In South China, Cave explorers recently discovered an ancient forest at the bottom of a sinkhole. An old woodland, the size of three football fields has been protected by the 192 metres (630 feet) deep sinkhole. The trees in this old woodland can grow up to 40 metres tall (130 feet).
According to the Chinese government, it is one of the county’s 30 huge sinkholes. Sinkholes are known as ‘Tiankeng’ in the native language, which approximately translates to ‘Heavenly pit’. This is the county’s biggest sinkhole, measuring 306 metres long, 150 metres broad and 192 metres deep.
A giant sinkhole with an ancient forest inside found in China
A team of Chinese scientists has discovered a giant new sinkhole with a forest at its bottom. The sinkhole is 630 feet deep, according to the Xinhua news agency. pic.twitter.com/Qlv7dgg0NU
— Archaeology News Online Magazine (@Archaeology_Mag) May 16, 2022
Cave explorers discovered this sinkhole in Leye County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in South China. As per a Guangxi news release, researchers arrived at the hole on May 6 and discovered old trees and vegetation. Zhang Yuanhai, a senior engineer at the China Geological Survey’s Institute of Karst Geology, told the official news agency Xinhua that the sinkhole has three caves in its walls and a well-preserved primaeval forest at the bottom.
Chen Lixin, leader of the expedition team trekked for hours to reach the sinkhole’s base said, ‘I wouldn’t be surprised to know that there are species found in these caves that have never been reported or described by science until now’.
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