Speleology

Carlsbad Caverns experience physical weathering primarily through frost wedging. This process occurs as water seeps into cracks in the rock, freezes, expands, and causes the rock to break apart over time. Additionally, temperature changes and the expansion and contraction of rock layers due to heating and cooling can also contribute to physical weathering at Carlsbad Caverns.

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

The Jenolan Caves in Australia are an example of karst landforms, formed by the dissolution of limestone over millions of years. These caves showcase unique geological formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, and underground rivers.

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.

Principally chemical as the limestone is dissolved by carbonic acid (rain-water acidified by absorbed atmospheric CO2). As the cave develops mechanical weathering of its stream-passages may contribute, by abrading the rock with sand carried in the stream.

The temperature of a cave is usually close to the average annual temperature for the region where it's located. For example, caves in Texas can be as warm as 70º F. Caves in Missouri might be between 55º F and 60º F. Caves in Wisconsin might be a chilly 50º F.

They act as conduits for the ground-waterso putting into contact with the limestone to initiatedissolution of the limestone. Consequently they also guide passage directions and morphologies.

At a much later stage they control the nature of collapses in large voids.

No, alluvial fans are typically found in arid regions and are formed by the deposition of sediment carried by water flowing out of a canyon or valley. Groundwater erosion of limestone forms features such as valleys, sinkholes, and caverns in karst landscapes, where soluble rock like limestone is dissolved by acidic water. These two processes occur in different geologic settings and are not directly related.

They are not somuch large because they are full of ice, but happen to be large caves thataccumulate a lot ofice; and the size ofany individual cave depends on awhole (hole? -sorry!) range of geological, hydrological and climatic factors specidif to that cave and its location.

Solar energy is indirectly responsible for driving the geological process of weathering by providing the energy that fuels the water cycle. Solar radiation leads to evaporation of water, which then falls as precipitation, causing physical and chemical weathering of rocks over time. The combination of heat and water from the sun accelerates the process of weathering in shaping the Earth's surface.

As the water drips from the roof of the cave, it can form stalactites and stalagmites over time through a process called calcification, where minerals in the water build up and harden. This process can create unique and intricate formations in caves.

Smaller soil particles create smaller pore spaces, reducing permeability by slowing water flow. Larger soil particles have larger pore spaces, allowing water to flow more easily through the soil.

Carbonic acid, which forms when rainwater combines with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, dissolves limestone over time to form caves and caverns. This process, known as chemical weathering, gradually dissolves the calcium carbonate in limestone to create underground voids and unique geological formations.

That is such a common question on ‘Answers’ I wrote this single reply I can simply paste!

Most of the world’s caves are in Limestone.

Caves need three materials: a soluble rock like Limestone or Gypsum, water and carbon-dioxide (CO2).

Their host limestone also needs to be of appropriate physical structure and raised into hills, then subjected to reasonably consistent precipitation for many tens or hundreds of thousands of years.

Limestone is a sedimentary rock of which the world’s greater proportion was laid down in warm, relatively shallow, seas. The rock was laid in horizontal layers – Beds – separated by Bedding-planes which generally reflect geologically-brief changes in the environment. The suite of beds is known as a Formation, generally named after its “type area”.

Later continental uplift (tectonic processes) raise the formation along with its underlying rocks, usually tilting and folding it to at least some extent in the process. Since most rocks are brittle they cannot take much stress, and limestone beds crack into grids of fine fractures called Joints. The uplift and folding often also causes Faulting – major breaks with the rock mass one side of the Fault Plane being raised, lowered or moved horizontally past that on the opposite side. (Note: Plane – the “Fault Line” sometimes misused as a political metaphor is that of the fault-plane cutting the land surface.)

Now we have the hills, next we need rain-water that has absorbed atmospheric CO2 to create Carbonic Acid (weak but natural soda water in fact!). This permeates through all those joints, bedding-planes and faults; flowing very, very slowly under considerable pressure applied by its depth, from its sinks on the surface to its springs at the base of the formation. In doing so, it dissolves the limestone (chemical weathering), creating meshes of tiny micro-conduits that over many tens of thousands of years coalesce and capture each other to form cave passages.

Once this happens, the rate of erosion can increase – though still to perhaps only a few millimetres per thousand years under generally temperate climates.

A cave, or series within a cave system, that still carries its formative stream is called “Active”, and is still being developed.

Surface changes such as the valley floor being lowered by erosion, or down-cutting within the cave by its stream, changes the water’s route and the original, now dried-out, stream-way is called “Fossil” or “Abandoned”. Such passages may be filled with silt left by floods as the main flow gradually abandons them; or may become richly decorated with Speleothems – calcite deposits such as stalactites and stalagmites precipitated from ground-water still oozing through the joints in the limestone above the cave. In time such passages may start to break down as there is no stream to dissolve away slabs falling from the roof as permeating ground-water attacks the rock above.

In the end, surface lowering of the landscape as a whole, breaches and destroys the cave. Nothing is permanent in Nature!

Caves in limestone are also parts of Karst Landscape. i.e. a landscape developed by the dissolution of limestone, giving surface features like Dolines, Limestone Pavement, and in the tropics, distinctive hills such as those represented in Chinese Willow-pattern images. ‘Karst’ is from the Slavic word ‘Kras’, the name for its world type-area.

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The above is purely an introduction to a vastly more complex and subtle series of processes, of course, and I would refer you to appropriate text-books on geology and cave studies to learn these.

The scientific study of caves is Speleology – embracing geology, hydrology, biology, archaeology and other disciplines.

Simply visiting caves to enjoy them for their scenery and the physical and mental challenges they present, is called Caving, though you can’t study a cave unless you can negotiate its obstacles. We caving enthusiasts are simply Cavers, throughout the English-speaking world – not “spelunkers”, which appears to be merely rude, USA-only, slang for novices and dilettantes!

Discontinuities in mathematics refer to points on a function where there is a break in the graph. They can occur when the function is not defined at a particular point or when the function approaches different values from the left and right sides of the point. Common types of discontinuities include jump discontinuities, infinite discontinuities, and removable discontinuities.

World's largest ice cave presently known is in Austria: the Eisriesenwelt. It's a normal limestone cave with >42km of known passages, many richly decorated with lovely ice layers and formations. Show-cave in parts.

A large hole in the ground formed when the roof of a cavern collapses is known as a sinkhole. Sinkholes can vary in size and are typically caused by natural processes such as erosion and the dissolution of soluble rocks like limestone.

When lava solidifies, it is called igneous rock.

In theory yes, if the caves' formative stream cuts down to the insouble basement under the limestone. The visible floor ofa cave is often not the host rock, but sediments, boulders, etc covering the true floor.

Yes, marble does contain quartz. Quartz is one of the minerals that can be present in marble, along with other minerals like calcite and dolomite. The amount of quartz in marble can vary, but it contributes to the overall composition and appearance of the stone.

It and the other planets condensed from an accretion-disc of gas and dust (of the elements) and these heated by compression as they collected material at high velocity onto their original cores by gravity.

I'm not quite sure what you mean, but georesistivity has been used to establish the presence and location of cavities. It is not very successful though because the void need only be mm wide, especially if filled with air, to show up.

Someyears ago a vibreiosis line(artifical seismicity) was undertaken across the cavernous Mendip Hills, in SW England, and local cavers asked to be told if it revealed any cavities. The survey company were interested but had to regret tha apart from commercial sensitivity of the data, their technicques would not show anything definite less than several hundred feet below ground, so would not detect caves.

Sensitive gravimetry might show up very large chambers.

Gorund-penetrating radar will work to a point, and was used in Gaping Gill (NW English, Pennine hills)to survey the very deep sediment covering the floor of the Main Chamber. It revealed the major current-bedding in the sediments, but whether it would show much in surface surveys I don't know. It depends on its penetration range and definition.