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No-one knows!
If you trawl through the cave lists for every country that has caves in limestone, the answer will run into many tens, maybe some hundreds, of thousands from the near-400miles of the Flint Ridge / Mammoth Cave System down to the most modest little solutional tube.
Then there must be many more not known - or not yet anyway - because they lie in very remote regions or their entrances are concealed by natural run-ins, glacial till chokes and the like.
A quick estimate from the index in the guide-book for just one part of Northern England alone came to something like 800 caves.
What else can I help you with?
How long have caves been around?
Worldwiode, many tens, perhaps a few hundred, of millions of years - as long as there have been karst uplands. Many that formed in that time no longer exist because the landscapes in which they developed have long been eroded away.
What types of caves are there?
Fissure, Talus, Solutional, Granite, Slate, Erosional, man-made, rare emerged Sea caves, Sea caves, and Sandstone caves.Most are created over millions of years by water dissolving minerals in the rock, leaving a void or hollow behind.
Why are there so many caves in limestone rock?
Limestone is a type of rock that is easily eroded by water, which can create caves over time. Water dissolves the limestone rock to form caves through a process known as chemical weathering. Additionally, limestone can also be carved out by underground rivers or other natural forces, resulting in the formation of caves.
Why are most caves made from limestone?
Most caves are made from limestone because limestone is a sedimentary rock that is easily dissolved by water. Over time, acidic groundwater seeps into the cracks and crevices, dissolving and eroding the limestone to form cave systems. The process is known as karstification and is responsible for the creation of many limestone caves.
Why many caves are found in limestone rock?
Most caves are in limestone. Limestone is a sedimentary rock laid down in beds and fractured into joints by tectonic processes. These discontinuities allow water to pass, initially extremely slowly, through the rock mass from catchment to spring. Further, and crucially, limestone is slightly soluble in rain-water, so over time the water gradually dissolves out conduits that become cave passages. The whole process is far more complex that that, with many local variables, but the foregoing is the gist of it.
What is the white scar caves made of?
The White Scar Caves in England are made of limestone. Limestone is a sedimentary rock formed from the remains of marine organisms, such as coral and mollusks, that have been compacted over millions of years.
In what sort of caves would you find stalactites and stalagmites?
Caves formed in limestone, as the vast majority are - but there are many caves that contain few or no "speleothems" as the formations are know collectively. The distribution and scale of the formations is subject to many, complex factors.
What kind of rock is located near caves?
It depends on the cave. Since many caves are limestone (water carves it nicely), you usually find limestone. But granite is common in New Hampshire & Vermont.
How long have caves been around?
Worldwiode, many tens, perhaps a few hundred, of millions of years - as long as there have been karst uplands. Many that formed in that time no longer exist because the landscapes in which they developed have long been eroded away.
What type of sedimentary rock made up many caves in the eastern US?
Limestone is the type of sedimentary rock that makes up many caves in the eastern US. These caves form when groundwater dissolves the limestone, creating underground voids and caverns.
What types of caves are there?
Fissure, Talus, Solutional, Granite, Slate, Erosional, man-made, rare emerged Sea caves, Sea caves, and Sandstone caves.Most are created over millions of years by water dissolving minerals in the rock, leaving a void or hollow behind.
Why are there so many caves in limestone rock?
Limestone is a type of rock that is easily eroded by water, which can create caves over time. Water dissolves the limestone rock to form caves through a process known as chemical weathering. Additionally, limestone can also be carved out by underground rivers or other natural forces, resulting in the formation of caves.
What is the scientific name for limestone caves?
The scientific name for limestone caves is karst caves, named after the Karst region in Slovenia where many of these caves are found. Karst caves are formed through the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone by water.
What is the process that formed many of your large caves and caverns?
Most caves - of any size - are in limestone, and those are all formed primarily by dissoultion of the rock by weakly acidic ground-water penetrating the joints, bedding-planes, faults and other permeabl discontinuities within the rock mass.
Why are most caves made from limestone?
Most caves are made from limestone because limestone is a sedimentary rock that is easily dissolved by water. Over time, acidic groundwater seeps into the cracks and crevices, dissolving and eroding the limestone to form cave systems. The process is known as karstification and is responsible for the creation of many limestone caves.
Why are there so many caves in southern Indiana?
There are so many caves in Southern Indiana because of how much limestone there is undernealth the dirt, once moisture gets undernealth the dirt and into the limestone, it creates a small hollow hole, then slowley starts to increase in size when more water gets to the limestone.
What kind of rocks are in underwater caves Metamorphic Igneous or Sedimentary?
Not sure quite what you are asking about, but anyway it is more accurate to ask what kinds of rock hold the caves, not what rocks are in the caves. Most caves are in limestone, a sedimentary rock, irrespective of water-level. There are a few caves in igneous rock: lava-tubes in basalt-flows, but on land, not underwater. There are also a good many caves in marble, the metamorphic but still-soluble form of limestone; and again the water-level is secondary to the cave itself. A few caves exist in rock-salt, an evaporite.
