Chapter 3: CAVES OF XIANFENG COUNTY (HUBEI).

Résumé - Abstract - Zusammenfassung :Caves of Xianfeng county. Due to the adjacent catchment area of impervious Silurian shales, Xianfeng county abounds in caves especially along the border to the large Dajichang syncline. Within a week, nine caves with galleries, pits and chambers were explored and mapped to an accumulated length of 11,2 km. Several caves are particularly interesting, e.g. the active sinkhole Luoshuidong, the collapse ‘mega’-doline Hongshepan (200 m deep) with their old underground houses dating to the Ming period, the temporary mountain sinkhole Dishuidong, the dry sinkhole Yangxiaodong, the underground river Changdong which is situated in a perched syncline near Qingping, and a resurgence cave in Baishuiba polje (Bailongdong).

Keywords: Sinkhole, cave, underground river, syncline, Permian, Silurian, Xianfeng.