A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, [1] [2] specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word cave can also refer to much smaller openings such as sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos, though strictly speaking a cave is exogene, meaning it is deeper than its opening is wide, [3] and a rock shelter is endogene. [4]
| Name | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cueva Alfredo Jahn Natural Monument | central Venezuela | The Cueva Alfredo Jahn Natural Monument [5] (Spanish: Monumento Natural Cueva Alfredo Jahn) [6] Also Alfredo Jahn Cave Natural Monument or Tapa de Cambural Cave It is a protected area with the status of a natural monument that is located 4 km west of the town of Birongo, Miranda State, at the eastern end of the Coastal Range of the Cordillera de la Costa. With a 4.29 km gallery development, it is the largest cave in central Venezuela, [7] [8] the sixth in Venezuela and one of the most visited in the country. |
| Cueva de la Quebrada del Toro | Falcón State | The Cueva de la Quebrada del Toro is a cave in the Sierra de Falcón in Falcón State, Venezuela. It is an active river cave, through which flows the largest known underground watercourse in Venezuela. It is protected as the Cueva de la Quebrada del Toro National Park. |
| Cueva del Fantasma | southern Venezuela | Cueva de El Fantasma is a giant cave in southern Venezuela, located in one of the most biologically rich, geologically ancient parts of the world, along the slopes of Aprada-tepui. Large enough for two helicopters to land in the cave, the report from Zootaxa is said to be the first photographic evidence of such an immense cave. However, experts note, it is not technically a cave, but rather a collapsed, steep gorge. [9] |
| Cueva del Guácharo National Park | Monagas | The Guácharo Cave National Park is located 12 km from the town of Caripe, Monagas, Venezuela. It has as its centerpiece a large limestone cave. The cave was visited in 1799 by Alexander von Humboldt, who realised that the thousands of oilbirds (guácharos in Spanish; scientific name Steatornis caripensis ) which live in the cave belonged to a species unknown to science. Humboldt named the frugivorous, nocturnal species after the town of Caripe. [10] |
| Haitón del Guarataro | Falcón State | The Haitón del Guarataro is a solutional cave system in the Sierra de San Luis in Falcón State, Venezuela, 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) south-east of Curimagua. It is the deepest limestone cave in Venezuela, [11] and the entrance is a tourist attraction within the Juan Crisóstomo Falcón National Park. [12] |
| Sima Humboldt | Bolívar State | Sima Humboldt is an enormous sinkhole located on the summit of the plateau of Sarisariñama tepui in Bolívar State, Venezuela. It is unusual for several reasons, including its enormous size and depth, its location on the top of the only forested tepui, having a patch of forest on its base and also due to the weathering process that formed this sinkhole. The feature is named after scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt. |
| Sima Martel | Bolívar State | Sima Martel is an enormous sinkhole located on the summit of plateau of Sarisariñama tepui, in Bolívar State, Venezuela. It is unusual due to several factors including its enormous size and depth, location on the top of the only forested tepui and having a patch of forest on its base. Named after speleologist Édouard-Alfred Martel. |
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher, and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835). Humboldt's quantitative work on botanical geography laid the foundation for the field of biogeography. Humboldt's advocacy of long-term systematic geophysical measurement laid the foundation for modern geomagnetic and meteorological monitoring.
Auyán Tepui, also spelled Ayan, is a tepui in Bolívar state, Venezuela. It is the most visited and one of the largest tepuis in the Guiana Highlands, with a summit area of 666.9 km2 (257.5 sq mi) and an estimated slope area of 715 km2 (276 sq mi). The unevenly heart-shaped summit plateau of Auyán-tepui is heavily inclined, rising from around 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) in the northwest to a maximum of 2,450 m (8,040 ft) in the southeast. It is incised from the north by a vast valley, the Cañón del Diablo, formed by the Churún River. The larger western portion of the plateau is partially forested, whereas the eastern part comprises mostly bare rock with only patchy vegetation cover. The mountain hosts a number of extensive cave systems.
Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland was a French explorer and botanist who traveled with Alexander von Humboldt in Latin America from 1799 to 1804. He co-authored volumes of the scientific results of their expedition.
Carl Sigismund Kunth, also Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth, was a German botanist. He is known for being one of the first to study and categorise plants from the American continents, publishing Nova genera et species plantarum quas in peregrinatione ad plagam aequinoctialem orbis novi collegerunt Bonpland et Humboldt.
Pico Bolívar is the highest mountain in Venezuela, at 4,978 metres. Located in Mérida State, its top is permanently covered with névé snow and three small glaciers. It can be reached only by walking; the Mérida cable car, which was the highest and longest cable car in the world when it was built, only reaches Pico Espejo. From there it is possible to climb to Pico Bolívar. The peak is named after the Venezuelan independence hero Simón Bolívar.
The Guácharo Cave National Park is located 12 km from the town of Caripe, Monagas, Venezuela. It has as its centerpiece a large limestone cave.
Tobías Lasser, was a recognized Venezuelan botanist, being a fundamental pillar in the creation of the Botanical Garden of Caracas, the School of Biology and the Faculty of Sciences of the Central University of Venezuela. He was born in Agua Larga, Falcón State, Venezuela.
Cándido Bolívar Pieltain (1897-1976) was a Spanish naturalist and entomologist.
The National Museum of Natural Sciences is the national museum of natural history of Spain. It is situated in the center of Madrid, by the Paseo de la Castellana. It is managed by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).
Emiliano Aguirre Enríquez, is a Spanish paleontologist.
Cerro de la Neblina, also known as Serra da Neblina in Brazil and Sierra de la Neblina in Venezuela, is a sandstone massif located in the northern Amazon Basin. It is a tilted, heavily eroded plateau, with a deep canyon in its central portion, drained by the Baria River.
Wei-Assipu-tepui, also known as Little Roraima or Roraimita, is a minor tepui of the Eastern Tepuis chain. It lies just off the northeastern flank of Roraima-tepui, directly on the border between Brazil and the disputed Guayana Esequiba territory, claimed by Venezuela but controlled by Guyana, and very close to the tripoint of all three countries. The mountain is known for its extensive cave systems, with one extending for over a kilometre.
The Sierra de Lema is an upland mountain range area with tepuis, located in Bolívar state of southeastern Venezuela.
The Haitón del Guarataro is a solutional cave system in the Sierra de San Luis in Falcón State, Venezuela, 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) south-east of Curimagua. It is the deepest limestone cave in Venezuela, and the entrance is a tourist attraction within the Juan Crisóstomo Falcón National Park. A large entrance shaft 12 metres (39 ft) in diameter leads via drops of 168 metres (551 ft), 55 metres (180 ft), and 19 metres (62 ft) to a stream passage which follows the dip down for a distance of about 350 metres (1,150 ft) to the north to where it eventually chokes. An upstream passage is intercepted which runs south for about 150 metres (490 ft) to the base of a shaft. The cave has a depth of 305 metres (1,001 ft), and a total passage length of 640 metres (2,100 ft). It was first explored and surveyed in April 1973 by members of the Venezuela '73 British Karst Research Expedition. It is formed in Oligocene reefal limestone.
Ismael Arturo Montero García is considered a prominent mountaineer and speleologist due to his archaeological researches in high mountains and caves of Mesoamerica. In 2009, he led the expedition which discovered the world's highest place in the Earth's Equator path. Recently, he has concentrated his efforts on archaeoastronomy, proposing orientation models that have been published in many different academic media. He is a member of the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores del Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT), Level 1.
Ángel Galup was an Argentine military man, who served as Lieutenant in the Regimiento N° 4 de Infantería. As commander of this regiment he took an active part in the events that led to the May Revolution.
The Sierra La Culata National Park Also Sierra de la Culata National Park is a national park of Venezuela that is located in the northeastern branch of the Venezuelan Andes, in the states Mérida and Trujillo. It was decreed a national park on December 7, 1989. It has a high mountain climate, with temperatures ranging between −2 and 24 °C, and its surface area is 200,400 hectares (774 sq mi).
The Cueva Alfredo Jahn Natural Monument Also Alfredo Jahn Cave Natural Monument or Tapa de Cambural Cave It is a protected area with the status of a natural monument that is located 4 km west of the town of Birongo, Miranda State, at the eastern end of the Coastal Range of the Cordillera de la Costa. With a 4.29 km gallery development, it is the largest cave in central Venezuela, the sixth in Venezuela and one of the most visited in the country.
Juan (Jean) Brèthes, also known as Frère Judulien Marie or Juan Brethes was an Argentine scientist, naturalist, entomologist, ornithologist, zoologist and geologist. He was the first entomologist of the National Museum, today known as the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences. He was a close collaborator of Florentino Ameghino, and translated several of his works into French. Thanks to his intense activity, he systematized a large number of Latin American insect species. He was a precursor in the fight against agricultural pests at a time when insecticides had not been developed to combat them.
The Spanish Society of Speleology and Karst Science is a national caving organization of Spanish caving clubs to promote and disseminate the science of speleology and karst, founded in 1998.
| Africa |   | |
|---|---|---|
| America | ||
| Asia | ||
| Europe | ||
| Oceania | ||