13.1.06

Czech speleologists leave for Iran to explore salt caves

"A group of nine Czech speleologists are leaving for south Iran on Sunday to explore the local salt caves, Jiri Bruthans from Charles University (UK) has told CTK, adding that the month-long expedition is already the seventh trip within what was originally a student project. Bruthans, an expert from UK's Hydrology Institute, has taken part in all expeditions so far. He said that there is a world-unique salt karst with cave systems, blind valleys and chasms in south Iran on the Persian Gulf coast. The system includes the world's second longest salt cave, the 5,190-metre-long Cave of Three Nudes, which was discovered and explored by the previous expeditions. By determining the age of the sediments on the coast and the plant remnants in the caves, the Czech explorers managed to reconstruct the history of the karst that dates back to more than 100,000 years ago, Bruthans said. The upcoming expedition's goal is to discover further caves and beat the record of the world's longest cave, Malham, situated in Israel. (...)"
Full Text: iranian.ws

No comments: