Caving, also known as spelunking and potholing, is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems. In contrast, speleology is the scientific study of caves and the cave environment.
A cave or cavern is a natural void under the Earth's surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground. Caves which extend further underground than the opening is wide are called endogene caves.
Tlapacoyan is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located about three hours by automobile away from the state capital Xalapa.
A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting when a collapse of limestone bedrock exposes groundwater. The term originated on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, where the ancient Maya commonly used cenotes for water supplies, and occasionally for sacrificial offerings. The name derives from a word used by the lowland Yucatec Maya—tsʼonoʼot—to refer to any location with accessible groundwater.
The Cave of Mayrières supérieure is an archaeological site near Bruniquel, Tarn-et-Garonne, France, which contained two prehistoric cave paintings of bison until they were erased during an attempt to remove modern graffiti by members of the Eclaireurs de France, a French scouting association. The act earned them the 1992 Ig Nobel Prize in Archaeology.
Cueva de los Casares is a cave in Riba de Saelices. Discovered in 1933, it contains a number of paleolithic cave paintings, and is most notable for a series of paintings depicting what some have argued is the earliest representation of human understanding of the reproductive process, featuring images of copulation, pregnancy, childbirth, and family life. Mammoths and other animals feature frequently in the illustrations. It was declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1935.
Urdazubi/Urdax is a village and municipality located in the autonomous community of Navarre, in the north of Spain.
Artlish Caves Provincial Park is a provincial park on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.
Beaumont-de-Pertuis is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.
The Blauhöhle is the largest known cave system in the Swabian Alps in southern Germany. The Blauhöhle presumably originated in a time when the Danube still flowed through the Blau valley. Since the shifting of the Danube, several small rivers, the Schmiech, the Ach, and the Blau, have flowed through this valley. The cave system begins about 21 meters under water at the base of the Blautopf. It continues west and northwest, rising and falling several times until after a horizontal distance of about 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) it comes above the level of ground water and opens into the second big air-filled chamber. The maximum depth of the cave under water is 42 metres (138 ft).
The Devil's Throat is an underwater cave formation near the island of Cozumel, Mexico, at Punta Sur in the Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park; it starts at approximately 80 feet (24 m) of depth and opens up at approximately 135 ft (41 m) - right at the edge of recreational dive limits.
Cuevas del Becerro is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. The municipality is situated approximately 20 kilometers from Ronda and 105 km from the city of Málaga. By road it is located 576 km from Madrid. In 2008 it had a population of 1,847 inhabitants according to the INE.
Speleoperipatus is a monospecific genus of velvet worm in the Peripatidae family, containing the single species Speleoperipatus spelaeus. This species is a pale greenish yellow, almost white, with 22 or 23 pairs of legs and no eyes. Specimens range from 27 mm to 34 mm in length. The minimum number of leg pairs found in this species (22) is also the minimum number found in the neotropical Peripatidae. This velvet worm is viviparous, with mothers supplying nourishment to their embryos through a placenta.
Tosantos is a municipality and town located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 60 inhabitants. Tosantos is located on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, a 1200-year-old pilgrimage route that runs through France and Northern Spain to the Spanish city of Santiago. The hamlet has a pilgrim hostel which is open from April through October and hosts up to 50 pilgrims a night.
Tubilla del Agua is a village and municipality located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 209 inhabitants. The climate is relatively cool in the summer and cold in the winter.
The Quintana Roo Speleological Survey (QRSS) was established in 1990 for the safe exploration, survey and cartography of the underwater and dry caves and cenotes of Quintana Roo, Mexico, supported by the National Speleological Society.
Montesquieu-Avantès is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France.
Baume-les-Messieurs is a commune in the Jura department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association.
"The Lair of the Ice Worm" is a fantasy short story by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. It was first published by Lancer Books in the paperback collection Conan of Cimmeria (1969), which was reprinted several times, first by Lancer and later by Ace Books through 1993. It has also been published by Sphere Books in the omnibus paperback collection The Conan Chronicles (1989).
The Grotte de Gabillou also known as Grotte de las Agnelas is a cave in France in which prehistoric ornaments stemming from the paleolithic period exist. It is situated in the commune of Sourzac in the department of Dordogne, Nouvelle Aquitaine and is a private property. Its sediments are from the Maastrichtian era.
