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World's Deepest Cave Explored Further
DiniZuli writes "Australian Alan Warild led a 25-strong team of cavers from Russia and Ukraine on a world-record 1830-metre descent into the Krubera-Voronia cave in Abkhazia, Georgia. Read about it here (sacrifice of goat might be required). Here's a nice map of the cave."
forget the sacrifice to a goat, lets safe our Aussie friends bandwidth by posting this here...
[...]
On the other side of the globe, nearly two kilometres beneath the earth, in a cold, gloomy chasm, you can find a small slice of Australia.
The sheer plunge near the bottom of the world's deepest cave, in a remote part of Georgia, doesn't automatically instantly inspire comparisons with Alan Warild's home country. It's bitterly cold, forever dark and usually damp. But since the veteran caver climbed to its dank depths last month it has incongruously borne Australia's name.
The 49-year-old from Newtown was invited to lead a 25-strong team of cavers from Russia and Ukraine on a world-record 1830-metre descent into the Krubera-Voronia cave in Abkhazia, Georgia.
At the end of the nine-day journey down the corkscrew-shaped hole, the triumphant team told Mr Warild it would name the final drop "Viva Australia" in his honour.
"One of the Russians had the idea to name it in my honour since I was the first to go down - I suppose I was pretty chuffed," the self-effacing caver said.
"It's not my favourite cave, because it's about 3 degrees at the bottom and it's muddy and you have to dive in one part. But it's a great challenge and a bit of a thrill to stand somewhere where no human being has ever stood before."
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The previous world record for the deepest caving expedition, 1710 metres, was set in the same cave in 2001. But Mr Warild and his fellow travellers took a different route, passing through a sump filled with icy water to descend 120 metres further. "We went as far as we could, we hit a pit full of water and decided to leave it for another trip."
The Australian Speleological Federation said it had received an unconfirmed report that a team of Ukrainians was currently attempting to better Mr Warild's record. But the name for the drop would remain, it said.
"People like Alan are the modern-day equivalent of the explorers in the 19th century, others like me follow in their footsteps later," said federation president, John Dunkley.
"That name will stay and be put on maps of the cave in future. It's a significant achievement and shows the respect Alan has overseas. He's a well-known name and one of the top three in the world when it comes to deep and difficult caves."
Mr Warild discovered his unusual hobby when he was 13, on a school excursion to the Wee Jasper caves near Yass. Since then he has explored deep caves around the world.
"Australia doesn't really have any deep ones," he said. "The deepest is in Tasmania, almost 400 metres. The best, in my opinion, is Muruk, in New Guinea. It's about 1250 metres.
"I grew up in the Sutherland Shire and I always loved the outdoors. I think that's the only way I can explain it.
I never want to see 'deep caves' and 'goat' mentioned in the same paragraph....ever....
In another interview, the lead explorer has revealed the discovery of the initials of Arne Saknussemm in one of the deeper caves...
/sig
... don't want to end up like this guy.
http://www.holyshiite.com/caver/
when are they gonna find gollum!!??
I'm against picketing but I don't know how to show it.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
...I don't know, I've seen Clinton dig himself out of deeper holes...
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to govern any other" -John Ada
"It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black."
Sorry, off topic and all, but it cracks me up every time.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Bob Goatse is spinning in his grave if he has indeed lost that distinction.
I find this to be pretty interesting. There are so many terrains on our earth that we have yet to explore. And I think there are deffinite chances of there being some extremely unique creatures at these depths of a cave. People go nuts over exploring Mars. But I think we should put some effort into Earth as well.
I like how at the end of the article, the man who likes to run around underground talks about how much he loves the outdoors.
Conor
Programmer, Consultant, Geek, CTYer.
news for nerds. I salute these brave people who have the balls to go places where no human being has ever been before. Plus it's just cool to get a world record.
5 bugmenots didn't work. Created a new account. Twice. They still don't let me in. Nuts to them.
I find it simpler to just leave cookies disabled. If I have a genuine use for cookies, like logging in to purchase something online, or to post to a site like slashdot, I just add that page to my whitelist.
The sheer plunge near the bottom of the world's deepest cave, in a remote part of Georgia, doesn't automatically instantly inspire comparisons with Alan Warild's home country.
Probably explains why he was trying to find a short cut home...
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
When going down the Rabbit-Hole^W^W Krubera-Voronia, did they meet Alice?
Did I ever tell you about the time Brasky explored the world's deepest cave? To Bill Brasky!
Of course Coral cache is down. The ironing is delicious. ;)
She's my ex-girlfriend, and I still hate her, but DAMN I never expected to hear about her private parts on Slashdot.
Man, I feel a sudden urge to play NetHack...
I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
I shudder at the thought of all the goatse jokes that this submission seems to be inviting
If you do a search on "Voronja Cave" you'll find some links to pictures and history of this cave. Very interesting stuff!
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
--
"I smell a wumpus."
Sounds like someone's been spelunking the depths of the US national debt.
http://www.gamespp.com/cgi-bin/dungeonsanddragons
http://www.gamespp.com/cgi-bin/dungeonsanddragons
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
All the goatse jokes aside, I find this very interesting. I still remember the impact Jules Vernes "A Journey to the Center of the Earth" had on me when I was a kid. I so wanted them to find som eerie remains of some unknown creature at the bottom of the cave.
/me walks out of the office "So long suckers!"
When I read stories like this, I get an urge in my stomach to give up life as a geek and become an explorer. I reckon I'm not the only one, since the story was posted on slashdot?
Underholdning.info
All I want to know is whether or not there's a white house at the top of the cave.
Here is a link with better spelling and geographical accuracy (Abkhazia is not in Georgia) : http://www.bask.info/exp/read.php?id=43
And here is a blog : http://speleolog.ru/news/10krubera/
Did anyone else notice that this is two months' old news?
That was an interesting read.... it's just a story though, the original seems to be a story written by Thomas Lera, as seen here in pdf format.
(\(\
(^v^)
(")")
This is the cute vorpal bunny virus, copy to your sig or runaway, runaway in fear!
42 people have already beaten you to that joke! God bless Goatse for grabbing karma!
(this is a joke, not meant as troll, even if the way some people would assume the tone would give mean connotations.)
Just like blind archery enthusiasts, "xtreme-bungee jumpers" and "xtreme spelunkers" really should keep themselves out of the genepool.
You know it makes sense *snip*.
"It's not your information. It's information about you" - John Ford, Vice President, Equifax
Mmmmmmh, cave exploration, mmmmmmhh.
Oh, I forgot. This is Slashdot! You wouldn't know. Sorry about that, folks.
Sheesh! :-)
Just be careful not to wake it.
Government cannot make man richer, but it can make him poorer. - Ludwig von Mises
How does a cave this deep get created?
It seems like a lot of specific features could be explained by water flowing downwards and shaping the cave. But that leaves open the question of why the water is able to keep flowing downward.
Is there some tectonic activity that can create an air-filled void several km down (into which water will then flow if allowed)?
Or perhaps there is some chemical reaction with some vein of material deep in the earth's crust, such that water interacting with this material causes it to decrease in volume??
Damn shaggy dog.
To iterate is human; to recurse, divine!
Why is it so cold down there? I'd expect an eon of heat coming from the inside of the earth dissipating thru the earth surface would have resulted in a nice temperature.
Bert
Interestingly enough, the longest cave penetration was made in a completely flooded cave using scuba (rebreathers). They are the EKPP http://www.ekpp.de/projects/doux02/index.html.
Sorry, the "world's deepest cave" verbiage just reminded me of yo' mama...
The cave explores YOU
For anyone interested, Bob Guilden of the National Speleological Society (NSS) keeps a list of the worlds deepest caves on his website at:
: //www.cancaver.ca/canadian.htm
http://www.pipeline.com/~caverbob/wdeep.htm
and the NSS American Caving Accidents website always makes for a realistic read.....
http://caves.org/pub/aca/
If you really are interested in caving in North America, instead of taking the joe sixpack approach, contact a local grotto: you're bound get taken on a real caving trip.
http://www.caves.org/io/grottos.shtml
or
http
cheers
It might be the most deeply explored cave, but how can they be certain it's the world's deepest cave?
What?
It's a two-dimensional cave! Cool. That sure makes mapping it easier.
Music speeds up when you yawn, but does not change pitch.
Source of /.'s trolls found
"On the other side of the globe, nearly two kilometres beneath the earth, in a cold, gloomy chasm, you can find a small slice of Australia."
At first i thought they had descended through the whole of the earth to emerge at the other side. Kangaroo's and other wildlife were happily humping around the cave's exit. Word from an australian spokesman "We are very happy with this tunnel from Australia to Georgia. Free trade through the tunnel is to be expected starting soon."
I shouldn't drink so much coffee before going to bed, i am sure...
I mean, what's the point if you don't bring the amulet of Yendor back out with you?
Curiosity was framed. Ignorance killed the cat.
some sort of unexplained energy source,
and strange sounds coming from the pyramid at the bottom of the cave...
Not about the current exploration, but more detailed information on the Voronja caves can be found in this PDF. (9 pages of text, photos and diagrams)
NTSC has a colour blacker than black :-)
Found a better map here http://www.cavediggers.com/Voronja.pdf.
1823 meters.. how scary cool would it be if these spelunkers stumbled upon some Hadels at that depth?!
Another Paris Hilton sex video was leaked
I thought this was going to be an article about the Sotano de las Golondrinas cave in Mexico. It's a pretty spectacular geological formation. It's a cave so large and deep that people can skydive into it. It's depth is greater than the height of the empire state building, which can actually fit inside the cave.
it's currently ruled by rebel islamic militants.
They're not so much rebel and even less islamic. Abkhazia is national authonomy that claims its independence, yet unrecognized in the world. Most of its inhabitants have been granted Russian citizenship, there are (unofficial) transport links between Russia and Abkhazia. Talks occur now and then in Abkhazia about joining the Russian Federation, to no avail.
My exception safety is -fno-exceptions.
Seriously though, if we could somehow dig a hole straight into the mantle of the earth, wouldn't that ... be called 'how to make your own volcano in one easy step'? Note to self: make sure drilling machine is automated.
Because if no one has seen it then there's no evidence it exists.
Also it's not clear from the articles if it is the deepest cave, the measurements seem to be taken from the cave mouth which is up a mountain in a mountain range so I think that there may be other caves which extend deeper into the Earth ( e.g. any caves at the bottom of deep ocean trenchs would certainly be deeper ).
The name Tolkien gave to his deepest cave seems like no coincidence.
Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
You are in a twisty maze of passageways, all alike...
or they'll make the same mistake the dwarves did, and awaken the Balrog.
sudo eat my shorts
I've read way to many HP Lovecraft stories to go messing around with caves, man.
The first time I heard something even remotely similar to Cthulhu belching, I'd be scrambling out of there in a panic.
Just a thought... because from the map, looks much more like a crack than a cave.
:-S
Just imagine... World's deepest cave collapsed! *shudders at the thought*
It's really just mom in a spinning class
what a great place for a semi-relevant simpsons quote:
wiggum: "That's some good spelunking Lou, mighty fine spelunking."
This sig contains repetition and redundancy.
Damn it, they're practically knocking on the door of my secret lair. They probably followed the ethernet cable... Stupid underground wireless restrictions.
The ______ Agenda
As someone that enjoys speleology this is a remarkable achievment to anyone. However when they say the worlds deepest cave they really dont know how deep so many of the caves are that have been discovered and never explored due to lack of oxygen in these caves. There is always a certain level of histeria when claims are made about speleology and how deep people go when in reality we just dont know yet how deep many of the caves are or whats down some of them.
Of course Coral cache is down. The ironing is delicious. ;)
Wow, I've never tasted ironing before. Does it taste like irony?
Like what I said? You might like my music
Writers use "caver" because it's the term that cavers use to refer to themselves. Using the term "spelunker" is a dead giveaway that you aren't a caver.
n g.htm
From http://www.umsl.edu/~joellaws/ozark_caving/cavesl
Spelunker - person who goes into caves without proper equipment or the desire to learn/practice proper safety/conservation techniques.
The difference between a Spelunker and a Caver is: Cavers rescue Spelunkers!
If you liked that short story on caves, I strongly suggest you read "The Descent" by Jeff Long.
Book Here
A very gripping story about travelling under the earth.
It's a modern adaptation of Lovecraft's "The Statement of Randolph Carter" except it substitutes a cave for the cemetary, spelunking for necromancy, and nobody returns.
The 404 on page11.html is the end of the story as they never returned.
Remember, not everyone can view Coral cache links in that form.
Coral cache for the article and for the map.
I found the ending to the weblog rather unsatisfying. Thanks for the original (and the ending!).
well if the cave does exist, its probably in wisconsin http://members.aol.com/joviko/hodag.html he mentioned hodag in the article, and the lore about hodags comes from wisconsin. also crap im having a hell of a time finding the comments i have just posted. srry im new here....
"Potpourii doesn't taste as good as it smells." - Dark_Link2135
I read somewhere that at one point while exploring the cave, they heard a hollow voice say, "plugh". Pretty bizarre stuff.
Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
This should be maked into a movie! It's really really scary!!! Read it!
Did they have to drop the rod to catch the bird? Did the word "plover" do anything? Just curious.
In general, the thermal gradient as you descend is about 30C/km. In a descent to this depth, this would translate out to around a 54C increase in temperature. But they've only barely gone below the surface, geologically speaking.
So climate becomes a factor. Up to about 10,000 years ago, this whole area was covered by a mile thick layer of ice. The pleistocene ice ages go back about 3 million years, so during the last couple of million years much of the northern hemisphere has been covered by ice and it's left its effects on the earth underneath.
I suspect this is why the cave is so chilly, give it another million years or so, and it will become quite the vacation spot.
Good data on thermal gradients is spotty, much of it coming from the efforts of oil drillers in the last century or so, and they are notoriously stingy about sharing any information that could give a competitor a heads-up. But my wild-assed guess is that by the time they got to 5km, the normal thermal gradient would kick in, and they'd start to see warmer temperatures.
...By World's Blackest Man.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Posted by yintercept - "...science...[is] the study of the 'divine creation.' "
The story really had me, but a few I guess "cliche" things happened that started to throw me off the story and summise that it was a fabrication:
- Taking the dog down into the cave. Dog senses evil things.
- Camera that Tom takes into the cave mysteriously doesn't develop the symbols on the cave wall.
- Their friend not discussing what he saw in the cave, and them letting him get away with that before they ever set foot back in the cave.
- The headlamp smashing on the cave roof, then having really no other good light source left (and also mentioning it after-the-fact in blue text that the 2nd lamp was left behind on purpose).
- Leaving the movie camera behind.
- NEver again mentioning that long chisel-pipe-thing he had with him to use as a weapon. I would've been swinging it left and right as I tried to exit that cave in the dark!
And those are the ones that stuck out to me. If they backed those things up or removed/edited them, I may have been quite fooled.Trolls lurk everywhere. Mod them down.