geology

In the midst of southern China’s vast sinkhole-ridden landscape, a recent study of ancient forests found growing in the depths of karst tiankengs (super-deep sinkholes) has revealed the astonishing degree of biodiversity they harbor and protect. Rather than representing a simple extension of surrounding above-ground ecosystems, these lush forests, which are partially hidden hundreds of feet beneath the earth’s surface inside the tiankengs, are unique. While the species they host are recognizable, they are also different in some fundamental ways, as they have preserved a mixture of DNA that is more complex and diverse than what can be found in their cousins that grow at the surface level. A Lost Primeval World Has Been Found in a Giant South China