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Mammoth Cave National Park (3)
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Cave Passages
Many parts of the passages and rooms in the cave are covered with rocks which have fallen from the roof or walls of the cave. PIles of rocks and rubble such as these in caves are known as "breakdown."
Experienced cave explorers may find certain passages blocked by fallen rocks, and often will clear the way by moving the rocks so that an open passageway results.
These caves are carved by the dissolution effects of water on the limestone. Because of gravity, water tends to move down within the caves as it dissolves the limestone. However, at times it moves in a horizontal direction and creates the passageways which cavers can traverse. This is where most of the erosion occurs, and these passageways usually end up as the "dry", undecorated ones.
Because of its action, the water tends to create multiple "levels" of interconnected passages. In Mammoth Caves there are 5 levels of these passageways. At each level there was an underground river or stream at one time. At the deepest current level, about 360 feet underground, a river is now visible and at work creating more cave.
Although the weather in this part of Kentucky can vary considerably through the seasons, the caves provide a very consistent, and relatively temperate, environment. Year around the temperature underground in the caves is about 54 degrees, and the humidity hovers around 87% in the popular caverns.
The caves actually feature a fairly rich group of animals. Some are classified as "troglodytes", or cave dwellers, and spend their entire lives in the caves. This includes cavefish, crayfish, spiders, etc. Others, classified as "troglophiles", visit the cave environment frequently, such as other types of spiders and cave salamanders. Other species, known as "trogloxenes", visit occasionally. This group includes animals such as bats and cave crickets.
In September of 1972 a link between the Flint Ridge Cave System and the Mammoth Cave system was finally discovered. This came as the result of a 40 year search and heroic efforts by a number of cave explorers. Discovery of the link established Mammoth Cave as the longest cave system in the world, by a large margin.
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