Welcome to the Underworld of Kangaroo Island.
This cache requires you to partake in the Show Cave Tour and admire the array of stalactite, stalagmite, shawl, helictite and column formations. The name of Kelly Hill Caves is a result of the story on how it was discovered. In 1880 a local stockman called Kelsy, who was in pursuit of sheep that had strayed from his property. Riding his trusty horse named Kelly, they both fell into one of the big sink holes in the area. Kelsy managed to climb out, but he had to leave Kelly to get help for a rescue. He returned soon with help to rescue the horse, but it was gone. Depending which story you want to believe, 3 possible endings happened to the horse. All in all this story is definitely a good reason to name the caves after Kelly the horse.
But the caves were still not discovered, just the existence of caves and dolines in this area was mentioned by the people. The tourist history of the cave started with the local Harold Bell who explored the caves of the area and soon made the first guided tours with candlelight. He was appointed caretaker of the caves one year after the discovery and wrote a book about the cave the same year. At his time the chambers of the cave were numbered to allow visitors to find their way back. The remains can still be seen at the ceiling, as well as soot and carbon from the candles. The cave contains numerous speleothems, straws, stalactites and stalagmites, but most impressive are the various helictites.
How are they all formed? Stalactites are the ones we get hanging off the roof. They form when the water drips from the top and each time it drips we get these tiny amounts of crystal left behind. And then where they're dripping off, it lands on the floor, stays in the same spot and you start to get that crystal building up as a stalagmite coming up off the floor. How can you remember the difference? Stalactites hold on tight to the roof, Stalagmites might grow to the roof.
Columns are formed when the two reach, and straws have water and crystals flow through them. And the helicates? Well, no-one is quite sure, as they defy gravity.
The cave is actually a petrified sand dune which blew onto the island when the surrounding sea level dropped during an ice age about 2 million years ago. For the past half a million years or so water has been washing through to form these amazing caverns. Because of the various drop-holes or sinkholes surrounding the area, it has also acted as a pitfall trap for unwary animals, some well-known, but also large mega-fauna. This has been very exciting for various expedition groups, as they regularly find new caverns which brings with it new finds. The caverns are also home to various wildlife, such as owls and bats. As owls don’t digest all the bones of their prey, such as small mammals and lizards, they cough up ‘pellets’ of bones. After years of nesting in an area, you get a little mountain of bones building under the owls’ nests. In addition, over the years, as the human visitors have been walking and crawling through the sediment, they’ve kicked up bones and kindly put them in neat piles. While not ideal in one sense - because the fossils are now out of their original context - this has effectively flagged several sites within the caves worthy of excavating. University researchers have returned with well-preserved bones of short-faced kangaroos and some other important finds, such as the Kangaroo Island emu, which is about one quarter the size of a mainland emu.
For the scientists out there - The Kelly Hill caves in soft, homogenous, extremely porous dune limestone differ markedly in morphology from those in the more usual, dense, bedded limestones. Solution occurs at depth with great lateral spread through swamps overflowing into the base of the hill. Development occurs by roof breakdown as areas of solution become so large that the roof cannot support the weight; a theory of the mechanics is presented. Domes and tunnels of collapse rise above the watertable; at maturity there are isolated infalls from the surface. Water percolating down from the surface only builds secondary calcite deposits.
To complete this earthcache, you need to go to the Show Cave Tour and you can ask any of the friendly guides answers to the below questions - and bonus points if you have your picture taken in the cave.
You will need to email the answers to the following
1) - How deep does the Show Cave tour go?
2) - How much further could the cave system extend?
3) - Why is this cave unique in SA?
4) - What do you think happened to Kelly the horse?
Answers can all be obtained from one of the friendly guides when you partake in the Show Cave Tour. Make sure you bring a torch and a camera - you are allowed to take as many photos as you want in this earthcache.
Feel free to log your find with a photo as long as you have emailed your answers. Enjoy the cave adventure!
Information sourced from
Flinders University
Tourism SA
Dept. Environment and Heritage
Showcaves.com
CEGSA
Postcards SA