Speologists are already familiar with the Saint Leonard Cave, a cave tens of meters wide discovered in 1812 under Pie XIII Park. Now, explorations will be re-launched, as the network is much wider than previously thought.
"Two years ago we did some tests outside a wall of the cave and found a crack," said François Gélinas of the Quebec Speleology Society. "We used an endoscopic camera to find a room after this crack," he added.
Recently, the team has detected a softer place where it can break, managing to create a passage, writes Atlas Obscura.
"We looked inside and saw that it was a larger cave system than we thought at first ... it is a long network that stretches at least 200 meters below the city," said François Gélinas.
Experts believe that the cave system was formed during the last Ice Age, when retreating glaciers left cracks in the formations. The ice-melting water has also helped create the caverns, which has many stalactites hanging from the 7-meter-high ceiling, a feature rarely found for a cave so far in the north of the American continent. "Stalactites form when water dissolves limestone with acidic compounds in the liquid, but cold water is less acidic, so it takes longer to form caves," Gélinas added.
Explorations will be resumed in the drier season. "We want to see how far the cave system stretches. When water recedes - around February - it will be easier for us to venture further into the cave network, "concluded the speleologist.
source:descopera.ro