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How long is a cave?

The rates of cave development and surface lowering are very variable, depending on the limestone's own nature, the geology and hydrology of its setting, and the climate including any glacial phases.

As a rough guide a fair rate of rock-surface removal by a stream in a cave in Carboniferous Limestone in temperate latitudes, is a few millimetres / 1000 years.

A discrete cave passage can develop only while "active" (carrying its formative stream).

A humanly-enterable passage that is still active may be tens of thousands of years old as we can see it now; but its inception phase* as micro-conduits in the limestone's joints and other discontinuities carrying extremely slow flows of percolating ground-water, may well last hundreds of thousands of years.

Surface erosion of limestone uplands is different, as it depends on factors differing from those underground, but again, think of N X 105 or 6 years.

*Inception - a very recent hypothesis that gained Dr. David Lowe, a British caver and professional geologist, his PhD. Although still a 'hypothesis' his idea has attracted a lot of peer-interest and approval.

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Q: How long does it take for caves to form and the surface to change?
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