Speleology

The cost of visiting Jenolan Caves varies depending on the tour package you choose and your age. Prices can range from around $42 to $110 per adult for a standard cave tour. Additional activities like adventure caving or night tours may have different pricing.

Caves have so few producers because of the lack of sun. A producer makes its food from the suns energy and without that there aren't producers. some caves have types of micro organisms that make their own food from other sources of energy and could possibly be considered producer type organisms themselves.

Not a very good question.

Longest in passage length: Flint Ridge / Mammoth Cave system (USA)

Largest single chamber: Sarawak Chamber (Sarawak!)

A somewhat loose word for a large cave, applicable either to an impressively large chamber ('room' in US caving terminology) or to the whole cave.

The word is really only used in cave names, especially by show-cave owners for obvious reasons, and is rather archaic.

The "standard" words throughout the English-speaking caving world are "Cave" for the entire structure, irrespective of form, complexity and dimensions, and "Chamber" (or "Room") for a single void within the system, and significantly larger than the passages entering it.

Many regions of America (N and S), Europe inc UK, RoI and Scandinavia, Russia, Iran, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Australia, New Zealand.... other countries too.

Caves big and small need karst regions in which to develop, and those occur in many, though by no means all, countries of the world.

That depends on where you are in the world. A deep cave in the TAG region is greater than 500 feet. The world's deepest cave systems are over 1000 meters.

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Caves are sometimes described by "vertical range" rather than depth, because the entrance(s) may not be at the highest point(s). Indeed, a resugence cave like the magnificent Grotte de Gournier in S.E. France rises all the way in!

Also, although the world's deepest caves tend to consist predominently of sets ofvertical shafts, depth or VRis not necessarily related to steepness. Charterhouse Cave (Mendip Hills, SW England) has a VR of about 700ft - Britain's 5th deepest - but apart from a 100ft deep series of climbs dug down through a huge boulder-choke, and a 25ft ladder pitch, is mainly an irregularslope that starts quite steeply then becomes more gradual.

It looks as if the TAG region's caves compare with most of those in the UK: Ogof Ffynon Ddu in South Wales is of about 1000ft VR but most of the deeper British caves are around the 500ft mark.

France has a goodly share of the deepest caves.

Stalactites are mineral formations that hang from the ceiling of a cave like curtains. These formations are generally created by water dripping from the cave ceiling, leaving behind mineral deposits that build up over time. Stalactites can vary in size and shape, creating unique and beautiful features in cave formations.

The Qumran caves are hard to reach due to their remote location in the desert near the Dead Sea. The rugged terrain, extreme weather conditions, and lack of infrastructure make accessing the caves difficult. Additionally, some caves are situated in high cliffs, adding to the challenge of reaching them.

Nature founded Carlsbad Caverns - they are natural features!

They have been known to Man since prehistoric times, when they were used as homes, but the exploitation first for mining guano deposits then of Carlsbad Caverns itself as a show-cave started in the 19C.

The designation of the caves and their surrounding land as a National Park, to conserve them for everyone, was carried out in several stages starting in 1923.

People visit Meramec Caverns to explore the natural beauty of the underground caverns, see unique rock formations, and learn about the history and geology of the area. The caverns offer guided tours that provide interesting insights and a memorable experience for visitors.

The Jenolan Caves in Australia are a significant limestone cave system and the oldest discovered open caves in the world. The caves are around 340 million years old and offer a unique underground experience with a variety of formations including stalactites and stalagmites. They are also home to an array of rare and endemic species.

It is calcium-carbonate dissolved by acidic ground-water, precipitated from the solution when the water emerges from the spring. Tufa is related to stalactites and stalagmites but of coarser, often softer, physical texture.

The presence or otherwise of visible fossils should not alone be the deciding factor. Caves are geological features worthy of respect and preservation just as with nature generally. Fossils exposed in the cave walls equally deserve respect as a feature of their cave; and are exposed by chance allowing us to admire them.

Beyond the aesthetics, fossils are often important stratigraphical markers, allowing correlation of rock units over wide areas, and caves are remarkably good natural archives because their interiors are not subject to normal weathering and vegetating.

Of the Southern English caves with which I am most familar for example, some hold numerous fragments of crinoids and solitary corals (in Carboniferous Limestone - called I think Pennsylvanian in USA). Others in Jurassic Limestone hold sizeable ammonites, seen in partial exposure or as moulds.

It's a karst cave (i.e. formed in limestone and, in this case too, gypsum, by dissolution) but seems to have a fascinatingly rather more complex geological history than many caves, so I suggest you use my answer here as a start but ferret out the details from elsehere on the Internet, etc.

The Linville Caverns are a network of limestone caves located in North Carolina, USA. They are open to the public for guided tours, offering a chance to see unique geological formations such as stalactites and stalagmites. The caverns are known for their underground streams and spectacular rock formations.

Columns in caves are tall, cylindrical formations that are created when stalactites from the ceiling and stalagmites from the floor meet and fuse together. They can grow over thousands of years as mineral deposits accumulate in caves. Columns are common features in caves with significant limestone formations.

Caves are underground. They are big long holes underground. Sometimes, for some unknown reason, the roof of the cave can no longer support the weight of the ground above it and the ground collapses down into the cave. The land sinks. It fills the hole. Where there was a cave, there is now solid ground. Where there was land, there is now a big hole. So, you have a sinkhole when the roof of a cave collapses.

Luray Caverns in Virginia is about 64 acres in size, with a guided tour that covers about 1.25 miles of underground passageways. The tour typically takes around 1 to 1.5 hours to complete.

Caves have been used in the past as shelters for early humans, sacred spaces for religious ceremonies, storage areas for food and supplies, and as hiding places during times of conflict. Additionally, caves have been utilized for mining resources such as salt, minerals, and gemstones.

Frankly, no-one really knows because it depends on your criteria and the records available. A few intrepid souls tried to explore caves back in the 17th, even 16th Century; and metal-ore miners broke into caves from their mines, from time to time. It's entirely possible some of these people met their end underground, but mining was so dangerous it would probably have been recorded as a mining accident, and then rather scantily.

Of modern explorers, in caves to explore out of curiosity, I suppose you could count a 19C quarryman called Joe Plumley who died in a vertical cave the quarry had opened up in Burrington Coombe (Somerset, SW England). None of the team were cavers as we would know then now. His work-mates lowered him on a rope but managed to break his neck in trying to pull him back up. The hole was covered over and is now lost, but was near the geological feature now known by the famous hymn that it inspired, "Rock of Ages".

From a purely aesthetic view, caves offer a range of physical and mental challenges and often very impressive or beautiful scenery found nowhere else.

Scientifically they are fascinating, with studies ranging across geology, hydrology, biology, palaeontology and archaeology. Some of these examine evidence preserved by being underground, leading to assessments of palaeoclimates and climate changes.

This simile suggests that someone is searching persistently and eagerly for something valuable in a situation that is devoid of clear direction or insight. It conveys the idea of determined exploration and anticipation within a challenging or obscure environment.

Yes, there are caves in Hector, NY. One notable cave in the area is the Secret Caverns, which offers guided underground tours for visitors to explore the unique rock formations and underground waterfalls.

Black Chasm Cavern was formed by a process called sulfuric acid dissolution, where acidic groundwater slowly dissolved away the limestone rock to create the cave's intricate formations. Over time, mineral-rich groundwater filled the cave passages, leaving behind beautiful stalactites and stalagmites.