Scientists in China just dropped themselves into a fantasy novel it seems, as a trip down a 200 meter sinkhole unearthed an astounding ancient living forest untouched by the outside world that likely contains undiscovered species.
The team of speleologists and spelunkers found three entrances into the cave, only to find down there ancient trees that were 40 meters tall, with branches stretched towards the little sunlight that filters through the entrances.
China’s state news agency the Xinhua news agency also reported that there were shade plants down there, with images showing the cave to be astoundingly fecund.
See more images here:
And yes—there could be undisovered life down there, as caves and sinkholes can often provide an oasis for lifeforms that otherwise would have become extinct or never evolved in the first place.
Chen Lixin, who led the expedition team, told Xinua that the undergrowth on the floor of the sinkhole was incredibly dense, and came up to their shoulders.
“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,” Lixin said.
A discovery was made seven months ago in another cave in China that found a species that was thought to be lost for over 100 years.
There is also an amazing source of water down there.
“Karst aquifers are the only types of aquifers that you can pollute with solid waste,” Veni said. “I’ve pulled car batteries and car bodies and barrels of God-knows-what and bottles of God-knows-what out of the active cave stream,” George Veni, the executive director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) in the U.S., and an international expert on caves, told Live Science.
The amazing world of sinkholes
These sorts of caves and sinkholes are common in China, according to Veni.
“”Because of local differences in geology, climate and other factors, the way karst appears at the surface can be dramatically different. In China you have this incredibly visually spectacular karst with enormous sinkholes and giant cave entrances and so forth. In other parts of the world you walk out on the karst and you really don’t notice anything. Sinkholes might be quite subdued, only a meter or two in diameter. Cave entrances might be very small, so you have to squeeze your way into tem,” Veni continued.
The discovery was made in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, near the Ping’e village of Leye, reported Xinhua. The area is known for its karst formations, which includes sinkholes, rock pillars, natural bridges and more.
All of this has earned the area the distinction of becoming a UNESCO world heritage site designation.
So, are there undiscovered living things living down there? Time will tell. In the mean time, watch more footage of the amazing sinkhole. Because wow.