The Caves of New Providence the Bahamas EarthCache
The Caves of New Providence the Bahamas
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The Caves of New Providence can be reached by
traveling west about 6.6 miles along West Bay Street from downtown
Nassau. Reliable cabs, rented scooters or the No. 10 Bus are the
most common forms of transportation to the Caves.
You're almost
there!
One of the most historically rich sites in the Bahamas is
The Caves. The Caves are believed to have been inhabited by
the original settlers of the Bahamas, the Arawak or Lucayan
Indians. Later the site was recorded as being well visited by
pirates who would hide and/or divide their ill-gotten treasure
within the intricate layers of The Caves. The close
proximity of the caves to the sea provided the perfect access to
pirates. It is said Blackbeard the Pirate stored his stolen
booty in The Caves.
Before discussing the specific geological aspects of our
Caves, let’s first examine the differing types of caves.
The Caves of New Providence are one of the following. Can
you determine which one?
Types of Caves
There are many types of caves and among them are:
lava, glacier, solutional, coastal sea, rare
emerged sea caves and sand or wind caves. Caves can
primarily be found in sandstone, salt, dolomite and limestone and
ice.
1. Lava caves are tunnels
or tubes in lava formed when the outer surface of a lava flow cools
and hardens while the molten lava within continues to flow and
eventually drains out through the newly formed tube.
2. Glacier caves are
formed by melt water which excavates drainage tunnels through the
ice. Of entirely different origin and not to be included in the
category of glacier caves are so-called "ice caves," which usually
are either solution caves or lava caves within which ice forms and
persists through all or most of the year.
3. Solutional caves are
where water has run down a crack in bedrock and has slowly
dissolved the rock creating a cavity. The most common type of
solutional cave is limestone. Solutional caves are the most
frequently occurring caves and such caves form in rock that is
soluble, like limestone, but can also form in other rocks,
including chalk, dolomite, marble, salt, and gypsum. Most of the
caves of the world as well as the largest caves are solutional
caves. A process called erosion causes these caves.
4. Coastal Sea Caves are
also known as littoral caves are caused by the waves mechanically
eating away at the rock. Many of these caves may be on dry land
now, but they used to be at the ocean's edge. Such caves
demonstrate the enormous pressures exerted by waves and to the
corrosive power of wave-carried sand and gravel. The primary
process involved is erosion.
5. Emerged sea caves are a
very rare type of cave. These caves are still located under the
surface of the ocean and have been formed by many actions such as
underwater volcanic activity and erosion.
6. Sand or Wind Caves may
be formed by the sandblasting effect of silt or fine sand being
blown against a rock face. Some rock shelters, which are true
caves, are formed in this manner as well as from the erosion via
water.
Geologically speaking, the Bahamas are referred to as
Carbonate Islands. This is due to the formation of calcium
carbonate banks. Carbonate rock is primarily limestone and
dolomite. Both of which are sedimentary rocks. This bank formed in
the Late Jurassic and is evidence of an absence of deep water at
the time of formation due to the type of rock that formed.
Carbonates are more likely to form in shallower waters, thus the
formation of two major carbonate banks in the Bahamas shows that
there was an absence of deep water
.
There is also evidence of faulting which is shown in the
tilting of the Bahaman Banks. This tilting is due to the subduction
of the North American plate under the Caribbean plate, in the
vicinity of Cuba. The angle of tilting is in the direction of the
subduction, supporting Cuban vicinity as the location of
subduction. This faulting occurred because as the North American
plate subducted under the Caribbean plate, not all the rock layers
moved as one continuous unit. The Bahaman islands remained in the
same location, thus the rocks had to fault, or break, in order for
the North American plate to continue subduction and the islands to
remain in their current location. Using deep drilling it has been
determined that the Upper Jurassic carbonates are approximately 5
km down. Above these carbonates is Lower Cretaceous dolostone,
limestone, and evaporites, which are sedimentary deposits that
result from the evaporation of seawater.
The Largest Cave
The Caves of New Providence were formed millions of
years ago by the constant pounding of the sea waves. The relatively
soft underlying carbonate sediments and limestone were constantly
under attack by the never relenting sea waves. As with most
carbonate and limestone rock, some are more hard than others. The
softer portions of the sedimentary rock have been worn away thus
giving rise to the Caves. At one time, The Caves were at the
level of the sea and actually their birth began under water. Over
time (millions of years) with continuing deposits of carbonate and
clastic sediments you will find that The Caves became high
and dry.
Second Cave
Bringing a flashlight will allow you to explore deeper
within The Caves. In total darkness you may be able to spot
some of the local residents, which are furry little Fruit Bats.
While it is not necessary to enter The Caves, you will gain
a much greater appreciation of the inner geological formations by
venturing past the entrances.
View from the
Caves
Note: in order for you to claim a
find of The Caves please email us the answers to the
following questions: 1 Of the differing types of rock that
compose caves, which type do you believe is The Caves of New
Providence. 2. By pacing it, estimate the width of the
opening of the largest cave (see the above photo with the shell
chair in the foreground) 3. Using your body as a reference,
estimate the height of the opening of the largest cave. Lastly,
please post a close-up photo of one of the cave walls showing the
texture of the rock. Use your GPSr as a pointer. An alternate
picture would be you and your GPSr at one of the entrances. Any
other photos are always welcomed.
We hope you enjoy your visit to the Bahamas and to
‘our’ Caves. Obviously, you cannot over do the use of a
camera. The Islands are beautiful and the people living there are
friendly and always helpful. We would like to thank the Ministry of
Tourism and our driver Richie. Without them we would have never
visited The Caves and developed this EarthCache.
Enjoy!
P.S. Don't forget to find: The Caves
traditional cache by forman (GCC411)
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Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Qba'g pnir va!