Researchers discover China’s longest cave is longer than they thought

World Today

A team of Chinese and French speleologists, or cave experts, have determined that China’s longest cave is about 186 kilometers (about 115 miles) long, 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) longer than a measurement from 2014.

The researchers conducted a joint expedition April 16-28 at Shuanghe cave in Wenquan township, Suiyang County, in southwest China’s Guizhou province.

They also discovered fossils of vertebrates at 13 locations in the cave. Most of them belonged to giant pandas, while others include possible bear and elephant skeletons.

The cave, is a karst cave, which means it was formed by the dissolution of soluble rocks, and was uncovered in the late 1980s. More than 10 large surveys have since been carried out since by Chinese and foreign researchers.

Surveys have found 203 entrances to the cave.

Story by Xinhua