| Relief | 1 |
|---|---|
| Location | Abkhazia,[note 1] Georgia |
| Coords | 43°23′38.3″N 40°22′21.0″E |
| Depth | 1,830 m (6,000 ft)[1] |
| Geology | Limestone |
| Language | Russian |
Sarma Cave (Georgian: სარმის მღვიმე), located in the Gagra District of Abkhazia,[note 1] a breakaway region of Georgia, is the third-deepest recorded cave in the world. Its depth (1830 m) was measured in 2012 by a team led by Pavel Rudko.[2]
The cave was discovered in 1990 by caver Sergey Shipitsin during a research expedition of the Arabika caving club from Irkutsk, led by Alexander Osintsev.
Fauna
Two species of stygobiont amphipods have been found: Zenkevitchia sandroruffoi,[3] living at depths of no more than -350 m and found in other caves of eastern Arabika Massif, in Troika Cave (at -30 m) and in Eagle's Nest Cave (-75 m); and Adaugammarus pilosus,[4] inhabiting aquatic biotopes in the deep part of the cave (elevations -1270 m and -1700 m).[5]
See also
Notes
References
- ^ "Great Caves of the World". Portalul Speologilor din Romania. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ^ Klimchouk, Alexander (28 Aug 2012). "The second deepest cave in the World became deeper". Speleogenesis. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
- ^ Zenkevitchia sandroruffoi COPEPEDIA
- ^ Adaugammarus pilosus COPEPEDIA
- ^ Sidorov, Dmitry A.; Gontcharov, Andrey A.; Sharina, Svetlana N. (2015-12-24). "A new genus and two new species of cavernicolous amphipods (Crustacea: Typhlogammaridae) from the Western Caucasus". European Journal of Taxonomy. ' (168). doi:10.5852/ejt.2015.168. ISSN 2118-9773