Dersios sinkhole

The Dersios sinkhole (Greek: Σπηλαιοκαταβόθρα "Ο Δέρσιος" ''Spilaiokatavothra "O Dhersios"'') is a

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. The sinkhole, which has a depth of , has been known since antiquity and is located towards the north end of the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

of Palaiochora at a height of 750 m above sea level on mount

Parnon Parnon or Parnonas ( el, Πάρνων/Πάρνωνας) or Malevos (Μαλεβός) is a mountain range, or massif, on the east of the Laconian plain and the Evrotas valley. It is visible from Athens above the top of the Argive mountains. The we ...

. It is about 45 minutes on unsurfaced road from the nearest town of

Tyros Tyre (; ar, صور, translit=Ṣūr; phn, 𐤑𐤓, translit=Ṣūr, Greek ''Tyros'', Τύρος) is a city in Lebanon, one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, though in medieval times for some centuries by just a tiny pop ...

in the

Kynouria Cynuria ( – ''Kynouria'' or – ''Kynouriake'') is an ancient district on the eastern coast of the Peloponnese, between the Argolis and Laconia, so called from the Cynurians, one of the most ancient tribes in the peninsula. It was believed t ...

region of Arcadia. The sinkhole was first explored in August 1974 to a depth of by a French team (in collaboration with the Hellenic Speleological Society). Since 2003, SELAS caving club in Greece has been exploring the

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

, doubling the depth and more than tripling the length of the sinkhole. The new discoveries were made in 2003 by cave diving the first

sump A sump is a low space that collects often undesirable liquids such as water or chemicals. A sump can also be an infiltration basin used to manage surface runoff water and recharge underground aquifers. Sump can also refer to an area in a cave ...

and emptying it by siphoning the water and in 2005 by emptying sumps in side passages of the sinkhole. Landforms of Arcadia, Peloponnese Caves of Greece Wild caves Sinkholes of Europe Landforms of Greece Landforms of Peloponnese (region) {{Peloponnese-geo-stub