18-02-2025
Huge thermal lake — largest in the world — discovered deep below Albania. Take a look
In 2021, a group of Czech scientists set out on an expedition to map an extensive cave system in the southern European country of Albania.
As they worked their way from the cavernous rooms to tight passageways, the research team noticed columns of steam rising from an unknown source further below them.
They found an opening leading to a deep abyss, more than 300 feet down, but their expedition wasn't able to find a way down to explore.
Now, three years after the initial discovery, a second expedition into the cave system has found that not only is the abyss filled with hot water, but it's the largest underground thermal lake in the world, the Neuron Foundation said in a Feb. 5 Facebook post.
The site was named Lake Neuron, named after the research organization that supported the expedition, according to a statement from the Neuron Foundation.
The lake is 454 feet long, 137 feet wide, 1,131 feet around and holds more than 2 million gallons of hot water, researchers said.
'During the initial exploration, we created a basic map using the equipment we had. We knew already back then that we had discovered something really special,' photographer and speleologist Richard Bouda told Radio Prague International. 'Thanks to the Neuron Foundation, we acquired a mobile LIDAR scanner, which allows us to measure the entire cave and the entire area of the lake. We will also cooperate with hydrologists who will measure the underwater portion of that lake using sonar.'
The chamber had its dangers, researchers told National Geographic CZ. Gases in the cave had to be monitored by detectors to make sure the air was safe to breathe.
There is also still much to learn, the outlet reported.
The research team is hoping further study will tell them more about the biology of the rare ecosystem, as well as how it is connected to the surface.
'Thanks to the scientists we work with, we know that the surrounding springs are fed with water from the lake,' Bouda told Prague Radio International. 'We believe this discovery could also contribute to the protection of the whole area and to a better understanding of its hydrology, because to this day, nobody knows how exactly these underground waters are connected to the surface.'
Prior to this discovery, the largest underground thermal lake title belonged to a site in Hungary, below Turkish baths in the city of Budapest, Reuters reported in 2008. That lake is 282 feet long, 89 feet wide and 49 feet high, according to the outlet.
The underground lake was discovered in the Vromoner area of southern Albania.
Google Translate and Facebook Translate were used to translate the news release and Facebook post from the Neuron Foundation and the National Geographic CZ article.
