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All Georgia Gagra Krubera Cave

Krubera Cave

The second-deepest known cave on Earth, hidden in an extremely remote mountain region.

Gagra, Georgia

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  Wikimedia/Yuri Kasyan
Speleologist Yuri Kasyan at the entrance   Wikimedia/Gergely Ambrus
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About

Since Jules Verne wrote his influential novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” the aim to discover the deepest place below the surface has sparked the imaginations of generations of explorers, adventurers and scientists. Those in search of the deepest known cave on the planet are always lead to Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia. Deep in the mountains of the Arabika Massif, these record-breaking caves can be found—the four deepest caves in the world, including Krubera Cave (also known as Voronya Cave, just to keep it interesting), second-deepest in the world, to nearby Veryovkina Cave.

The Arabika Massif in the Western Caucasus constitutes one of the largest karst massifs on Earth, but despite its enormous potential to scientists, the area, including Krubera Cave, has been woefully under-explored. One of the reasons is the remoteness of the area, which is only accessible for up to four months a year, but the main obstacles for scientists have been the numerous political conflicts in Abkhazia, which continue until today.

Krubera Cave was declared the world’s deepest cave in 2001 when Ukrainian speleogolists reached a depth of 1,710 meters, thereby exceeding the previous known reigning champion in the Austrian Alps. At a depth of 1,500 meters, a subterranean waterfall of near-freezing water has flooded a branch of the cave system, while the main branch continues to a depth of 2,140 meters, where a terminal siphon marks the end of the cave. In 2018, Veryovkina Cave took over the title, at 2,212 meters deep—more than 1.3 miles. 

The Ukrainian speleogolists needed a staggering 14 days to reach the siphon at the end of the cave. A number of endemic fauna has been found at all levels of depth within the cave, including spiders, scorpions, beetles, as well as stygofauna like shrimps and amphipods.

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Geological Oddities Caves Ecosystems Geology
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Added By

Tawsam

Edited By

Martin, Molly McBride Jacobson, Samir S Patel

  • Martin
  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • Samir S Patel

Published

July 5, 2012

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Sources
  • https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Krubera_Cave
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krubera_Cave
  • http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1077&context=ijs
  • http://worldofdilip.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/call-of-the-abyss/
Krubera Cave
Arabika Massif
Gagra
Georgia
43.424276, 40.354411
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Nearby Places

Veryovkina Cave

Gagra, Georgia

miles away

Dacha Kvitko

Khostinskiy, Russia

miles away

Eagle Cliffs

Sochi, Russia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Gagra

Gagra

Georgia

Places 2

Nearby Places

Veryovkina Cave

Gagra, Georgia

miles away

Dacha Kvitko

Khostinskiy, Russia

miles away

Eagle Cliffs

Sochi, Russia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Gagra

Gagra

Georgia

Places 2

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