Seneca Caverns (Closed on Tuesdays)
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A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. Some people suggest that the term cave should only apply to cavities that have some part that does not receive daylight; however, in popular usage, the term includes smaller spaces like sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos. Exploring a cave for recreation or science may be called caving, potholing, or, in Canada and the United States, spelunking How limestone caves are formed A limestone cave or cavern is a natural cavity that is formed underneath the Earth’s surface that can range from a few metres to many kilometres in length and depth.
Most of the world’s caves, including those at the Cradle of Humankind, are formed in porous limestone. Over millions of years, acidic groundwater or underground rivers dissolve away the limestone, leaving cavities which grow over time.
Early life forms appeared in the oceans about 3.8-billion years ago. These were single-celled, blue-green algae, called cyanobacteria, which made their own food through photosynthesis, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere in the process.
Dolomitic limestone, a sedimentary rock, was formed over millions of years through chemical reactions generated by these early organisms. With movements within the Earth’s crust, the sedimentary dolomitic limestone eventually became exposed on dry land. As time passed the limestone, which is permeable and soluble, was eroded by water. Weak carbonic acid in rainwater, reacting with the chemicals in the rock, dissolved and eroded away the limestone as the water filtered into the underlying depths of sediments. Large hollow solution cavities were formed in the limestone in this way. Many cavities occur at various depths in a cave system due to the continual seepage and flow of the mildly acidic water through the deposits, while underground rivers may eventually carve their way through a mountainside, creating openings and entrances to the outside.
Other cave entrances include pit and depression areas that are located at the tops of caves.
Many beautiful structures – including stalagmites and stalactites – form inside caves as carbonic acid, carrying limestone, drips through cave roofs and onto their floors.
Flowstone
Flowstones are speleothems (deposits of calcium carbonate) on the walls or floor of a cave formed from a gradual flow of water over a relatively broad area.
Stalactite
The term stalactite comes from the Greek work stalaktos, which means “dripping”, because these other-worldly formations “drip” from the roofs of limestone caves. Essentially, water reacts with carbon-dioxide to form carbonic acid. It then seeps slowly through the roof of the cave, depositing calcium carbonate, which hardens and builds up over time to form a stalactite.
Stalagmite
Stalagmites are corresponding formations on the floor of caves to stalactites.
Stalagmites rise from the floor in a build-up of calcium carbonate over time, from mineral-bearing water dropped from the roof of the cave. The term stalagmite comes from the Greek word, stalagma, to “drop”.
Column
Sometimes, stalactites and stalagmites meet, forming a pillar or column of rock-hard calcium carbonate.
Helictite
A formation of calcium carbonate in a cave that grows in a twisted, curled fashion, like a helix (hence the name), seemingly defying the laws of gravity.
Record lengths, depths, pitches and volumes.
The cave system with the greatest total length of surveyed passage is Mammoth Cave (Kentucky, USA) at 591 kilometres (367 mi) in length. This record is unlikely to be surpassed in the near future, as the next most extensive known cave is Jewel Cave near Custer, South Dakota, at 225 kilometres (140 mi).
The deepest known cave (measured from its highest entrance to its lowest point) is Voronya Cave (Abkhazia), with a depth of 2,191 metres (7,188 ft). This was the first cave to be explored to a depth of more than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi). (The first cave to be descended below 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) was the famous Gouffre Berger in France.)
The Illyuzia-Mezhonnogo-Snezhnaya cave in Abkhazia, (1,753 metres or 5,751 ft) and the Lamprechtsofen Vogelschacht Weg Schacht in Austria (1,632 metres or 5,354 ft) are the current second- and third-deepest caves.
The deepest cave record has changed several times in recent years. The deepest vertical shaft in a cave is 603 metres (1,978 ft) in Vrtoglavica Cave in Slovenia.
The second deepest is Patkov Gušt at 553 metres (1,814 ft) in the Velebit mountain, Croatia.
The largest room ever discovered is the Sarawak chamber, in the Gunung Mulu National Park (Miri, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia), a sloping, boulder strewn chamber with an area of approximately 700 by 400 metres (2,297 by 1,312 ft) and a height of 80 metres (260 ft).
The nearby Clearwater Cave System is believed to be the world's largest cave by volume, with a calculated volume of 30,347,540 m3.
The largest passage ever discovered is in the Son Doong Cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Quang Binh Province, Vietnam. Explored by joint Vietnamese-British cave scientists of the British Cave Research Association, it is 4.6 km (2.9 mi) in length, 80 m (260 ft) high and wide over most of its length, but over 140 m (460 ft) high and wide for part of its length.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave
Congratulations to "EZS-Crew" for the FTF
Driving Directions for this cache Seneca Caverns is located in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia, just eight miles south of Seneca Rocks on Rt. 33.
After turning off Highway 33 follow the posted signs. Some GPS navigating devices will possibly lead you to a quarry instead of the Caverns.
IF YOU ARE ON A DIRT OR GRAVEL ROAD YOU ARE GOING THE WRONG DIRECTION!
The road name is Germany Valley Road (also known as County Route 9) This is a paved road all the way to the Caverns
Click on the link at top of the page for more details of prices etc.
An nominal fee is imposed for the tour, however a tour is NOT required for this cache.
In an email to me answer the following questions.
Answers can be found in free literature at this particular cache location.
1 - Take picture of your self (not required) in front of the gift shop with your gps.
2 - What is a column?
3 - Who were the first verifiable people to use the cave?
4 - The Stratosphere Cave is the oldest reported cave in the state if West Virginia. True or False?
5 - What color is the building with the public restrooms? Hint: It is across the parking lot.
6 - Did you enjoy your visit?
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)