Ancient Forest Found at Bottom of Huge Sinkhole in China (theguardian.com) 30
An ancient forest has been found at the bottom of a giant sinkhole in China, with trees up to 40 metres (130ft) tall. From a report: Scientists believe it could contain undiscovered plant and animal species. Cave explorers in the Guangxi region of southern China alerted scientists when they found the sinkhole, which had a primitive forest inside. Among 30 sinkholes in Leye County this is the largest, at 306 metres long, 150 metres wide and 192 metres deep. Zhang Yuanhai, a senior engineer at the Institute of Karst Geology of the China Geological Survey, told the state news agency Xinhua that the site had three caves in its walls and a well-preserved primitive forest at the bottom. Scientists trekked for hours to reach the base of the sinkhole to see what it contained. Chen Lixin, who led the expedition team, said that as well as the trees there was dense undergrowth on the floor that came up to his shoulders.
Uhhhhh (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe we should stay out of there, sounds a little too, eldritchy to me.
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-1, Struck a Nerve
Re:Sinkholes kill. Florida is dangerous. (Score:4, Informative)
Florida man swallowed by sinkhole under bedroom feared dead.
That's the sort of thing that happens when you build a town on top of a limestone deposit riddled with underground rivers.
The area has some pretty water features, though. But somehow they don't seem worth discovering your whole house is over a sinkhole that's gradually weakening.
Re:Sinkholes kill. Florida is dangerous. (Score:5, Interesting)
Yup, and that huge sand bar of a state is home to some of the world's most valuable real estate. Not to mention fun times with hurricanes.
No different than California, where they tempt fate by building on top of massive fault lines. Or the midwest, where designer tornado bunkers are considered cool. Or Hawaii, where they live with the active volcanos that formed their existence.
If we were actually worried about "dangerous", a Yellowstone caldera eruption would probably make most of the US uninhabitable out of fear alone.
Re: Sinkholes kill. Florida is dangerous. (Score:3)
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No more details? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:No more details? (Score:5, Informative)
Found a few pictures after some Googling: https://twitter.com/NineDragon... [twitter.com]
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I thought that the most interesting bit was that it was discovered by speleology team 702, so that implies there are at least another 701 teams out there, or not, as the case may be...
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I thought that the most interesting bit was that it was discovered by speleology team 702, so that implies there are at least another 701 teams out there, or not, as the case may be...
There were 701 teams out there. They have to keep sending more of them out as replacements, there's something about those sinkholes, or maybe something in those sinkholes...
Wouldn't it be similar to the surroundings? (Score:5, Insightful)
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The bottom of the sinkhole is likely to be a very different environment from the land above. The sinkhole is deeper than it is wide, which means it's likely to be in shade for a substantial part of the day. The sinkhole will also serve as a drain for the surrounding area, so it will be much wetter. That might very well be enough to support a completely different ecosystem.
Re: Wouldn't it be similar to the surroundings? (Score:2)
Different light and water conditions in the sinkhole may make competition favor different species. Animal access is limited, so their impact may be felt in what vegetation thrives. Existing trees have an advantage over new growth. Etc.
Re:Wouldn't it be similar to the surroundings? (Score:5, Informative)
I suspect they're calling it "ancient" though because in pre-historic eras when the planet was much warmer, there was an abundance of plant life and things grew tall. In this sinkhole they're tlaking about how the plants are very tall, like pre-historic plants. However they're likely tall due to evolution; ie they have to grow tall to maximize the amount of light they get in the narrow window available.
Re: Wouldn't it be similar to the surroundings? (Score:3)
Thats the missing info. Would love some year around temperature readings vs outside. I think submerged agriculture could be a big thing due to easy climate controls. Already being used for Nebraska citrus:
https://nebraskapublicmedia.or... [nebraskapublicmedia.org]
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The Dawn Redwood [wikipedia.org] was thought to be extinct for 65 million years, until they were found growing in China.
Hollow Earthers (Score:4, Funny)
Ancient trees and bushes? How about diseases? (Score:4, Interesting)
... a senior engineer at the Institute of Karst Geology of the China Geological Survey, told the state news agency Xinhua that the site had three caves in its walls and a well-preserved [still alive] primitive forest at the bottom.
I wonder whether there are any well-preserved ancient lines of virus there. Somebody ought to check the bat droppings in those caves.
Bats (Score:2)
It's probably full of bats. Let's go in there, retrieve a few, study them and modify their diseases. Wear sensible shoes, a hat and a waterproof jacket please. We don't want to take any chances.
My God... (Score:2)
It's full of stars!
Found? (Score:2)
The locals have been keeping their sheep there for the last 4000 years.
Dense undergrowth but no curse? (Score:2)
No ancient curse, no subtitles, either; just this rather primitive looking lawnmower-and-tree-shredder built by ancient landscaping professionals, hardly used.
There's still a horror movie to be made.
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that this time would come...
and then, there would be those who could see the subtitles,...
and those would be safe...
cause they would be the chosen ones...
ancient? (Score:1)
Looks like a contempary, living forest to me. What exactly makes it "ancient" other than it sounds cool for a headline?