Earth Sciences
Caverns of the World
Jules Verne



In the late 1800's Jules Verne gave us some fantasti tales with sketches. In recent years there have been many new discoveries made that would seem to back up Jules Vernes wild stories... so was he there?... or did he dream it?... perhaps a trip to the future?

Below is a sketch of the giant cave with it's own ecosystem and lake







Below is Sơn Đoòng Cave in Vietnam discovered in 1991
Sơn Đoòng Cave in Vietnam
A Farmer Noticed This Hole In A Rock,
But What's Inside Has Astounded The Whole World


The Sơn Đoòng Cave in Vietnam is the largest cave in the world. A tour inside the cave is something extraordinary; it contains a jungle, a river and it has plenty of room for a skyscraper with 40 floors!


The enormous cave is located 280 miles south of the capital Hanoi, in the Vietnamese national park Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng. Tag along in this underground world and be inspired by nature's beauty.



Hang Sơn Đoòng translates to 'mountain river cave' in Vietnamese. It was created 2-5 million years ago by river water eroding away the limestone underneath the mountain.

It was found in 1991 by a local farmer named Hồ Khanh, but the first people who actually explored the cave were British experts in 2009.



It contains its own animal life, lakes, rain-forest, beaches and a river.


The roof of the cave collapsed centuries ago, allowing a lush jungle to take root.
Monkeys and flying foxes live in what explorers named the Garden of Edam.


Son Doong is a jackpot of rare cave pearls. The pearls form over hundreds of years as water drips down,
dries up and leaves layers of calcite crystals on grains of sand.

The cave has also rare pearls that are formed when water laden with minerals dripping from a cave's ceiling, falls too quickly to form a stalagmite. Instead, the dripping water forms a small ball of mineral deposits that grows into a small mineral pearl.





Many caves have relics from a prehistoric age, like statues or paintings on the mountain walls. But nothing compared to what has been found in Sơn Đoòng.




 Hang Son Doong skyhole by John Spies



The first tourists visited the cave in 2013.



Guided tours are available. They last for 7 days and visitors can spend their nights camping inside the cave. The total cost per person is around $3,000.



SOURCE: NAIJAPICKS
Son Doong cave is World's largest cave, discovered in 2009


SonDoongCave.org - Amazing forest inside Son Doong Cave
BBC How To Grow A Planet

Youtube Link
Published on Jun 16, 2012
SonDoongCave.org - Son Doong cave(Vietnamese: Hang Son Doong) is world's largest cave, located in Quang Binh province, Vietnam. It is found by a local man named Ho Khanh in 1991 and was recently discovered in 2009 by British cavers, led by Howard Limbert

SOURCE: SonDoongCave.org


Go Inside Son Doong, The World’s Largest Cave. It’s Magnificent

Suzy Strutner
Associate Lifestyle Editor, The Huffington Post

The Son Doong Cave in Vietnam is the biggest cave in the world. It’s over 5.5 miles long, has a jungle and river, and could fit a 40-story skyscraper within its walls.

But nobody knew any of that until about six years ago.

The recently discovered cave has been touted as the largest in the world, although other caves vie for the title of longest (Mammoth Cave in Brownsville, Kentucky nabs that title with about 400 miles of passageways) and deepest (Krubera Cave in the nation of Georgia).

A local man discovered the cave entrance in 1991, but British cavers were the first to explore it in 2009. Tour company Oxalis has been running trial tours of the cave since two summers ago.

The lucky people who have entered Son Doong so far, like photographer John Spies, have emerged with some amazing photos.

Sharing by John Spies


Underground Forest by John Spies


Lighting the Dark by John Spies


The man who discovered Son Doong didn’t go in because the entrance he found had too steep a drop.
On tours, visitors rappel 80 meters to enter Son Doong.






On their first night inside the cave, visitors camp near Hand of Dog, a humongous stalagmite that looks like a dog’s paw.


The roof of the cave collapsed centuries ago, allowing a lush jungle to take root.
Monkeys and flying foxes live in what explorers named the Garden of Edam.


Fields of algae from ancient pools blanket parts of the cave’s interior.


Son Doong is a jackpot of rare cave pearls. The pearls form over hundreds of years as water drips down,
dries up and leaves layers of calcite crystals on grains of sand.


Scientists have discovered never-before-seen plant species around Son Doong’s waterfalls.
Oh, and there’s a whole river in there, too.

Photos by John Spies and Carsten Peters/Getty Images.
SOURCE: Huntington Post
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