Related Research Articles
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. More weathering-resistant rocks, such as quartzite, can also occur, given the right conditions.
Mammoth Cave National Park is a national park in south-central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world. The park's 52,830 acres (21,380 ha) are located primarily in Edmonson County, with small areas extending eastward into Hart and Barren counties. The Green River runs through the park, with a tributary called the Nolin River feeding into the Green just inside the park.
Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their composition, structure, physical properties, history, ecology, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology). The term speleology is also sometimes applied to the recreational activity of exploring caves, but this is more properly known as caving, potholing, or spelunking. Speleology and caving are often connected, as the physical skills required for in situ study are the same.
Blanchard Springs Caverns is a cave system located in the Ozark–St. Francis National Forest in Stone County in northern Arkansas, USA, 2 miles (3.2 km) off Highway 14 a short distance north of Mountain View. It is the only tourist cave owned by the United States Forest Service and the only one owned by the federal government outside the National Park System. Blanchard Springs Caverns is a three-level cave system, all of which can be viewed on guided tours.
The National Speleological Society (NSS) is an organization formed in 1941 to advance the exploration, conservation, study, and understanding of caves in the United States. Originally headquartered in Washington D.C., its current offices are in Huntsville, Alabama. The organization engages in the research and scientific study, restoration, exploration, and protection of caves. It has more than 10,000 members in more than 250 grottos.
The Woodville Karst Plain is a 450-square-mile (1,200 km2) karst area that runs from Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico separated by the Cody Scarp.
The Cave Research Foundation (CRF) is an American private, non-profit group dedicated to the exploration, research, and conservation of caves. The group arose in the early 1950s from the exploration efforts at Floyd Collins Crystal Cave, now within Mammoth Cave National Park. Its stated goals were: to promote exploration and documentation of caves and karst areas, initiate and support cave and karst research, aid in cave conservation and protection, and to assist with the interpretation of caves and karst to the public.
The Woodville Karst Plain Project or WKPP, is a project and organization that maps the underwater cave systems underlying the Woodville Karst Plain. This plain is a 450-square-mile (1,200 km2) area that runs from Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico and includes numerous first magnitude springs, including Wakulla Springs, and the Leon Sinks Cave System, the longest underwater cave in the United States. The project grew out of a cave diving research and exploration group established in 1985 and incorporated in 1990.
The Leon Sinks Geological Area is located on the Woodville Karst Plain in southern and southwestern Leon County, Florida, United States. It is a mature karstic area on the Upper Floridan Aquifer. It is one of the most extensive underwater cave systems in the world and connects to Wakulla Springs.
Hellhole is a large and deep pit cave in Germany Valley of eastern West Virginia. It is the seventh longest cave in the United States and is home to almost half of the world's population of Virginia big-eared bats. At 737 feet (225 m), Hellhole is the deepest of several caves in the Valley.
Sistema Sac Actun is an underwater cave system situated along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatán Peninsula with passages to the north and west of the city of Tulum. Discovery of a connection to Sistema Dos Ojos in 2018 made it the longest known underwater cave system. As of January 2023, it is the second longest underwater cave system in the world, only surpassed by Sistema Ox Bel Ha.
The Butler Cave Conservation Society (BCCS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Virginia corporation dedicated to the conservation, exploration, survey, preservation, and scientific study of the caves and karst in and around Burnsville Cove, Virginia.
Sistema Huautla is a cave system in the Sierra Mazateca mountains of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. As of April 2021 it was the deepest cave system in the Western Hemisphere, 1,560 metres (5,120 ft) from top to bottom, with over 55 miles of mapped passageways.
The Fisher Ridge Cave System is a cave system located in Hart County, Kentucky, United States, near Mammoth Cave National Park. As of November 2019 it had been mapped to a length of 130.001 miles (209.216 km), making it the fifth-longest cave in the United States and the tenth-longest in the world.
Bullita Cave, also known as Burkes Backyard Cave, is a cave located in Gregory National Park of the Northern Territory, Australia. It is one of the longest surveyed caves in both Australia and the world.
Patricia Kambesis is an American caver, cartographer and educator.
Friars Hole Cave System is a cave in West Virginia's Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties. First surveyed in the 1960s, it is one of the longest in the United States and the world.
Devil's Icebox is a cave located in Rock Bridge Memorial State Park in Columbia, Missouri. It is said to be one of the longest caves in the state of Missouri and is one of the caves with the highest number of species in the state. It is currently closed to protect the endangered Indiana bat, and is the only known natural home of Kenkia glandulosa, the pink planarian.
References
- ↑ Heim, Michael (2007). Exploring Missouri Highways: Trip Trivia. Exploring America's Highways. Travel Organization Network Exchange. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-9744358-6-2.
- ↑ Dorale, Jeffrey A. (2020-12-01). "Paleoclimate Studies from Midwestern Caves". In Brick, Greg A. Jr.; Alexander, E. Calvin (eds.). Caves and Karst of the Upper Midwest, USA: Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin. Springer Nature. pp. 302–303. ISBN 978-3-030-54633-5.
- ↑ Obi, Jeremiah Chukwunonso (2016). Geophysical Imaging of Karst Features in Missouri (PhD). Missouri University of Science and Technology. p. 20. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
- ↑ Gulden, Bob (April 2006). "Long and Deep Caves of the United States" (PDF). Journal of Cave and Karst Studies. 68 (1): 39. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
- ↑ Unklesbay, Athel Glyde; Vineyard, Jerry D. (1992). Missouri Geology: Three Billion Years of Volcanoes, Seas, Sediments, and Erosion. University of Missouri Press. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-0-8262-0836-1.
- ↑ "Crevice Cave". Missouri Speleological Survey. Retrieved 2021-11-04.