Underground Lakes

Divers in Budapest, Hungary, have spent the last few weeks exploring the depths of what may be one of the biggest underground lakes in the world. The huge subterranean thermal lake was discovered in early 2008 in a cave complex below a Turkish bath. A tunnel has been built to give greater access to the lake, and the Hungarian government is reportedly considering opening the area to the public. It is special because it is active, in Budapest, under the sea, a lot of caves. Seven large caves and three dozen smaller ones. Together they are 40 kilometers long. Sometimes it's very beautiful precipitations: gypsum, aragonite, calcite, baryte crystals. But all the other cave(s) are inactive and dry. Budapest was built above a maze of largely unexplored caves filled with hot thermal water. The heat from that water helps heat the Turkish baths. The government plans to allow researchers full access to the site prior to making any major decisions about public access, and officials are planning to apply to have the cave system declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.