Speleology

How do you know the cave is empty?

When you go in the cave, it is not empty.

And if you don't go into the cave you don't know if it is empty.

It's like, who came first: The chicken or the egg?

The caves of Lascaux are not located in Africa; they are in southwestern France. The Lascaux caves are famous for their prehistoric cave paintings, which are some of the oldest and best preserved in the world.

After you have completed enough of the barbarian training requirement, jump into the whirlpool and you will end up in a safe area with stairs. Go down the stairs and you will enter the dangerous ancient cavern.

Marble Arch Caves are located in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, and form one of Europe's finest showcaves. The caves are known for their stunning limestone formations, underground rivers, and diverse ecosystem. Visitors can explore the caves on guided tours to discover their geological significance and natural beauty.

There isn't a "should. Nature doesn't work like that. A cave is as large as the many natural controls on its development allow.

The largest known chamber is Sarawak Chamber; the longest cave system is the Mammoth / Flint Ridge system.

Not quite sure what you had in mind but someone who searches for, and explores,caves is a Caver - as simple as that.

The technical term for one who studies caves and their contents scientifically is "Speleologist".

Carlsbad Caverns began forming approximately 250 million years ago, with the majority of the cave's development occurring during the last 5-10 million years. The caves were formed by sulfuric acid dissolving the surrounding limestone bedrock to create the magnificent caverns we see today.

Jenolan Caves in New South Wales, Australia, were formed over millions of years through the process of limestone dissolution by underground rivers. As the water seeped through the limestone rock, it slowly carved out the intricate cave systems and left behind the stunning stalactites and stalagmites that we see today. Ongoing geological processes continue to shape and modify the caves.

Geologically, their sediments and speleothems preserve palaeoclimate evidence. Palaeontologically, many caves preserve animal remains. Archaeologically, some caves preserve human remains, artefacts or art.

That's not an easy or obvious question to answer.

The world's deepest cave is Voronya or Krubera Cave, in the Urals I think? but it's not ever so long. Caves like that plunge steeply via many shafts linked byrelatively short horizontal passages.

The world's longest cave is the Flint Ridge Cave/ Mammoth Cave system, linking severals other caves too with a total of somewhere near 400 miles of passages; but I don't think its vertical range (as cave depths are oftenmore accurately described) is ever so great.

Incidentqally its name has nothing to with Pleistocene animals. "Mammoth" was the adjective for the large passages near its main entrance. (ref: Wikipedia)

In the UK, Ogod Ffynon Ddu, in South Wales, has a VR of just over 1000feet in its 28 miles of passages; I think the Three Coutnies System in NW England beats it indepth and length but it's not easy tryingto find this sort of information thanks to the Internet!

Yes. Sticking to the vast majority, which are limestone karst features,any cave passage carrying a stream is still developing.

Changes in the region's hydrology or in sea-levels can alter the cave's water flows, e.g. drowning passagespreviously partly air-filled, or bringing about rejuventation processes and effects.

Floods may build up sediment deposits in parts of the cave.

When passages lose their formative streams entirely they can start to decay as percolation waterweakens roof and wall rock and bring about collapses that can fill the passage. Such collpases can occur at any time in a mature cave, but flowing water gradually removes the fallen material. (Note: to scotch a common misunderstanding, collapses do not form caves, though they may create a void above that already existing for the roof tofall into.)

Calcium carbonate dissolved in percolation water may be deposited to form stalactites, stalagmites and related formations.

Isostatic rebound after the cave's region has been de-glaciated at the end of an Ice Age glacial phase may modify the cave or influence its development in various more subtle ways.

River or glacial valleys may cut across or below a cave, removing its feed water as well as removing parts of the passages.

Caves in coastal areas may be destroyed by general cliff retreat.

Eventually general lowering of the landscape will breach and destroy at least shallow-lying cave passages.

There's only one Grotte Lascaux - the painted cave - plus of course the artificial copy that we'd see as tourists. It's by no means the only cave in the region thoogh.

The Lascaux Cave is located in southwestern France, near the village of Montignac in the Dordogne region. It is famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings, which are estimated to be around 17,000 years old.

Sinkholes are typically caused by the erosion of underground rocks such as limestone, leading to the collapse of the surface layer. Caves are formed through a similar process, where water dissolves and erodes the rock over time, creating underground voids. These geological features can also be affected by human activities like mining and construction.

The Ajanta Caves were carved between the 2nd century BCE and 6th century CE, with the majority of the caves dating back to around the 2nd century BCE.

Carlsbad Caverns is a network of underground limestone caves located in Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico, USA. It is known for its spectacular formations of stalactites, stalagmites, and other unique features created over millions of years. The caverns are a popular tourist destination and offer guided tours for visitors to explore this natural wonder.

The Oracle of the Hills and Caves was a prophetic deity in ancient Greece associated with responses to inquiries and divination rituals. They were believed to reside in natural landscapes such as caves, mountains, or other secluded areas, where individuals would seek their guidance and wisdom. The oracle's responses were often cryptic and required interpretation by priests or individuals seeking advice.

Humans have lived in caves for thousands of years, with evidence of cave dwellings dating back to the Paleolithic era, around 2.6 million years ago. However, as humans began to develop more advanced tools and technologies, they eventually transitioned to building more permanent structures above ground.

After living in caves, the Maori people started building fortified villages called pa, typically located on hills for defense. These pa were constructed using palisades and earthworks and became the main form of settlement for the Maori.

A Caver. One who studies caves & their contents scientifically is a Speleologist - though many still call themselves cavers out of modesty, and use "speleology" to describe the science! Some Answer-ers would reply "spelunker" - a word I have never seen in caving literature. From Wikipedia at least, although the word was coined from a mixture of Latin and Greek by an American caving club in the 1940s, but not adopted outside of the US, it started to become derogatory in the 1960s, according to American cavers.

"from" the inside? No vegetation for a start - apart from the patches of algae and ferns known as 'lampenflora' that grows around floodlights in show-caves, creating something of a headache for the cave's owners as it is a form of pollution. One of the most noticeable is that the rock is not weathered as it is on the surface. The surfaces of the walls and roof usually carry erosion forms not seen in surface stream-ways. Passage morphologies, especially cross-sections, have pecularities not found outside. The cave may be decorated with stalagmites, stalactites etc. And if you all turn your lamps off.... dark. Very dark. Absolute darkness: an odd experience unfamiliar to most people and uncomfortable even for experienced cavers.

A stack is formed when the roof of a sea cave collapses, leaving a pillar of rock separate from the mainland. Stumps are the remnants of a stack that has eroded further causing it to collapse. Caves are formed by the erosion of coastal rock by the action of waves, often in softer rock types that are easily worn away.

There are 117 known caves within Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Sudwala Caves in South Africa are estimated to be around 240 million years old, making them one of the oldest cave systems in the world. They are located near the town of Nelspruit in Mpumalanga. The caves are known for their impressive stalactites, stalagmites, and unique formations, as well as being an important archaeological site.

I take elevation to mean altitude?

There isn't a common elevation as limestone (karst) caves are found from below sea-level (drowned by rising sea-levels having formed in times of lower levels) to a few thousands of metres altitude. However their main development controls are the regional geology, hydrology and long-term climate, and these tend to limit caving areas to modest elevation.