The marble cathedral of Chile: Are these the world's most beautiful caves? By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 3:27 PM on 1st August 2011 Welcome to the Marble Cathedral - a natural wonder that could be the world's most beautiful cave network. An azure temple created by nature, the walls of this network of water-filled marble caverns show just how magnificent the precious geography of our planet can be. Visitors to the water-sculpted blue caverns see light reflected off the turquoise waters of South America's second largest freshwater lake, General Carrera in Patagonia, Chile. Azure temple: Lake General Carrera in Patagonia, Chile, could be the world's most beautiful cave network Ancient: The caves have been formed by flowing water over thousands of years Light bounces into the caverns and strikes the carved marble walls, creating this enchanting lightshow. The incredible set of pictures has been captured by landscape photographer and environmentalist, Linde Waidehofer, 67, from Colorado, USA. 'It is the water that formed the unique shapes of the marble walls,' explained Ms Waidehofer in her book on the caverns, Blue Light. 'Originally great ice-fields blocked the western end of the lake - today its glacier-fed waters drain into the Pacific Ocean. 'Geologists have a simple explanation for the breath-taking blue of this giant lake. 'They talk of finely ground glacial silt which makes the water an unearthly blue and crystal clear. 'These waters are magic.' Photographer's dream: Photography students have travelled the world to learn about light in what could be the world's most astonishing classroom To reach this remote place located in the far southern tip of Chile visitors must fly from the capital, Santiago, 800 miles to the next nearest large city, Coyhaique, and then drive on challenging dirt roads 200 miles south to the lake. Yet photography students have travelled the world to learn from Ms Waidehofer about light in what could be the world's most astonishing classroom. Beautiful: But the unspoilt majesty of Lake Carrera is under threat from development

Into the depths of the earth: Cave network in the heart of Vietnamese jungle is so large its end is yet to be found By Daily Mail Reporter/Science And Tech Last updated at 6:10 PM on 28th July 2011 These are the breathtaking images which capture the hidden depths of the world's biggest cave passage, which still has left cavers still searching for its end. Hidden in the depths of the Vietnamese jungle lies The Hang Son Doong, part of a network of over 150 caves. Discovered by British cavers in 2009, the cave passage in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park was originally thought to be a modest 150 metres long and 200 feet high. Intrepid journey: A caver stands in front of a huge rock formation as the light shines beneath a skylight in Hang Son Doong But these remarkable images - taken during two further expeditions of the caves - show the previously undiscovered depths of the magnificent cave passage, now the largest in the world. At a mammoth 2.5 miles long, 330ft wide and almost 800ft high, Hang Son Doong also known as Mountain River Cave, is as high as 25 double decker buses. And as shown in these amazing images taken by photographer Carsten Peter, there is even a jungle concealed deep inside the cave. Carsten from Munich, Germany, took the images in 2010 when he joined British and German cavers during further expeditions of the site. Wonderful waterfalls: A waterfall explodes into Hang Son Doong in the hidden depths of the Vietnamese jungle, which is part of a network of over 150 caves The purpose of the expedition was to make a complete exploration of Hang Son Doong and create a photographic record of the cave. Cartsen, 52 said he spent up to two weeks at a time deep inside the caves, where he slept with just a sleeping bag and spent his time exploring and photographing the secret underground world. He said: 'We discovered new parts of the cave, it's a huge area so to find them and access them is very difficult. 'Photographing caves of this size is a challenge, it needs a lot of preparation. Going underground: Expedition members enter the cave, tunnelled out by the Rao Thuong River in Vietnam - the cave was discovered in 2009 'But it's a great feeling to photograph a newly discovered cave, for me I see the cave for the first time when I see the photographs. 'I love to explore, I have been in some great caves in my lifetime and this is one of the most magnificent. 'I've been a photographer and explorer for the last 35 years and I've visited so many caves, I've lost count. 'But this is by far one of the most unique and unusual caves I have ever seen. 'To see a cave so large it has a forest inside is superb - it was overwhelming.' Gigantic proportions: At a mammoth 2.5 miles long, 330ft wide and almost 800ft high, Hang Son Doong also known as Mountain River Cave, is as high as 25 double decker buses

Take a dive with us into the world’s greatest gypsum cave. Located near Orda village, Ordynskaya Cave is the most extended underwater cave in Russia.

The world's largest cave passage was discovered deep within a remote Vietnamese jungle. The Son Doong cave measures 262 feet by 262 feet (80 meters by 80 meters) and at least 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers) deep, making it the largest single cave passage ever discovered, according to National Geographic News, where the discovery was announced. The previous record holder, Deer Cave in Malaysia, is 300 feet by 300 feet (91 m by 91 m) in parts, but is only about a mile (1.6 km) long. By contrast, explorers walked 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers) into Son Doong, in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, before being blocked by seasonal floodwaters—and they think that the passage is even longer. In addition, for a couple of miles Son Doong reaches more than 460-by-460 feet (140-by-140 meters), said Adam Spillane, a member of the British Cave Research Association expedition that explored the massive cavern. Spillane was in the first of two groups to enter the cave. His team followed the passage as far as a 46-foot-high (14-meter-high) wall. "The second team that went in got flooded out," he said. "We're going back next year to climb that wall and explore the cave further."

Dark, deep and hauntingly beautiful, these underground gems can be found at all corners of the world. They are all simply incredible.

Skocjan Caves (Slovenia)




Cave of Giant Crystals (Mexico)




Majlis al Jinn Cave (Oman)




Cave of the Ghost (Venezuela)




Waitomo Glowworm Cave (New Zealand)




Tremendous Cave System (Iran)




Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves (Austria)




Mammoth Cave (USA)




Dongzhong Cave (China)


Carlsbad Caverns (USA)




The Reed Flute Cave (China)




Cappadocia Cave City (Turkey)




Galos Salt Cave (Chicago)




Ice Caves (Antarctica)




Lechuguilla Cave (New Mexico)




Crystal Caves (Bermuda)




The Underwater Caves of The Riviera Maya (Mexico)




Underwater Caves (Fiji)




Cave of Fingal (Scotland)




Onondoga Cave (Missouri)