Feb 18, 2025 · cave, natural opening in the earth large enough for human exploration. Such a cavity is formed in many types of rock and by many processes. The largest and most common caves are those formed by chemical reaction between circulating groundwater and bedrock composed of limestone or dolomite.

In cave: Stagnation and decay phases. Larger cave systems often have complex patterns of superimposed passages that represent a long history of cave development. The oldest passages, usually but not necessarily those at the highest elevations, may have formed before the glaciations of the Quaternary. The youngest passages may be part of… Read ...

Feb 18, 2025 · Cave - Geomorphology, Solution, Formations: Like many other geologic features concealed beneath the earth, caves are difficult to observe. One cannot really see a cave, even though one may have a point-by-point, cross-sectional view as the cave passage is illuminated during exploration.

sea cave, cave formed in a cliff by wave action of an ocean or lake. Sea caves occur on almost every cliffed headland or coast where the waves break directly on a rock cliff and are formed by mechanical erosion rather than the chemical solution process that …

Feb 18, 2025 · Caves formed by the dissolution of gypsum are much like limestone caves in the size, shape, and pattern of their passages. The Optimisticheskaya Cave in Ukraine is the world’s longest gypsum cave, with 165 kilometres of passage. Caves also are formed by the dissolution of salt (the mineral halite). Because it is highly soluble in water, salt ...

Feb 18, 2025 · Cave - Formations, Ecosystems, Geology: Superimposed on the walls of cave passages are many small solutional sculpturings that record further details of water flow. Pockets of various sizes and kinds are cut back into the walls and ceiling.

These caves, called solution caves, typically constitute a component of what is known as karst terrain. Named after the Karst region of the western Balkan Peninsula extending from Slovenia to Montenegro, karst terrain in general is characterized by a rough and jumbled landscape of bare bedrock ledges, deranged…

speleology, scientific discipline that is concerned with all aspects of caves and cave systems. Exploration and description of caves and their features are the principal focus of speleology, but much work on the chemical solution of limestone, rates of formation of stalagmites and stalactites, the influence of groundwater and hydrologic ...

The dominant mineral in such deposits is calcite (calcium carbonate), and the largest displays are formed in caves of limestone and dolomite. Other minerals that may be deposited include other carbonates, opal, chalcedony, limonite, and some sulfides.

Feb 18, 2025 · Cave - Karst Topography, Limestone, Erosion: As previously noted, karst landscapes owe their existence to the removal of bedrock in solution and to the development of underground drainage without the development of surface stream valleys.