The Manjanggul Lava Tube is located in Gimnyeong-ri, Gujwaeup,

Jeju City Jeju City ( ko, 제주시, Jeju-si; ) is the capital of the Jeju Province in South Korea and the largest city on Jeju Island. The city is served by Jeju International Airport ( IATA code CJU). Located on an island off the Korean Peninsula, Jeju ...

. At up to 23 metres (75') wide, 30 metres (100') high and 8.928 km (5½ miles) long, it is the 12th-longest lava tube in the worldhttp://www.caverbob.com/lava.htm and the second longest on Jeju island. It is regarded as having significant scientific and heritage value, owing to its excellent condition of preservation despite its age of formation (about 300,000 to 200,000 years ago). Lava stalactites and lava stalagmites, lava columns, lava

flowstone Flowstones are sheetlike deposits of calcite or other carbonate minerals, formed where water flows down the walls or along the floors of a cave. They are typically found in "solution caves", in limestone, where they are the most common speleoth ...

, lava

helictite A helictite is a speleothem (cave-formed mineral) found in a limestone cave that changes its axis from the vertical at one or more stages during its growth. Helictites have a curving or angular form that looks as if they were grown in zero gra ...

s, lava blisters,

cave coral Cave popcorn, or coralloids, are small nodes of calcite, aragonite or gypsum that form on surfaces in caves, especially limestone caves. They are a common type of speleothem. Appearance The individual nodules of cave popcorn range in size from ...

, benches, lava rafts, lava bridges, lava shelves, grooved lava

striation Striations means a series of ridges, furrows or linear marks, and is used in several ways: * Glacial striation * Striation (fatigue), in material * Striation (geology), a ''striation'' as a result of a geological fault * Striation Valley, in Ant ...

s, and ropy lava are well-preserved. Among them, a lava column of 7.6 metres (25') is the largest known in the world. There are three entrances and No. 2 heading southward is open to the public. Entrance No. 3 contains the most favorable habitats for cave life and between Entrances 1 and 2, there is a lower level main tube where most of the living creatures can be found. In the Geomunoreum Lava Tube System, the Manjanggul Lava Tube has the greatest number of living creatures, including the Jeju cave-spider. In the upper part of Entrance 2, there are at least 30,000 common bent-wing bats forming the largest colony of bats confirmed to be living in Korea so far.

References

* * *
Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Tourism Association

External links

Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes, UNESCOJeju Special Self-Governing ProvinceJeju World Natural HeritageCultural Heritage Administration of Korea
{{coord, 33.5282, 126.7701, type:landmark_region:KR, display=title Lava tubes Caves of Jeju Province

See also

References

External links