The World's Largest Cave Formations
| There are many lists of the world's longest and deepest caves, and lists of the largest underground chambers. But nowhere else had I seen a list of the world's largest cave formations. These records are based on correspondence with cavers around the world and are accurate to the best of my knowledge. But all records are made to be broken, so if you have information on other large speleothems, please Dave Bunnell.. |
| Longest column | 61.5 meters | Tham Sao Hin, Thailand |
| Tallest stalagmite | 67.2 meters | Cueva San Martin Infierno, Cuba |
| Longest free-hanging stalactite | 12 meters | Sistema Chac Mol, Mexico (underwater cave) |
| Longest soda straw | 9.03 meters | Unnamed cave, Mexico |
| Tallest gour (rimstone dam) | 22 meters | Actun Kotob, Belize |
| Longest single gour in a cave | 61 meters | Xe Biang Fai, Laos |
| Longest single gour, formed on the surface (1) | 610 meters long 20 meters high |
Wadi Sannur Cavern, Egypt |
| Longest connected gour series | 400 meters | Tinas Tepe Magara, Turkey |
| Flowstone cascade with greatest vertical extent | 150 meters | Neverland to Dead Sea Lechuguilla Cave, New Mexico |
| Longest continuous formation, white calcite crust in a stream channel | over 4km |
Snowy River Passage, |
(1) Wadi Sannur is a rare type of cave formed by roofing over of a giant
surface gour at its spillover point.
The gour was formed by a large thermal spring.
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| The world's tallest stalagmite, 67.2 meters high. Note the caver in red on the left side of the formation. |
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| The world's largest column, 61.5m high, in Tham Sao Hin, Thailand. For scale, note a caver at the base of the column in blue jacket, another sitting in the foreground, and another high on the slope to the right of the column. |
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| A chamber with the world's longest soda straws. The tops of the straws extend above the visible roof line. Two of those in the foreground measure over 8 meters long. One of those partially hidden behind the stalagmite measures over 9 meters. |
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| This may be the world's tallest rimstone dam or gour. A caver is standing in a notch in the dam, in the red circle. The dam is roughly 22 meters high. |
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Created: April 18, 2002 |