Page 124 - Super Earth Encyclopedia

COLOSSAL CAVE

BIGGEST CAVE
HANG SON DOONG WORLD’S

The gigantic Hang Son Doong in Vietnam is the world’s
largest known cave, with a main passage big enough to
contain a 40-story skyscraper. Hidden by thick jungle,
the cave was not discovered until 1991. Like all limestone
caves, it was created by naturally acidic rainwater seeping
down through cracks in the rock and slowly dissolving it.
Where the water drips off the cave roof, the dissolved
minerals turn back into limestone, forming spectacular
stalagmites, stalactites, and a 200-ft (60-m) high wall that
all but blocks one end of the cave. Two huge sinkholes,
each measuring about 330 ft (100 m) across, allow
life-giving light into the darkness of the cave.

AT A GLANCE

• LOCATION Quang Binh Province,
central Vietnam
• LENGTH Main cave system is more
than 5.6 miles (9 km) long
• WIDTH Up to 490 ft (150 m)
• MAXIMUM HEIGHT More than

660 ft (200 m)

STATS AND FACTS

CHAMBER SIZE TREE LIFE
Limestone caves The main The cave’s two
occur all over the chamber is giant chambers
world. As more are large enough have 100-ft
explored every to contain a (30-m) high trees
year, an even 747 Jumbo Jet. growing inside.
bigger cave than STALAGMITES CAVE NETWORK
WATER WORLD AGE OF CAVE high, the cave has may be more than
Hang Son Doong
may yet be found.
Altogether, there
Up to 230 ft (70 m)
150 chambers in
the world’s tallest
the cave.
known stalagmites.
UP TO
5
MILLION
YEARS OLD
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