave is at least 180 million years, it was formed due to the destruction of quartz rocks by water. The cave is famous for stalactites, stalagmites and other bizarre mountain formations, and thanks to the illumination and reflection in the underground lake, it gives the impression of frozen actions, which the Chinese gave poetic names: "Crystal Palace", "Dragon Tower", "Pine in the Snow", "Dawn in the Lion's Grove", "Red Threshold" and so on.
Dragon Cave
The Dragon Cave is located in Kastoria, in northwestern Greece. The cave is considered unique and is the only cave in Greece with 7 fresh underground lakes and 10 halls of various sizes (the largest is 45x17 meters) and 5 tunnels. The depth of the cave reaches 600 meters, but cavers have not yet advanced further than 300 meters. The cave got its name thanks to the legend of the dragon, which zealously guarded the gold mine. Anyone who mustered the courage to sneak into his domain, he incinerated with his gaze and killed with flames from his mouth. In addition, the entrance to the cave resembles the mouth of a dragon. The cave is also famous for its special air circulation system and special microclimate.
Jeita Grotto
Jeita Grotto is a complex of two separate but interconnected karst limestone caves with a total length of almost 9 kilometers. The caves are located in the Nahr al-Kalb valley in the Jeita settlement, 18 kilometers north of the Lebanese capital Beirut. Caves and grottoes have been known since Paleolithic times. The lower cave was discovered in 1836 by priest William Thomson, an American missionary. You can only get here by boat, as the cave is filled with an underground river that provides drinking water over one million Lebanese. The upper galleries were discovered in 1958 by Lebanese speleologists. They consist of a series of separate chambers, the largest of which reaches a height of 120 meters.
Here is one of the largest stalactites in the world with a height of 8.2 meters. In one of the caves, the remains of an ancient foundry were found, where swords were supposedly made. The giant stalactites of the caves create beautiful compositions, thanks to which the Jeita Caves were among the 28 finalists of the Seven New Wonders of Nature competition.
Our planet is a place of amazing wonders and unusual mysteries. It would seem that a person has mastered even the most remote corners of the Earth, but at the same time has not discovered all its secrets. In addition to those known to everyone, there is a huge number of man-made and natural objects that amaze the imagination and minds of all mankind. Among them is the largest in a unique formation with its own ecosystem. Let's talk about where it is, when it was opened and how distinctive features possesses.
Shondong: size statistics
Son Doong is the largest cave in the world. A similar statement by local residents was supported by facts obtained by a research expedition from England in 2009. According to dry statistics, the formation has a volume of about 38.5 million cubic meters, a height of about 200 meters, and a width of about 150 meters. Once in such an underground kingdom, willy-nilly, any person can be confused by the grandeur, size and scope.
Discovery history
The unofficial history of the cave begins in 1991, it was from this period of time that the local population mentioned its presence, until that date no information was provided. At the same time, one should not forget that the underground grotto of colossal dimensions was formed by the water element for at least two million years in a row. Evidence of the significant age of the cave are huge stalagmites, as well as other bizarre stone formations.
How to get to the cave?
Where is the largest cave in the world located? Vietnam, Quang Binh Province is the address you will have to follow to visit it. Not far from the border with Laos, in these places there is a national natural Park called Phongnya - Kebang, it is here that a unique natural formation is located. Finding the entrance to the cave is quite difficult, this is due to the fact that it is located in a rather wild area, in the realm of mountains and jungles. Perhaps this fact explains the fact that for a long time the underground formation was not discovered and was not explored even after the discovery at the end of the 20th century. The descent into the ground is carried out by ropes, which is also a rather serious obstacle and test.
Beauty and features of Shondong
What is the largest cave in the world famous for? Photos of education are amazing amazing beauty and scale. First of all, most travelers are in awe of which flows in the bowels of the earth and in the hard rocks of several kilometers. On its shores, the most desperate daredevils even pitch tents, but you won’t be able to enjoy the silence far from civilization either. The splashing of water and the howling of the wind in the bowels of the cave create a frightening atmosphere worthy of any horror movie.
In addition to the river, Son Doong also has its own green spaces, the jungle, in which indigenous inhabitants may also be present. So, here there are various insects and snakes, a little less often birds and even monkeys. Unique feature The local ecosystem is considered to have a unique underground climate. Habitual fogs and clouds are found even underground, which in itself is very unusual and intriguing. In fact, it is explained quite simply, a significant temperature difference between the surface and the underground leads to the formation of clouds and other similar phenomena.
You can visit Son Doong at any time, except for the rainy season. During this period, the caves are filled with water to a dangerous level, which means that visiting them can be extremely dangerous for the life of researchers.
Other contenders for the main title
At various times, the title of the largest cave in the world was claimed by:
Unique world dungeons
Now that you know the name of the largest cave in the world, we can talk about other unique underground kingdoms that are popular with amateurs. extreme recreation and unity with nature. So, the list of the most interesting formations can include:
Kingdom of Ice
The world's largest ice cave is located in New Zealand and is compound name Isriesennvelt, its area is approximately 300 square kilometers, which allows it to be the absolute champion in its category in terms of dimensions. Beautiful and cold ice formations are found in Iceland (Vatnaekul is forbidden to visit during the warm season due to high risks of melting and collapse), in Russia (grotto in Austria.
film about the cave
Delight and inspiration - this is what causes the largest cave in the world in people. Sanctum, a 2011 science fiction film about a cave, tells the story of a group of explorers descending into the depths of unexplored dungeons. A fierce struggle with a dangerous and unknown element leads to very deplorable consequences, reminding viewers not only of the beauty of the caves, but also of the threat to life lurking in their unknown.
The largest cave in the world is currently located in Vietnam, however, research in order to understand our world is carried out regularly and systematically, which means that unique finds will not keep you waiting. It is likely that very soon we will get acquainted with new natural phenomena, no less fantastic and beautiful than those already known to mankind.
Caves are underground cavities that communicate with the surface by one or more
inlet holes. The largest caves have complex systems of passages and halls, often with a total length of up to several tens of kilometers.
Today we will visit some mysterious caves.
Tham Lod limestone cave. This is one of the oldest caves in Thailand. It is very popular with archaeologists. A human skeleton was found here, which is more than twenty thousand years old. Visitors to the cave will be able to see the dwelling of primitive people. Caves were generally used by ancient people as comfortable dwellings.
Inside this cave, the walls are covered with massive formations over 20 meters high that make you feel very insignificant in this world. There is no artificial lighting in the cave, so you need to move around with a lantern inside. The very name of the cave - Nam Lod, which in Thai means "water passing through" - speaks of its essence.
Cave on the beach in New Zealand.
In most caves, the air is breathable due to natural circulation, although there are caves in which you can only be in gas masks. For example, guano deposits can poison the air. However, in the vast majority natural caves air exchange with the surface is quite intense.
Cave under Uluwatu Temple, Bali.
View of northern lights from a cave in Northern Norway.
In addition to caves that have access to the surface and are accessible for direct study by humans, there are closed underground cavities in the earth's crust. The deepest underground cavity (2952 meters) was discovered by drilling on the coast of Cuba
And it's just a cave beautiful lake. Unfortunately, the photographer forgot to leave the name of the area.
This is rather not a cave, but an artificial bridge in Morocco.
Castor cave Olsztyn in Poland. Caves according to their origin can be divided into five groups: tectonic, erosional, ice, volcanic and, finally, the most large group- karst. Most of these caves. It is karst caves that have the greatest length and depth. Karst caves are formed as a result of the dissolution of rocks by water, so they are found only where soluble rocks occur: limestone, marble, dolomite, chalk, as well as gypsum and salt.
Reed Flute Cave in China. This iconic place in Guilin City, China, located in a picturesque area with karst formations. This natural limestone cave got its name from the reeds that grow around it. locals made old wind instruments.
Read more in the article "Reed Flute Cave in China".
Caves appear in many fantastic works (both in fantasy and science fiction). Caves (more precisely, bunkers) in science fiction mainly serve as shelters after a global catastrophe that made life on the surface impossible. In fantasy, caves are inhabited by gnomes, kobolds, goblins, dragons; V role playing they often play the role of dungeons. In Russian folk tales among the inhabitants of the caves are the Mistress of the copper mountain and the Serpent Gorynych.
ice cave in state park Matthiessen, Illinois.
Krubera-Voronya is the deepest (at the beginning of 2014) cave in the world (depth 2196 meters), located in the Arabica mountain range in Abkhazia. The entrance to the cave is located at an altitude of about 2250 m above sea level in the Orto-Balagan tract. A subvertical karst cave is a series of wells connected by stiles and galleries. The deepest plumb lines: 115, 110, 152 m:
Among the most famous literary characters who ended up in the caves are Tom Sawyer along with Becky Thatcher, as well as Bilbo Baggins.
Crystal Cave, Iceland. The cave can be entered from the shore, through a 7 meter hole. The tunnel gradually narrows, and at the end its height is no more than 1.2 meters. ice caves generally unstable and could collapse at any moment. They are only safe to visit in winter when the cold temperatures harden the ice. Crackling sounds are constantly heard in the cave. They are heard not because the cave is about to collapse, but because the cave is moving along with the glacier itself. Every time the glacier moves a millimeter, loud noises are heard.
Primitive people used caves all over the world as a dwelling. Even more often, animals settled in the caves. Many animals died in the cave-traps, starting from steep wells.
Cave and view of Gibraltar.
Marble Mountains - beautiful and mysterious place near Da Nang city, Vietnam. Huyen Khong cave with statues and altars inside.
The longest Mammoth Cave in the world (USA) is karst, laid in limestone. It has a total length of passages of more than 600 km. The length of the investigated part of the cave system is more than 587 km. In the surveyed part, there are 225 underground passages, about 20 large halls and more than 20 deep mines:
The extremely slow evolution of caves, their constant climate, and protection from the outside world have preserved a huge number of archaeological finds to us. These are pollen of fossil plants, bones of long-extinct animals (cave bear, cave hyena, mammoth, woolly rhinoceros), cave drawings ancient people.
Luray Caverns in Virginia. There is even an underground organ.
The cave monastery is located in Moldova. The archaeological complex "Old Orhei" is located 60 km northeast of Chisinau.
Rainbow and frozen waterfall in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Although the living world of caves, as a rule, is not very rich (excluding the entrance part, where sunlight), however, some animals live in caves or even only in caves. First of all, these are bats, many of their species use caves as a daily shelter or for wintering. Moreover, bats sometimes fly into very remote and hard-to-reach corners, perfectly orienting themselves in narrow labyrinth passages.
Cave system in Halong Bay, Vietnam.
Cave off the coast of San Francisco, California.
Birds, sunlight and temple. Batu Caves is a complex of cave hills and Hindu shrines in the Gombak region, at a distance of 13 km from the center of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. (Photo by Danny Xeero). The Batu Caves were created by nature over 400 million years ago. In the 19th century, a merchant from India built a temple to the god Muruga in this secluded place.
April 14th, 2013
Mammoth Cave is a place of beauty, mystery and paradox. This is a real kingdom of underground lakes and canyons, waterfalls and streams, narrow passages and domed large halls. Located 80 km from Bowling Green, Kentucky, the cave contains one of the largest underground tunnel systems in the world, which is why it is included in the list world heritage UNESCO. mysterious sinkholes, underground waterfalls and cave formations in the gypsum karst attract numerous visitors. Nobody knows the true size of the Mammoth Cave yet. New caverns and passageways are constantly being opened up, the subterranean boundaries of this spectacular labyrinth are expanding deeper and deeper into the depths. underworld. Mammoth Cave is the world's longest underground labyrinth system, if the second and third longest caves in the world were combined, it would still be the longest in the world with a margin of 160 km!
People entered the Mammoth Cave and lived here since historical times. Anthropologists believe that Native Americans first discovered it about 4,000 years ago. For lighting, they used torches made from bunches of reeds that still continue to grow nearby. The charred remains of these ancient torches have been found for many kilometers inside the cave. Almost 5 kilometers from the entrance, the mummified body of a gypsum miner, who died about 2000 years ago, was found. He was crushed to death by a huge 5-ton block. The human body and clothes are well preserved.
The cave was known from time immemorial to Indian tribes. In a cave speleologists mummies of Indian tribes were found. Mammoth Cave was discovered by American colonists back in 1797. Legend has it that the first European to discover Mammoth Cave was either John Howchine or his brother Francis Howchine. In 1797, while hunting, Howchin pursued a wounded bear and discovered the entrance to a cave near the Green River.
Further in 1798, Valentine Simon purchased a cave for the development and extraction of potassium nitrate. As a result of the Anglo-American War of 1812-1814, saltpeter prices skyrocketed. During the War of 1812, the cave served as an important source of saltpeter, for the extraction of which they used the labor of mainly the black population of America. Saltpeter mining at that time had great importance, since it served as a key component for the manufacture of gunpowder. During the war of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain, a significant part of the saltpeter needed for warfare was mined from Mammoth Cave. Its owners relied on the labor of 70 African slaves to extract this valuable mineral.
Further, the Mammoth Cave was bought out by entrepreneurs Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz for the industrial production of saltpeter and calcium nitrate. But the war ended, and as a result of a decline in demand for saltpeter, prices began to fall, which made the production of saltpeter extremely unprofitable. Mining and production of saltpeter was stopped, and the cave was turned into a tourist attraction. local importance and later global. 
After the end of the war in 1815, saltpeter prices plummeted, and its extraction became unprofitable. However, people who learned about the cave began to visit it to see with their own eyes the huge size of this underground miracle. In the following decades, the cave turned into a popular tourist attraction.
In 1838, the cave was purchased by slave owner Franklin Gorin. Gorin appointed one of his slaves, Stephen Bishop, as an escort for the then-visitors of the cave. Bishop made attempts to explore the cave, which were sufficiently successful. AND Bishop became the first explorer of the cave. Bishop discovered many interesting and beautiful places in the cave, to which he gave his names. Bishop was the first to successfully cross the so-called. Bottomless pit. After that, Bishop concluded that the cave has a much greater extent than previously thought. Subsequently, Bishop compiled a map, on which he carried more than 16 kilometers of the routes he had laid. This map was the only guide to Mammoth Cave for 40 years. 
Stephen Bishop proved to be a talented explorer and guide. He made many discoveries that increased the popularity of the cave over the next decade. Stephen became the first person to cross the "Abyss" (Bottomless Pit) - a large hole over 30 meters deep. Stephen Bishop became one of the most famous guides in the history of Mammoth Cave, and almost everyone who visited the cave needed his advice. Many of his discoveries are described in the guidebook Rambles in the Mammoth Cave.
Later in 1839, doctor John Croghan bought the cave along with the slaves, including Bishop from Gorin. John Krogan had attempts to make a treatment-and-prophylactic hospital out of the caves, but without much success.
Dr. Krogan was interested in the cave's possible healing properties. He believed that the cave's constant temperature and humidity could be beneficial for people with tuberculosis. In the spring of 1842, he placed the sick with this disease in wooden and stone houses built in the center of the cave. Visitors from that period spoke of persistent coughs they heard from patients living in these lodges. In 1843, the experiment ended in complete failure. Several patients died, and the condition of others worsened. Obviously, the high humidity inside the cave and low temperature only harmed, not helped sick people. In Mammoth Cave, two stone houses are still preserved as a memory of this experiment. Ironically, Dr. Croghan himself died of this severe illness in 1849.
Attempts to turn the cave into a tuberculosis sanatorium were unsuccessful. And in 1845 Alexander Bullitt published the book Rambles in Mammoth Cave, during the Year 1844, by a Visiter. Gradually Mammoth Cave became more famous. And with the passage of transport arteries to nearby cities at the end of the 19th century, made it possible for tourists to visit the caves. What made Mammoth Cave subsequently important tourist attraction USA.
In the 1920s and 1930s, attempts were made, which were subsequently crowned with success, to acquire land around the cave. And thanks to these efforts, both on the part of the authorities and on the part of interested citizens, the Mammoth Cave National Park was created in 1941.
Further in the course scientific research from 1954 to 1961, speleological expeditions found that mammoth cave, as well as a number of other nearby caves, Crystal, Neizvestnaya and Salty, are part of the same karst cave system. In 1972, a speleological expedition that conducted research in the Mammoth Cave, based on their research, concluded that the Mammoth Cave is connected to the nearby cave system Flint Ridge. This means that all the caves in the area are nothing but one whole cave system.
cave wars Kentucky
The difficulties of farming on infertile, poor soils caused the desire of the owners of small caves located near Mamontova to switch from farming to other types of business. Thanks to the development of transport in the first quarter of the 20th century - rail and road - the number of visitors to the cave increased significantly. In the mid-1920s, the area around Mammoth Cave became the center of what historians have called the "Kentucky Cave Wars," a period of intense competition between local cave owners to generate tourism money.
A widely practiced practice of deception was used to lure tourists into other small caves. Along the roads leading to the Mammoth Cave, fake road signs, who led tourists astray and directed them to other caves. The owners of these small caves made visitors think that they had visited Mamontova, although in reality it was a completely different cave. A typical strategy at the initial stage of the emergence of car travel was that the capper (a person who lures simpletons), jumping on the bandwagon of a passing tourist car, convinced passengers that the Mammoth Cave was closed, quarantined, collapsed, in a word, inaccessible to the public and suggested they visit another cave.
Creation of the Mammoth Cave National Park
After Dr. Krogan's death, his nephews and nieces owned the cave in trust until the last of the heirs died in 1926. According to his will, after the death of the last heir, Mammoth Cave should be sold at an open auction. With the death of the last heir of Dr. Krogan, a movement spread among wealthy Kentuckians to create a national park on the territory of the cave. Citizens of the state formed a public organization Association national park Mammoth Cave. They believed that the only way to ensure its protection for future generations was to create a national park.
Mammoth Cave was considered a clear candidate for park status and state support. In fact, the national park project proved to be a formidable task, because, unlike the territories of such parks as Yellowstone and Yosemite, the area around Mammoth Cave was occupied by farmers and local entrepreneurs, many of whom did not want to leave their lands, and opposed the creation of a national park. parka.
On May 25, 1926, President Calvin Coolidge signed into law the creation of Mammoth Cave National Park. The law tied the creation of the park to contingent donations of land to the federal government.
Donations from wealthy citizens were used to acquire the land of some farms, while other plots of land were acquired under the legal right of the state to alienate private property. Unlike the education of others national parks United States in sparsely populated areas of the country, thousands of people were forced to move to other places of residence. Like the American Indians who originally inhabited the area, the descendants of European settlers who arrived in the Green River Valley in the 1790s also had to leave the area.
Mammoth Cave National Park was officially opened on July 1, 1941 to "protect the unique underground labyrinth, the rolling hills above, and the Green River Valley".
How was the cave formed?
Ancient sea covered central part present-day United States 325 million years ago, depositing more than 180 meters of soluble limestone, later covered by a layer of sandstones and shale deposited ancient river. The top layer covered the bottom like an umbrella. The sea and the river disappeared, and the forces of erosion eroded this upper layer about 10 million years ago, when cracks and holes opened the limestone to the outside. Geologists believe that the old part of the Mammoth Cave began to form about 10 million years ago. Rainwater, oxidized by carbon dioxide in the soil, seeped through the cracks and began to dissolve the limestone, creating the labyrinth of passageways, amphitheaters, rooms and voids we know as Mammoth Cave.
Many interior features such as stalagmites, stalactites and columns formed at the rate of one cubic inch every 100 to 200 years.
Why is it called "Mammoth Cave"?
The name Mammoth was first used to describe the cave in the early 1800s. The name was used due to the huge size of the systems of labyrinths and passages, and has nothing to do with the mammoth. Any information about the discovery of mammoth remains here is not true.
Length of Mammoth Cave?
To date, researchers have mapped 584 km of passages, making Mammoth Cave the longest cave system in the world. Explorers are still discovering new passages, and, as is often said, "the end of the edge is not in sight." Professional speleologists continue to study the cave system, making new maps and discovering new passages, many of which are hard-to-reach corridors.
The bats
Mammoth Cave once had a population of 9-12 million bats in the historical section alone. Although bats continue to live in the cave, today their number does not exceed a few thousand. Now environmentalists are working on a program to restore the bat population.
Tourism and attractions Mammoth Cave
The US National Park Service offers visitors a number of cave tours. Tours last from one to six hours. The two tours are run using only paraffin lamps and are a popular alternative to the electrically lit trails. Several "wild" tours deviate from well explored parts of the cave and lead into dusty tunnels.
Park tours are distinguished by the quality of explanatory programs. Information for tourists depends on the tour chosen, so by taking several tours, tourists will learn about the various aspects of the formation of the cave and its history.
The six hour tour is the most popular among tourists. Groups pass through Cleveland Avenue, which is a long cylindrical hall carved by underground water. Its walls gleam with white gypsum, crystallized under a layer of limestone. The route then passes through the Snowball Dining Room, where you can stop and have a bite to eat. After that, the tour goes through Boone Avenue − deep gorge, the width of which is so narrow that you can easily touch the opposite walls of the passage with both hands. The tour ends at Frozen Niagara. Mineral-rich water, seeping through the rock, gradually formed Frozen Niagara, a characteristic feature of which is the presence of stalactites, stalagmites, images stone waves on the walls, simulating the fall of water.
One part of Mammoth Cave is called the Methodist Church, where it is believed that religious rites were held in the early 1800s. Visitors to this part of the cave are given the opportunity to experience what the first tourists felt. The guide turns off the lights and lights the torches, and visitors see firsthand how the cave looked before the installation of electric lighting here.
Booth Amphitheater is another famous site of Mammoth Cave and was visited by actor Edwin Booth, brother of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth. Edwin Booth is said to have recited Hamlet's monologue "To be or not to be" at this point.
Nearby is a deep hole in the ground, known as the Abyss (Bottomless Pit). It was named by the cave's first tour guides, unable to see its bottom through the faint light of oil lamps. The depth of the Bottomless Pit is 32 meters.
Entrance to Mammoth Cave. One of the most famous and most photographed objects in the park. It is especially good when you look outside from the middle of the cave.
The once most famous and popular Eco River tour, during which tourists had the opportunity to sail on a boat on an underground river, was canceled in the early 1990s due to environmental reasons. In addition, the maintenance of cave passages for viewing by the public, periodically subjected to floods, was incredibly costly. During the season, tourists are offered a cave tour that allows you to see the underground river.
Visitors to the national park rarely see more than 20 km of passages available for guided tours. If there free time you can explore the cave on your own. In addition, you can practice hiking or horseback riding on over 112 km2 of land on the surface of the park, fishing and rowing on the Green River.
The park's peak tourist season is during the summer, when an average of 5,000 to 7,000 visitors visit the park daily. Approximately 500,000 tourists visit the cave every year.
mammoth cave formed more than 10 million years ago in a thick limestone bed beneath the Big Clifty Sandstone in the western foothills of the Appalachians under the Flint Ridge. The top layer of sandstone covers and protects most of the cave from seeping water. Therefore, the upper passages of the cave are very dry, this explains the lack of stalactites, stalagmites and other sinter formations. But in some places, due to erosion and cracks, water still penetrates the cave, forming beautiful panoramas, for example, in the Frozen Niagara. Water, accumulating at the lower levels, forms lakes and rivers. One of these underground rivers, the Echo River, is up to 60 meters wide and about 10 meters deep. Until the 1990s, there were frequent tourist boat trips on the river, but they were subsequently discontinued due to financial difficulties, as well as for environmental reasons.
