© Carsten Peter/National Geographic - The photographer’s lights illuminate the green-hued Getu He river in the Miao Room— now considered the world’s largest cave chamber by volume. The Miao Room volume measurement exceeds Sarawak Chamber in Malaysia, the past title-holder, by about 10 percent. But the Malaysian cavern is still the world’s largest by surface area, with some 1.66 million square feet (154,500 square meters) of expanse.
Engineers from Lancaster University have helped explorers discover the world's biggest cave. The exciting discovery of the giant Miao Room cavern, in China, was featured by National Geographic News and in the July issue of National Geographic magazine The cavern was scanned as part of a 2013 expedition into the cave, which was co-led by Richard Walters from Penrith-based company Commendium Ltd. The scan data was provided to engineers at Lancaster University, who used this raw data to make calculations on the area, volume and other values of the underground spaces. Up until now it was believed that the largest cave by volume was Sarawak Chamber in Malaysia. Lancaster's engineers have shown that Miao Room Chamber in China is the largest discovered, with a volume measured as 10.78 million cubic metres. This is approximately ten percent larger than the previous record holder, which still boasts the largest surface area. In addition, engineers at Lancaster Product Development Unit were able to use its suite of additive manufacturing resources to produce a scaled model of the inside of the cave. This method of production, known to many as '3D printing', has long been part of the research within the Engineering Department.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
Your Benefits
- Access to all content
- Receive newsmails for news and jobs
- Post ads
