Zainingen Cave (Germany)

The 540 m long and 38 m deep Zaininger Cave has been discovered in 1998 in a quarry situated within Upper Jurassic limestones on the central Swabian Alb near the village Zainingen. It is amoung the largest caves that have been found in recent years. The cave developed as a river cave on the karstified plateau and is at least of Pliocence age (Correa and Rosendahl, 2002). Nowadays, the cave is not accessible anymore, and most of its unique speleothems have been destroyed or soiled. The following photographs can only provide a rough impression of what is lost.