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Cavers smash world depth record


Krubera is the deepest known cave in the world. Cavers have ventured deeper into the Earth than anyone has been before.

A Ukrainian team has reached a record depth of 2,080m (6,822ft), passing the elusive 2,000m mark at Krubera, the world's deepest known cave.

The nine-strong group were part of a project that has made breaking the 2,000m depth its goal for four years.

They built on records set by a previous expedition, which blasted through blocked passages in the cave, within Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia.

"Even now, we don't know whether we've reached the limit - or if it will go on. We're pretty sure we'll eventually go even lower," said Alexander Klimchouk, the veteran caver who organised the mission.

The Ukrainian Speleological Association's Call of the Abyss project is funded by the US National Geographic Society.

During an expedition from August to September 2004, a team of 56 cavers (45 men and 11 women) representing seven countries explored Kubera, deep below the Arabika mountain massif of the western Caucasus....cont'd

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4472585.stm

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DEEPEST KNOWN CAVES
Krubera, Georgia (Abkhazia) 2,080m (6,822ft)
Lamprechtsofen, Austria 1,631m (5,354 ft)
Gouffre Mirolda, France 1,626m (5,335 ft)
Reseau Jean Bernard, France 1,602m (5,256 ft)
Torca del Cerro, Spain 1,589m (5,213 ft)
Sarma, Georgia (Abkhazia) 1,542m (5,062 ft)
Cehi 2, Slovenia, 1,533m (5,030 ft)