• Ancient Egypt
  • Cleopatra VII of Egypt
  • Egypt's Dynasties
  • Egyptian Monuments
  • Egyptian Pharaohs
  • Egyptian Pyramids
  • Valley of the Kings
• Ancient Manuscript
• Ancient Temple
• Angkor Wat
• Ark of the Covenant
• Aztec Civilization
• Bible Mystery
• Chichenitza
• Dead Sea Scrolls
• Easter Island
• Forbidden City
• Inca Empire
• Knights Templar
• Machu Picchu
• Maya Civilization
• Mummy
• Noah's Ark
• Petra
• Stonehenge

• Afterlife
• Ball Lightning
• Bermuda Triangle
• Black Hole
• Crop Circle
• Human Combustion
• Nazca Lines
• Prophecy
• Science Mysteries
  • Antarctic
  • Anti Gravity
  • Astronomy
  • Aura
  • Aurora
  • Cloning / Clone
  • Earthquake
  • Geyser
  • Hurricane
  • Lechuguilla Cave
  • Mount Everest
  • Rainforest
  • Time Travel
  • Volcano
• Shroud of Turin

• Cryptozoology
  • Chupacabra
  • Giant Octopus / Squid
  • Bigfoot & Yeti
  • Loch Ness Monster
• Ghost Ship
• Ghost Town
• Roswell Incident
• UFO

• Atlantis
• Flying Dutchman
• Holy Grail
• King Arthur & the Round Table
• Great Wall of China
• Mary Celeste

• Acupressure
• Acupuncture
• Amen Ra
• Andes
• Angel
• Apparition
• Area-51
• Armageddon
• Castle
• Cave
• Death Valley
• Dinosaur
• John F. Kennedy
• Majestic 12
• Philadelphia Experiment
• Petroglyph
• Titanic

Cave

Naturally formed underground cavity. A cave often consists of a number of underground chambers, constituting a series of caverns. An assemblage of such caverns interconnected by smaller passageways makes up a cave system. Primary caves, such as lava tubes and coral caves, develop during the time when the host matrix is solidifying or being deposited. Secondary caves, such as marine grottoes, originate after the host matrix has been deposited or consolidated. Most caves are of the latter type, including solution caves formed by the chemical dissolution of a soluble host rock that has been weakened by fracturing and mechanical erosion; Mammoth Cave and Carlsbad Caverns are examples of solution caves.

Types & Formation of Caves

Primary caves

Some caves are formed at the same time as the surrounding rock. These are called primary caves.

• Lava tubes are formed through volcanic activity. They are the most common primary caves. Lava flows downhill and the surface cools and solidifies. The lava now flows under this crust, until the eruption ends. If the liquid lava inside the crust flows out, a hollow tube remains.

The most important lava tubes are found on Hawaii (Big Island). Kazumura Cave near Hilo is the longest and deepest lava tube of the world and also the eighth longest cave of the United States.

• Blister caves are also formed through volcanic activity.

Secondary caves

Secondary caves are formed inside the rock after the rock itself has formed by processes which removes material such as solution and erosion.

• Sea caves are very common at all coasts of the world, but as they are restricted to the zone where waves work on the rocks of the coast they are generally rather small.
• Glacier caves occur in ice and under glaciers, formed by melting. They are also influenced by the very slow flow of the ice which tends to close the caves again. (These are sometimes called ice caves, though this term is properly reserved for caves which contain year-round ice formations).
• Solutional caves may form anywhere with rock which is soluble, and are most prevalent in limestone, but can also form in other material, including chalk, dolomite, marble, loess, ice, granite, salt, lava, sandstone, and gypsum. The most common process of cave formation is karstification, which is the solution of rocks by rain water.
• Fracture caves are formed when layers of more soluble minerals such as gypsum dissolve out from between layers of less soluble rock. These rocks fracture and collapse in blocks.
• Talus caves are the openings between rocks that have fallen down into a pile, often at the bases of cliffs.

Cave formation in limestone occurs because limestone dissolves under the action of rainwater and groundwater charged with CO2 (carbonic acid) and naturally occurring organic acids. The dissolution process produces a distinctive landform known as karst and characterized by sinkholes, sinking streams, and underground drainage.

Limestone solution is an important process in cave formation and the origin of the great majority of all caves on Earth. The reasons for this abundance are the facts that limestone is so common and the slowness of the solution process. If it were faster, the lifespan of limestone caves would be much shorter and their number much lower.

Limestone caves are often adorned with calcium carbonate formations produced through slow precipitation, including the most common and well-known stalactites and stalagmites. These secondary mineral deposits in caves are called speleothems. The world's most spectacularly decorated cave is generally regarded to be Lechuguilla Cave (New Mexico, USA).

Lechuguilla and nearby Carlsbad Caverns are now believed to be examples of another type of solutional cave. They were formed by acid rising from below, where reservoirs of oil give off sulfurous fumes, rather than by acidic water percolating from the surface.

Resources about Cave

Classification of Caves
Very detailed list of cave types with links to further information...

Western Belize Regional Cave Project
have been studying the use of caves by the prehistoric Maya. The Western Belize Regional Cave Project is designed to introduce experienced participants to the fundamental approaches to the practice of speleoarchaeology and to provide training in a variety of archaeological techniques.

Caves and Caving in the UK
When I try to imagine a faultless love or the life to come, what I hear is the murmur of underground streams, what I see is a limestone landscape.

National Caves Association
A non-profit organization of publicly and privately owned show caves and caverns - caves developed for public visitation.

National Speleological Society
Does more than any other organization to study, explore, and conserve cave and karst resources; protect access to caves; encourage responsible management of caves and their unique environments; and promote responsible caving.

Caverns of California
Guided Cave Tours, Spelunking Trips and Underground Gold Mine Tours.

The Caves of Cayo
The hundreds of caves found throughout Cayo have been shrouded by mystery and superstition since modern man first peeked into a cave entrance to find skeletons, broken vessels and remnants of habitation.

Cave & Karst Terminology by J. N. Jennings
List of terms is substantially longer than that included in Speleo Handbook (1968). The increase reflects the greater depth and breadth of interest of Australian speleologists in caves and their surroundings. It remains a highly selective list of terms...

Florida Caves
These caves are home to the Gray Bat (Myotis grisescens), an endangered species. The bats are not tolerant of disturbance, and during the winter, when they are hibernating and trying...

Australian Speleological Federation
An Environmental Organisation, registered by the Department of the Environment and Heritage in Canberra, with the primary objective of protecting the cave and karst environment of Australia.

Oregon Caves National Monument
Oregon Caves National Monument is small in size, 480 acres, but rich in diversity. Above ground, the monument encompasses a remnant old-growth coniferous forest including a Douglas-fir tree with the widest known girth in Oregon...

Amazing Caves
Amazing Underwater Caves...

Niah Caves: Borneo
The Niah caves are the largest.

Caves of Assynt
Assynt is the best Scottish caving region. Three caves have over 1km of passage, and the longest over 2km. The club has two huts in the area, the newest of which, Taig nam Faimh, was recently officially opened.

Lechuguilla Cave
Microbiological Interactions of Microbial Communities in Cave Deep...

Into the Caves
"California's Underground" at the Oakland, California Museum by Stuart Sweetow.

Mammoth Cave
Mammoth Cave is the largest system of caves in the entire world, with 330 miles of passageways on five levels. The cave has been in operation as a tourist attraction for well over 150 years and thousands of visitors come here each year.

Oregon Caves
Here you'll find links to information about the Oregon Caves and regional attractions such as Crater Lake National Park, The Oregon Coast and Redwoods National Park.

The cave of Lascaux
Located on the left bank of the river Vézère, Lascaux is set a little apart from the traditional prehistoric sites further downstream, between Moustier and Bugue.

New Zealand Caves
he common feature to all of the caves was the glow worms. The glow worms are endlessly fascinating, looking like blue stars on the ceiling....

Rushmore Cave
When visiting the Black Hills of South Dakota, see Beautiful Rushmore Cave. It is the area's largest stalactite cave and the closest cave to Mt. Rushmore National Memorial.

Maps / Caves Of Scotland
An Excellent Page w/Tons of Cave Info.

Caves in Missouri and Surrounding Lake of the Ozarks
Missouri is truly the cave state, with over 5,380 registered and mapped wild caves. 300 of the wild caves are in the counties of Camden, Miller, and Morgan which surround the Lake of the Ozarks.