A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word cave can refer to smaller openings such as sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos, that extend a relatively short distance into the rock and they are called exogene caves. Caves which extend further underground than the opening is wide are called endogene caves.
A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as vrtače and shakeholes, and to openings where surface water enters into underground passages known as ponor, swallow hole or swallet. A cenote is a type of sinkhole that exposes groundwater underneath. Sink and stream sink are more general terms for sites that drain surface water, possibly by infiltration into sediment or crumbled rock.
Krubera Cave is the second-deepest-known cave on Earth, after the Veryovkina Cave. It is located in the Arabika Massif of the Gagra Range of the Western Caucasus, in the Gagra District of Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia.
The sarlacc is a fictional creature in George Lucas's sci-fi action saga Star Wars. It first appeared in the film Return of the Jedi (1983) as a multi-tentacled alien beast whose immense, gaping maw is lined with several rows of sharp teeth, inhabiting the Great Pit of Carkoon, a hollow in the sand of the desert planet Tatooine. After bounty hunter Boba Fett escapes from its maw in "Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land" of The Book of Boba Fett (2022) and eventually returns to retrieve his armour, the sarlacc is killed by his partner Fennec Shand in "Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm".
Castleguard Cave is a limestone cave located at the north end of Banff National Park in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada. With 20,357 metres (66,788 ft) of surveyed passages, it is Canada's longest cave, and its fifth deepest at 384 metres (1,260 ft). Castleguard Cave ascends gently from its entrance and terminates beneath the Columbia Icefield.
The Marble Arch Caves are a series of natural limestone caves located near the village of Florencecourt in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The caves are named after the nearby Marble Arch, a natural limestone arch at the upstream end of Cladagh Glen under which the Cladagh River flows. The caves are formed from three rivers draining off the northern slopes of Cuilcagh mountain, which combine underground to form the Cladagh. On the surface, the river emerges from the largest karst resurgence in Ireland, and one of the largest in the United Kingdom. At 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi) the Marble Arch Caves form the longest known cave system in Northern Ireland, and the karst is considered to be among the finest in the British Isles.
The Domica cave is a karst cave situated on the south-western border of the Silicka planina Plateau 10 km (6.2 mi) south-east of Plesivec in the Rožňava District of the Košice Region in southern Slovakia. In combination with the Baradla cave, it makes up the most significant section of the Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst cross-border cave network that continues into the Aggtelek National Park in Hungary. The cave is well-known for its complex structure and high density of speleothems.
Catherine Hickson is a Canadian volcanologist, formerly with the Geological Survey of Canada, part of Natural Resources Canada. Since 2014, she has been the chief operating officer for Dajin Resources Corp. and president, Tuya Terra Geo Corp. Hickson studied at the University of British Columbia and received her PhD in geology and volcanology in 1987.
Named after Eli Simpson, Simpson Pot is a limestone cave in West Kingsdale, North Yorkshire, England. It leads into Swinsto Cave and thence into Kingsdale Master Cave, and it is popular with cavers as it is possible to descend it by abseiling down the pitches, retrieving the rope each time, and exiting through Valley Entrance of Kingsdale Master Cave at the base of the hill. It is part of a 27-kilometre (17 mi) long cave system that drains both flanks of Kingsdale.
The Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst are a series of over 1000 karst caves spread out over a total area of 55,800 ha along the border of Hungary and Slovakia. With an exceptional diversity of karst structures and complex cave systems developing from both temperate and tropical processes, the caves and surrounding areas were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995.
Arctomys Cave is a cave in Trio Mountain above the Moose River Valley in Mount Robson Provincial Park in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia. Arctomys Cave has 3496 metres of surveyed passages and has a maximum depth of 536 metres (1,759 ft).
Close to the Edge is a significant cave in the Dezaiko Range of the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. It is within Close To The Edge Provincial Park and Protected Area about 160 km east of Prince George, British Columbia.
Škocjan Caves is a cave system in Slovenia. Due to its exceptional significance, Škocjan Caves was entered on UNESCO’s list of natural and cultural World Heritage Sites in 1986. International scientific circles have thus acknowledged the importance of the caves as one of the natural treasures of planet Earth. Ranking among the most important caves in the world, Škocjan Caves represents the most significant underground phenomena both on the Karst Plateau and in Slovenia. Following independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, Slovenia committed itself to actively protecting the Škocjan Caves area and established Škocjan Caves Regional Park and its managing authority, the Škocjan Caves Park Public Service Agency.
Wells Gray Provincial Park is a large wilderness park located in east-central British Columbia, Canada. The park protects most of the southern, and highest, regions of the Cariboo Mountains and covers 5,415 square kilometres. It is British Columbia's fifth largest provincial park, after Tweedsmuir, Tatshenshini, Spatsizi and Northern Rocky Mountains.
Khammouane province (Khammouan) is a province in the center of Laos. Its capital lies at Thakhek.
Anou Boussouil is a limestone karst cave located in the mountains of Djurdjura, Algeria. The cave is 3,200 metres (10,500 ft) long and 805 metres (2,641 ft) deep. The entrance to the cave is 1,074 metres (3,524 ft) up the mountainside. During the springtime rainy season, melting snow pours through a channel leading directly to the cave mouth, continuing the process of erosion. This distinguishes it from other caves in the Djurdjura range, which are inactive and no longer being enlarged through erosion.
Sistema Huautla is a cave system in the Sierra Mazateca mountains of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. As of April 2021 it was the deepest cave system in the Western Hemisphere, 1,560 metres (5,120 ft) from top to bottom, with over 55 miles of mapped passageways.
Pınargözü Cave, is a cave 18 kilometres (11 mi) west of the town of Yenişarbademli in Isparta Province, Turkey. It is considered the longest cave in Turkey, although it has not yet been fully explored, and the precise extent to which it has been explored is in dispute.
Veryovkina Cave is a cave in Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia. At 2,212 meters (7,257 ft) deep, it is the deepest-known cave on Earth. Veryovkina is in the Arabika Massif, in the Gagra Mountain Range of the Western Caucasus, on the pass between the Krepost and Zont mountains, close to the slopes of Mount Krepost. Its entrance is 2,285 metres (7,497 ft) above sea level. The entrance of the cave has a cross section of 3 m × 4 m, and the depth of the entrance shaft is 32 metres (105 ft).
Bisaro Anima is a cave located on the Mount Bisaro plateau in British Columbia, Canada. It is the deepest cave in Canada.
Descent of 90 m into cave
Cave entrance in winter
