Canada discovers Sarlacc Pit

[Syt]

Bit far from Arizona, where the scene in ROTJ was filmed. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/new-cave-bc-canadas-biggest-cave-1.4929918

Newly discovered cave in B.C. might be largest ever found in Canada

'Sarlacc's Pit' estimated to be at least 135 metres deep

A 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.''

The cave is the largest known of its type, a variety of "striped karst,'' which is marble interspersed with other types of ancient ocean rock, she said.

"It's in an area where this size of a cave is unusual,'' she said. "It's an important landmark — an important feature for Canadians to be proud about.''

The people who first spotted the cave from the helicopter named it Sarlacc's Pit, because of its similarity to the lair of the sarlacc, a creature from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

A formal naming of the cave will happen after consultations with First Nations, she said.

The feature was formed underneath glaciers for potentially tens of thousands of years, so there is no way of knowing the real age of the cave right away, Hickson said.

"Right now, because of the recession of the glaciers, it is open to the sky,'' she said, adding that as ice retreats from the landscape due to climate change, more such features might be discovered.

Although the cave is in a remote, rugged valley covered with snow and ice for the greater part of the year, Hickson said researchers are keeping the exact location a secret so as to preserve the unique area.

Hickson said further investigations and research of the cave and its unique geography will likely be carried out in 2020, depending on funding.

"We think everything is known and everything has been discovered," she said. "But here's a major discovery that is made in today's world and likely has never been seen before and certainly not explored before.'

"It's just a message that there is still stuff out there yet to do and yet to be discovered.''

[Syt]

I don't quite see the similarity.

[Eddie Teach]

You've never been eaten by it.

[PRC]

Wells Gray Provincial Park is awesome.  Helmcken Falls and Murtle Lake are both great spots to visit.

[Caliga]

That cave looks enormous... it was really just discovered?

[Barrister]

That cave looks enormous... it was really just discovered?

I thought maybe it was in the farth north of the province - but no it's just a little ways west of Jasper.

Now don't get me wrong it's still a pretty wild area, ut I would have thought it was well explored by now.  The article talks about retreating glaciers which are a thing, but the photos show a lot of trees nearby so it hasn't been uncovered that recently.

[Syt]

It looks like unless you look directly down into it, it might be easy to miss.

[Berkut]

I knew about it.

[Barrister]

I knew about it.

:golfclap:

[Valmy]

I knew about it.

Well why did you keep it a secret from the Canadians?

[Eddie Teach]

They don't deserve a cool cave.

[Tonitrus]

It probably won't take long for someone to figure the coordinates using those pics and Google Earth.

[Berkut]

I knew about it.

Well why did you keep it a secret from the Canadians?

I wanted them to feel proud at finding it themselves.

See...it worked.

[KRonn]

That cave looks enormous... it was really just discovered?

I thought maybe it was in the farth north of the province - but no it's just a little ways west of Jasper.

Now don't get me wrong it's still a pretty wild area, ut I would have thought it was well explored by now.  The article talks about retreating glaciers which are a thing, but the photos show a lot of trees nearby so it hasn't been uncovered that recently.

Right, surprising that it's just been found, something that large and prominent. Surprisingly, there was no mention of cave drawings or habitation by humans but it was just found and not much explored yet. I guess also, the cave might not be an accessible enough place to get in and out of for humans to have lived there.

[crazy canuck]

That cave looks enormous... it was really just discovered?

I thought maybe it was in the farth north of the province - but no it's just a little ways west of Jasper.

Now don't get me wrong it's still a pretty wild area, ut I would have thought it was well explored by now.  The article talks about retreating glaciers which are a thing, but the photos show a lot of trees nearby so it hasn't been uncovered that recently.

That growth isnt too old, maybe 10-15 years, which is about when the glaciers retreated from that area.