Caves : The World Beneath the World!

Caves: The World Beneath the World!

Back to the Cave!

Gruta do Lago Azul, Bonito, Brazil. "Symphony of Stones"(how aptly named)

Garni caves inArmenia. Fairyland CaveFormations Caves are a fairyland of delight, fromthe burning hot enclaves to the glacial ice mazes. Thousands of years ofdripping water, eroding stone and budding minerals create a silent worldof mystery and beauty... Graceful arches, giant crystals... silent but forthe sound of water dripping and bubbling through.

A "WishingWell" at Luray Caverns in Virginia The most common type ofcaves form when slightly acidic rainwater trickles into the crevices oflimestone and gradually widens the cracks as it dissolves the stone.Centuries of water, supersaturated with minerals, dripping from cave roofscause stalagmites and stalactites to form (see here).

Onething to keep in mind during cave exploration: though these structures aremade of minerals, they are generally extremely thin and fragile, many ofthem are quite rare, and can be damaged or destroyed by touch alone.Calcite (the mineral which forms many cave structures), for example, issoft enough to be scratched by a fingernail. Some of the cave androck formations: - Flowstone (also known as a Bacon formation) -Cave Pearls - Soda Straws - Helictites - Anthodites (orAragonite) - Bottlebrush formation

Probably the mostcomprehensive cave-exploration site on the net is that of Dave Bunnell...You can spend hours there, wandering around pages, cataloging whimsicalunderground structures, oozing rock and dripping stone.

(Gruta doMimoso, Brazil)

Largest CaveSystems

We mentioned the Jeita Grotto - the largestcave system in the Middle East- in our recent Lebanon article. The longestknown stalactite in the world is found there at 8.2 meters long. The deepest known cave is Voronya Cave in Abkhazia, Georgia and has beenexplored to a depth of 2191 meters. The longest continuous cavesystem yet explored is Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, covering 591kilometers. Let's have a short world tour of the most interestingcaves, why don't we? We'll start with North America Alreadymentioned Luray Caverns in Virginia are full of celebrated speleothemsformations, calcite crystals of abnormal shapes - all formed when thechambers were completely filled with water, highly charged with acid. Theacid began to eat away the softer material, resulting in ornate pinnaclesand arches...

One of the deepest knowncave pits, Fantastic Pit in Georgia's Ellison's Cave descends 586 feet(179 meters) in a straight tunnel:

Glacial Caves and IceCaverns Some ice caves must rather be called"glacier caves", which can simply astound with the intensity of icecolor:

Here is a wonderful pageof ice caves photography by Jason Gulley:

No sign of Superman orMegatron there yet:

Mount Kenya'sIce Cave Bobby Model, National Georgaphic

Ice Cave inMatanuska Glacier, Alaska Alot of ice caves grow "hair" - ice extrusions, some are quitestrange-looking:

Brazil: Crystalline UndergroundWaters

Mato Grosso do Sul region in Brazil (andespecially the quiet town of Bonito) boasts many marvelous undergroundlakes: Gruta do Lago Azul, Gruta do Mimoso, Aquário Natural. Intricatelimestone formations and grottos hide the intensely-colored pools andwaterfalls (many adventure tours there feature diving, some pools are morethan 100 meters deep):

Limestone caves in thesame region offer fantastic exploration:

Venezuela: Cave of theGhost

Cueva del Fantasma is big enough for twohelicopters to fly into it, but it's not technically a cave - rather, acollapsed gorge. It does, however, sport a huge waterfall right inside ofit:

Iran: tremendous cavesystem

Katale Khor is a cave dating back to theJurassic period. It's one of the "snow caves" in the Southwest Zanjanprovince and connects to other caves - a huge underground infra-structurewhich can hide who knows what (definitely anti-American... wink wink). Seemore pictures here

Can't get enough imagesof Iran's natural beauty? See our previous articles... a country full ofgreat sights and dubious politics. Vietnam: Hang Thien Cungcave There are plenty of caves in Vietnam, and justlike in China, many are illuminated with garish colors. (see here). Butsometimes even artificial light takes back stage to the incredible rocktextures:

Mexico: Giant SeleniteCrystals!

In 2000, one of the most unusual andsplendid caves was found in Mexico by miners. Located only a mile from anupthrust of magma, this cave is 112 degrees Farenheit and at 90-100%humidity, limiting greatly the amount of time explorers can spend in it.It is a spectacular cave, with gigantic crystal formations thought to be600,000 yearsold.

The crystals formedunderwater; as water saturated with calcium sulfate heated in the cavernselenite molecules crystallized and grew, undisturbed, to giantproportions. The cave was drained (by unknowing miners) in the 1980's andstopped the process of growth. Who knows what we may find further on, inthe heat and water? A description of one photographer's attempt todocument this cave is here.

"It is unquestionablymagical that the cool white rays of moonlight can originate deepunderground in a black chamber that is, at least in my perception, whitehot." (Richard Fisher, photographer, comments on the huge selenitecrystals.)

A GiantGeode

Geodes are normally formed by volcanic orsedimentary geologic activity - a cavity in the rock is formed, insidewhich crystals begin to grow, such as amethyst, quartz or a number ofothers. Most geodes are small enough to fit in your hand, but this one islarge enough to climb inside. The crystals found here are gypsum. - Moreinfo.

The largest Geode Cavein US is located in Ohio: Crystal Cave, check it out. Ancient CaveCities Khosrov Caves in Armenia served as a shelterto ancient tribes - in a perfectly cinematic location: