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Why there are large caves and tunnels where the main rock is limestone?
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
Limestone, CaCO3, is reactive with naturally acidic rainwater which helps dissolve it.
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
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What are caves main materials?
Caves are mainly composed of rock materials such as limestone, sandstone, granite, and basalt. These rocks often have natural cracks or fissures that water can seep into and erode over time, forming cave systems. Additionally, caves may contain mineral deposits such as stalactites and stalagmites.
Is carbonic acid an acid that forms caves?
Yes. Carbonic acid is one of the main factors in the formation of limestone caves.
What type of limestone is often found in caves?
I think I know what you mean.The vast majority of the world's caves are formed in limestone by water dissolving the calcium carbonate that is the rock's main constituent. As for "type", well, almost any "type" by age or source of limestone physically capable of supporting itself above the developing void. Caves will also form in marble (metamorphosed limestone) and in gypsum (calcium sulphate), in the same way.So the limestone is not "often found in caves" - except as boulders that fallen from the roof, or re-precipitated as calcite stalactites etc - but is literally all around almost all caves!More to the point perhaps is the combination of factors that encourage or discourage caves to form in a given limestone area, and that is far more complex.
What main rock dissolves to form caves?
Limestone and its metamorphic form, marble - calcium carbonate is the rock's principal constituent mineral and it is this that dissolves.
What is an example of a sentence using the word limestone?
Indiana has a limestone quarry. The outside of the house is limestone.
What is the main substance in limestone?
The main substance in limestone is calcium carbonate.
What is the force that carves out underground caves from limestone?
Not really a "force", more a process. Chemical weathering primarily. Some mechanical weathering and erosion in active stream passages once these have been enlarged enough to carry large volumes of water. Rainwater acidified by absorbed atmospheric carbon dioxide sinks through the joints and other discontinuities in the limestone upland's mass, dissolving the calcium carbonate that is the rock's main constituent. BTW you don't need the adjective. Caves are always underground!
List of limestone caves in the UK?
Not here: too many! They are listed in the cavers' regional guides for the main caving areas, and other publications for smaller areas, but there are many hundreds listed!
What are the main processes that affect limestone?
carbonation which is a type of chemical weathering
What are caverns made of?
Air. A cavern is a void. :-) Most caves are in limestone and formed by the rock's calcium carbonate (its main constituent) being dissolved away by rainwater acidified by absorbed by atmospheric carbon-dioxide.
Why would it be more likely to find a cave with limestone bedrock than granite?
Limestone forms in such a way that there are often blocks, as there are cracks perpendicular to the strata. These cracks allow water to actually flow. When the water flows, it dissolves calcite from the limestone, making the crack more pronounced. Water can flow vertically and horizontally in this way. This, after many years, erodes large caverns in the rock.
Explain how chemical weathering causes caves to form in limestone?
ANSWER:Its because they are both made by erosion. Limestone is a rock that is soft and easily eroded by underground streams and rivers. Just as water can carve mountains down and cut canyons above ground, they do the same below ground. After this water recedes, The water has cut passageways and tunnels into the rock leaving crevices and caverns. This can be seen in the TAG (Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia) area of caves. There are over 2500 caves in the area where the three states meet. Most are limestone caves made with the above mentioned process. Great place for spelunking as well. Not quite. Limestone can be quite hard but in any case mechanical erosion is a secondary process consequent upon a sufficiently large conduit forming first.The primary process is the dissolution of limestone (strictly speaking the calcium carbonate that is its main constituent) by water slightly acidified by absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide.The water finds its way through the rock formation by following the tension-cracks, bedding-planes and other discontinuities from sink to rising (spring).And the term used throughout the English-speaking world is "caving" not "spelunking", which I have heard is actually derisory slang in the US for novice or dilettante cavers. I've mentioned this a few times on Answers by now!
