Sima Pumacocha

Sima Pumacocha (possibly from Spanish sima deep and dark cavern/abyss,[1] Quechua puma cougar, puma, qucha lake[2]) is a limestone cave located in the Lima Region, Yauyos Province, Laraos District, in central Peru near the village of Laraos, high in the Andes mountains.

At 638 meters deep, it held the record for deepest known cave in South America from 2001 to 2006 when it was surpassed by Abismo Guy Collet.

[3] The valley is traversed by a dirt road serving active and abandoned mines nearby, and is dotted with stone huts used by locals tending flocks of sheep, llamas and alpacas.

On a regional scale, the long, irregular band of limestone containing Sima Pumaqucha and several other caves runs roughly south-southeast to north-northwest.

Following the steeply-dipping limestone beds, Sima Pumaqucha generally consists of several vertical shafts connected by short sections of horizontal to steeply-sloping passages.