The Eisriesenwelt (German for "World of the Ice Giants") is a natural limestone and ice cave located in Werfen, Austria, about 40 km south of Salzburg. The cave is inside the Hochkogel mountain in the Tennengebirgesection of the Alps. It is the largest ice cave in the world, extending more than 42 km. Although the cave has a length of 42 km, only the first kilometer, the area that tourists are allowed to visit, is covered in ice. The rest of the cave is formed of limestone.
Eisriesenwelt was formed by the Salzach river, which erodedpassageways into the mountain. The ice formations in the cave were formed by thawing snow which drained into the cave and froze during winter. The first official discovery of Eisriesenwelt was by Anton Posselt, a natural scientist from Salzburg, in 1879, though he only explored the first two hundred meters of the cave. Before his discovery, the cave was known only to locals, who, believing that it was an entrance to Hell, refused to explore it.
 |
| Entrance of the cave |
 |
| Looking down from the cave onto the trail, which is the only way of access to the cave |
 |
| Ice formation |
 |
| The interior of the caves |
No comments:
Post a Comment