Israeli researchers say Sodom salt cave is world’s longest
Posted Mar 28, 2019 12:17 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MOUNT SODOM, Israel — Israeli researchers say they have surveyed what they now believe to be the world’s longest salt cave, a network of twisting passageways at the southern tip of the Dead Sea.
The survey of the Malham Cave determined the labyrinthine cavern stretches more than 10 kilometres, or 6 miles, in length. That puts it well ahead of Iran’s Namakdan Cave, previously thought to be the longest salt cave.
The survey was conducted by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a collection of Israeli, Bulgarian and international volunteers.
Boaz Langford, a researcher at the university’s Caves Research Center, and Antoniya Vlaykova, a Bulgarian cave explorer from the European Speleological Federation, headed the expedition.
The two plan to publish the complete map of the cave in a professional publication in the coming months.
Ilan Ben Zion, The Associated Press
