The deepest known cave on Earth is currently the Krubera Cave, (sometimes known as the Voronya Cave.) The cave is located in the Arabika Massif of the Gagrinsky Range in the country of Georgia. Kubera cave acquired the title of ‘deepest cave’ in 2001 when Ukrainian explorers were able to reach a depth of 1710 meters. The main branch reaches a depth of roughly 2191 meters. There is a second branch that could possibly reach deeper than this; however a subterranean waterfall 1500 meters down floods this branch system with freezing water.
The Arabika Massif is one of the more outstanding limestone massifs in the world. With karst topography, the potential for deep cave structures and groundwater circulation is great. Krubera Cave is located at 2256 meters above sea level in the mountainous region. So while the cave is nowhere close to being a ‘deepest’ point on the planet, (its lowest known point technically not even below sea level), it is still the deepest point underground that has been explored.
Throughout the past 10 years, the exploration of Krubera Cave has increased greatly. In 2004 the “Call of the Abyss” project pushed to the ‘Game Over’ point at 2080 meters below the surface. This was the first time humans had reached a point below the 2000 meter line. The depth of the cave was then extended further past the Kvitochka point discovering a new branch in July 2005. This branch was further explored until 2007 when a dive down ‘Blue Lake’ measured it at 2191 meters.
Multiple new endemic fauna has been discovered within the cave, including spiders, scorpions, beetles, as well as shrimps and amphipods. Some of these species have been seen at all levels of the cave.
-Claire
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Cave Exploration History: http://www.caving.ie/wp/
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