World's Largest Cave Has Its Own Forest, Rivers, and Even Clouds

Bright Side

Deep beneath the jungles of Vietnam lies a world so massive it defies belief. Son Doong Cave is the largest cave on Earth - big enough to fit an entire city block with 40-story skyscrapers. It has its own jungle, rivers, and even clouds. And we keep discovering it's bigger than we thought.  Animation is created by Bright Side.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV  Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00In 1991, somewhere in the lush jungles of central Vietnam,

00:06a local logger found a mysterious hole among the foliage and bushes.

00:11He looked in there and felt a strong wind blowing into his face.

00:15Then he heard a strange sound from the cave depths and realized that it was the sound of a river.

00:22The logger didn't check the cave, but decided to go back there with a flashlight and a rope.

00:26When he returned, he couldn't find the cave anywhere.

00:30He spent a few years searching for it.

00:32Finally, in the 2000s, the logger managed to locate it again.

00:37In 2009, he brought scientists to this place.

00:40They found out the cave, called Sundong, is the largest in the world.

00:45There's so much space here that you'll hear a long echo if you shout.

00:49Sundong's main passage reaches 660 feet in height in some places,

00:54which is more than half as tall as the Empire State Building.

00:57The area of the cave is so huge that an entire New York City block with 40-story skyscrapers would

01:04fit in there.

01:05There's a deep underground labyrinth under the jungles of Vietnam,

01:08hiding three of the largest caves in the world.

01:11And Sundong is number one on this list.

01:14The vast space inside is filled with various plants, unique microclimates, and different landscapes.

01:21There's a real jungle growing underground.

01:23It became possible thanks to the collapsed ceiling in some places.

01:27It lets sunlight penetrate there from above.

01:30There are huge stalactites 250 feet high on the ceilings and walls,

01:35which is more than the length of a passenger bowing.

01:38They've been here between hundreds of thousands and millions of years.

01:43Some limestone deposits are more than 450 million years old.

01:47It means they've existed since the time long before the dinosaurs.

01:51Besides the jungle, there are also many rivers in the cave.

01:55They were formed because of rainwater coming down from holes in the ceiling.

01:59These rivers are smooth and fast, like slides in a water park.

02:03But riding them isn't the best idea,

02:06since they can carry you into one of those long labyrinths that the cave is full of.

02:10And we still don't know where they're going.

02:12You may find yourself in another unknown part of the cave.

02:16This is what happened in 2018.

02:19Three divers accidentally discovered new areas in Sindang.

02:23The cave turned out to be much bigger than everyone thought.

02:27They dove into one of the cave's lakes and reached a depth of 256 feet.

02:32At the bottom, they found a separate tunnel.

02:35Divers lowered a fishing line with a lead weight there

02:38and found out that this place reaches a depth of 394 feet.

02:43And the tunnel is more than half a mile long.

02:46We still don't know the exact size of the tunnel.

02:49Sindang also connects to another huge cave.

02:52There are lots of things you can see in Sindang besides underground labyrinths and rivers.

02:57You can find spacious ruins with lakes.

03:00And you can walk for hours along dark mountain corridors.

03:04This place is strikingly beautiful, but dangerous at the same time.

03:08And the coolest thing is that you can take a walk here.

03:11Since 2013, Sindang Cave has been open to tourists.

03:16It's not just an easy walk to take some selfies, though.

03:19The expedition to the cave lasts for several days.

03:22For the first day and a half, you'll explore the third largest cave in the world.

03:27And only after that, you'll reach Sindang.

03:30The path will take you through rivers, dense jungles, mountains, and rocks.

03:35You can meet many exotic birds, monkeys, and other animals.

03:40And according to many people, the way to the cave is even more impressive than the cave itself.

03:46When you reach your destination, you'll spend the next few days exploring Sindang.

03:50Together with other tourists, professional guides, and porters, you'll be sleeping in tents in different places in the cave every

03:58day.

03:59You'll see some stunning landscapes and, get ready for this, 400-million-year-old majestic fossils.

04:06There are also dark rooms with lakes that are good for swimming.

04:10Such adventurous expeditions become more popular every year.

04:14People who visited the cave call it the most amazing place they've ever seen.

04:20Another amazing cave is located in Indonesia, on the island of Floris.

04:25It's quite small, but holds amazing things inside.

04:29In 2003, a group of scientists discovered ancient artifacts here,

04:33including fossils of primitive tools, such as sharpened stones.

04:37Scientists realized that hundreds of thousands of years ago, this place was home to our distant ancestors.

04:44Then, they found a very unusual female skeleton.

04:47That woman was only three and a half feet tall.

04:51This is the height of the waistline of an average adult person.

04:54That woman had no problems with her spine or with the development of her bones, though.

04:59This and other skeletons found in the cave belong to some unknown human ancestors.

05:04Scientists called this species Homo floresiensis, or simply, Hobbit.

05:10The woman's weight was about 35 to 79 pounds.

05:14Analysis of the skull and bones showed she was about 30 years old.

05:18Hobbits probably lived on Earth between 190,000 and 50,000 years ago.

05:24There's a chance they met the ancestors of modern humans.

05:27The next cave is in Turkey.

05:30Imagine that you live in an old house and decide to make some repairs.

05:34You throw all the old stuff out of the rooms.

05:37The last place to sort out is your basement.

05:39You've hardly ever visited it and have no idea what's hidden there.

05:43But it's pretty spacious, so you decide to turn it into a room.

05:46You tear down the wall and discover the entrance to the cave.

05:51This is a tunnel that leads underground.

05:53You walk through the cave and see a real underground city.

05:57This happened in Turkey in 1963.

06:00One of the locals discovered a secret passage to a lost city in his basement.

06:05About 20,000 people could live there.

06:08There was enough space for livestock and food supplies.

06:11It's not just a maze of tunnels.

06:13There's a chapel, a school, stables, kitchens, walls, and other signs of civilization.

06:19The city was built in the Byzantine era in the years 780 through 1180.

06:25It's not the only one down there and is connected to many underground tunnels and towns that stretch for several

06:31miles.

06:33Let's finish our journey in the strangest and most frightening cave.

06:37We're going to the southeast of Romania, near the Black Sea.

06:41Here, on a desolate wide plain, you can find a hole.

06:45This is a tunnel leading deep underground.

06:48The air inside the cave has high levels of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide.

06:53Under normal conditions, the air we breathe contains around 20% oxygen, but it's only 10% here.

07:00You won't be able to breathe freely without an oxygen tank.

07:04The water and air here are poisoned.

07:06Almost no animals are able to live in such conditions.

07:09At least, the ones we know about.

07:12And this cave is filled with 48 species of living organisms.

07:1633 of which are new, unknown species.

07:19Creeping things that live here can scare you.

07:22Especially if you're afraid of bugs.

07:25Strange white snails and white spiders are crawling along the walls.

07:29An unknown species of leeches and transparent shrimp are swimming in the water.

07:34White millipedes with huge mustaches are creeping on the ground.

07:38Here you can also meet an unknown kind of scorpion with a transparent white body that doesn't look like any

07:44other kind of scorpion.

07:46Nothing here looks like ordinary animals at all.

07:48All creatures in the cave are white or transparent.

07:52They don't have eyes, but they have long paws and antennae whiskers that help to navigate in space.

07:59Plants can't live here without sunlight and clean air.

08:02This means that oxygen isn't produced in this place.

08:05So how do these creatures manage to survive?

08:08The answer is in the water.

08:10The surface of the lake and puddles here is covered with strangely moving foam.

08:16This substance is a living organism.

08:18It consists of a billion bacteria called autotrophs.

08:23Ordinary plants absorb carbon dioxide and use photosynthesis to produce oxygen.

08:28This cave is filled with carbon dioxide.

08:30Autotrophs absorb it and secrete tiny food particles.

08:34Bacteria feed on these particles.

08:36Larger organisms then feed on those bacteria.

08:39And so on.

08:40In the end, there's enough food for everyone.

08:43This process is called chemosynthesis.

08:46It's like photosynthesis, but uses water instead of sunlight in its chemical reactions.

08:52In this cave, evolution has created a completely unique biological system separate from the rest of the world.

08:59Summers in the Middle East get so hot that they change the landscape dramatically and make entire cities resurface from

09:06the past.

09:07That's what happened in 2018 when the city, built by a mysterious empire on the Tigris River, was finally released

09:14from its water trap.

09:16Archaeologists rushed to the location as they didn't want to miss a rare chance to excavate the site and learn

09:21more about the history of the place.

09:24They believe they've found the Bronze Age city, Zakiku.

09:27Founded over 3,000 years ago, and fully submerged in the 1980s when a dam was built in its place.

09:34It used to be a busy hub for the Mitanni Empire for caravans on the popular trade route.

09:40It had water, which is a rarity in the area, and it was a guarantee for success.

09:45We know very little about the once-powerful empire, as scientists haven't found any written chronicles in the excavated sites.

09:52That's why the archaeologists were thrilled to find an entire palace for the local ruler.

09:57Several years later, when the area became free from the water again, they found some fortifications to protect the city

10:04from foes.

10:05The highlight of their expedition was finding a huge public storehouse for trade goods and harvests, piles of wheat and

10:13barley, and imported metal and wood.

10:16Bread was the staple food for the locals, and they also loved big pots of vegetable soups and stews for

10:22lunch.

10:22Each household kept sheep, goats, cows, and pigs.

10:26So they had a steady source of milk and meat for special occasions.

10:29All the constructions found so far were built from bricks molded from mud.

10:34The walls that were underwater for over 40 years are so well-preserved as if they went down yesterday.

10:41The royal palace stands out as it's larger than the other constructions, has thicker walls,

10:46and even pavements made of baked mud bricks that were sealed to be waterproof.

10:50The local king must have been in good relations with the emperor of the larger empire, of which Sakiku was

10:57dependent.

10:59Traders who lived in the city collected wooden beams and took them to storehouses.

11:03The beams arrived down the Tigris River from the Forths in the mountains in the north and east of Mesopotamia.

11:10Merchants came here to sell their goods, and then crossed the Tigris on their way to the borderlands.

11:15Sakiku was thriving as a center of commerce for about six centuries, until it was hit by a massive earthquake

11:22in 1350.

11:24Archaeologists found five ceramic vessels holding over 100 clay tablets made close after the earthquake.

11:30It's almost a miracle that small tablets of unfired clay managed to survive underwater for decades.

11:37People who created those must have carved notes on clay while it was still wet.

11:42They wrote about anything, from newly stored harvests to notes for other kingdoms.

11:47Then they would let the message dry in the sign.

11:50Scribes even had to learn a different language so that everyone outside the city could read it.

11:56Scientists believe the tablets they found used to be part of a private archive.

12:00They hoped to decipher the notes to learn more about the history of Sakiku,

12:04and the whole empire, after the terrible earthquake.

12:08The damage to the buildings was so enormous that it was impossible to restore Sakiku to its former glory,

12:14and if there had been any survivors, they must have left the city.

12:19Several decades later, the Assyrians, who also lived in Mesopotamia, settled here.

12:24They built their houses on the ruins of the abandoned city,

12:27and used whatever structures they could find from the previous residents as outer walls.

12:32But they stayed here only for 50 years, then decided to build a new capital on more fertile soil

12:38to make some good cash from agriculture.

12:41Archaeologists working in Sakiku had to halt excavations when the water levels went back up and covered the city.

12:48They sealed the ruins in tight-fitting plastic sheets and put stones and gravel on top.

12:54They hope it will help protect the priceless site from water erosion and prevent it from disappearing again.

13:00They realize how important water from the dam is for the region.

13:04But if it recedes again, they say they'll definitely continue the excavations.

13:10There was a bustling community in today's Talamakan Desert in China around 1,600 years ago.

13:17It lived along the Naya River, which ran through the desert for miles

13:20and got its water from the melting snow in the mountains.

13:23After three years of work in the area, archaeologists and scientists managed to dig up eight tombs in the desert.

13:30Thanks to the desert heat, the clothes and artifacts inside them were almost as good as new.

13:36The people who wore those must have lived in the ancient city of Naya.

13:40Naya used to be part of a prosperous kingdom at the heart of the Silk Road trading route

13:44and had a population of over 3,000 people.

13:48Then, desert sands went rogue and swallowed the city whole.

13:51For example, archaeologists only found the ruins of Naya in the early 20th century.

13:56Scientists from different countries have tried to solve its mysteries.

14:00It looks like the tombs discovered at the end of the 20th century belonged to the wealthy.

14:05There were some expensive items inside.

14:08A quiver and bow, metal arrowheads, gold earrings, and a glass bead necklace,

14:13a lacquer box with a comb, makeup, and a sewing kit in one of the tombs.

14:18There was also some silk of top quality, and even the bright colors like green and yellow haven't faded on

14:25it.

14:25The fabric also had Chinese characters with quotes from historical books,

14:30which helped scientists identify the period in which it was made.

14:34Archaeologists later found a large dwelling site and the clearing of three ruined buildings.

14:38It will probably take many more years to understand why the city had fallen and what happened to its people.

14:48Saudi and French archaeologists teamed up near Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital,

14:53and stumbled upon an ancient settlement dating back 8,000 years.

14:57The scientists used all sorts of cool tech, like laser scanning, drones, and aerial photography,

15:04to unearth this Neolithic-era gem.

15:06They found the settlement in a local archaeological hotspot.

15:10Among the treasures they uncovered were a stone temple, remnants of an altar, and over 2,000 graves.

15:17All these finds tell us about ancient practices and rituals.

15:21The team also found the foundations of four massive buildings, corner towers, and open-air courtyards,

15:27all with underground reservoirs to store water for agricultural use.

15:31There was also a smart irrigation system with canals and cisterns,

15:36which let the city thrive in one of the driest deserts in the world.

15:40Rock drawings etched into the nearby mountain depicted the daily life of the locals.

15:45The excavations have been going on in the area for over 40 years,

15:49and scientists still keep finding new artifacts to answer more of their questions.

15:53Fishers have stumbled upon ancient bones, tools, and artifacts that are 9,000 years old on the North Sea floor.

16:02British and Dutch archaeologists and paleontologists rushed to see the finds

16:06as they were hoping it could be evidence of the submerged Doggerland.

16:10And they weren't disappointed.

16:12There were even perfect sets of footprints left by Mesolithic people who lived here.

16:1712,000 years ago, during the last major ice age, the British Isles weren't islands at all.

16:23There was a landmass made of many hills, marshlands, and dense forests that connected them to the European continent.

16:30That landmass was Doggerland, where a prehistoric hunter-gatherer society lived and thrived.

16:36But then, the sea level started going up at the speed of 3 to 6 feet a century as glaciers

16:42were slowly but surely melting.

16:44The locals had to move to areas that today belong to England and the Netherlands.

16:49Experts decided to learn more about the history of Doggerland,

16:53using data from oil companies working in the North Sea.

16:56So far, they've created digital models of what the area of 18,000 square miles might have looked like

17:03before it vanished beneath the waves.

17:05They still need to analyze samples of ancient insects and plants and the DNA of animals to get a full

17:11picture.

17:12That's it for today.

17:13So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

17:18Or, if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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