In Pics: What's inside this 630 feet heavenly pit in China? A lush forest! Let's dive in
A giant forest hidden inside the Earth's surface...sounds like something right out of a Jules Verne novel.
What if we tell you this is something very real and it was discovered recently?
Check it out:
A place right out of a fantasy novel
Who here is a Jules Verne fan?
I know I am. Do you remember the novel (or the movie) "Journey to the center of the Earth". The book painted the astonishing picture of another world, nestled right at the center of our planet.
It was glorious. Now, a similar mind-blowing discovery of a hidden world has been made in China.
(Photograph:Twitter)
No surprise
But as amazing as it is to us, explorers say this discovery is no surprise. Apparently, Southern China where this discovery was made is home to Karst topography.
This type of landscape is formed because of bedrock erosion.
Rainwater, which is mildly acidic, absorbs carbon dioxide as it passes through the soil, making it more acidic. The water then trickles, rushes, and flows through bedrock fissures, gradually enlarging them into tunnels and voids.
Once a cave chamber becomes large enough, the ceiling can eventually collapse, resulting in massive sinkholes.
(Photograph:Twitter)
Heavenly pit
However it is still a significant discovery. In Mandarin such enormous sinkholes are called "tiankeng" or "heavenly pit".
The sinkhole from the inside is 1,004 feet long and 492 feet wide, reports Xinhua citing Zhang Yuanhai, a senior engineer with the institute of Karst Geology.
(Photograph:Twitter)
