Linville Caverns EarthCache EarthCache
Linville Caverns EarthCache
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This is an EarthCache of the cave variety. There are some narrow passages, slippery areas and low hanging rocks. Total darkness and bats will be involved.
Congrats to MSwahoo & the Cache Hound Posse for being the FTF!!!
Welcome to the Linville Caverns EarthCache!
Linville Caverns are the only show caverns in the state of North Carolina. Discovered in 1822 by local fisherman and located in the Blue Ridge Mountains at the foot of Humpback Mountain Linville Caverns is a great example of a cave formed by way of solutional and erosive processes.
Solutional caves are formed when ground water begins to seep into the planes and cracks of a mass of rock composed of dolomite, limestone, salt, gypsum or marble and containing at least 80% calcium carbonate. The water as it moves through the ground from the surface gains acidity. As water comes in contact with the calcium carbonate a weak acid, carbonic acid, is formed. This allows the water to then dissolve the minerals that make up the rock and hold them in solution. As the rock begins to break down, the cracks grow to fissures. As the fissures widen the volume of water moving past the rock grows and may begin to flow at which point erosion formation may add to the solutional process. Other factors such as humidity and temperature also play a role in the process.
As the fissures grow, rooms can form. With a well established floor and ceiling to the cave water can begin to drip down or flow from the walls. The water carrying away the chemical makeup from the surrounding rock can now redeposit these chemicals. The redeposition of the minerals can create cave formations know as stalactites, stalagmites or flowstone among others.
Stalactites are long pointed formations the grow from the roof down toward the floor as water drips down depositing the chemical makeup on the end before it falls, adding to its length. Stalagmites or the reverse. They grow from the floor up as water drips down repeated onto the spot below depositing the chemical make up of the rock once it lands.
Flowstone, is formed when water seeps from a crack in the wall of a cave and as it flows down it deposits minerals in sheets along the walls. The build up along the edges, wrinkles and cracks in the walls can, over time, produce interesting shapes resembling everyday objects, the names of which are often used in naming the room in which they occur.
Please remember that these processes are chemical processes. The oil from fingers can impede the ability of the minerals that form these features to bind together, slowing or stopping the process of formation. Stalactites and Stalagmites form at a rate of only 1/2 inch every one hundred years. Please, obey the cavern regulations at all times.
Humans are not the only living things with an interest in caves. Caves provide homes for a number of species of animals. The term for a species that has made a home in caves is troglobite. Troglobites can come in many shapes and sizes. Spiders, bats, fish, shrimp, and salamanders can fall into this catagory. Trogloblitic animals will often display adaptations to life within the cave such as loss of pigmentation or changes to the structure of the eyes. Other adaptations can include heightened senses or elongation of the apendages.
Within Linville Caverns, a species of fish as well as the Eastern Pipstrell and Small Brown bats have made a home. Look for the creatures as you tour through.
To qualify for this cache you must answer four questions, take 1 picture and uphold the Leave No Trace philosophy at all times.
First: Within the cave there is a room with what appears to be a ceremony of some sort going on. What is this ceremony?
Second: In what way has life underground changed some of the fish that live there?
Third: From what type of rock are the caverns formed?
Four: The temperature is taken in the cave twice a week. What was the most recent temperature taken prior to your visit and what is the temperature outside the cave on the day of your visit?
Now, just take a picture of you and/or your GPSr at the entrance to the caverns and post it here or email it with you answer. Remember, do not post answers within the log, send them to me by way of email for credit.
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