Optymistychna Cave
| Optymistychna | |
|---|---|
Korolivka, Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast | |
| Coordinates | 48°44′33″N 25°59′37″E / 48.74250°N 25.99361°E |
| Length | 230 km (140 mi)[1] |
| Discovery | 1966 |
| Geology | gypsum |
Optymistychna (
longest cave in Europe and the seventh-longest cave in the world,[5] after Mammoth Cave, Sistema Sac Actun, Jewel Cave, Shuanghedong and Sistema Ox Bel Ha. It is also the longest gypsum cave in the world.[1][6]
History
The
speleological club "Cyclope" in 1966. It was entirely unknown before then.[7] There have been more than 50 expeditions since then, but exploration has slowed significantly in recent years, and very little surveying is currently being done.[3] The cave is located very close to the Priest's Grotto or Ozerna Cave, the eleventh-longest cave in the world at 130.4 km (81.0 mi), but the two caves have not yet been found to be connected.[1]
In 2008, the cave was recognized as a
Natural Wonder of Ukraine.[8]
Geology
The entire cave lies under a 2 km square area in a layer of Neogene period gypsum that is less than 30 metres (98 ft) thick.[7][9] The passages tend to be fairly small, no more than 3 metres (10 ft) wide and 1.5 metres (5 ft) tall for most, although at intersections they can be up to 10 metres (33 ft) tall.[7] They are often choked with mud. They comprise a dense network on several levels, making Optymistychna known as a "maze cave".
Optymistychna's gypsum bed is topped with a limestone layer, which has seeped through into the cave via erosion and formed into
mineral salts. In some areas, large gypsum rosettes have formed, colored black by manganese oxide.[7]
Notes
- ^ This English transliteration was used during the Soviet era but is now deprecated.
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 9780123838322.
- ISBN 0-914264-20-6.
- ^ a b "Optimistic cave. Speleotourism. Active and extreme tourism. Travel". www.cave-ua.narod.ru. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
- ^ Guden, Bob. "World's Longest Caves". Caver Bob. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ "OPTYMISTYCHNA IS THE LONGEST CAVE IN UKRAINE - Information Portal Good News". ukrainegoodnews.com. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
- ^ Guden, Bob. "World's Longest Caves". Caver Bob. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ ISBN 0-89577-087-3.
- ^ Optimistic Caves Archived 2009-03-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 9783319135120.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Optymistychna Cave.
- Official site of Optimistic cave
- Chapter II.9, Gypsum Karst in the Western Ukraine by Alexander Klimchouk article appearing in: International Journal of Speleology, vol. 25, #3-4, 1996, p. 263-278.