scientists discover huge sinkhole with stunning ancient forest growing inside

She’s serving.

Have you ever wanted to see a beautiful, gigantic hole? Well, while you’re collecting your mind from the gutter, your prayers might’ve just been answered. A huge 630ft-deep sinkhole has been found in China. This wondrous (and slightly terrifying) hole is home to a stunning ancient forest range, with trees growing as tall as 131ft. Pretty neat, huh?

Cave explorers came across the sinkhole near Ping’e village in Leye County of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region earlier this month. According to the Xinhua news agency, the sinkhole is 630ft (192m) deep and measures 1,000ft (304m) in length and 490ft (149m) in width. (For people with no spatial awareness, basically: it’s big).

Most fascinatingly, a “well-preserved primitive forest” of trees grows on the bottom of the sinkhole. “I wouldn’t be surprised to know that there are species found in these caves that have never been reported or described by science until now,” Chen Lixin, leader of the cave expedition team, told Xinhua.

China’s Guangxi region is known for its huge sinkholes. In November 2019, Xinhua reported the discovery of a giant cluster in the Guangxi region. Before this, in 2016, scientists discovered the world’s largest cluster of sinkholes in Shaanxi province in northwest China. The South China Sea is also home to the world’s deepest underwater sinkhole.

Most fascinatingly, a “well-preserved primitive forest” of trees grows on the bottom of the sinkhole. “I wouldn’t be surprised to know that there are species found in these caves that have never been reported or described by science until now,” Chen Lixin, leader of the cave expedition team, told Xinhua.

China’s Guangxi region is known for its huge sinkholes. In November 2019, Xinhua reported the discovery of a giant cluster in the Guangxi region. Before this, in 2016, scientists discovered the world’s largest cluster of sinkholes in Shaanxi province in northwest China. The South China Sea is also home to the world’s deepest underwater sinkhole.

Why are there so many in China? Sinkholes happen in most places (in the UK, they’re just pretty underwhelming by comparison). They’re formed when land surface collapses or sinks into cavities in the ground. Drought and flooding (which is particularly common in parts of China) can make conditions favourable for sinkholes to form.

These holes can be scary, of course. In 2020, six people were killed when a sinkhole swallowed a bus in northwest China. And in 2016, a huge sinkhole opened in the middle of a busy road. Last year, another sinkhole opened during floods in China’s Zhengzhou region and several people were sucked into it.

Let’s file them next to black holes in the “holes that should not be messed with” category.