Limestone. (New Georgia Encyclopedia.)
Limestone is a very common sedimentary rock consisting of calcium carbonate (more than 50%). It is the most common non-siliciclastic (sandstone and shale are common siliciclastic rocks) sedimentary rock. Limestones are rocks that are composed of mostly calcium carbonate (minerals calcite or aragonite). Carbonate rocks where the dominant carbonate is dolomite (calcium magnesium carbonate) are named dolomite rock. Carbonate rocks together make up one-fifth of all sedimentary rocks in the stratigraphic record3. Varieties of limestone. Chalk is a marine limestone consisting of tests of microscopic algae and foraminifera. Tufa is a chemical precipitate of calcium carbonate. Fossils are very common in marine calcitic sedimentary rocks. Rocks such as coquina are wholly composed of fossils but so-called normal limestones may be also highly fossiliferous. The sample (lower left) is from the Ordovician. Grainstone is a coarse-grained grain-supported variety that contains almost no limy mud (micrite). Limestone is defined by these two criteria: it is a sedimentary rock (1) and it is composed of calcium carbonate (2). There are other rocks that are composed of calcium carbonate. Carbonatite is a rare type of igneous rock and marble is a common metamorphic rock. Both are chemically composed of calcium carbonate, but they are not limestones because they are not sedimentary rocks.
Limestone can be colored by impurities, however; iron oxide can make limestone red, brown or yellow, while carbon can make it gray, black or blue.
How Caves are Formed. (The Underground World of Caves)
caves are carved by water. But, water alone could never make the incredible formations found in caves. It's actually a chemical reaction.
As plant and animal matter decays in the top level of soil, it releases carbon dioxide gas. Water seeping through reacts with this gas to form weak carbonic acid. As carbonic acid dissolves the solid limestone; a chemical reaction causes it to dissolve even more limestone, about 25 times more than would dissolve in water alone. This limestone-water drips through the cavern, the carbon dioxide evaporates and the calcium carbonate that is left forms the stalactites and stalagmites we see in caves.
A cave is formed where there is bedrock of karst, or limestone. The water, carrying on its chemical reactions travel through cracks in the limestone, slowly dissolving the rock and enlarging the crevice. The runoff descends to the water table, the level of whatever river or lake is closest..
As the acidic water moves to the river or lake, it dissolves more limestone, widening the underground channel and drawing in more ground water with it. In time, a main horizontal underground stream is formed, with pools, and tributaries.
Floyd County is located in the Ridge and Valley geological region. The eastern part of the county is located in the Great Appalachian Valley section of the Ridge and Valley geological province. It contains multiple strata of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks deposited when eastern North America was flooded by the ancient Iapetus Ocean. Dolomitic limestone, limestone, sandstone, mudstone and shale are the dominant rock formations of the county. Caves are common in the county. When the City of Rome was first founded, settlers found Native American burials carved into the mudstone cliffs along the Etowah River. All the artifacts and skeletons associated with these burials have disappeared from public view. It is not known which Native American culture excavated the tombs
Stalactites. (Softpedia News)
The carbon dioxide dissolved in the rain water droplets and attacks the limestone rock, which is made mostly of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) or calcite. As a product of this reaction, the newly formed chemical is (Ca(HCO3)2), also called calcium hydrogen carbonate, an extremely water soluble compound. While on the roof of the caves bicarbonate filled water is filtered, the carbon dioxide is released, and the resulting calcium carbonate precipitates. The newly precipitated calcium carbonate starts forming concretions around the falling point of the droplets towards the cave's floor. A stalactite starts with a tiny ring of calcite deposited by the falling water droplets. In time, the deposits build a very narrow (0.5 mm), hollow tube called "soda straw" stalactite, which can be very long, but easy to break. Further calcite deposits left by water build the typical cone-shaped stalactite. This is an extremely slow process, as a stalactite requires millions of years to form. It is estimated that the growth rhythm of the stalactites is about 2.5 cm (1 in) in 4,000-5,000 years.
(the T.A.G. Caver) The earliest recorded description of the cave is from Adiel Sherwood’s 1837 edition of A Gazetteer of the State of Georgia. The Gazetteer included an article copied from a Rome newspaper dated January 15th, 1837 and was signed “W.K.B”. In the description it says:
“The county presents one and only one natural curiosity that has been discovered, and it is a subterranean cave, in the lower part of Vaun’s Valley, about 15 miles from this place (Rome). It is situated on the summit of a lofty eminence, and the visitor before he untakes the ascent may refresh himself with a rich draft of pure limestone (water), which issues from the base of the hill in a stream, sufficiently large to supply all the water power necessary for the successful operation of a whole manufacturing village in New-England.
It has been documented that Native Americans inhabited the area prior to settlers and they called it Talalah which means “place of sunshine”. In the mid 1820’s settlers of English & Scottish-Irish ancestry came to the area and established it as a town. These settlers left the homes of their families in middle Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia to find a place of their own in Northwest Georgia. What they found was an area they would soon come to call Cave Spring. The settlers chose the area because of the abundant water source and it’s surpassing beauty. What they did not know is that the spring flowing out of the cave is fed by an underground aquifer that expels 2-3 million gallons of water every day. The settlers found the area around the cave so delightful they began to build churches, schools & houses surrounding it. They also made the area immediately surrounding the cave into a park for all the people to enjoy.
Its temperature is a constant, 57-degree coolness, very nice on a hot summer's day. Legend has it that Cherokee tribal meetings and games used to be held at the site. Visible in the Cave is the town's namesake spring that produces 2 million gallons a day of the purest, best-tasting water anywhere. People from miles around come to fill jugs and take home the award-winning water.
Park Hours:
Open daily from May to September; 11am-5pm Monday through Friday, Saturday and Sunday,10am-5pm
By appointment at other times.There is a $2 fee per person to enter the cave..
Prior to logging this cache, email me the answers to the following through my profile:
1) Judging by attributes that surround this cave, how do you think it was formed?
2) In the cave at the top of the stairs there's a unique formation different than the others, What is that called?
3) What do you think caused the different colors in the cave?
4) Above the unique formation, what do the white Stalactites remind you of?