WATCH: Amazing sinkhole discovery reveals giant, ancient underground forest
Updated | By Preneil Pillay
A sinkhole in China has revealed something spectacular!
The sinkhole in China, which is also called a tiankeng, has plants growing at the bottom in Luoquanyan Village of Xuan'en County, which is central China's Hubei province.
According to Live Science, the sinkhole is 306 metres in length and 192 metres deep - huge!
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The chasm has three cave entrances, as well as ancient trees that stretch up to 40 meters in height, some of which could be undiscovered species of plants trees - possibly even wildlife!
Check out the sinkhole in China that revealed this giant, ancient underground forest below:
George Veni is the executive director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) in the USA. He told Live Science that it comes as no surprise because southern China is home to karst topography, a landscape prone to dramatic sinkholes and otherworldly caves.
Because of local differences in geology, climate and other factors, the way karst appears at the surface can be dramatically different. So in China you have this incredibly visually spectacular karst with enormous sinkholes and giant cave entrances and so forth. In other parts of the world you walk out on the karst and you really don't notice anything. Sinkholes might be quite subdued, only a meter or two in diameter. Cave entrances might be very small, so you have to squeeze your way into them.- George Veni
We thought this is a pretty cool story to share.
It's just another indication of just how much we don't know about our planet.
So much lurks below our seas and the vast masses of land around the world.
Here are some other fascinating discoveries that have been made over the years:
Amazing recent ancient discoveries
Hidden collection of Nazi artifacts was discovered (Argentina)
Main image attribution: Song Wen/Xinhua/Alamy Live News/Live Science
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