The multi -ranging cave reveals more mysteries the deeper you go. Here is all that makes this cave a … [+]
Some of the most extreme boundaries of the Earth lie under our feet, in places so oblivious that another planet can belong.
Take the cave multi -Vcina – the deepest known cave in the world hidden in the Arabic Massif of the Western Caucasus. Extending 2,212 meters (7,257 feet) in the abyss, is a vertical entry for a world untouched by sunlight.
It took decades of exploration and about 30 expeditions to Cavers to achieve its full depth, and the journey has come at a high cost – including the wild discovery of a felt solo explorer to a 1,100 meters of shock down in 2021. But this It is barely the sign of half the way in this monstrous noise.
The descent to Shumovkina is a battle against the most extreme underground forces of the planet. And yet, against all disputes, life goes on in this world of night, in such strange forms that they feel completely alien.
Measuring the true depth of multi -voicing depths, and lives
The story of the cave Shërvkina is one of the ruthless explorations. Originally discovered in 1968 by Russian speleologists, he remained relatively unexplained for decades. It was not until the Perovo-Speleo (PST) team resumed expeditions in the 2000s that its real depth began to unfold.
The cave is a labyrinth of vertical shafts, deadly falling pits and claustrophobic squeezing. The sectiono new section had to be meticulously designed, demanding that caves catch hundreds of meters in the dark, then navigate dangerous climbing back to the surface – often while transporting clothing weighing more than their body mass.
Many people who went inside barely did it. In 2018, a diver of the Russian cave was found in the end, likely blocked by sudden flood. Sergei Kozeev, another cave whose body was discovered at 1100 meters in 2021, had left alone, poorly equipped for the brutal cold and the full physical durability required to escape. He disappeared from hypothermia, his body lying undisturbed in the dark for more than nine months before he was found.
Multi -voicine turns into a trap of death during floods
If being Miles Underground is not dangerous enough, the cave has a way to turn from a hostile environment to a full trap of death: sudden flood.
In September 2018, a group of perovo-speleo caves, including national geographical photographer Robbie shonebarely escaped alive.
As they rest in their deepest camp, the flood waters raised in the cave without warning. What began as a distant rumble grew into an earthquake-like tremor-a white water freight train that puts them towards them. Within minutes, their camping was involved in a violent flood.
With only seconds to react, Shone remembers the moment when he realized they were a mistake away from safe death. “I just thought, ‘oh my goodness. We have to leave now. We can’t wait. If we just hang, we’ll all die.'”
The team tried to escape, climbing the rope climbing through the waterfalls that paid them as they wanted. The flood was enraged for nearly 20 hours, cutting the escape routes and blocking them in a claustrophobic nightmare. When the waters finally pulled, they found pieces of their clothing located on the cave ceiling, marking how high the flood had grown.
If they were very hesitant, none of them would have survived.
Exploring this cave is like getting into a new planet
Even without the risk of drowning, cave many feels alien in every way possible.
The moment you descend beyond the possibilities of superficial light, you insert a field of total darkness as absolute as your eyes will never fit. There is no sunset here, no pale shine – just an unbroken void. The brain, desperate for visual entry, begins hallucination of lights and forms that do not exist.
The deepest known cave pits-a 475-meter monstrous vertical drop (145 meters)-is a true abyss. Rappelling Down feels as if it gets into an open void, with nothing but a thin rope that keeps you from a free fall in oblivion.
And then has the pressure and cold. Temperatures are hovering only above freezing (4 ° C / 39 ° F), with air pressure 10% higher than on the surface. Moisture is as ruthless that everything remains wet forever, making the hypothermia a constant threat.
Being inside multovkine is to feel like you have left the earth completely. However, here, under these conditions, life still continues.
Each creature develops unique adaptation to survive in depth
Survival here is reserved for the most extraordinary creatures – those who have evolved to endure total darkness, extreme cooling and nearly hunger.
Among the strangest inhabitants of the caves as deep as the multi Plutomurus orthobalaganensisA species of eye-free spring insect found at a depth of 1,980 meters within the nearby cave Krubera- The deepest soil ever recorded. It has no eyes, long antennas and survives by feeding microscopic fungi.
Other residents of Shumovkina include:
- Xiphocaridinella Demidovi. A cave shrimp found in the cave terminal lake, surviving without sunlight or plants, living only in the organic material washed by water.
- Duvalius abssimus. A beetle that has lost its pigmentation and sight, completely relying on touch and smell to navigate.
- Heterocaucaseuma privofundum. A millipede that holds the record for the most popular terrestrial species of Millide.
These creatures exist in an ecosystem that is almost completely detached from the surface. Some scientists believe that their study can provide data on how life in March or icy moons can exist.
The multi -ranging cave is more than just a geological miracle – it is one of the last bounds really unexplained on Earth. It is a place where darkness reigns, distorts time and where life is adapted in ways they look impossible.
For those who dare to make ventures in its depth, it is a brutal test of human endurance, a foreign landscape hidden under our feet, and a reminder that there are still places on this planet that remain almost completely unknown.
Places like cave Veryovkina in the spotlight the dark side of our natural world and the curious ways in which life fits. How do you feel about nature’s ability to adapt against chances? Find now with a 2-minute quiz to see where you stay in Connection to the degree of nature.