-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
The Baugus Cave site is a local tourist attraction for the area that has been visited frequently by local and out of state visitors since the 1800's. The cave is located 8 miles north of Parsons, TN.
The Baugus Cave site was originally owned by the George Washington Baugus family which moved to Decatur County in 1890 and built a large two-story 12 room house. There were 12 children in the Baugus family, 6 boys and 6 girls. The house was built on their 800 acres of land near Jeanette and extended to the Tennessee river. The cave site also contains a cold spring where the Baugus family would keep milk, vegtables and other foods before the days of refrigeration. In 1964, the Baugus mansion was completely destroyed by fire. Please be careful and respect the beauty of this location.
Baugus Cave is a natural cave which is a cavity beneath the earth’s surface. It was formed when slightly acidic water combines with limestone or dolomitic rock, and dissolves the rock, creating a cavity. It also has a spring exiting the cave which is a natural discharge of water from a rock or soil to the surface.
What is a cave?
A cave is a natural underground void large enough for a human to enter. Some people suggest that the term 'cave' should only apply to cavities that have some part which does not receive daylight; however, in popular usage, the term includes smaller spaces like sea caves, rock shelters and grottos.
How Caves Are Formed:
Caves are formed in many ways. By far, the most common way is by the dissolution of sedimentary rock by acidic water. There are other forces that can create caves. Following are the descriptions of several.
Rainwater - By far, most of the caves in the world were formed by a process supported by rainwater. The rainwater seeps into the soil until it reaches the water table, which is where the soil, rock, or other material is saturated with water. The water, which has become acidic (possibly from various sources), eats away at the rock at the bottom of the water table, eventually forming channels. The larger a channel becomes, the more water it holds and the faster this dissolution process progresses. Typically, a cave forms over a period of several million years. Later, the water table can drop leaving the void of the cave, and the expansion of the cave channels stops.
Waves - Over time, waves crashing against the base of a cliff can form a sea cave. A sea cave forms along a vertical zone of weakness in the rock, perhaps a crack or an area of softer rock. The erosive power of the waves wear away the rock, creating an opening that can deepen and expand with an overhang where the cliff rises above the waves. Sea caves are typically found in sedimentary rock such as sandstone and limestone. They are less commonly formed in hard rock such as granite.
Lava - Lava, which is molten rock on the surface of the earth, can create long intricate cave systems. When lava flows, it typically flows down a slope in a shape that resembles a long skinny tongue. The "tongue" is a channel of flowing lava, with the hotter, faster-flowing lava in the center of the channel and the cooling lava closer to the edges of the channel. The cooling lava on the edges solidifies, forming walls and eventually a "crust" over the top of the lava flow. When the eruption stops, the remaining lava flows out of the voids and a tube-like cave remains. Additional lava flows can occur over the top of the cave, burying the cave deeper and deeper.
Bacteria - There are bacteria that thrive on oil deposits deep within the earth. These bacteria, which are named extremophiles because they thrive in extreme conditions, expel a gas that combines with oxygen to create sulfuric acid. This highly corrosive acid eats away at limestone, leaving behind gypsum, and creating the large voids of caves. This bacterial process can feed upon itself, with some of the bacteria eating the byproducts and other minerals, accelerate the formation of caves.
Manmade - The word "cave" implies a feature created by natural forces, therefore there really is no such thing as a manmade cave. We have other words to describe the holes that humans have created in the earth. Humans have dug holes for many reasons, including shelter, passage, mining, disposal, battle, escape, etc.
To log this earthcache you must post a picture of you holding your GPS with the cave in the background and email me the answers to the following questions...
1)What are the estimated dimensions of the opening of the cave?
2)What is your opinion on how the cave was formed?
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)