Alternate meanings: Cave (disambiguation) The word cave, in addition to the usual meaning (see Cave), has these meanings: There are three places in the United States called Cave. ...

The outside world viewed from a cave

A cave is a natural underground void. The outside world seen from inside a cave File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The outside world seen from inside a cave File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Cave types and formation

Caves are formed by geologic processes. These may involve a combination of chemical processes, tectonic forces and atmospheric influences.

Primary caves

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

Lava tube cave at Craters of the Moon

Lava tubes are formed through volcanic activity. They are the most common primary caves. Lava flows downhill and the surface cools down and becomes hard. The lava now flows inside its crust, until the eruption ends. The liquid lava inside the crust flows out and leaves a hollow tube. 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. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a U.S. National Monument and United States Preserve located in the Snake River Plain in central Idaho near Arco, Idaho. ... Lava tubes are natural conduits through which lava travels beneath the surface of a lava flow. ... State nickname: The Aloha State Other U.S. States Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Governor Linda Lingle Official languages Hawaiian and English Area 28,337 km² (43rd)  - Land 16,649 km²  - Water 11,672 km² (41. ... Image of Hawai‘i (island) taken by NASA. The Island of Hawai‘i is one of the eight main islands that make up the state of Hawai‘i. ... Kazumura Cave is a Lava Tube, a remains of a former lava stream who produced a sort of tunnel by cooling down on the surface and still flowing in the center. ... Hilo is the largest town on the island of Hawai‘i, and the county seat of Hawai‘i County, Hawai‘i. ...

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. Dissolving table salt in water In chemistry, a solution is one or more substance (the solute) dissolved in another substance (the solvent) forming a homogenous mixture. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, movement in response to gravity, or living organisms (in the case of bioerosion). ...

Erosion is a mechanical form of weathering which is caused by the abrasive action of wind or water. Weathering is the process of decomposition and/or disintegration of rocks in situ, that is, in place. ... Wind is the quasi-horizontal movement of air (as opposed to an air current) caused by a horizontal pressure gradient force. ... A falling water droplet Water (from the Anglo-Saxon and Low German wæter) is a colourless, tasteless, and odourless substance that is essential to all known forms of life and is the most universal solvent. ...

• 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.

Ice cave in Big Four Glacier, Big Four Mountain, Washington, ca. 1920

• Ice caves occur in 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.

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. Ice cave in Big Four Glacier, Big Four Mountain, Washington, ca. ... Ice cave in Big Four Glacier, Big Four Mountain, Washington, ca. ... State nickname: The Evergreen State Other U.S. States Capital Olympia Largest city Seattle Governor Christine Gregoire Official languages None Area 184,824 km² (18th)  - Land 172,587 km²  - Water 12,237 km² (6. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Austrias longest glacier, the Pasterze, winds its 8 km (5 mile) route at the foot of Austrias highest mountain, the Grossglockner. ... Media:Example. ... The Needles, part of the extensive Southern England Chalk Formation Chalk is a soft, white, porous form of limestone composed of the mineral calcium carbonate. ... Dolomite from Touissite, Morocco Dolomite is a mineral (formula CaMg(CO3)2) consisting of a calcium magnesium carbonate found in crystals and in beds as dolostone. ... Marble This page is about the metamorphic rock. ... Loess is a fine, silty, windblown (eolian) type of unconsolidated deposit, or, sometimes the term refers to the soil derived from it. ... Icicles A natural ice block in Iceland Ice is the solid form of water. ... Granite - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... In chemistry, salt is a general term used for ionic compounds composed of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, so that the product is neutral and without a net charge. ... Lava is molten rock that a volcano expels during an eruption. ... Red Sandstone in Wyoming Layered sandstone Sandstone is an arenaceous sedimentary rock composed mainly of feldspar and quartz and varies in colour (in a similar way to sand), through grey, yellow, red, and white. ... Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. Chemical structure Gypsum from New South Wales, Australia Heating gypsum above approximately 150°C (302°F) partially dehydrates the mineral by driving off exactly 75% of the water contained in its chemical structure. ...

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. Groundwater is water flowing within aquifers below the water table. ... Carbonic acid is a weak acid with the chemical formula of H2 C O3. ... An organic acid is an organic compound that is an acid. ... Karst topography occurs when a landscape is marked by underground drainage patterns. ... Sinkholes are formed by the collapse of cave roofs and are a feature of landscapes that are based on limestone bedrock. ...

Limestone solution is the single most important process forming caves and the origin of the great majority of all caves on Earth. The reason for this abundance is the facts that limestone is so common and the slowness of the solution process. If it was faster, the lifespan of limestone caves would be much shorter and their number much lower.

Speleothems in Hall of the Mountain Kings, Ogof Craig a Ffynnon, South Wales

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). Download high resolution version (600x776, 73 KB)The Hall of the Mountain Kings, Ogof Craig a Ffynnon, South Wales. ... Download high resolution version (600x776, 73 KB)The Hall of the Mountain Kings, Ogof Craig a Ffynnon, South Wales. ... A speleothem (from the Greek for cave deposit) is a formal term for what is also known as a cave formation, or amongst cavers, collectively known as pretties. ... Speleothems in Hall of the Mountain Kings Ogof Craig a Ffynnon (Welsh for Rock and Fountain Cave) is a cave of around 13 km in length, making it currently the 6th longest in Wales and 10th in the UK. The cave is renowned as one of the most well-decorated... South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the East and South, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the North and West. ... A stalactice hanging above subterranean water. ... The Witchs Finger in the Carlsbad Caverns A stalagmite (Greek stalagma, drip) is a type of speleothem formed by the deposit of calcium carbonate which rises from the floor of a limestone cave due to the dripping of mineralized solutions. ... A speleothem (from the Greek for cave deposit) is a formal term for what is also known as a cave formation, or amongst cavers, collectively known as pretties. ... Lechuguilla Cave is, as of 2004, the worlds fifth longest cave (at 181 km, or about 112. ... State nickname: Land of Enchantment Other U.S. States Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Governor Bill Richardson Official languages English and Spanish Area 315,194 km² (5th)  - Land 314,590 km²  - Water 607 km² (0. ...

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.

Distribution

Caves are sparse in South America, Africa, and Antarctica, but are found widely in Europe, Asia, and North America. South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Africa is the largest of the three great southward projections from the main mass of the Earths surface. ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... World map showing location of Asia A satellite composite image of Asia Asia is the central and eastern part of the continent of Eurasia, defined by subtracting the European peninsula from Eurasia. ... World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is the third largest continent in area and in population after Eurasia and Africa. ...

The distribution of cave systems so far discovered is widely skewed toward countries where caving is popular (such as the United States, France, Italy, the UK etc.). It is likely that many more systems remain to be discovered, especially in China, which, despite containing around half the world's exposed limestone - more than 1,000,000 km² - has hardly been explored underground. Inside the cave at Cave Stream, New Zealand Caving is the recreational sport of exploring caves. ...

Life

Cave inhabiting animals can be categorized as troglobites (cave limited-species), troglophiles (species which can live their entire lives in caves, but also occur in other environments), trogloxenes (species which utilize caves, but must leave the caves to complete their life cicle) and accidentals. Some authors use separate terminology for aquatic forms (i.e., stygobites, stygophiles, stygoxenes).

Of these animals, the troglobites are among the most fascinating of organisms. Troglobitic species often show a suite of characters, termed troglomorphies, associated with their adaptation to subterranean life. Among these characters are a loss of pigment (often resulting in a pale or white coloration), loss of eyes (or at least of optical functionality), elongation of appendages, and an enhancement of other senses (such as ability to sense vibrations in water). Aquatic troglobites (or stygobites), such as the endangered Alabama cave shrimp, live in bodies of water found in the caves and are fed by detritus washed into the caves, and by the feces of bats and other cave inhabitants. Binomial name Palaemonias alabamae (Smalley, 1961) The Alabama cave shrimp (Palaemonias alabamae) is species of albinistic, obligate cave shrimp. ...

Bats, like the Gray bat and Mexican Free-tailed Bat, are trogloxenes, and are commonly found in caves, but forage outside of the caves. Some species of cave crickets are classified as trogloxenes, as they roost in caves by day and forage above ground at night. Families Pteropodidae Emballonuridae Rhinopomatidae Craseonycteridae Rhinolophidae Nycteridae Megadermatidae Vespertilionidae Molossidae Antrozoidae Natalidae Myzopodidae Thyropteridae Furipteridae Noctilionidae Mystacinidae Mormoopidae Phyllostomidae Bats are flying mammals in the order Chiroptera with forelimbs developed as wings. ... Binomial name Myotis grisescens (A.H. Howell, 1909) The Gray Bat (Myotis grisescens) is a small bat that lives in caves throughout the southern United States. ... The Free-tailed bats in the family Molossidae are generally quite robust and consist of many strong flying forms with relatively long and narrow wings. ... Cave crickets are orthopteroid insects of the family Rhaphidophoridae which are found in association with caves. ...

Because of the fragile nature of the cave ecosytem, and the fact that cave regions tend to be isolated from one another, caves harbor a number of endangered species, such as, for example the Tooth cave spider and the Gray bat. For other uses, see endangered species. ... Binomial name Neoleptoneta myopica (Gertsch, 1974) The Tooth cave spider (Neoleptoneta myopica) is a 1/16 inch (1. ... Binomial name Myotis grisescens (A.H. Howell, 1909) The Gray Bat (Myotis grisescens) is a small bat that lives in caves throughout the southern United States. ...

Caves are visited by many surface-loving animals, including humans. These are usually relatively short-lived incursions, due to the lack of light and sustenance.

Records

Since new caves are continually being explored, the various records of cave dimensions need to be updated fairly frequently.

The system with the greatest (by some distance) total length of passage is Mammoth Cave (Kentucky, USA) at 579km in length. This record is unlikely to be surpassed in the near future as the next most extensive known cave is the Optimisticeskaja system in the Ukraine, at 214km. Mammoth Caves Mammoth Cave National Park is a U.S. National Park in south-central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the most extensive cave system known in the world. ... State nickname: Bluegrass State Other U.S. States Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Governor Ernie Fletcher Official languages English Area 104,749 km² (37th)  - Land 102,989 km²  - Water 1,760 km² (1. ...

As of 2005, the deepest known cave (measured from its highest entrance to its lowest point) is Voronya Cave (Abkhazia, Georgia), with a depth of 2,080m. This was the first cave to be explored to a depth of more than 2km. (The first cave to be descended below 1km was the famous Gouffre Berger in France). The Gouffre Mirolda - Lucien Bouclier cave in France (1733m) and the Lamprechtsofen Vogelschacht Weg Schacht in Austria (1632m) are the current second and third deepest caves. This particular record has changed several times in recent years. 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Voronya Cave (aka Krubera-Voronia Cave) is the deepest known cave in the world. ... Abkhazia ( Abkhaz: /Apsny, Georgian: აფხაზეთი/Apkhazeti, Russian: Абха́зия) is a region of 8,600 km² in the Caucasus. ...

The deepest individual pitch (vertical drop) within a cave is 603m in the Vrtoglavica cave in Slovenia, followed by Patkov Gušt (553m) in the Velebit mountain, Croatia. For other uses, see Pitch A pitch is a significant underground vertical space in mining terminology. ... Velebit is the largest though not the highest mountain in Croatia. ...

The largest individual cavern ever discovered is the Sarawak Chamber, in the Gunung Mulu National Park (http://www.forestry.sarawak.gov.my/forweb/np/np/mulu.htm) (Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia), a sloping, boulder strewn chamber with an area of approximately 600m by 400m and a height of 80m. Map of Sarawak in East Malaysia Sarawak (Jawi:سراواك) is one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. ... Borneo (including the Kalimantan provinces of Indonesia, Sabah and Sarawak of Malaysia, and Brunei) is the third largest island in the world. ...

For a list of the world's notable caves, see list of caves. The following is a partial list of caves. ...

Archaeological and social importance

Throughout history, primitive peoples have made use of caves for shelter, burial, or as religious sites. Since items placed in caves are protected from the climate and scavanging animals, this means caves are an archaeological treasure house for learning about these people. Cave paintings are of particular interest. One example is the Great Cave of Niah, which contains evidence of human habitation dating back 40,000 years. Cave, or rock, paintings are paintings painted on cave or rock walls and ceilings, usually dating to pre_historic times. ...

Caves are also important for geological research because they can reveal details of past climactic conditions in speleothems and sediment layers. Sediment is any particulate matter that can be transported by fluid flow and which eventually is deposited as a layer of solid particles on the bed or bottom of a body of water or other liquid. ...

Caves are frequently used today as sites for recreation. Caving, for example, is the popular sport of cave exploration. For the less adventurous, a number of the world's prettier and more accessible caves have been converted into show caves, where artificial lighting, floors, and other aids allow the casual visitor to experience the cave with minimal inconvenience. Caves have also been used for BASE jumping and cave diving. Inside the cave at Cave Stream, New Zealand Caving is the recreational sport of exploring caves. ... BASE jumping is the sport of using a parachute to jump from fixed objects. ... Cave diving is a type of technical diving in which specialized SCUBA equipment is used to enable the exploration of natural or artificial caves which are at least partially filled with water. ...

See also

• Mines
• Cavus

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External links

• About Gua Niah (http://www.thingsasian.com/goto_article/article.1462.html)
• British Caving Association (BCA) (http://www.british-caving.org.uk/), UK
• Classification of Caves (http://www.showcaves.com/english/explain/Speleology/Classification.html) Very detailed list of cave types with links to further information
• National Speleological Society (NSS) (http://www.caves.org/), US
• NSS Geo2 Committee on Long and Deep Caves (http://www.pipeline.com/~caverbob/) A website with numerous pages on cave world records, e.g., the longest and deepest caves; compiled by Bob Gulden
• Ogof Ffynnon Ddu (http://ogof.net/) A virtual tour of Ogof Ffynnon Ddu, the deepest cave in the UK
• The Virtual Cave (http://www.goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave.html) A site with exceptional photography by Dave Bunnell, the editor of the NSS News. Make a virtual caving trip!