Ancient Forest Found Inside A Giant Sinkhole In China

The residents of Leye County in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are familiar     1     sinkholes. The area’s 29 sinkholes and underground caves have earned it a UNESCO World Heritage Site name. But the one     2     (explore) by scientists in early May 2022 had an extraordinary secret—a well-preserved ancient forest.

Lixin Chen,     3     (found) of the Guangxi 702 Cave Expedition Club, and his team first went inside the massive sinkhole on May 6, 2022. It did not take     4     (they) long to reach firm ground to walk on. But the group soon realized they were nowhere close to the bottom of the 630-foot-deep sinkhole. They had to walk through trees as high as 130 feet for a few hours     5     (get) there.

Since then, the scientists     6     (return) to the sinkhole which they named “The Eagle” several times. They have found three collapsed caves, evidence of     7     ancient underground river, and a small underground lake. Chen says, “I wouldn’t be     8     (amaze) to know that there are species found in these caves that have never been reported or described by science until now.”

The sinkholes,     9     are left undisturbed by human activity, can be an oasis (绿洲)for life, especially for     10     (previous) unknown species.