Speleology

Prehistoric people used torches made from animal fat, which emitted a flickering light, to illuminate the caves. They also used natural light sources such as daylight entering through the cave entrance or reflected light from the ground. These methods, along with their adaptation to darkness over time, allowed them to see well enough to create elaborate cave paintings in the deep recesses of the Lascaux caves.

When refering to caves, often people say "underground caves." This sounds awkward to a caver as all caves are under ground. However, what the person may mean is that a cave that is under the ocean. Or they are more likely refering that they were in passage that was below ground level. For example, you may enter a cave at ground level and walk for a ways, before descending into darkness. When people enter man-made caves at amusement parks, they may say that they went into an "above ground cave" which further confuses the issue.

The caves at Ajanta were significant because of their religious associations and their ages. The caves began to be excavated around the 200 BC mark, and were abandoned in 650 AD. 24 of the caves were used as monasteries, and the other five were temples in their own right.

There isn't a "should" - you don't have to!

People visit show-caves to see something of the natural underground world in a degree of comfort and electric floodlighting, viewing large passages, chambers, stalactites & stalagmites, streams or lakes from concrete paths.

The drawback, which many modern show-cave owners do recognise, is the growth of "lampenflora" - a German term for algae and ferns flourishing in the flood-lamp light, and therefore spoiling the natural rock surfaces.

Cavers go a little further; exploring or simply visiting caves that have not been altered from their natural state. They do so for various reasons that fall into one or more of these broad categories:

Aesthetic - appreciating the underground scenery and the landscape in which it lies.

"Sporting" - the physical & mental challenges of the non-competitive outdoor pursuit.

Scientific - studying professionally or as amateurs, the hydrological & geological development of the cave and its features, its wildlife, archaeological evidence, etc.

Whatever the reasons, caving also provides a close-knit social life for many people from a range of backgrounds, nationalities, etc., across national as well as local boundaries.

Their specific geology, hydrology etc., and the fact that although they mayy have features in common, no one specimen of a class of landforms is exactly the same as any other.

At a more aesthetic level caves offer a totally different environment to anything else on the planet.

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.

Caverns are important for various reasons. They provide habitat for unique and often rare species, including cave-dwelling organisms. They also serve as natural storage areas for groundwater, which helps maintain water resources. Additionally, caverns can be valuable for scientific research, recreation, and tourism, contributing to local economies and education about the natural world.

Yes, caves are formed when carbonic acid, which is created by the reaction of water with carbon dioxide, dissolves underground limestone. Over time, the dissolved limestone is carried away by water, creating large openings and chambers that we call caves.

The Ajanta Caves were built during the period of the 2nd century BCE to 5th century CE. These ancient Buddhist rock-cut caves are located in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. They are renowned for their beautiful murals and paintings that depict the life and teachings of Buddha.

Anything from a few feet to many tens of miles, but lengths over 100miles are very rare.

Flint Ridge / Mammoth Cave is the world's longest known system with its surveyed passages lengths totalling well over 350 miles!

Dark, very dark...

Each cave is individual but they share characteristics for their type. If we stick to caves in limetone, by far the most common, they have any or all of:

General passage cross-sections related to the geology and the way they developed, ranging from low horizontal tubes and bedding-planes, to spacious tunnels and canyons or great big chambers or vertical shafts.

Erosion features in the roof and walls, created by the stream that formed the passage, and specific to caves.

Streams, if "active", with any or all of pools, cascades, waterfalls, shoals and so on. And "sumps" - water-filled sections of passage normally passable, if at all, only by fully-equippped, properly-trained cave-divers.

Bare rock floors, or floors covered with sediments ranging from fine silt to boulders - indeed the sediments may choke the passage completely. Features within the sediment: varves, cross-bedding, sorting, etc.

Speleothems - calcite formations (stalactites & stalagmites etc).

Specialist wildlife such as bats, certain fish and invertebrates. Fungi. No green plants: the ferns and algae growing round the lamps in some show-caves, and called "lampenflora", are a type of pollution introduced as spores on visitors' clothes.

Sometimes, fossils may be visible in the walls. No we don't collect them!

Stratigraphical and structural controls and features such as folding, stylolites, shale or chert horizons, and of course the joints, bedding-planes and strata.

Caves in marble (metamorphosed limestone) may reveal igneous intrusions; the marble having been dissolved away from around them.

Cave passages developed on faults, show fault features such as the displacement, breccia and slickensides.

Lots of things - that's why they are so fascinating!

Acidic ground water (rain-water that has absorbed atmospheric carbon dioxide to form carbonic acid) dissolving the limestone as it flows through the joints & other discontinuities in the rock mass.

When rock above a cave collapses, a sinkhole is formed.

You'd need to consult the area's geology map to understand fully, but very simply there must be a bed of impervious & impermeable rock lying below the limestone that actually holds the caves, to keep the cave-forming water up in the limestone's formation.

Most caverns form through a process called speleogenesis, which occurs when groundwater dissolves limestone or other soluble rocks over millions of years. These dissolved materials create openings and passages underground, eventually forming caverns. The most common locations for cavern formation are in areas with thick limestone deposits, such as karst regions.

The landscape you are referring to is likely characterized by karst topography. Karst landscapes are formed by the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, creating features like caves, deep valleys, and sinkholes. These areas often have unique water drainage systems, as water flows underground through the porous rock layers.

Caves can be found in various geological formations such as mountains, cliffs, and underground. They can be found all over the world, both on land and underwater. Some famous cave systems include Mammoth Cave in the United States, Waitomo Caves in New Zealand, and the Caves of Drach in Spain.

Sadly and bizzarely, the one thing missing from this show-cave's own publicity web-site is anything about the cave! It's shown to be a river cave, and there is a photograph of a tour party on a boat - from which it is possible to deduce the cave is a normal, active (still developing) stream cave formed by the dissolution of its surrounding limestone by water.

It's famous for its maginificent cave paintings. Sadly, opening the cave to tourism led to the artwork deteriorating, so the authorities built an accurate, fully artificialcopy of the cave and copied the paintinginto that. The originals are safely sealed, protecting the art for both genuine research and simple respect for it.

Chlorophyll does,it works as a ''food factory''

The Painted Cave located on the Channel Island of Santa Cruz is home to many marine animals. Sea anemones and sponges normally brightly colored near the entrance to the cave will lose their color in the dark sunless reaches. Sea Lions also make their home on exposed ledges in the cave most of the year.

Some animals that live in caves are bats, cave crawdads, fresh water shrimp.

The last two in fact are ina range of terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates that favour caves for at least some shelter, or indeed live all their lives underground.

A range of terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates use caves for shelter, and some are adapted to live underground for their full lives.

I'm not sure what you class as "bugs" because the word is American & I'm not, soI don't know if it is limited to beetles, but you can find some species of beetles in caves.Nor do I know American cave invertebrates though I imagine they are not far different from those in the UK.

The other little animals include (in UK caves at least) a tiny insect called a "fungus gnat", springtails, a few moth species (part-time),certain spiders,and, in the water, freshwater shrimps and various mites.

I don't know what the question is but animals adapt to their habitats to survive. Bird beaks vary according to what grows around them as food. Sharper beaks mean they would eat meat, more rounded beaks mean they probably eat berries. Sea stars have spines to protect them from predators and thick skins to protect them from dessication. The camoflage on the fur of an animal comes into play for predator vs prey competition. Another special feature that an organism could have is a reaction. For example, sea cucumbers autoeviscerate. That means essentialy the throw up their intestines, which are devoured by a predator while the rest of the sea cucumber swims away. (The intestines are regenerated.) There are many features which help orgamnisms to survive in their habitats.