A group of Chinese researchers found hidden forest at the bottom of the funnel who could keep new plant and animal species. According to the network CGTN, the forest is located inside a funnel in the Guangxi region of southern China. Funnels – or tiankeng – are common in the region, although this one is special as it is 210 meters deep and is home to trees up to 40 meters high.
Tiankeng is known to the locals as the “bottomless pit”. it is 300 meters long, 150 meters wide and 192 meters deep.. According to the villagers of Ping’e nobody managed to reach the bottom. In an attempt to learn more about this and other sinkholes in Leie County, the China Geological Institute of Karst Geology organized an expedition in early May.
Getting to the bottom of the funnel was not easy, because. the entrance is covered with dense forest, which limits visibility. The scientists used drones to get a better view and then descended into the sinkhole. The report states that the researchers found very bushy plants with large thorns and trees with a very peculiar version of the fig.
The primeval forest has plants and animals that have never been seen before
The well consists of three caves and a well-preserved primeval forest. The background hastropical forest view, with tall, slender trees and plants that weren’t there before. The researchers found square bamboo with thorns two to three centimeters long, a fern and a piece of wild banana.
Scientists have confirmed that this is the thirtieth Tiankeng (sky well) what they document in the county from Leie. Craters form when water dissolves bedrock, causing the roof to collapse. At the same time, 29 out of 30 wells were created thanks to the Bailan River, and the last originates in the Fugui underground river.
According to Zhang Yuanhai, president of the Asian Caves Alliance and head of the research team, the expedition is important to establish bases for exploration and scientific research and adjust the protection of these geological relics.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if I find species in these caves that science has never reported or described before,” Yuanhai said. The forest is inhabited by insects and small animals that feed on the plants inside.
Karst landscapes of southern China inscribed on the World Heritage List UNESCO and located in the provinces of Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan and Chongqing. In Spain, 20 kilometers from Cuenca, there is a place known as the natural monument of Torcas de Palancares. The sinkholes are believed to have formed over 80 million years ago when the Tethys Sea receded.
Source: Hiper Textual
