A vertical world of rock and darkness
Veryovkina Cave is a nearly vertical descent into the Earth's crust, located in the Arabika Massif of the Western Caucasus mountains. The entrance, a modest 3-by-4-meter opening, sits at an altitude of 2,285 meters. From there, the cave plunges 2,212 meters (7,257 feet) into a world of permanent darkness and 100% humidity. This extreme depth is the result of millions of years of water infiltration into the massif's limestone, a type of soluble rock. Rainwater, made slightly acidic by atmospheric carbon dioxide, has slowly carved the network of deep vertical shafts that characterize the cave.
The environment inside is stable and hostile. Temperatures remain between a frigid 4°C and 7°C year-round. The descent to the bottom is a multi-day endeavor even for professional speleologists, requiring the use of underground camps established at various depths. The cave's structure is predominantly a series of deep pits connected by narrow passages, including one shaft with a freefall of 155 meters. This aphotic zone, completely devoid of sunlight, cannot support life based on photosynthesis. The organisms that live here depend on entirely different survival strategies.