Krubera-Voronya Cave is the deepest cave in the world. Krubera-Voronya Cave (Abkhazia) - the deepest known cave in the world Other large halls
From time immemorial, people have been trying to unravel the secrets of nature, and then conquer them. They build airplanes and skyscrapers, dive to the depths of the sea, climb to the tops of mountains and, of course, go underground and explore caves.
The deepest cave in the world
Over the years, many underground goths have been found and studied. Here is a list of the deepest caves in the world
Krubera-Voronya Cave
The deepest cave found is in Abkhazia. In 1960, it was discovered by Soviet speleologists. And over the next decades, scientists sank ever deeper.
Expeditions carried out in the karst cave cavity over the next half century discovered small branches at depth.
The latest record belongs to Gennady Samokhin. He found that the depth of the cave was 2196 m.
There are no established tourist routes in the Krubera-Voronya cave; You can only go down to the bottom as part of one of the speleological expeditions, which are held several times a year to explore the cave cavity.
How to get there
The Arabica mountain range is located 15 kilometers northeast of the Gagra resort. Getting to the depths of the Krubera-Voronya karst cave is possible only as part of expeditions, with special speleological equipment and appropriate mountaineering skills.
The resort town of Gagra is located 20 km from the Russian-Abkhazian border. The most convenient way to get to Gagra is from Adler through the Psou border checkpoint. In summer, you can get from the airport or Adler bus station to Abkhazia by minibuses running several times an hour. The distance from Adler to Gagra is 33 km.
Regular buses and minibuses connect Gagra with other resorts of Abkhazia - Pitsunda, New Afonomi Sukhum.
Location
The Krubera-Voronya karst cave is located in the Arabica mountain range, in the north-west of Abkhazia.
The second deepest cave in the world is also located in Abkhazia. It was found by Russian speleologists relatively recently, in 1990. Today, scientists have reached a depth of 1830 m.
Initially, the cave looked like a small gap in the rock with a very strong draft of air. The cave was named Sarma. Sarma is a strong wind that periodically blows on Lake Baikal. Its speed is 40 - 50 m/s.
Location
The cave is located on Mount Arabica. The altitude exceeds 2000 meters. Sarma Cave is a karst cave of a subvertical type and is a string of halls and wells connected by tunnels and climbs.
Perspective
Sarma Cave is one of the deepest and most beautiful caves in the world. The explored depths are of great value for world speleology. Scientists believe that the depth of the cave in the future may exceed 2 kilometers.
The third deepest cave in the world is also located in the Caucasus. Soviet scientists first descended into it in 1971. At the moment, the dungeons have been explored to a depth of 1760 meters, the total length of the passages is about 32 kilometers.
It is located in the Khypstinsky massif, in one of the spurs of the Bzyb ridge in the thickness of Cretaceous and Jurassic dolomitized limestones.
Depths of the caves included in the system
Illusion -832 m, Mezhennoye -569 m, Snezhnaya -1361 m (lowest point -15 m below the mirror of Lake Morozov). In the Great Hall (depths 120-160 m from the surface) there is the largest underground snowfield in the territory of the former USSR - a snow cone with an ice core, the height of which periodically changed in different years from 25 m (according to surveys of 1971-74) to maximum possible height of 60 m (observations 2002-2005). The volume of snow and firn varied from 50 to 96 thousand m3. respectively. In the bottom part there are the Throne Hall and Hall X - the largest underground halls in Abkhazia. Their dimensions: Throne room - 309 m by 109 m with a ceiling height of up to 40 m; Hall X - 250 m by 70 m with a ceiling height of up to 50 m.
Other large halls
University, Enfilade (actually three adjacent halls under the same name), halls of Hope, Victory, Dolmen, Expectation, Gremyachiy, halls Glinyany Zaval, IGAN, Penelope, Vienna, Space. All of the listed halls, except for the Bolshoi and University halls, are confined to the cave river, being, in their genesis, supra-channel collapses. Along the way from the upper reaches, the underground river receives large tributaries (flows up to 10-15 l/s during low water): Nevsky Stream, New Stream, Zayachiy, Delusion, Struika, Gremyachiy Streams (falls from the ceiling of the hall like a waterfall). In the bottom part, the cave leads to the largest tributary of the Snowy River - the New (Tatyanina) River (the flow rate is estimated to be a third of the flow rate of the main channel). However, the junction of these two rivers has not yet been discovered.
The caves are located in the Austrian Alps. Local residents knew about it since the 10th century, but real research began only at the beginning of the 20th century. During this time, scientists have established that the depth of the cave is 1632 m and allows for the deepest through traverse in the world.
Where is it located?
Lamprechtsophen Cave is located on the Leoganger Steinberge mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps.
Its main entrance is a source cave at the foot of the ridge, located at an altitude of 664 m above sea level.
In the Alpine region of Haute-Savoie, in France, there is one of the deepest caves in the world - the Mirolda Cave. This is the second deepest cave in France.
For a long time, Mirolda was the deepest cave in the world; today the depth of the French grottoes is 1626 meters.
In 1990, its depth was 1221 meters, and in January 2003, after a group of speleologists passed through it, the depth increased to 1733 meters. The height difference of this cave is 1750 meters, and its length is 9 kilometers. The entrance to the cave is located at an altitude of 1880 meters above sea level.
Mirolda Cave is the deepest karst abyss in the world. It forms a poorly branched system of galleries and bends of different levels with small wells. Mirolda Cave is an international site for study by scientific expeditions.
Our planet is fraught with many mysterious and interesting places. Some of them have been fully mastered by humanity, and some, even after much research, still require additional study. The world's deepest cave, Krubera-Voronya, located in Abkhazia, is also considered a mystery. For many years now, scientists all over the planet have been trying to unravel its age-old mysteries.
History of the name of the cave
The Krubera-Voronya cave in Abkhazia is located in the Arabica Mountains. It consists of numerous wells connected to each other using galleries and climbers. The waters of the cave give life to the shortest river on the planet, the Reprua, which flows into the Black Sea. Its length is no more than eighteen meters.
The cave reaches a depth of about 2200 meters. It was first studied by speleologists from Georgia (1960) and was originally named in honor of the scientist Alexander Kruber. At that time, its depth was explored only to ninety-five meters.
The second study was destined to take place only in 1968 thanks to speleologists from the Krasnoyarsk Territory. When studying it to a depth of two hundred and ten meters, they used the name Siberian.
The next study of the cave was carried out by Kyiv speleologists in the eighties. They gave it another name - Crow. In this case, scientists worked at a depth of up to three hundred and forty meters.
Caving records
Due to the hostilities that engulfed the territory of Abkhazia, the Krubera-Voronya cave became completely inaccessible to speleologists. It remained a mysterious place on the map of world exploration for some time.
However, already in the late 90s, speleologists from Kyiv resumed their study work, and the group subsequently reached a depth of one thousand four hundred and ten meters. And January 2001 was marked by a new mark - 1710 m, which became a world record result for scientists who are members of the Ukrainian Speleological Association.
Further breakthrough was marked by the efforts of the Cavex team, which in August 2003, despite incredible difficulties, reached a depth of 1680 meters. A year later, the following records appeared. Members of the same expedition reached a mark of 1775 meters, and participants of the Ukrainian Speleological Association - up to 1840 meters. And already in October 2004, the history of world speleology was replenished for the first time with overcoming the two-kilometer mark.
Until recently, the record for a depth of 2191 meters was held by researcher G. Samokhin (August 2007). It should also be noted the high results achieved by women. Thus, the Lithuanian S. Pankenė reached a depth of two thousand meters, one hundred and forty centimeters.
About the entrance to the cave
The entrance to the Krubera-Voronya cave is located at an altitude of 2250 meters above sea level. But there are two more accesses. These are the entrances to caves such as Heinrichova Abyss and Kuibysheva. They are located further on the mountainside. A hundred meters lower than the entrance to Voronya, there is access through the Berchil Cave. The total length of such a link is more than two thousand meters deep.
Scientists have long assumed the presence of many large caves in the Arabica mountain system. Indeed, even at the beginning of the twentieth century, the leading karstologist Martel from France, conducting research in these places, concluded that there were huge underground voids in the mountains.
However, access to the deepest cave was discovered only in the 60s. But due to the rather narrow passage, Georgian speleologists (even after discovering the well) had to retreat from the desired work. And only in 2002, members of the Russian-Ukrainian team were recognized as the discoverers of the deepest cave in the world.
Overcoming record results
Relatively recently, in 2012, scientists from the Hebrew University conducted another study of the world famous cave. Team members have been preparing for this event for several years. The primary goal of the group of scientists was to study the cave itself, its depth and underground sources, as well as to understand the development of the climate that once existed on Earth. However, in addition to this, one of the amazing results of their work was the discovery of unstudied species of fish living in the purest water at a depth of more than two thousand meters.
The Krubera-Voronya cave attracts many scientists. The exploration of its depths has repeatedly become a kind of subject of competition in achieving new results. So, this time, a Ukrainian researcher who was part of the expedition reached a record depth - 2 meters 196 centimeters below the Earth's surface. To get to the extreme parts of the cave, cavers had to use ropes and dive into very cold water. Unfortunately, one of the expedition members died tragically during the experiments.
In addition, another record result was broken. Israeli scientist L. Feigin was in the cave for twenty-four days, which became the longest period spent underground.
Filming the cave
Of course, the Krubera-Voronya cave is of great interest not only for speleologists, but also for many photographers. Photos taken at great depths are something unusual and incredible. The famous photographer S. Alvarez took a considerable number of wonderful photographs dedicated to the work of speleologists. Previously, he worked on photographs of religious, cultural and research topics, collaborating with such publications as Time, National Geographic Magazine, Travel Holiday, Adventure, Delta Sky. But for some time now his serious hobby has become photographing caves.
New species of beetles
The Krubera-Voronya cave opens up new opportunities not only for speleologists. The excursion organized by Spanish biologists did not make us wait long for new results. They discovered a yet unstudied species of ground beetles. They are among the deepest-dwelling underground insects that feed on decaying organic matter and fungi. Representatives of the Duvalius species also have eyes, which they use in pitch darkness closer to the surface of the earth. Biologists are confident that many more different species of beetles can be found here, living in a limited habitat, such as a cave or island.
Cave conquerors
Cavex cavers have put a lot of effort into uncovering new secrets of the world's deepest cave. After all, it was the brave souls from this team who for the first time managed to descend the entire length of the underground well to a depth of 1710 meters.
At the same time, the Krubera-Voronya cave was subjected to stage-by-stage exploration. Cavex quite often came across dead-end galleries or insignificant windows in the walls of wells, but they all inevitably led to the beginning of a new path. Already in 2001, scientists reached new depths, which became a world record result. The opened cave expanse ended in a sparkling hall with a lake, called the “Hall of Soviet Speleologists.” Thus, it was emphasized that this achievement was made possible thanks to the work of several generations of scientists.
Reasons for long research
In 2001, the Krubera-Voronya cave officially received the title of the deepest on the planet, beating the previous record holders - the Austrian Lamprechtsofen cave and the French Pierre and Jean Bernard.
To understand its true depth, it is necessary to imagine at least seven Eiffel towers standing on top of each other. Why couldn’t many speleologists determine the true size of the cave for so long? The main reason has always been the lack of technical means. In addition, the difficult and too narrow passages posed a mortal challenge to many explorers.
And yet, the mysterious cave still attracts scientists with its incredible underground waterfalls, tunnels and wells, forcing them to make more and more new discoveries.
There are some pretty deep caves, and over 85% of those discovered to date are above sea level!
But not these ten: they are the deepest in the world, and some of them are so deep that they can only be explored and studied with the help of radar equipment, since not a single person could survive in them...
10. Huautla Cave System, Mexico
depth - 1475 m
It's a cave system that is said to have endless passages, waterfalls as tall as a 60-story skyscraper, and true natural wonders such as a huge 90-meter cavity called the Aphrodite Hall.
9. Cehi II Cave (Čehi 2), Slovenia
depth - 1502 m
In Slovenia, caves are considered national property and are protected by law, even if they happen to be located on privately owned land!
8. Sima De La Cornisa Cave, Spain
depth - 1507 m
This cave system is famous for its 28 Neanderthal skeletons, discovered in one of the deepest parts of the cave. But how they got there without the equipment we have today is still one of the world's greatest mysteries.
7. Cave named after. Vyacheslav Pantyukhin (Pantyukhin Cave), Abkhazia
depth - 1508 m
In the mine. Vyacheslav Pantyukhin has 513 caves, and new ones open every year.
6. Torca Del Cerro Del Cuevón, Spain
depth - 1589 m
The Torca del Cerro cave system is a system consisting of two interconnected deep chasms. It is also a deep chasm that has claimed the lives of many cave explorers.
5. Jean Bernard Caves, France
depth - 1602 m
This cave is located in and has the highest entrance in the world. It's also pretty deep, but that goes without saying since it's on this list.
4. Mirolda Cave (Gouffre Mirolda), France
depth - 1626 m
Back in 2001, Mirolda Cave was considered the deepest in the world, but over time, deeper cave systems were discovered, which you will learn about below.
3. Lamprechtsofen Cave, Austria
depth - 1632 m
This is a cave that has been known and explored since 1701, but soon after its discovery it was walled up to prevent the invasion of treasure hunters who tried to get into it, having heard enough legends about wealth hidden by a knight named Lamprecht, who returned from the Crusades.
2. Snezhnaya Cave, Abkhazia
depth - 1753 m
Snezhnaya Cave is the general name of the cave system, which consists of interconnected caves: “Snezhnaya”, “Mezhennogo”, “Illusion”.
1. Krubera Cave, Abkhazia
depth - 2199 m
Also called Crow Cave, it is the deepest in the world today, and every time someone goes down into it using sonar, it gets deeper and deeper. The Krubera-Voronya Cave is the only known cave whose depth exceeds 2 kilometers.
Until recently, the Krubera cave was considered the deepest not only in Russia, but throughout the world. It is hidden in the mountain range with the beautiful name Arabica in Abkhazia. The second popular name is Crow Cave. At the moment, its explored depth is 2199 meters. Speleologists claim that this is not the limit at all. The cave belongs to the karst type and is completely vertical.
Scheme of the Krubera-Voronya cave
The central entrance to the Crow Cave is hidden in the Orto-Balagan area. The height of the mountains here is almost 2260 meters above sea level. The underground cavity belongs to the karst group. It is caves of this type that are distinguished by the greatest depth; they are formed as a result of the dissolution of rocks (limestone, marble, gypsum, chalk, dolomite) in water. Krubera Cave is formed in limestone. Its structure consists of wells following each other, connected by passages of different sizes and climbs. At a depth of approximately 200 meters, the dungeon diverges into two branches: the main one (maximum elevation is 2199 meters) and Nekuibyshevsky (maximum depth is 1679 meters). The name of the second branch came from the fact that they tried to find a connection in it with the neighboring Kuibyshev Cave. From 1300 meters the main branch begins to branch, forming many holes. There are more than 8 tunnels open here (i.e. siphons), they are located at different levels. Water flows through each of them. According to the latest data, the total length of the passages is more than 16 km.
Most likely, the discharge of karst waters becomes possible with the participation of the Agepsta and Reprua rivers. They fill in the cave and appear on the surface near the mountains. It is noteworthy that the Reprua is one of the shortest rivers in the world, its length does not exceed 18 meters and its width is 10 meters.
History of discovery
The Crow Cave was first discovered by a team from the Georgian Geographical Institute named after Bagrationi in 1960. Then they descended only 95 meters. At this moment, the cave received its main name in honor of the founder of Russian karst studies, Alexander Alexandrovich Kruber. It was he, being a professor at Moscow State University, who was the first to begin studying the Gagra massif at the beginning of the 20th century. Then the find was forgotten for several years.
In 1968, a team from the city of Krasnoyarsk descended to 210 meters. Then the cave was given the name Siberian. Nowadays this name is practically not used. And again there is calm. Only in the 1980s did Kyiv speleologists begin to explore the cave. They found themselves at a depth of 340 meters. During this period, another name appeared that became widespread - Voronya Cave.
The Georgian-Abkhaz war that took place in the early 90s cut off Abkhazia from free visits. Speleologists were able to return to these places only before the beginning of the new millennium.
Krubera Cave - the deepest in the world
Until 2017, the Krubera-Voronya cave was indeed considered the deepest in the world. Records have been set one after another since 1999. Then the Kiev detachment was able to descend to 700 meters in one expedition. Exactly a year later they increased the distance to 1410 meters. At the end of January 2001, members of the UCA (stands for “Ukrainian Speleological Association”) and several participants from Moscow were able to achieve a world record of 1710 meters. Before this, the French caves of Pierre Saint Martin and Jean Bernard with a depth of 1600 meters were considered the absolute record holders.
Over the next decade, several competing expeditions moved lower and lower. In 2004, speleologists penetrated to a depth of 2080 meters. In 2005, the CAVEX team discovered new, previously unexplored sections of the cave. The group had to work in the most extreme conditions, requiring immersion in icy water. One of the participants died tragically. Then they were able to reach 2140 meters.
On August 10, 2013, Ukrainian Gennady Sumokhin (member of the USA) set a new world record for the depth of descent underground. He descended to 2199 meters.
A longtime rival of the Krubera cave for the title of “deepest in the world” is the Verevkin cave. It was discovered in the same Arabica region and around the same time. Research work proceeded in parallel at both sites. In 2017, the expedition was able to descend 2204 meters in the Verevkina cave and thereby broke the record of the Krubera cave. A year later, the figure was increased to 2212 meters, when speleologists were able to measure the depth of the lake at the bottom of the cave. As a result, this depth turned out to be below the deepest mark in the Black Sea.
Underground inhabitants
From underground, speleologists brought to the surface several species of previously unknown living organisms. The cave fauna was represented by invertebrate animals: arthropods, several species of sponges, flat and annelids and ciliates. As for vertebrates, several previously unseen fish species and a tailed amphibian were discovered in the depths of the cave.
How to get to Krubera Cave
The cave is located 15 km from the city of Gagra. The most convenient way to get to the mountains is by car or take a taxi. However, there are no excursions to Krubera Cave. It is not a tourist place. Ordinary people will not be able to get inside on their own. Visiting the dungeon is possible only together with an expedition group (with the obligatory presence of climbing equipment and the required level of training).
Crow Cave is a true legend in the world of speleology. Specialists from different countries dream of visiting it. Work continues. Apparently, new depths will be conquered in the near future.
The Krubera-Voronya cave, located in Abkhazia, is considered the deepest studied in the world: the entrance to it is located at an altitude of about 2256 meters above sea level in the Orto-Balagan tract. The cave, which is part of a mountain cave, was discovered in 1960 by Georgian speleologists and explored to a depth of 95 meters. Expeditions carried out in the karst cave cavity over the next half century discovered small branches at depth.
Knowledge about the mysterious underground passages multiplied with each new descent: for several decades, each successive speleological expedition announced reaching a new depth - 210, 340, 710 meters. Research continued until 2007, when a depth of 2196 meters was reached. One of the grottoes of the cave was called the “Hall of Soviet Speleologists”: the discovery of the Krubera-Voronya cave is the merit of several generations of karstologists and speleologists.
The Krubera-Voronya cave is part of the Arabica mountain range, Abakhzia // Stephen Alvarez, National Geographic Stock
There are no established tourist routes in the Krubera-Voronya cave; You can only go down to the bottom as part of one of the speleological expeditions, which are held several times a year to explore the cave cavity.
How to get there
The Arabica mountain range is located 15 kilometers northeast of the resort. Getting to the depths of the Krubera-Voronya karst cave is possible only as part of expeditions, with special speleological equipment and appropriate mountaineering skills.
The resort town of Gagra is located 20 km from the Russian-Abkhazian border. The most convenient way to get to Gagra is from Adler through the Psou border checkpoint. In summer, you can get from the airport or Adler bus station to Abkhazia by minibuses running several times an hour. The distance from Adler to Gagra is 33 km.