- Who
- Malham Cave
- What
- 10 kilometre(s)
- Where
- Israel ()
- When
On 28 March 2019, Malham Cave, south-west of the Dead Sea in Israel, was declared the longest salt cave in the world, at an estimated 10 kilometres (6.2 miles). It is located under Mount Sodom. The announcement was made by Hebrew University (HU) of Jerusalem in Israel, following an extensive survey.
Parts of the cavern had been mapped in the 1980s, but an Israeli-led group of researchers recently completed a full survey of its chambers – around a hundred in all – and passages, over a two-year period. The largest single chamber within the cave measures 5,685 metres (18,651 feet) long. Based on radiocarbon dating, Malham is approximately 7,000 years old.
The international teams who combined to map the cavern included Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Cave Research Centre, Israel’s Cave Explorers Club, and Bulgaria’s Sofia Caving Club & Speleo School. The combined groups spent some 1,500 working days (averaging 10 hours a day) on the project.
Salt caves are rare, and most are less than 0.8 kilometres (0.5 mile) long.
