KUNA CAVES are an underground lava tube cave found south of Kuna, Idaho. There is currently one publicly known entrance to the cave, an opening in the ground with a caged ladder leading down into the cave.
HISTORY OF KUNA CAVE, sometimes also called Kuna Caves, is a lava tube located south of Kuna Butte, some 7km south of Kuna. The entrance is a rather small hole in the ground, where the ceiling of the cave collapsed. The cave is entered through a caged iron ladder. Once the floor is reached, the cave is almost horizontal. The tube runs about 400m to the north and about 100m to the south.
One legend about the cave fits the second most common cave legend, the hidden treasure. In the 1880 a bandit held up a stage and got away with a strongbox. This box contained USD 40,000 in gold coins, owned by a bank in Boise, which made the box rather heavy. The only way to transport the box was dragging it behind his horse, with his lariat tied to the box and his saddle. The result were marks in the ground and the posse of lawmen which followed him had no problem to find him. The marks ended at the entrance of Kuna Cave and inside they found the empty strongbox. When some men entered the cave to flush out the outlaw, he escaped through a second entrance, but he was seen and killed. But when the men searched the cave, they could not find any hint of the gold. He must have hidden it inside the cave, where it still lies.
LAVA TUBES are natural conduits through which lava travels beneath the surface of a lava flow, expelled by a volcano during an eruption. They can be actively draining lava from a source, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased and the rock has cooled and left a long, cave-like channel.
FORMATION of lava tubes occur when an active low-viscosity lava flow develops a continuous and hard crust, which thickens and forms a roof above the still-flowing lava stream.[1] Tubes form in one of two ways: by the crusting over of lava channels, and from pahoehoe flows where the lava is moving under the surface.[2] Lava usually leaves the point of eruption in channels. These channels tend to stay very hot as their surroundings cool. This means they slowly develop walls around them as the surrounding lava cools and/or as the channel melts its way deeper. These channels can get deep enough to crust over, forming an insulating tube that keeps the lava molten and serves as a conduit for the flowing lava. These types of lava tubes tend to be closer to the lava eruption point.
Further away from the eruption point, lava can flow in an unchanneled, fanlike manner as it leaves its source, which is usually another lava tube leading back to the eruption point. Called pahoehoe flows, these areas of surface-moving lava cool, forming either a smooth or rough, ropy surface. The lava continues to flow this way until it begins to block its source. At this point, the subsurface lava is still hot enough to break out at a point, and from this point the lava begins as a new "source". Lava flows from the previous source to this breakout point as the surrounding lava of the pahoehoe flow cools. This forms an underground channel that becomes a lava tube.[3]
CHARACTERISTICS consist of broad lava-flow field often consists of a main lava tube and a series of smaller tubes that supply lava to the front of one or more separate flows. When the supply of lava stops at the end of an eruption or lava is diverted elsewhere, lava in the tube system drains downslope and leaves partially empty cave-like conduits beneath the ground.
Such drained tubes commonly exhibit step marks on their walls that mark the various depths at which the lava flowed, known as flow ledges or flow lines depending on how prominently they protrude from the walls. Lava tubes generally have pahoehoe floors, although this may often be covered in breakdown from the ceiling. A variety of speleothems may be found in lava tubes[4] including a variety of stalactite forms generally known as lavacicles, which can be of the splash, shark tooth, or tubular variety. Lavacicles are the most common of lava tube speleothems. Drip stalagmites may form under tubular lava stalactites, and the latter may grade into a form known as a tubular lava helictite. A runner is a bead of lava that extrudes from a small opening and then runs down a wall. Lava tubes may also contain mineral deposits that most commonly take the form of crusts or small crystals, and less commonly, as stalactites and stalagmites.
Lava tubes can be up to 14-15 metres wide, though are often narrower, and run anywhere from 1-15 m below the surface. Lava tubes can also be extremely long; one tube from the Mauna Loa 1859 flow enters the ocean about 50 km (over 30 miles) from its eruption point, and the Cueva del Viento - Sobrado system on Teide, Tenerife island, is over 18 km long, due to extensive braided maze areas at the upper zones of the system.
A lava tube system in Kiama, Australia, consists of over 20 lava tubes, many of which are breakouts of a main lava tube. The largest of these lava tubes is 22 m in diameter and has columnar jointing due to the large cooling surface. Other tubes have concentric and radial jointing features. The tubes are infilled due to the low slope angle of emplacement.
SOURCE MATERIAL
- "Kuna Cave." Caves of the United States of America:. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015.
- "Kuna Caves." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015.
- "Lava Tube." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015.
- Earth Cache Eureka Cave by Tentha: GC20X0P
TO LOG THIS CACHE EMAIL THE FOLLOWING
1. List the GC code, name of the cache, and your caching name.
2. How many people are in your party? List the geocache names, so only one of you has to email.
3. Take an elevation reading outside the cave then take another elevation reading once you get down into the cave. Estimate the depth based on this and explain, to the best of you ability how you think this cave was formed with this opening in the location it is at.
4. Describe the rocks that make up the cave, texture, color, size, etc. Compare this with the rocks at and around the opening. Are the rocks outside similar to those inside the cave? What do you think the cause for the differences are?
5. In some parts of the cave you might notice crystal-like formations that seem to be running or oozing from the rock. What is this mineral formation? (Hint, the description above helps, also looking up lava cave formations can guide you to an answer). Are there any other volcanic rocks you can identify in the area? Describe them.
6. OPTIONAL: Upload a picture of yourself, you group and your GPS at the Kuna Cave site.
7. OPTIONAL FUN: Go down into the caves and explore. Upload a picture of some of your favorite (and appropriate) art work.
Have fun all, I love this place, I had a blast. And be safe, mind the pets and the kids. Lots of people enjoy visiting this location, but it is a cave, so be mindful and alert.
BLM is aware of the existence of this cache location and its nature as an EarthCache. Please be respectful to the surrounding areas and lets work together to keep the land clean and free of trash.