A U.S. team led by Bill Stone extended the proven relief of the world's deepest known karst hydrologic system to 2540 m in January 1997. Using standard scuba equipment, the team reached 33 m below the Agua Fria surface level in the Santo Domingo Canyon. Agua Fria is the proven resurgence of Sistema Cheve.
The highest entrance to the system is Cueva Escondida at 2798 m msl. The deepest point reached by the divers was 258 m msl. Stone reports that the submerged passage extended at least 8 m deeper but was not explored in order to avoid decompression and, hence, additional use of precious compressed air supplies in the remote region of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Presently, the explored portion of the upper Cheve system is 25.5 km long and -1386 m deep. The physically unconnected but proven lower extension of the hydrologic system, Cueva del Mano, has a surveyed length of 9.5 km and relief of about 120 m. Agua Fria is the resurgence spring physically connected to Cueva del Mano.
Fotos: National Geographic.com
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