Glossary of Cave Terms

Anastomoses - one of the two most common characteristics of cave walls. The other is scallops. Anastomoses are small, winding tubes that interconnect in a serpent-like pattern, often found along bedding plane partings. They can sometimes be spotted on flat ceilings. These are often mistaken for solution pockets, which are short holes located along joints in the walls or ceilings.

Blindfish - amblyopsis spelaea is a blindfish that cannot survive outside the cave. The blindfish is translucent and has no eyes.

Blind Crayfish - These are crayfish without eyes that have adapted to the total darkness of the cave. They are eyeless and translucent because they never leave the dark of the cavern waters.

Botryoids - these get their name from the Greek word meaning "a bunch of grapes". They are a form of cave coral, but are more rounded and smooth.

Calcite - is the crystallized form of calcium carbonate of lime, which is the main mineral that makes up the speleothems. Calcite is white in color, but most cave speleothems apear brownish-red in color, because of their impurities (sand, clay, iron-oxide, or other minerals).

Carbonic Acid - a weak acid that forms from the interaction of carbon dioxide and water. It is responsible for the dissolution of limestone.

Cave - a natural, underground cavity, usually formed by the dissolving action of acidic.

Cave Bacon - is a form of drapery. On a slanted ceiling, water sometimes deposits calcite in thin, translucent sheets that hang in delicate folds. At times, the water may have minerals in addition to the calcite causing dark orange or brown bands to appear, forming the "bacon". The mineral is usually iron oxide.

Cave Coral - sometimes called "cave popcorn". They are small knobby clusters formed by seeping water. The water apparently seeps out from between crystals.

Cave Cricket - spiderlike cricket that lives in the cave and on the surface. This cricket is at home in the darkness and it's beige coloration helps camouflage it on the brown covered limestone walls. The slender antennae helps the cave cricket find its way to the surface where its eyes take over in hunting for food.

Cave Popcorn - cave popcorn is formed when calcium carbonate creates cauliflower-shaped clusters, deposited on cave walls through limestone pores, or by splashes from a waterfall.

Cave Shrimp - the freshwater cave shrimp is eyeless and also an endangered species. The cave shrimp is translucent.

Column - a column is formed when a stalactite and a stalagmite meet, or when one or the other of them grows to meet the floor or ceiling.

Domes - waterfalls in the cave make domes, which are holes you can look up to see into the cave ceiling.

Drapery - a speleothem that is formed when water deposits calcite in thin sheets that hang in delicate folds.

Dripstone - dripstone mineral deposits are found in places where sandstone caprock, or cave roof, has been eroded and allows water seepage into cave passageways.

Echolocation - a navigating system. Bats emit sounds that strike objects and come back as echoes. The bats can tell from these echoes what the object is, where it's located, and how fast it's moving.

Epsomite - epsomite and mirabilite are small amounts of crystallized salts that form hairlike tendrils from ceilings, walls, and floors. They can also have the look of wisps of cotton. These salts form more during the winter months when humidity is low and disappear as the humidity rises.

Flowstone - looks like a rock waterfall. They form when a lot of water flows down walls, over floors and older formations, building up sheets of calcite, like icing on a cake.

Groundwater - water that flows beneath the earth's surface.

Gypsum - gypsum is made of calcium sulfate and is one of the more beautiful mineral decorations. The snowy white gypsum can grow in swordlike needles (up to 30 inches), flower shapes, tendrils, or sheets covering ceilings, walls, or floors.

Gypsum Flowers - gypsum flowers are created by minerals that "grow" out of the dry cave walls and ceiling.

Gypsum Snowballs - mineral formations that look like snowballs.

Helectites - are small twisted structures projecting from ceilings, walls, and the floor of caves that seem to defy the laws of gravity. Formed by seeping water, they project at all angles.

Karst Topography - a characteristic landscape, found in the cave regions, produced by solution and underground drainage areas of soluble bedrock such as limestone and dolomite. This topography is evidenced on the surface by sink holes, sinking streams, and irregular ridges.

Limestone - limestone is made up of shells gathered on the floor of the sea and hardened into layers of rock. The sedimentary rock is composed mainly of calcium carbonate.

Mirabilite - mirabilite and epsomite are small amounts of crystallized salts that form hairlike tendrils from ceilings, walls, and floors. They can also have the look of wisps of cotton. These salts form more during the winter months when humidity is low and disapperar as the humidity rises.

Mississippian Period - a period 350 million years ago when a sea covered the southeastern portion of the North American continent and the first vertebrate animals were finding land. The sea was full of tiny organisms whose shells consisted of calcium carbonate. As these organisms died, their hard shells accumulated to help form a fossil-rich limestone.

New Madrid Earthquake - December 16, 1811, several strong earthquakes occurred along what is now called the New Madrid Fault Zone. This zone is about forty miles wide and approximately 200 miles long and extends from Memphis, Tennessee to Cairo, Illinois. It is estimated that the New Madrid Earthquake would have registered 8.6 on the Richter Scale.

Paleozoic Era - An era between 600 and 300 million years ago when the areaís climate was more tropical.

Pits - pits are vertical openings in the floor of a cave passage created by a collapse of rock, slumping of breakdown, or the solutional activity of descending water.

Rimstone - a calcium carbonate deposit which forms around the outside edge of a cave pool.

Saltpeter - a salt mined from caves, which was used for the production of gunpowder.

Sandstone - the protective sandstone roof sheds rainwater to vertical cracks. This roof protects the existing wet and dry passageways from further erosion.

Scallops - one of the two most common characteristics of cave walls. The other is anastomoses. Scallops are spoon-shaped hollows dissolved in limestone floors, walls, and ceilings. These scallops are created by the flow of underground streams. The size and shape of the scallops indicates the last sustained direction and rate of flow of the underground streams or rivers. Faster current was indicated by smaller scallop.

Show Caves - caves that are open to the public for tours.

Sinkhole - sinkholes are "bowl-shaped" depressions in the fields created by caves collapsing below the ground. The sinkholes help guide rainwater and melting snow into underlying caves like a funnel. This is important environmentally because this can allow surface sewage, animal waste, pesticides, and other pollutants into the underground water supply that travels through an underground labyrinth of cave systems.

Sinking Stream - A stream that flows in a valley that terminates in a headwall beneath which the stream plunges underground into an underground water system.

Soda Straws - are first staged stalactites. They are thin-walled, hollow tubes about 0.5 inches in diameter. They grow from ceilings of caves as water runs down inside them and deposits rings of calcite at their tips.

Solutional Caves - caves formed in rock that can be dissolved by acidic groundwater. Most solutional caves form in limestone, dolomite, gypsum, and marble.

Solutional Pockets - solution pockets are short holes located along joints in the walls or ceilings.

Speoleogy - is the study of caves, and their enviromnent.

Speoleologist - people who study the formations, geology, and hydrology of caves and their environment.

Speoleothem - derived from the Greek words "spelaion" meaning cave, and "thema" meaning deposit. They are features, such as stalactites and stalagmites, formed by minerals being deposited into the cave. Sometimes called formations.

Spelunker - a person who explores caves.

Stalactite - forms down from ceilings and form as layers of calcite are deposited by water flowing over the outside of soda straws. They form after the centers of the hollow soda straws become plugged, or partially plugged.

Stalagmite - rise from the floor, and are many times, but not always, formed by dripping water from stalactites above. They are usually larger in diameter than stalactites and more rounded on top.

Travertine - travelling rock formation created by the redeposition of calcium carbonate.

Troglobites - (cave dwellers) animals that spend their entire lives in cave's total darkness and uniform environment. Many are sightless and without pigment. Examples: flatworms, blind cave fish, crayfish and amphipods.

Troglodyte - a human being that lives in or frequently visits caves.

Troglophiles - (cave lovers) animals that mostly live in the cave, but have the ability to survive outside of it.

Trogloxenes - (cave guests) Those who live above ground, but often go into caves.

Wild Cave - a cave that has not been developed with lighting, tours, and trails.