As an earthcache, there is no “box” or “container” to discover. Rather, with this cache, you discover something about the geology of the area. For more information please consult www.earthcache.org
Geology Of Skyline Caverns and Caves:
Skyline Caverns is a set of naturally formed limestone caves. It hosts some of the largest and well-developed formations in Virginia. Also, unlike other karst features in the state, Skyline Caverns is not a "dormant" cave system. The formations and the cavern itself are both very much alive and continue to grow.
Like many caverns in the Mid-Atlantic states, Skyline Caverns is a limestone cave. Cut through Beekmantown limestone, which is over 440 million years old, they were formed through the erosive properties of water.
All rainwater is slightly acidic. It's not so strong an acid that humans would be able to feel it, but it is strong enough to dissolve soft rock like limestone. Over time, geological forces led to an "uplift" of the surrounding limestone, which allowed more and more water to flow through the formation. As the water flowed through the limestone, more and more rock was dissolved and worn away. Eventually, over millions of years, it created the caverns as they are today.
The majority of the rock found at Skyline Caverns is limestone. However, this limestone comes in a wide variety of colors due to elemental impurities. These different colors do not necessarily signify different types of rock--just different impurities.
The formations found inside the caverns all take a significant amount of time to form. For instance, it takes stalactites approximately 120 years to form one cubic inch of material. The temperature inside the caverns averages 54 degrees year 'round and is very constant.
History:
The caverns were discovered by Walter S. Amos, a retired geologist and mineralogist from Winchester, Virginia, on December 17, 1937.
Amos was contracted by several private and government agencies to search for caves and caverns to open in conjunction with Skyline Drive. During his search, he came across a sinkhole that was located approximately where the parking lot is currently situated. Normally, sinkholes are created by the collapsing of a cavern roof, which takes the ground above with it. When he saw there was no water in the sinkhole, which meant there had to be a drain nearby, he believed he had discovered a cavern.
Knowing this, Amos began to search the edges for some opening to the possible cave system below. He found this opening on the lip of the sinkhole by noticing a small colony of camel crickets (which only live in damp, dark areas by nature) under a small ledge.
Upon digging out the first "room" of the caverns, he came into a large system of connected rooms, most of which were navigable and cleared from all obstructions. 90% of the caverns were naturally accessible and other than the entrance area, only 10% needed to be dug out. The use of scientific analysis makes the discovery of Skyline Caverns extremely unique.
However, the cavern floor was lined with approximately 14 inches of mud and clay, which had to be cleared before the caverns could be opened to the public on April 13, 1939.
Speleotherms:
A speleothem (/ˈspiːliːəθɛm/; Greek: "cave deposit"), commonly known as a cave formation, is a secondary mineral deposit formed in acave. Speleothems typically form in limestone or dolostone solutional caves.
Speleothems take various forms, depending on whether the water drips, seeps, condenses, flows, or ponds. Many speleothems are named for their resemblance to man-made or natural objects. Types of speleothems include
- Dripstone is calcium carbonate in the form of stalactites or stalagmites
- Stalactites are pointed pendants hanging from the cave ceiling, from which they grow
- Soda straws are very thin but long stalactites having an elongated cylindrical shape rather than the usual more conical shape of stalactites
- Helictites are stalactites that have a central canal with twig-like or spiral projections that appear to defy gravity
- Include forms known as ribbon helictites, saws, rods, butterflies, hands", curly-fries, and "clumps of worms"
- Chandeliers are complex clusters of ceiling decorations
- Stalagmites are the "ground-up" counterparts of stalactites, often blunt mounds
- Columns result when stalactites and stalagmites meet or when stalactites reach the floor of the cave
- Flowstone is sheet like and found on cave floors and walls
- Draperies or curtains are thin, wavy sheets of calcite hanging downward
- Bacon is a drapery with variously colored bands within the sheet
- Rimstone dams, or gours, occur at stream ripples and form barriers that may contain water
- Stone waterfall formations simulate frozen cascades
- Cave crystals
- Dogtooth spar are large calcite crystals often found near seasonal pools
- Frostwork is needle-like growths of calcite or aragonite
- Moonmilk is white and cheese-like
- Anthodites are flower-like clusters of aragonite crystals
- Cryogenic calcite crystals are loose grains of calcite found on the floors of caves, and are formed by segregation of solutes during the freezing of water.
- Others
- Cave popcorn, or cave coral, are small, knobby clusters of calcite
- Cave pearls are the result of water dripping from high above, causing small "seed" crystals to turn over so often that they form into near-perfect spheres of calcium carbonate
- Snottites are colonies of predominantly sulfur oxidizing bacteria and have the consistency of "snot", or mucus
- Calcite rafts are thin accumulations of calcite that appear on the surface of cave pools
Hours and Admission Information:
The posted coordinates are for the entrance to the Penn's Cave complex. You must proceed to the visitor's center to purchase tickets for the 1-hour tour of Skyline Cavernd. Please visit http://www.skylinecaverns.com/admission.html for details regarding pricing, hours, etc.
Logging Requirements:
Send the answers to #1-#7 to me through my geocaching profile. DO NOT post the answers to any logging requirements on this site. Online logs which contain answers will be summarily deleted.
1. List the name “GC6GMR1 - Skyline Caverns Earthcache” in the first line of your email. Also, list the number of people in your group and any necessary geocaching nicknames.
2. The 'Capitol Dome' is an excellent example of what type of speleotherm?
3. Located within 'Cathedral Hall' is a stalagmite known as "___ _____". Approximately how tall is this feature?
4. How many active streams are there within Skyline Caverns AND approximately how far does 'Rainbow Falls' drop into the lower half of the cavern?
5. Name one living organism (plant or animal) that you encountered in the cavern AND what particular type of creature, so far, has only been found within this cavern?
6. How far below ground are you at the caverns deepest point?
7. Within 'The 61 Room' are some of the most photographed speleotherms within the caverns. What particular formation (once thought to only exist within this cavern) appear in profusion AND are they actively growing or have they ceased to increase in size? Why do you think this is?
8. (OPTIONAL) Post a picture of yourself and/or your GPS with your log that shows you and/or your GPS at the cords with the entrance to the caverns in the background. Skyline Caverns actively encourages photography by it's visitors. PLEASE feel free to take photographs throughout your tour and upload any pictures you wish to the cache page along with your 'Found It' log.
Once you send me your answers, go ahead and log your find. You don't have to wait on me to respond. I will only respond if you have incomplete logging requirements. However, if you log your find and I don't receive the answers within a week, your log will be deleted. If you're able to log the find right away, you should be able to send your answers.
Information for this earthcache was supplied by:
http://www.showcaves.com/english/usa/showcaves/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyline_Caverns
http://www.skylinecaverns.com/index.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speleothem
http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2009/11/anthodites-in-skyline-caverns.htmlo
Many thanks to J. Brooks Bolen and the staff of Skyline Caverns for allowing the placement of this earthcache.