Longest salt cave found under the Dead Sea

Israeli researchers have surveyed what they now believe to be the world’s longest salt cave – a network of twisting passageways at the southern tip of the Dead Sea.

A recently completed survey of the Malham Cave determined the labyrinthine cavern stretches more than six miles in length. That puts it well ahead of Iran’s Namakdan Cave, previously thought to be the longest.

The survey was conducted by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a collection of Israeli, Bulgarian and international volunteers.

Boaz Langford, a researcher at the university’s Caves Research Centre, said there are plans to publish the complete map of the cave in coming months.

There is no official record for the longest salt cave. Such designations are generally decided by consensus among cave researchers after an underground chamber is mapped and published. Salt caves are unusual and rare geological features.