Siebenhengste-Hohgant-Höhle is a

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

located in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, near

Interlaken Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern. It is an important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss ...

in the

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

north of

Lake Thun Lake Thun () is an Alpine lake in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland named after the city of Thun, on its northern shore. At in surface area, it is the largest Swiss lake entirely within a single canton. The lake was created after the last gl ...

, between the villages of

Eriz Eriz is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Eriz is first mentioned in 1320 as ''Erarze''. The ...

and

Habkern Habkern is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. The municipal ...

. The cave network formed in the Schrattenkalk Formation (

Aptian The Aptian is an age (geology), age in the geologic timescale or a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), S ...

age). The cave was first explored in 1966 by the Club Jurassien, a

speleology Speleology () is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their chemical composition, composition, structure, physical property, physical properties, history, ecology, and the processes by which they form (speleogenes ...

club from

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds (; archaic ) is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura Mountains at an altitude of 992 metres, a few kilometres south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne, Biel/Bienne, and Fribourg, ...

in the

canton of Neuchâtel The Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel (; ; ; ) is a mostly French-speaking canton in western Switzerland. In 2007, its population was 169,782, of whom 39,654 (or 23.4%) were foreigners. The capital is Neuchâtel. History County of Neuchâtel ...

, Switzerland, under the leadership of Jean-Jacques Miserez, a hydrogeochemist who had the intuition that a cave network might be located in the limestone formation of Siebenhengste. In its early explorations, the Club Jurassien discovered the first three of its 42 entrances. Explorations were later undertaken by many different regional caving clubs: G.S Lausanne, S.S Wallonie, Centre Routier Spéléo de Bruxelles, S.C des Montagnes de Neuchâtel, S.S.S Lausanne, S.G.H. Bern, S.G.H Interlaken, S.G.H. Basel, G.I.P.S, until 1979 when the HRH (Association of Speleologists of the Hohgant Region) was created, which brought together all the people working on the network. Cavers are looking for, among other things, a link to the "Bärenschacht" well located below. If successful, the cave system would expand by more than 84 km in one fell swoop, making it the longest cave in Switzerland in front of the cave Hölloch. In 2023, it was the world's 13th longest cave, with a 164.5 km development.. It is also the world's 26th deepest cave at 1,340 m deep.

Bibliography

* * * *

References

External links

General map of the underground network

* ttp://www.clubjurassien.ch/ Club Jurassien(in French)
German article on the network with plan and section from 2006
Caves of Switzerland {{Bern-geo-stub

See also

Bibliography

References

External links