The Veryovkina grotto in Georgia is a total of 2,212 meters deep
Man’s need to always go further has always been an irrepressible impulse since he became aware of his surroundings. Since then he has climbed great mountains, traversed oceans and crossed continents. However, what sleeps in the depths of our planet has always exerted a special fascination on human beings.
This is a review of the deepest known caves on the planet. All of them are located in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
Veryovkina cave, a ticket to the center of the Earth
The deepest cave on the planet is in the eastern Caucasus, specifically in the mountains of Gagra (autonomous republic of Abkhazia, in Georgia). Today it is known that the Veryovkina cave is a total of 2,212 meters deep, which has allowed it to become the closest place to the center of the Earth.
This winding grotto was discovered in 1968 by a group of cavers from Krasnoyarsk who ventured into this region of the former USSR. The first to enter it barely reached a depth of 115 meters and marked the cave on the map as S-115.
In 1982 the studies were resumed by another group of speleologists who renamed it P1-7. In the following four years they carried out expeditions to continue exploring it, and when the work was finished, in 1986, they changed the name of the cave in honor of Alexander Veryovkin, one of the professionals of the campaign who died in one of his expeditions in 1983.
The entrance to the cave is practically vertical and is located at an altitude of 2,285 meters above sea level, between the Krepost and Zont mountains. The descent of the first 400 meters is very complex, due to the narrowness of the path, which is why, until 2016, it was impossible to inspect much beyond the first 440 meters of the cave.
At 800 meters deep, the cave divides into several tributaries as if it were a labyrinth, with large cavities (of similar dimensions to those of a large city) and with rivers that humidify the environment and generate intense cold. The cave’s temperature ranges between 4 and 7 degrees Celsius throughout the year and its humidity can reach 100%. Also, when it rains or snows heavily, its underground rivers overflow.
Krúbera-Voronya, a cave system
Very close to it is the Krúbera-Voronya cave, with an altitude of about 2,200 meters, in the Ortobalagan valley. Until just a few years ago it was considered the deepest cave in the world, but Veryovkina stole the title in 2018.
It was discovered in 1960 by Soviet explorers who named it after the Russian geographer Aleksander Kruber. At that time, the group only dared to go as deep as 180 meters. Today it is known that the great cavity exceeds 2,000 meters in depth, and it is believed that it may be even longer, since it is connected to other caverns that are part of the same system.
Like its cousin Veryovkina, this large cavity is connected to water. In it, however, they can be found in the form of waterfalls, rivers and even underground lakes. It is even believed that it is directly connected to the Black Sea.
Sarma Cave: interconnected wells
The Sarma cave is also located in the Gagra mountains, as are the first two caves. It is the third deepest recorded cave in the world and its current depth (1,830 meters) was measured in 2012 by a team led by Pavel Rudko.
It was discovered in 1990 by Sergei Shipitsin and named Sarma (after the wind of the same name that blows on Lake Baikal). It is estimated that its depth is 2,150 meters above sea level, and, like its counterparts, it consists of a series of wells interconnected by extensive galleries.
Snow cave… and a huge glacier
The Snow Cave is also located in Georgia, in the Caucasus mountain range. It is the most complex cave system in the former Soviet Union and is located between the Bzib Mountains in a narrowing of the Jurassic Limestone.
The cave has a depth of 1,753 meters, and up to 23 kilometers of galleries run through it. It is made up of several rooms, but it is the largest that houses a true winter show. This great underground hall is covered by a thick layer of snow and ice, which complement the enormous glacier that it hides, the largest in the underground world.
And in Spain?
Spain also sneaks into the list of the 20 deepest caves in the world, with some cavities whose characteristics have made them worthy of appearing in that Top20. If the previous list is carried out by Georgia, in our case Asturias is the scene of the deepest caves in the country.
Cerro del Cuevon, the most difficult entrance in the world
The Cerro del Cuevón system is a karstic system made up of two interconnected chasms found in the central massif of the Picos de Europa, in the Asturian council of Cabrales. With a depth of 1,589 meters, the Torca del Cerro del Cuevón is the deepest chasm in Spain and the eighth in the world.
In 1998 a team of Franco-Spanish cavers, who had been exploring these chasms for years, reached their bottom for the first time, beating the Spanish record.
The system has two entrances. The first, in Cerro del Cuevón, also called T-33, with the entrance at a height of 2,019 meters above sea level. As it does not have intermediate mouths and it is necessary to complete the entire route to descend, it is technically considered the most difficult in caving in the world: it takes three days to descend its 1,586 meters. Inside there is an underground torrent called the Marbregalo River. It can also be accessed from the Torca de las Saxifragas, also called TR-2, which is shallower. Its entrance is at 1,590 m, at the bottom of the Trave slope that communicates with the Cerro del Cuevón chasm.
Sima de la Cornisa, discovered by the French
This system has its accesses in the central massif of the Picos de Europa, but its demarcation is the province of León. Its first mouth opens at an altitude of 2,539 meters and its depth is estimated to be 1,507 meters. It was discovered in 1988 by a French expedition, which decided to call it Sima de la Cornisa due to the peculiar approach to its entrance. This team barely ventured within 175 meters of the cave. There have been several subsequent explorations, but it was not until the fall of 2007 that the actual depth of the cavity was measured. Trave system, natural monument
The Trave system is an underground karstic (limestone) system made up of three interconnected inlets located in the central massif of the Picos de Europa, in the Asturian council of Cabrales. Researchers have concluded that this cave is 1,441 meters deep, which makes it the third deepest in Spain and the fifteenth largest in the world.
Its entrance was discovered in 1982, near the town of Bulnes in the area known as the Jou de los Cabrones refuge. The system is made up of the Laureola, Alba and Trabe chasms.
The system is traversed by several watercourses, joining in the final stretch forming an underground river, which can be traversed for a short stretch. It was declared a natural monument on August 31, 2005.
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