Israeli researchers say Sodom salt cave is world’s longest

MOUNT SODOM, ISRAEL– Israeli scientists stated Thursday they have actually surveyed what they now think to be the world’s longest salt cavern, a network of twisting passages at the southern idea of the Dead Sea.

A just recently finished study of the Malham Cave figured out the labyrinthine cavern extends more than 10 kilometers(6 miles )in length. That puts it well ahead of Iran’s Namakdan Cave, formerly believed to be the longest salt cavern.

The study was performed by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a collection of Israeli, International and bulgarian volunteers.

Boaz Langford, a scientist at the university’s Caves Research Center, and Antoniya Vlaykova, a Bulgarian cavern explorer from the European Speleological Federation, headed the exploration.

“What’s special about this cavern, rather than other salt collapse the world, is that it’s the longest worldwide, “Langford stated, resting in a chamber of the cavern called the”Wedding Hall”for its salt stalactites.

Langford and Vlaykova stated they prepare to release the total map of the collapse an expert publication in the coming months.

There is no authorities record for the longest salt cavern, and such classifications are normally chosen by agreement amongst cavern scientists after an underground chamber is mapped and released.

Namakdan, which has to do with 6 kilometers (4 miles) in length, was determined as the longest salt cavern after a research study by Czech and Iranian researchers in 2006.

Salt caverns are uncommon and uncommon geological functions. Big salt deposits do not usually endure long on the surface area due to the fact that salt is extremely water soluble. Just a handful of salt caverns are bigger than a kilometer(half a mile)in length. Salt caves tend to just exist in extremely deserts, like the location around the Dead Sea, which lies at the most affordable point in the world and is too salted to support animal life.

The Dead Sea and Mount Sodom were formed by tectonic activity, the moving of the Earth’s plates at the northern end of the 6,000-kilometer( 4,000-mile)Afro-Arabian Rift Valley. Over countless years, succeeding flooding of the deep anxiety set thick layers of salt.

“The salt layers are ejected from the sub-surface, where they are transferred a couple of kilometers underground, and while being ejected they form a mountain, which is increasing still today, at a rate of about one centimeter annually, “stated Amos Frumkin, a Hebrew University geologist who has actually studied the cavern for years.

The Malham Cave’s primary outlet yawns not far from a salt pillar called “Lot’s partner,”after the scriptural character who was scared for recalling at the damage of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. On the mountainside above, Langford, Vlaykova and their associates have actually recognized a minimum of 19 openings where seasonal floods have actually percolated through Mount Sodom’s rock salt to form the cavern.

Yoav Negev, creator of the Israeli Cave Explorers Club, stated that over 2 years, his group and an overall of 80 volunteers from 9 nations invested around 1,500 workdays mapping the cavern and determining’s recesses.

” It’s above and beyond what we anticipated,”he stated.

Efraim Cohen, among the Hebrew University cavern explorers, explained the procedure of finding the cavern’s entryways from the surface area, rappelling down into surface area shafts, squeezing through tight passages, and determining each of the cavern’s serpentine branches with lasers.

Despite the challenging environment, he stated the cavern’s elegance makes it worth it.

“All the stalactites and stalagmites, their charm, their color– they’re actually white, they’re shining, they’re incredible, “Cohen stated.

Radiocarbon dating of wood pieces discovered inside the cavern have actually assisted date its development to around 7,000 years earlier, making it exceptionally young by speleological requirements.

” The reason that it’s so young is since it’s made from salt, “Frumkin described.” Limestone caverns are much slower to form. They are typically much older. This one is establishing extremely quickly so it’s one of the youngest caverns in the world.”

Frumkin stated that studying the cavern’s development has actually supplied scientists with info about the environment of the area over the previous 7,000 years, and how that has actually impacted the development of civilization. Jericho, among world’s very first cities and a center for the advancement of farming, is around 80 kilometers(50 miles)north of the Malham Cave.

“Because the salt is so soluble, that suggests that every modification in the environment leaves its mark in the cavern,” Frumkin stated.”If there is more water, more rains, the cavern is bigger, and Dead Sea level modifications, and this makes a substantial distinction in the morphology of the cavern.”

Although the researchers have actually finished their research study, there is still more of the cavern that is undiscovered, he stated.

“There are some more parts, specifically upper levels, which have actually not been surveyed yet since they are hard to reach, “Frumkin stated.