The Xiaozhai Tiankeng is 626 meters (2,054 feet) long, 537 meters (1,762 feet) wide, and between 511 and 662 meters (1,677 and 2,172 ft) deep, with vertical walls. Its volume is 119,349,000 m³ and the area of its opening is 274,000 m2. This material has been dissolved and carried away by the river. The sinkhole is a doubly nested structure—the upper bowl is 320 meters (1,050 feet) deep, the lower bowl is 342 meters (1,122 feet) deep, and the two bowls are on average 257 to 268 m (843 to 879 ft) across. Between both these steps is a sloping ledge, formed due to soil trapped in the limestone. In the rainy season, a waterfall can be seen at the mouth of the sinkhole.[2]
Discoveryedit
The Xiaozhai Tiankeng has been well known to local people since ancient times. Xiaozhai is the name of an abandoned village nearby and literally means "little village", and "Tiankeng" means Heavenly Pit, a unique regional name for sinkholes in China. A 2,800-step staircase has been constructed in order to facilitate tourism.[2]
Underground river and caveedit
The Tiankeng formed over the Difeng cave, which in turn had been formed by a powerful underground river which still flows underneath the sinkhole. The underground river starts in the Tianjing fissure gorge and reaches a vertical cliff above the Migong River, forming a 4-metre-high (13-foot) waterfall. The length of this underground river is approximately 8.5 km (5.3 mi) and during these 8.5 kilometres, it falls 364 metres (1,194 feet) The median annual flow of this river is 8.77 m³ per second, but its flowrate can reach 174 m³/s. Both the river and Difeng Cave were explored and mapped by China Caves Project in 1994.[2]
xiaozhai, tiankeng, 小寨天坑, also, known, xiaozhai, heavenly, world, deepest, sinkhole, also, largest, shaanxi, cluster, located, fengjie, county, chongqing, municipality, china, sinkholecoordinates, 7505, 4701, 7505, 4701dimensions, length626, metres, feet, widt. The Xiaozhai Tiankeng 小寨天坑 also known as the Xiaozhai Heavenly Pit is the world s deepest sinkhole and also the largest in the Shaanxi cluster 1 It is located in Fengjie County of Chongqing Municipality in China Xiaozhai TiankengSinkholeXiaozhai TiankengCoordinates 30 45 02 N 109 28 12 E 30 7505 N 109 4701 E 30 7505 109 4701Dimensions Length626 metres 2 054 feet Width537 metres 1 762 feet Contents 1 Dimensions 2 Discovery 3 Underground river and cave 4 Flora and fauna 5 ReferencesDimensions editThe Xiaozhai Tiankeng is 626 meters 2 054 feet long 537 meters 1 762 feet wide and between 511 and 662 meters 1 677 and 2 172 ft deep with vertical walls Its volume is 119 349 000 m and the area of its opening is 274 000 m2 This material has been dissolved and carried away by the river The sinkhole is a doubly nested structure the upper bowl is 320 meters 1 050 feet deep the lower bowl is 342 meters 1 122 feet deep and the two bowls are on average 257 to 268 m 843 to 879 ft across Between both these steps is a sloping ledge formed due to soil trapped in the limestone In the rainy season a waterfall can be seen at the mouth of the sinkhole 2 Discovery editThe Xiaozhai Tiankeng has been well known to local people since ancient times Xiaozhai is the name of an abandoned village nearby and literally means little village and Tiankeng means Heavenly Pit a unique regional name for sinkholes in China A 2 800 step staircase has been constructed in order to facilitate tourism 2 Underground river and cave edit nbsp The Tiankeng formed over the Difeng cave which in turn had been formed by a powerful underground river which still flows underneath the sinkhole The underground river starts in the Tianjing fissure gorge and reaches a vertical cliff above the Migong River forming a 4 metre high 13 foot waterfall The length of this underground river is approximately 8 5 km 5 3 mi and during these 8 5 kilometres it falls 364 metres 1 194 feet The median annual flow of this river is 8 77 m per second but its flowrate can reach 174 m s Both the river and Difeng Cave were explored and mapped by China Caves Project in 1994 2 Flora and fauna edit1 285 species of plants including the ginkgo and many rare animals like the clouded leopard and the Chinese Giant Salamander have been found in the sinkhole 2 References edit Xiaozhai Tiankeng sinkhole Virtual Globetrotting Retrieved 2013 04 07 a b c d Xiaozhai Tiankeng WonderMondo Retrieved 2013 04 07 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Xiaozhai Tiankeng amp oldid 1213527329, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
