Glossary

• Active Cave – A cave with a stream flowing through it.

• Bedding Plane - A surface separating two beds of rock.

• Bedrock – A portion of the native rock strata that has not undergone collapse.

• Calcium Carbonate – CaCO3 = Calcium + Carbon + 3 Oxygen.

• Calcareous – Made of limestone or calcium carbonate.

• Calcite – The crystal form of calcium carbonate and the main constituent of limestone, with different crystal structure.

• Carbonic Acid - H2CO3, an acid typical of ground water systems.

• Calcium Bicarbonate - Ca(HCO3)2 = Calcium + 2 Hydrogen + 2 Carbons + 6 Oxygen

• Carbon Dioxide – CO2, a colorless odorless gas, when dissolved in water forms carbonic acid.

• Chert – A hard flint like rock of fine crystalline silica, ranging in colors from white to gray or black to red. Insoluble in water and is resistant to weathering and occurs in limestone.

• Joint – A planer or gently curving crack separating two parts of once continuous rock without relative movement along its plane.

• Limestone – A sedimentary rock consisting mainly of calcium carbonate derived from the deposition of the calcareous remains of animals usually of marine origin but can be of freshwater origin.

• Lithification – Hardening of sediment to form a rock.

• Mottling – Blotchy or patchy color pattering.

• Pillar – A bedrock column from roof to floor left by removal of surrounding rock.

• Radon – A radioactive inert gas formed continuously in the earth’s interior by radioactive decay and tends to collect in caves.

• Regression –A withdrawal of the sea from the land due to uplift or a uniform drop in sea level.

• Sink hole – A depression in the ground formed by solution or by collapse of a cavern roof.

• Stalactite – A speleothem hanging or growing downward from a roof or wall usually of cylindrical or conical form originally with a central hollow tube and formed by dripping water containing calcite.

• Stalagmite – A speleothem projecting vertically upwards from a cave floor and formed by precipitation form drips often found directly under a stalactite.

• Speleothem – Any of the secondary mineral cave deposits formed by chemical deposition most commonly of calcite.

• Soda Straw – A long thin-walled tubular stalactite that elongates as minerals are deposited at the lower tip by seepage of water.

• Transgression – An advance of the sea across the land due to subsidence of the land or a uniform rise in sea level.

• Vug – A small cavity in rock often lined with crystals.

Home, Cave History, Cave Formation, Cave Features, Creatures of the Cave

Ancient Cave Creatures, Glossary, References, Crystal Cave Home Page