Many have heard of sinkholes - specific landforms that look like sinkholes or wells and have significant depth. The famous cenotes on the Yucatan Peninsula, karst holes in caves in Europe and Southeast Asia, various blue holes in the ocean - all of them form where there are rocks exposed to the destructive effects of water. But do you know the name of the deepest sinkhole on our planet? This is an incredible Heavenly Pit, the depth of which reaches 626 meters. The Big Blue Hole in Belize, with its 124 meters deep, seems very modest in comparison with this miracle of nature.
This grandiose creation of water is located in China, near the large city of Chongqing. In Chinese, the name of the Heavenly Pit sounds like Xiaozhai Tianken. Local rocks are represented by limestones, which are very unstable to the destructive effects of water. The author of the Heavenly Pit is considered to be an underground river flowing in the Difen Cave, the waters of which dissolved the limestone. The river still flows under the funnel, and its depth may increase in the future.
The karst sinkhole consists of two parts of approximately the same depth. At the top, where sunlight hits, the walls of the Heavenly Pit are covered with lush tropical vegetation. It is interesting that here its own ecosystem has formed with a certain set of plant and animal species. Botanists have counted more than 1200 species of plants here, and under the shade of the trees, the rarest representative of felines, the clouded leopard, was even seen.
Of course, such an impressive natural site is interesting not only for scientists, but also for tourists. Inside the hole, a staircase is equipped, consisting of a huge number of steps, along which you can go down to the very bottom. Thousands of tourists visit the Heavenly Pit every year during the rainy season. It is believed that it was at this time that the karst funnel is especially interesting - dozens of waterfalls flow down its steep walls, creating an incredibly beautiful sight. There are also extreme lovers who jump into the pit with a parachute.
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Author: Olga Frolova