© Catherine Hickson/Tuya Terra Geo Corp.
A newly discovered cave in a remote valley in British Columbia's Wells Gray Provincial Park just might be the country's largest such feature. The entrance to the cave, nicknamed 'Sarlacc's Pit' by the helicopter crew who discovered it, is seen in an undated handout photo.
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newly discovered cave in a remote valley in British Columbia might be the country's largest.
The feature, in the northeastern area of Wells Gray Provincial Park, was spotted by a helicopter crew from the province's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change in March while they were conducting a caribou census.
Geologist Catherine Hickson, who first went to the cave in September, said the discovery promises a dramatic new chapter in the story of Canadian cave exploration.
"It was absolutely amazing,'' she said. "I immediately recognized that this was very significant.''
Before making the trip, Hickson and fellow researchers, including cave expert John Pollack, spent months studying satellite imagery and rocks in the area, she said.
The entrance pit to the cave is about 100 metres long and 60 metres wide. While its depth is hard to measure because of the mist from a waterfall, initial examinations show it is at least 135 metres deep.
"It's about the size of a soccer field,'' Hickson said. "So, if you think of a soccer field and you put that soccer field on its end so you have this pit going down. Think about this giant circular or oval hole that just goes down and down and down. It is truly amazing.''
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