HomeAmazingKrubera Cave – The World’s Deepest Cave on Earth
Krubera Cave – The World’s Deepest Cave on Earth
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Krubera Cave, also called Voronya Cave (Russian for “Crow’s Cave”), is the deepest known cave on Earth. It is well located in the Arabika Massif, one of the largest high-mountain limestone karst massifs in the Western Caucasus region of Georgia.
This mountain block contains more than a few hundred caves that started to develop when the mountains began to rise over five million years ago. Interestingly, five of these caves are deeper than 1,000 meters; Krubera is 2197 meters deep and is the only recognized cave on Earth deeper than 2,000 meters.
Krubera Cave, or “Voronya Cave” is 16,058 meters long and has the deepest cave system, which for the most part consists of vertical, deep wells that are connected with passages. The cave starts high in the mountains, at an altitude of 2,256 meters, with a narrow entrance. Krubera Cave is often very narrow and had to be carved at various places to allow safe passage. In other places, the passageway is as big as a subway tunnel.
At a depth of 200 meters, the cave splits into two main branches: Non-Kuybyshevskaya (explored to a depth of 1,293 meters in 2008) and Main (2,197 meters deep). At a depth of 1,300 meters, the cave further divides into several branches. When speleologists started exploring the cave, one of the hardships they faced was flooded tunnels called “sumps.”
When they come across a sump, cavers have to put on scuba gear and charge ahead. One of the sumps, the deepest one, has been dived up to 52 meters deep. The cave is now a very prevalent destination for expeditions coming from several countries.