Another 39 new grottos totaling the length of 17km have recently been discovered at UNESCO-recognized Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park in central Vietnam’s Quang Binh Province.
The UNESCO-recognized Phong Nha- Ke Bang National Park in central Quang Binh Province, which is home to hundreds of magnificent grottoes and caves.
Le Thanh Tinh, director of Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, said on Wednesday that the findings came as a result of a field trip, which was jointly conducted by the British Royal Cave Society, the Hanoi University of Science, and the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park from March 16 to April 25.
Among the newly found grottos, May (“Clouds,” 1,100m long, 200m deep), Vuc Moi (“New Chasm,” 213m deep), and Lan (“Orchids,” 1,230m long) are of huge significance to the research of caves and grottos.
Meanwhile, to the east of Trail 20 exists the 1,260m-long A Ky Cave, with a spring inside.
To the west of the trail, a three-day trek from Con Coc village, is the dry Vong Phu Cave, which measures 840m in length and 146m in depth and is formed on the high stratum of the limestone mountain.
Khe San and Vuc The Caves are located 24km to the west of Trail 20.
The 207m-deep Vuc The Cave is a new finding on the grotto type in Phong Nha.
Several other grottos hold great geomorphologic and geological significance.
Among them, Thach Sinh and Khe Dung Caves boast sinking holes which are similar to those in Son Doong, the world’s current largest cave, but have an entrance right beneath the holes.
Meanwhile, Khe Dung Cave, to the north of En (“Swallow”) Cave, is surprisingly located in an area with very few limestone mountains.
The 662m-long Bang Cave has small entrances, but is capable of storing a large amount of water in the rainy season.
Apart from the discovery of new grottos and caves, the field trip also recorded measurements and yielded photos, which were transferred to Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park’s grotto map.
Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, some 500km south of Hanoi, is situated in a 2,000km² limestone zone in Vietnamese territory that borders another, similarly sized limestone zone called Him Namno, in Laotian territory.
The park was founded to preserve one of the world's two largest karst regions, with 300 caves and grottoes, as well as the ecosystem of the limestone forest of the Annamite Range region on the north-central coast of Vietnam.
Phong Nha- Ke Bang is noted for its cave and grotto systems, as it is composed of more than 300 caves and grottos with a total length of over 70km.
Prior to the discovery of Son Doong Cave, Phong Nha held several world cave records, as it boasts the longest underground river, as well as the largest caverns and passageways in the world.The park was listed among UNESCO's World Heritage Sites in 2003 for its immense geological value and rich biodiversity.
One of its caves, Son Doong Cave, which has a large fast-flowing underground river inside, was found by a local resident named Ho Khanh in 1991.
The cave was discovered while a group of British scientists were conducting a survey in Phong Nha- Ke Bang in 2006. They announced their discovery of the world’s largest cave three years later.
According to the scientists, Son Doong Cave is five times larger than the Phong Nha Cave, previously considered the biggest cave in Vietnam. The biggest chamber of Son Doong is more than five kilometers long, 200 meters high, and 150 meters wide.
With such large dimensions, Son Doong surpasses Deer Cave in Malaysia as the world's current largest cave.
Late last year Quang Binh province decided to launch tours to Son Doong Cave on a trial basis.
Source: Tuoitrenews
Source : news[dot]com[dot]vn
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