A team of cave explorers outside Ping’e village in Leye County, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, discovered a massive sinkhole that harbored a primeval forest growing at the bottom. The sinkhole measures 306m in length, 150m in width, and 192m in depth, with its volume exceeding 5 million cubic meters, meaning it can be officially categorized as a large sinkhole.
The sinkhole is localized in Leye Fengshan UNESCO Global Geopark.
There is a “Lost World” beneath it.
The sinkhole or the “Heavenly pit” was found to have a well-preserved primitive forest at the bottom, and three caves in its walls. Researchers studying the “lost world” say it may be home to undiscovered species. Zhang Yuanhai, a senior engineer at the Institute of Karst Geology of the China Geological Survey, said that the primitive forest could be home to previously unidentified plant and animal species.
It’s an extraordinary discovery, according to the researchers.
The discovery of the sinkhole and the primeval forest beneath it is extraordinary in many ways. Chen Lixin, who led the Guangxi 702 cave expedition team that discovered the chasm, 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”.
As researcher and expedition leader Chen Lixin reports, “There are species in this cave that have never been reported or described to science.”
