1. A cave is defined as an underground passage large enough for a person to crawl into, naturally formed, and in complete darkness.
Caves

2. How does a cave form? Rain dissolves Carbon Dioxide into Carbonic acid
Carbonic acid dissolves minerals in rock
Rock is sculpted in weak spots
Water seeps through rocks and makes underground waterways

3. How does a cave form?
When the water level drops, the waterway exits the rock through the exiting hole (resurgence)
Collections of water creates deep gaps in caves.
When the water level outside the cave drops, the cave empties and dries out.

5. Stalactites Stalactites
Formed by water that drops from the top of the cave andcontains calcite
The calcite is left when the water drops
Occasionally, stalactites will grow together with the stalagmites and will create a column.

6. Stalagmites Stalagmites: Form from the bottom of the cave
They grow about 1 cm every 1000 years because it is hard for water to evaporate in the moist cave

7. Types of Stalactites
Types of
Stalactites
Icicle Straw Drape

8. Types of Stalagmites
Dish Stack Fir Cone

9. Others

10. Types of Caves
Erosional- formed by the action of water or wind, carrying abrasive particles capable of carving rock

11. Types of Caves
Lava Tube- lava travels beneath the surface and is expelled by a volcano during an eruption

12. Types of Caves
Sea Caves- form from wave actions along the coast where areas are weak in sea cliffs

13. Types of Caves Solution Caves- form where rock is dissolved away
These are the LIMESTONE caves in Virginia
Carbonic Acid dissolves the LIMESTONE and makes a cave!

14. What is Karst
Karst topography is a landscape formed from the dissolving of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves.

15. Karst in VA

16. Cave Organisms Cave organisms fall into three basic classes:
Troglobites: “cave dwellers” animals that are specialized for cave life.
Can leave for short periods of time
Can complete parts of their life cycles above ground
Can’t live entire lives outside of the cave
Examples: some bacteria, some flatworms, and blindfish

17. Adaptations of Things that Live in Caves
Loss of pigment
Loss of eyes
Blue eyes (can absorb light better)
Elongation of appendages
Enhancement of other senses (can sense vibrations in water)
Echolocation

18. Cave Organisms
2. Troglophiles: “cave lovers” can live part or all of their lives in caves
Can complete a life cycle in certain environments on the surface
Examples: cave crickets, millipedes, pseudoscorpions, and spiders

19. Cave Organisms 3. Trogloxenes: “cave guests” Frequents caves
May require caves for a portion of it’s life cycle
Must return to the surface
Examples: Hibernating reptiles and mammals

20. Bats
Nocturnal
They sleep in the back of caves to keep from being eaten
Are found everywhere except Antarctica and the Artic
Hibernate in caves
When weather is warm, the bats leave the caves at night to find food
They are the only mammals that can fly
Wings are a membrane of skin that stretches from their body to their fingertips.

21. Little Brown Bats

22. Cave Species
Tooth cave spider

23. Cave Species
Gray Bat