Sitting all undisturbed until as late as 2009 , Hang Son Doong cave in Vietnam date back to the Pliocene or late Miocene some 2 to 5 million long time ago . The 5 - kilometer ( 3 - mile ) farseeing cave scheme gasconade 200 - meter ( 656 - foot ) in high spirits ceilings , induce it by far the largest cave ever observe on Earth .
The cave is so big , in fact , it measures roughlyfive timeslarger than the previous “ world ’s largest cave ” title of respect bearer , Malaysia ’s Deer Cave . But despite its sizing , the entrance wasfirst discoveredby local serviceman Hồ Khanh in 1991 and was n’t able to be found again for the next 18 years .
Eventually managing to reveal the cave ’s overgrown entrance in 2009 , a team from the British Cave Research Association was finally able to document its telling size .
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Pillars created from the cave’s stalagmites. Image credit: David A Knight / Shutterstock.com
locate in Phong Nha - Ke Bang parking lot on the seashore of Vietnam , the park bluster more than 150 limestone caves and grot , with many remaining unexplored . Most of the ballpark ’s cave systems are connected , and together they would shape a total distance of200 kilometers(124 Swedish mile ) .
Son Doong ’s passages have a volume of 38.4 million three-dimensional cadence ( 1.35 trillion cubic feet ) , a length of 9 kilometers ( 5.5 miles ) , and a width of 198 measure ( 650 infantry ) – wide enough , in fact , that a Boeing 747 would be capable to fly straight though . Despite being heavily shrouded in the forest ’s leafage , even the entrance to the cave stands an telling 50 meters ( 164 feet ) grandiloquent .
at bottom runs a tight - flowing river that caused the establishment of the cave over hundreds of thousands of years . During the showery season this river floods and fills the vast organization , hit it unobtainable .
Expeditions allow people to camp in the cave. Image credit: Hoang Trung / Shutterstock.com
The cave is also home to some impressive stalagmites , including the world ’s largest which put up 70 meter ( 229 base ) gamey and is call the “ Hand of Dog ” .
Adding to the cave ’s transcendental atmosphere , two large sinkholes have open up up fanlight along the otherwise pitch - black passages that allow the wood above to circularise down into the depths of the cave . The modest of the two , called “ Watch Out for Dinosaurs ” , is believe to have organise in the last 500,000 years as a upshot of the forest trading floor becoming too thick and crack .
The larger doline , “ The Garden of Edam ” , stretches 163 meters ( 534 feet ) and has a much loggerheaded woods floor . Trees in this swallow hole arise to over 30 m tall and can often induce those exploring the cave to get lose and disorientate amongst the thick undergrowth .
bird , monkeys , and snakes have all been recover inside thesesinkholes . As many of the coinage in the area are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , it ’s anticipate that the caves could hold Leslie Townes Hope for these populations and perhaps some yet - to - be - discovered metal money .
The lower passage of the caves have already been found to be the family of at least one novel coinage of woodlouse and onenew species of fish .
One untasted musical passage does n’t have that same rainy season flooding as the rest of the cave , and that leaves it sate with utterly preserved 400 - million - yr - oldfossils .
The full resplendency of this divers cave was map by National Geographic in 2010 and a full practical tour isavailable online . It ’s believe , however , that we ’ve only explored just 30 percent of the cave ’s full system .
In 2019 , a team of British plunger set out to explore the underwater passages of the cave . Some 120 beat ( 393 feet ) underwater they name another tunnel that connects to the cave , and which go for 1 kilometre ( 0.62 miles ) . This finding sum up another 1.6 million cubic metre ( 56.5 million three-dimensional feet ) in volume to this already tremendous cave .
Experts are still trying to establish where the inmost water flows from , leading some researchers to consider it connects to an even big , unexplored cave .
Very little is known about the cave today ; it ’s had even fewer visitors thanMount Everestand visitant numbers are rigorously limited to 1,000 people per time of year , with a sizable price ticket of almost $ 3,000 per visitor .
The somewhat unavailability of the cave has lead the Vietnamese government to propose the installation of a 10.6 - kilometer ( 6.6 - mile)cable auto systemto go through the cave . This proposal of marriage has been fulfill with objection from environmental organizations , who dread the cave ’s undisturbed instinctive beauty may be affected .
