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Majlis al Jinn Cave, Oman
Photograph by Stephen Alvarez
An explorer descends into the Majlis al Jinn cave in Oman. At more than 50 stories deep, it's one of the largest caves in the world. The cavers' mission is to determine if Oman's deep caverns could be safe for tourists to enter.
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Matanuska Glacier Cave, Alaska
Photograph by George F. Mobley
Meltwater sculpted the dagger-like shaft of ice near a cave in Matanuska Glacier in Alaska's Chugach Mountains. Matanuska is an active glacier, advancing about one foot (0.3 meters) every day.
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Ellison's Cave, Georgia
Photograph by Michael Nichols
The deepest known cave pit in the continental United States, Fantastic Pit in Georgia's Ellison's Cave descends 586 feet (179 meters) straight down.
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Handprint Cave, Belize
Photograph by Stephen Alvarez
Ancient Maya created negative handprints on the walls of what we now call Handprint Cave in western Belize by taking pigment and blowing it on the walls around their hands.
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Sótano de las Golondrinas, Mexico
Photograph by Stephen Alvarez
A spelunker begins his 1,234-foot (376-meter) descent into Sótano de las Golondrinas in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. The cave's entrance is the second deepest in the world, making the lengthy ascent out dangerous and difficult for even the most seasoned cavers.
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Mount Kenya Ice Cave
Photograph by Bobby Model
A hiker peers out of an ice cave on Mount Kenya's north face. No matter their location, ice caves contain a significant amount of ice year-round.
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Lascaux Cave, France
Photograph by Sisse Brimberg
Containing some 600 paintings, Lascaux Cave in France's Dordogne River Valley is home to perhaps the world's most incredible array of Upper Paleolithic art. Prehistoric artists created the depictions of bulls and other animals on the cave's calcite walls more than 17,000 years ago. The cave—and its artwork—was discovered by a group of teenagers in 1940.
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Tardis Cave, Borneo
Photograph by Stephen Alvarez
A caver overlooks razor-edged limestone pinnacles sharp enough to kill a man in Borneo's Tardis Cave. Such spires take millions of years to form as water dissolves the limestone. Tardis is one of many caves in Borneo's Gunung Buda, or White Mountain.
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Walls of Jericho, Tennessee
Photograph by Stephen Alvarez
A caver descends into Hytop Drop, a 98-foot-deep (30-meter deep) pit in the Walls of Jericho, Tennessee. Located near the border with Alabama, the Walls of Jericho is a large, bowl-shaped natural amphitheater, nicknamed the Grand Canyon of the South.
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