The Eisriesenwelt (German for "World of the Ice Giants") is a natural limestone ice cave located in Werfen, Austria, about 40 km south of Salzburg. It is the largest ice cave in the world extending more than 42km. Eisriesenwelt Cave was created by the Salzach river as it flowed through the mountain eroding passageways nearly 100 million years ago. Over the course of thousands of years cracks and crevices in the limestone became more developed as water eroded the rocks away. In winter, when the air inside the mountain is warmer than outside, cold air streams into the mountain and reduces the temperature of the lower areas of the caves to below freezing point. In spring the water from melting snow seeps through the cracks in the rock and when it reaches the colder lower areas of the caves it freezes and turns slowly into the wonderful ice formations visible inside the caves. Although the cave has a length of 42 km, only the first kilometer, the area that tourists are allowed ...
In the vast savannah of Australia’s North Queensland, 300 km southwest from the city of Cairns, lies the Undara Volcanic National Park where you will find some of the largest and longest lava tubes on the planet.
The Undara lava tubes were formed in a massive eruption that occurred about 190,000 years ago causing lava to flow more than 90 km to the north and over 160 km to the north-west. During this fiery episode, 23 billion cubic liters of lava was estimated to have spewed forth from the Undara Volcano onto the surrounding Atherton Tableland. As the lava flowed, the outer-layer cooled and formed a crust, while the molten lava below drained outwards, leaving behind a series of hollow tubes. The roofs of some of the tubes have collapsed, allowing vegetation to flourish in the damp interiors and shelter wildlife.
Many of these lava tubes have high levels of carbon dioxide—up to six per cent or 200 times greater than normal levels. This has created a habitat where only specially adapted animals can survive. The Bayliss Cave contains at least 52 resident species of animals, including the most diverse assemblages of arthropods recorded in any cave in North Queensland.
The area where Undara Volcanic National Park is located was traditionally land of the Ewamian Aboriginal people, who lived and hunted in this area before the arrival of Europeans. Stone artefacts and scarred trees associated with caves, vine-thickets and springs still provide evidence of their occupation.
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