Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about
Celebrating Sơn Đoòng Cave
Nestled deep within the remote jungles of central Vietnam’s Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site, lies a natural phenomenon unparalleled by any other on Earth: the gargantuan Sơn Đoòng Cave. Today’s Doodle celebrates this colossal cavern, which was officially discovered on this day in 2009.
Expert geologists estimate the Sơn Đoòng (Vietnamese for “Mountain River”) Cave was formed sometime between two to five million years ago—epochs before local farmer Ho Khanh inadvertently stumbled upon its enormous entrance in 1990. The cave remained untouched until 2008, when Khanh retraced his steps to its misty opening, and until 2009 alongside Howard and Deb Limbert of the British Cave Research Association. The intrepid speleologists conducted the cave’s first official survey and concluded that it was the largest cave on the planet.
Inside Sơn Đoòng’s undisturbed inner chambers (big enough to fit an entire city block of 40-story buildings!), scientists discovered a wealth of record-breaking geological formations including the world’s largest limestone pearls and tallest stalagmite. Giant sinkholes situated further into the cave’s depths allow for sunlight and rain to nourish two pristine jungle ecosystems, which are home to flying foxes, the world’s only monkeys to live underground, and eyeless white fish. One of these thriving rainforests is so vast, it even has its own localized weather system!
In 2019, a trio of British divers proved there was still more to discover after finding an underwater tunnel connecting Sơn Đoòng to another cave—tacking on another 5.6 million cubic feet to its already titanic volume of 1.35 billion cubic feet.
Here’s to a natural wonder for everyone’s travel bucket list and as always have a chilled day from the Viking
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