Sarma Cave (Georgian: სარმის მღვიმე), located in the Gagra District of Abkhazia,[note 1] a breakaway region of Georgia, is the third-deepest recorded cave in the world. Its depth (1830 m) was measured in 2012 by a team led by Pavel Rudko.[2]
| Sarma Cave | |
|---|---|
   | |
| Location | Abkhazia,[note 1] Georgia |
| Coordinates | 43°23′38.3″N 40°22′21.0″E / 43.393972°N 40.372500°E |
| Depth | 1,830 m (6,000 ft)[1] |
| Geology | Limestone |
The cave was discovered in 1990 by caver Sergey Shipitsin during a research expedition of the Arabica caving club led by Alexander Osintsev.
Fauna
editTwo species of stygobiont amphipods have been found: Zenkevitchia sandroruffoi,[3] living at depths of no more than -350 m and found in other caves of eastern Arabika Massif, in Troika Cave (at -30 m) and in Eagle's Nest Cave (-75 m); and Adaugammarus pilosus,[4] inhabiting aquatic biotopes in the deep part of the cave (elevations -1270 m and -1700 m).[5]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ a b The political status of Abkhazia is disputed. Having unilaterally declared independence from Georgia in 1992, Abkhazia is formally recognised as an independent state by 5 UN member states (two other states previously recognised it but then withdrew their recognition), while the remainder of the international community recognizes it as de jure Georgian territory. Georgia continues to claim the area as its own territory, designating it as Russian-occupied territory.
References
edit- ^ "Great Caves of the World". Portalul Speologilor din Romania. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ^ Klimchouk, Alexander (28 Aug 2012). "The second deepest cave in the World became deeper". Speleogenesis. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
- ^ Zenkevitchia sandroruffoi COPEPEDIA
- ^ Adaugammarus pilosus COPEPEDIA
- ^ Sidorov, Dmitry A.; Gontcharov, Andrey A.; Sharina, Svetlana N. (2015-12-24). "A new genus and two new species of cavernicolous amphipods (Crustacea: Typhlogammaridae) from the Western Caucasus". European Journal of Taxonomy (168). doi:10.5852/ejt.2015.168. ISSN 2118-9773.