Sarawak Chamber is the largest known

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

chamber in the world by area and the second largest by volume after the

Miao Room Miao Room is the largest known cave chamber by volume in the world. It is a part of the Gebihe cave system, which is located in Ziyun Getu He National Park, in Ziyun county of the Chinese province of Guizhou. The chamber, discovered by a French ex ...

in China. It is in Gua Nasib Bagus (

Good Luck Cave Gua Nasib Bagus (Good Luck Cave) or Lubang Nasib Bagus is a cave located in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is one of many caves found within Gunung Mulu National Park, a World Heritage Site on the island of Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalim ...

), which is located in

Gunung Mulu National Park The Gunung Mulu National Park is a national park in Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that encompasses caves and karst formations in a mountainous equatorial rainforest setting. The park is famous for its ca ...

, in the

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

n Territory of

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

on the island of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and e ...

Discovery

The chamber was discovered by three British cavers, Andy Eavis, Dave Checkley and Tony White, in January 1981 during the Mulu'80 Expedition. The story of how it was discovered is told in the books ''Underground Worlds'' and ''Giant Caves of Borneo''. Later named Sarawak Chamber, it measures long, wide and a maximum of high, and was estimated as three times the size of the Big Room in

Carlsbad Caverns National Park Carlsbad Caverns National Park is an American national park in the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. The primary attraction of the park is the show cave Carlsbad Cavern. Visitors to the cave can hike in on their own via the natural ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

, then thought to be the largest underground chamber. Its volume and area were checked by laser scanning in 2011 and were found to be and respectively.Kirby (2011:23) To reach Sarawak Chamber, one must follow a river upstream from the cave entrance. This long passage has a roof up to high, and may require some swimming and a traverse along a ledge. Accompanied visits can be arranged by the national Park.

Geology and formation

Sarawak Chamber is formed in Melinau

Limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

, a reef complex of

Upper Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "da ...

Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...

age. It was formed by karstic solutional processes in addition to the erosion of its sandstone basement. Its exceptional area is thought to be the result of the stability provided by the structure of the rocks in which it lies, dipping strata forming an

anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is t ...

flank close to a

syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an anticline is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimpose ...

axis.

Fiction

The feeling of

agoraphobia Agoraphobia is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no easy way to escape. These situations can i ...

experienced by one of the discoverers is referenced in the novel '' House of Leaves'' by Mark Z. Danielewski.

References

* Kirby, Matt (2011), ''Mulu Caves 2011'', Mulu Caves Project. * Jackson d ''Underground Worlds'' (1985) Time Life Books. Earth Series. * Meredith, Wooldridge and Lyon, ''Giant Caves of Borneo'' (1992) Tropical Press. * ''Facts and Fallacies - Stories of the Strange and Unusual'' (1989). ''Reader's Digest Ltd''. pp. 14–15. . * ''Extreme Earth'' Collins (2003) Pp. 78–79.
''House of Leaves'' (2000)
p. 125.

External links

* Description of th
Sarawak Chamber
at the Mulu Caves project. *Surveyin
Sarawak Chamber
a
Sarawak Caves
* Shor

at www.showcaves.com. * World's Largest Cave
Sarawak ChamberChina's “Supercave” Takes Title as World's Most Enormous Cavern
{{coord, 4.071895, N, 114.876823, E, source:google-maps, display=title Limestone caves Wild caves Caves of Sarawak