Open Memorial Day to Labor Day.
THIS IS SEASONAL, BUT KEEPING IT ACTIVE FOR THOSE PLANNING A VISIT.
EARTHCACHE REQUIREMENTS
Each cacher must send his/her own answers BEFORE logging a find. Enjoy the journey (learning adventure) as well as the destination (smiley earned). Remember to take only pictures and leave only footprints. To get credit for this Earthcache, complete the following tasks:
1. MESSAGE …. The caverns were originally opened as a tourist attraction without heed to education and conservation. Name one evidence of this damage due to souvenir collectors.
2. MESSAGE …. Name one living organism (plant or animal) that you encountered in the cavern.
3. MESSAGE …. Give two differences between a cave and a cavern.
4. MESSAGE …. Speleothems come in a variety of colors. Name each color and the mineral responsible for the color.
5. LOG …. Post a picture of you or your signature item anywhere along the Lincoln Caverns tour. This picture is your log signature.
OPTIONAL - Please respect the time and effort involved in finding and creating this earthcache by adding the following to your log.
A. JOURNEY OF THE MIND ... Science explains what we observe. Relate (in your own words) something you found interesting in the reading. This adds to your learning adventure and your log.
B. JOURNEY OF THE HEART ... Art shares our personal experience of what we see. Share something special you found on site, and why it is special to you. This is a memorable addition to your log and will make other hearts smile.
Journeys of Heart and Mind ...
Stories to Touch the Heart and Puzzles to Challenge the Mind / Rainbow Tree Story
C. SPELEOTHEM CHALLENGE. How did you do? (See Resources)
D. VIRTUAL CAVE TOUR. What part of the tour did you like the best? Explain. (See Resources)
FORMATION OF LIMESTONE AND CAVERNS
Many years ago the earth was covered with shallow oceans. In these oceans were strange forms of life that used the lime from the sea water to form their shell homes. As they died, they settled to rest on the ocean floor. Their shells grew deeper and deeper at the bottom of the ocean. Under the pressure of the ocean water, the shells were pressed down into rock we now call limestone.
When the continents collided, the force of the collision uplifted the limestone to form the Appalachian Mountains. The land was pelted by torrential rain and this water flowed through the cracks and crevices, slowly widening them into the rooms and passageways we walk through today. The process stopped when the water table lowered and air enttered the cavern. This condition allowed rain water to seep down through the soil and limestone, as it still does today, carrying with it a mineral called calcium carbonate (lime). When this mineral hits the air in the cavern, it crystallizes forming speleothems, commonly called cave formations. These crystals are known as calcium crystals. Speleothems form at varying rates, depending upon the amount of water entering the caverns and the temperature of the outside air. On an average it takes 120 years for a cubic inch to form.
SPELEOTHEMS
Speleothems take various forms, depending on whether the water drips, seeps, condenses, flows, or ponds.
DRIPSTONE is calcium carbonate in the form of stalactites or stalagmites.
Stalactites are pointed pendants hanging from the cave ceiling, from which they grow.
Soda straws are very thin but long stalactites having an elongated cylindrical shape rather than the usual more conical shape of stalactites. Helictites are stalactites that have a central canal with twig-like or spiral projections that appear to defy gravity.
Chandeliers are complex clusters of ceiling decorations.
Stalagmites are the "ground-up" counterparts of stalactites, often seen as blunt mounds.
Broomstick stalagmites are very tall and spindly.
Totem pole stalagmites are also tall and shaped like their namesakes.
Columns result when stalactites and stalagmites meet or when stalactites reach the floor of the cave.
FLOWSTONE is sheetlike and found on cave floors and walls.
Draperies or curtains are thin, wavy sheets of calcite hanging downward.
Bacon is a drapery with variously colored bands within the sheet.
Rimstone dams, or gours, occur at stream ripples and form barriers that may contain water.
Stone waterfall formations simulate frozen cascades.
CAVE CRYSTALS Dogtooth spar are large calcite crystals often found near seasonal pools.
Frostwork is needle-like growths of calcite or aragonite.
Moonmilk is white and cheese-like.
Anthodites are flower-like clusters of aragonite crystals.
SPELEOGENS (technically distinct from speleothems) are formations within caves that are created by the removal of bedrock, rather than as secondary deposits. These include: Pillars - Scallops - Boneyard – Boxwork
OTHERS
Popcorn is small, knobby clusters of calcite.
Cave pearls are the result of water dripping from high above, causing small "seed" crystals to turn over so often that they form into near-perfect spheres of calcium carbonate.
Snottites are colonies of speleobacteria and have the consistency of "snot", or mucous.
LINCOLN CAVERNS
For hours and admission see: http://www.lincolncaverns.com/index.html
Lincoln Caverns was discovered in May of 1930 during the construction of U.S. Route 22. Thirteen months later, on June 25, 1931, it was opened to the public as Hi-Way-May Caverns. When Myron Dunlavy, Sr. found out about the availability of Hi-Way-May Caverns he entered into a five-year lease/purchase agreement. From 1932 until 1937 the name was William Penn Caverns. After purchasing the business, Myron Sr. decided to honor the President he most admired, changing the name to Lincoln Caverns.
Myron Dunlavy, Jr. came to Huntingdon as a teenager to work at Lincoln Caverns and attend Juniata College in Huntingdon. Like his father, he was an avid caver, and spent much of his spare time digging in sinkholes atop Warrior Ridge looking for other caves on the property. In September of 1941 he discovered Whisper Rocks.
In 1972 Myron, Jr.’s daughter, Ann Dunlavy, returned to Huntingdon and worked at the cave as a guide while attending Juniata College. In 1977 she returned to Huntingdon to become manager and caretaker of Lincoln Caverns. The operation of the caverns has remained a family affair with Ann’s mother, Marion Dunlavy serving as Secretary-Treasurer, and Myron serving as President until the time of his death in December 2005.
When touring a solutional cave (one formed below the water table), you are actually inside the groundwater system.
Lincoln Tunnel .... Lincoln Tunnel was blasted in 1984 to eliminate crossing Route 22 to enter the cave. The gray rock you see around the entrance is actually gunnite (sprayed concrete) used to stabilize the rocks following the blasting.
Mystery Room .... Mr. Dunlavy drove a pipe through the bank of laterite (cave clay) and discovered two unusual things. There were several live bats hanging from the ceiling with no apparent way for the bats to have entered. Several speleothems on the ceiling were broken and the peices were nowhere to be found. Neither of these mysteries have been fully solved.
Pagoda Avenue ... Pagoda Avenue, named for the pagoda shaped stalagmites, is a tube passage caved uniformly on all sides by water. Here the limestone bedrock in which the caverns were formed is clearly visible. This is Helderberg Limestone, formed about 375 million years ago.
Lobby Room .... This was the original entrance discovered while excavating for Route 222.
Wall Street Canyon .... This is a canyon-like passage measuring 40' at its highest point, and no more than 4'-5' wide at any point.
Beaded Palace .... These beads are formed when water seeps out between cracks in the limestone, and through the crystal structure of the beads themselves. Water dripping down over the irregularities in the cave wall smoothes them out.
Palace of Splendor .... This is the oldest section of the cave, and has the greatest amount of speleothems. Three distinct levels are visible from this room.
Pearl Room .... Cave pearls are one of the rarest types of speleothems. They form when a piece of dirt or sand in a pool of mineral water collect minerals from the water around it. They are similar in appearance to cave beads, but they are free floating. Three pearls were found in this room and were taken to the State Museum in Harrisburg. Current whereabouts is unknown.
Frozen Niagara .... A large, active flowstone measuring 90' long and 40' high. The discoloration is algae, carried into the cave as spores on the clothing of visitors.
Purity Room .... This is the purest of all the flowstones found in the caverns. It lacks any iron oxide or laterite coloring. These minerals are deposited in the Frozen Niagara, allowing just calcium carbonate to filter through.
Sunset Lake .... This is the lowest point discovered to date. It is 30' below the highway and 115' below the top of the mountain.
Speleothems .... These are some of the speleothems found in the various rooms of this cave.
A bat is hanging out in one of the photos.
ROCK-WATER RELATIONSHIP
Water is necessary for speleothems to form. The nature of the cave formation depends on whether the water drips, seeps, condenses, flows, or ponds.
RESOURCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speleothem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Speleothems
http://www.caverntours.com/cgp1.htm
SPELEOTHEM CHALLENGE www.nps.gov/cave/forkids/upload/SpChallenge.pdf
VIRTUAL CAVE TOUR. http://www.goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave/