Traditionally, giant holes with worlds at the bottom don’t really bode well for those who discover them. We can never really know what’s down at the end of a drop we can’t see. But hopefully, that’s only for the movies. Because spelunkers in China discovered a giant sinkhole, one that’s 630-foot deep, 1,000 feet long, and 429-feet wide. And at its bottom, there grows a huge forest.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to know that there are species found in these caves that have never been reported or described by science until now,” Chen Lixin, the leader of the cave expedition team, noted to Live Science.
We just hope none of those species are monsters like the ones from The Descent. The New York Post reports that a “well-preserved primitive forest” exists at the bottom of the pit. And in it, there are seemingly prehistoric trees that measure over 100 feet tall. And trees could indicate the presence of other creatures in the giant sinkhole.
The New York Post additionally shares that George Veni, executive director of the National Cave & Karst Research Institute in the US, said “such sinkholes can provide a veritable oasis for life.”
We have to admit, it does sound like it would be a very cool place to explore. The sinkhole also features three interior caves. The article reports erosion created the caves when the giant sinkhole first appeared. But we like to think a huge monster carved them out.
What life grows 630 feet down into the earth, that remains to be seen. But it certainly sounds like fodder for another good horror movie. Or maybe there’s actually something really nice all the way down there in the deep. We’ll just have to make sure we investigate very politely. We wouldn’t want to accidentally wake up something old… and hungry.
