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A Chinese-French speleologist team is exploring a cave measuring 52.3 km in profundity in southwest China's Guizhou Province.
During the 10-day expedition which was launched last Saturday, the team would survey rock layers and biological aspects of the cave, the most profound discovered thus far in China. Located in Zunyi city in northern Guizhou Province, at an altitude between 600 and 850 meters above sea level, the cave is carved into dolostone, a sedimentary rock consisting mainly of the mineral dolomite, rather than lime carbonate, which constitutes most deep caves.
Since dolostone does not usually yield deep caves, this cave is valuable for research purposes, according to noted experts.
The local government plans to build China's first cave park around the site.
The team includes 13 distinguished French experts, three of whom are women specialists. Several of them come from France's National Center of Scientific Research.
(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2003)
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