A team of scientists discovered an ancient forest at the bottom of a giant karst sinkhole. According to experts, the crater is 192 meters deep and 150 meters wide.
And although this is really fascinating, the biggest surprise is that inside the pit there is the possibility of living species never seen before.
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Last Friday, May 6, the expedition carried out by the team of the Institute of Karst Geology of the Geological Survey of Chinawhich carried out the exploration of the territory.
In fact, The scientists had headed to the Guangxi Autonomous Region, near the village of Ping’e in southern China.due to the huge crater they saw on satellite images.
When they arrived at the place, the group descended more than 100 meters and walked for several hours until they reached the bottom of this magical site.
Chen Lixin, team leader, told Chinese media ‘Xinhua’ that inside they found a “primitive forest” and some of the plants were up to their shoulders.
Lixin stressed that it would be nothing new to find unknown species: “I would not be surprised to learn that there are species found in these caves that have never been reported or described by science before.”
Are there more sinkholes?
The answer is yes. According to the medium ‘Deutsche Welle’, with this, the number of sinks amounts to 30 and they are known as ‘Tiankeng’ which means ‘Heavenly Pit’.
Also, this region of China is known for having geological features that form huge craters. According to the portal ‘Livescience’, due to these places have “earned the region UNESCO World Heritage designation”.
George Veni, director of the National Institute for Cave and Karst Research, told the portal ‘WordsSideKick.com‘ that “in China there is an incredibly spectacular karst, with huge sinkholes and gigantic cave entrances, etc.”
“In other parts of the world you walk through the karst and you don’t really notice anything,” he added.
These types of pits can also be found in Mexico and Papua New Guinea.. In most cases they function as water sources.