Altai-Sayan speleological country
libre 19
The Altai-Sayan country is subdivided into four speleological areas: Altai, Salairo-Kuznetsk, Sayan and Tuva. 
The Western Altai province, which includes the ore Altai and the system of latitudinal watershed ridges of the Southern Altai, is characterized by a fairly wide distribution of karst caves. However, these are mostly small cavities.
The largest caves include Pryamukhinskaya (400 m long), Tulatskaya (300 m), Yashchurskaya (210 m) and Gromotushenskaya (140 m). Among the karst caves of the Central Altai province, Museinaya (700 m long), Bolshaya Chuyskaya (547 m) and Karakolskaya (306 m) caves stand out.
Museynaya Cave is located on the right bank of the Karakol River (left tributary of the Anuya River), 3 km below the village of Karakol. It is developed in Lower Silurian limestones.
The cave is represented by several grottoes, connected by narrow passages and low manholes, confined to tectonic fractures of northeastern and northwestern extent.
Nate formations are widely developed, especially interesting are corallites - bushy and tree-like stalagmites resembling coral colonies. The total length of the cave is 700 meters. 
Karakolskaya Cave is located 0.1 km north of the Museum Cave. There are several grottoes in it. The largest of them reaches 2 m in length, 10 m in width and 7 m in height.
The cave has several floors, which are connected by wells. In the grottoes of the lower floor there are widespread natelic formations represented by stalactites, stalagmites, columns and draperies. The total length of the cave is 306 meters.
Among the karst mines, the Ingurskaya (63m deep) and Opasnaya (53m deep) caves stand out. The largest caves of the East Altai province include Geophysical (500 m long), Karakokshinskaya (260 m) and Bolshaya Belobomskaya (146 m).
The Geophysical Cave is located on the watershed of the Ustyuba River and its left tributary Svetly Creek, 3 km north of the village of Verkhny Ustyuba. The entrance to the cave is located at the bottom of a karst sinkhole 80 m in diameter and 25 m deep.
It was formed in Lower Cambrian strongly fractured limestones. The cave has several floors, which are connected by wells up to 12 m deep. There are two large grottoes in the cave.
The largest of them, the Upper Grotto, located at a depth of 65 m from the bottom of the sinkhole, reaches 50 m in length and 20 m in height. Nate formations are widely developed: columns, draperies and stalactites. The total length of the cave is about 500 m, depth 130 m.
In the Salairo-Kuznetsk region karst caves are most widespread in the Kuznetsk-Alatau speleological province, where seven caves have been studied.
The largest of them, Kashkulakskaya, developed in Cambrian limestones, reaches 600 m in length and 65 m in depth.
The Sayan region is divided into three speleological provinces: West Sayan, Minusinsk and East Sayan.
The East Sayan province is the best explored in terms of speleology, where more than 150 karst caves have been identified and described, including Bolshaya Oreshnaya (11,000 m long; depth 160 m), Badejskaya (5,500 m; 170 m), Kubinskaya (2,500 m; 274 m), Torgashinskaya (1,500 m; 174 m), Belaya (900 m; 100 m), Temnaya (650 m; 42 m), Divnogorskaya (515 m; 60 m), Pervomayskaya (500 m; 55 m), and Karaulnaya II (360 m; 38 m).
The Kubinskaya cave is located on the left bank of the Biryusa River, 2 km from its mouth. It is developed along tectonic fractures in limestones of the Lower Cambrian. The entrance to the cave is located 280 meters above the Yenisei. 
There are several small lakes, a stream flows along the bottom of one of the grottoes. In many places, there are variously shaped concretions. The total length of the cave is 2500 meters, and the depth is 274 meters.
The Torgashinskaya cave is located in Davydovy log 5 km from the settlement of Torgashino (in the vicinity of Krasnoyarsk). It is developed in Lower Cambrian limestones and is characterized by a complex structure.
The entrance to the cave is a 40 m deep well. The largest grotto Myshiny reaches 85 m long and 25 m wide. The total length of the cave is 1500 m and its depth is 174 m.
The Belaya and Temnaya caves, excavated in Ordovician conglomerates, are also interesting. They are located near the village of Stepnoi Bajei and are characterized by a large branching of passages.
The largest White Cave reaches 900 m in length and 100 m in depth. Within the Minusinsk province karst caves are noted in the Solgonsky and Batenevsky ridges, where more than 50 underground cavities have been described.
The largest of them are Borodinskaya (length 1020 m), Tamozhenskaya (350 m), Oktyabrskaya (length over 200 m, depth 71 m), Demidovskaya (160 m) and Bidzhinskaya (150 m).
