Since most of the obvious caves have already been discovered and explored, cavers must search the mountains and valleys in "cave country" (or karst) for new caves. This is most commonly accomplished while ridgewalking, and called cave digging, the practice of scouring the country-side, in areas with cave potential, for new, previously undiscovered openings to the underground. These may be found in sinkholes, in rock (geology) outcrops or basically anywhere the ground is underlain by limestone or other soluble rock. Generally speaking, if the discovered feature is either blowing or sucking air in great volumes, it is an encouraging sign and indicates that there is great potential for large or extensive cave beyond. Sometimes these previously undiscovered openings are large enough for the average person to enter, but often they are too small and must be enlarged to allow entry. Thus the art and science of cave digging. A Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (better known by the recursive acronym CAVE) is an immersive virtual reality environment where projectors are directed to four, five or six of the walls of a room-sized cube. ... Mount Cook, a mountain in New Zealand A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. ... This article is about the physical-geographic term. ... Sinkholes are formed by the collapse of cave roofs and are a feature of landscapes that are based on limestone bedrock. ... Sedimentary, volcanic, plutonic, metamorphic rock types of North America. ... Media:Example. ... Earths atmosphere is the layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earths gravity. ...

Sometimes digging simply involves moving a few rocks and some soil. This can be accomplished with the bare hands or may involve the use of folding army shovels, root pruning saws, small crack hammers, buckets to move the material, and rope to haul the buckets if the opening is being enlarged in a downward direction. Large tamping tools and crowbars are also useful in dislodging the rocks and soil as the digging progresses. For the heavy metal band see Soil (band) Soil is the layer of minerals and organic matter, in thickness from centimetres to a metre or more, on the land surface. ... Alternate meanings: Hand (disambiguation) A human left hand The hand (med. ... A shovel is a tool for lifting and moving loose material such as coal, gravel, snow, dirt, or sand. ... For other meanings of root, see Root (disambiguation). ... The article is about the tool. ... A hammer has a primary meaning of a really hot chick. ... A regular grey plastic bucket A janitors bucket with a mop and wringer. ... Rope is also the title of a movie by Alfred Hitchcock Coils of rope used for long-line fishing A rope is a length of fibers, twisted or braided together to improve strength, for pulling and connecting. ... A crowbar is a tool consisting of a metal bar with a curved side and flattened extremities, often with a small fissure on one point. ...

Sometimes, the use of equipment and brute force is not enough to gain entry into the cave. In cases such as these, serious diggers resort to more impressive means of opening the cave. Many "digs" become large group projects, involving backhoes, timber shoring, and even the use of large diameter well drilling methods. Where the main impedement is solid rock, entry may involve the use of explosive material, similar to those used to remove stumps on farms, or it may involve the practice of rock shaving, where small holes are drilled in the rock and small caliber ammunition is detonated to spall the rock off in thin layers. A similar technique, called plug-and-feather, involves driving wedges into lines of small diameter holes that have been drilled in the rock. As the wedges are driven into the holes, a crack forms along the line of holes and the rock is eventually broken. Caterpillar backhoe A Backhoe is a piece of excavating equipment consisting of a digging bucket on the end of an articulated arm, also called a stick or dipper. ... Timber Timber is a term used to describe clusters of trees. ... The Whole Earth Lectronic Link (or The WELL) is one of the oldest virtual communities still online. ... An electric drill A drill is a tool with a rotary drill bit used to bore holes through material. ... Explosive material - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... A stump is the remains of an object that has been cut or broken, for example, when a tree has been felled. ... Bales of hay on a farm near Ames, Iowa A farm is the basic unit in agriculture. ...