Deep inside a 630-foot-deep sinkhole that is more than 1,000 feet long and 500 feet wide, a primeval forest was just discovered. The ancient trees at the bottom are more than 130 feet high.
This particular area of South China is full of sink holes, or tiankeng "heavenly pit" in Mandarin. The bedrock in this region gets dissolved by rain water, and then crash — down goes everything.
The largest sinkhole in the world is also found in China near Xiaozhai Tiankeng: It's 2,100 feet deep, 2,000 feet long, 1,760 feet wide, and includes a waterfall within its depths.
But this new sinkhole's ancient forest and towering trees are much older.
George Veni, executive director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute in New Mexico told Accuweather,
"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."
And that last part is the part that concerns me. I've seen enough movies to wonder just what is lurking among those towering trees and ancient caves...
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