JEAN BERNARD

the world's deepest known cave, located in the Alps near the town of Samons, Haute-Savoie dpartement, Rhne-Alpes rgion, southeastern France. The highest of the limestone cave's eight entrances is located above Samons at an elevation of 7,428 feet (2,264 m). The original entrance was discovered by the Groupe Vulcain (from Lyon, France) in 1964. The later discovery of higher entrances and successive cave dives that penetrated past water sumps resulted in a total depth for the cave of 5,036 feet (1,535 m). The total length of Jean Bernard is 11.1 miles (17.9 km).