Optymistychna Cave
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox cave The Optymistychna (Template:Langx, also known as Peshchera Optimistitscheskaya)[1]Template:Efn is a gypsum cave located near the Ukrainian village of Korolivka, Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast.[2] Approximately Template:Cvt[3] of passageways have been mapped within.[4] As a result, it is the longest cave in Europe and the seventh-longest cave in the world,[5] after Mammoth Cave, Sistema Sac Actun, Jewel Cave, Shuanghedong and Sistema Ox Bel Ha. It is also the longest gypsum cave in the world.[4][6]
History
The cave complex was discovered by members of the Lviv speleological club "Cyclope" in 1966. It was entirely unknown before then.[7] There have been more than 50 expeditions since its discovery, but exploration has slowed significantly in recent years, and very little surveying is currently being done.[2] The cave is located very close to the Priest's Grotto or Ozerna Cave, the eleventh-longest cave in the world at Template:Cvt, but the two caves have not yet been found to be connected.[4]
In 2008, the cave was recognized as a Natural Wonder of Ukraine.[8]
Geology
The entire cave lies under a 2 km square area in a layer of Neogene period gypsum that is less than Template:Convert thick.[7][9] The passages tend to be fairly small, no more than Template:Convert wide and Template:Convert tall for most, although at intersections they can be up to Template:Convert tall.[7] They are often choked with mud. They comprise a dense network on several levels, making Optymistychna known as a "maze cave".
Optymistychna's gypsum bed is topped with a limestone layer, which has seeped through into the cave via erosion and formed into calcite speleothems.[7] At other places, the gypsum has formed crystals, often tinted a multitude of colors by mineral salts. In some areas, large gypsum rosettes have formed, colored black by manganese oxide.[7]
Notes
See also
References
External links
- Template:Official website
- Chapter II.9, Gypsum Karst in the Western Ukraine by Alexander Klimchouk article appearing in: International Journal of Speleology, vol. 25, #3-4, 1996, p. 263-278.
Template:Seven Natural Wonders of Ukraine
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- ↑ Optimistic Caves Template:Webarchive
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