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Written by Terry Miller Shannon

Mysterious CavesA Reading A–Z Level V Leveled Reader

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Mysterious CavesLevel V Leveled Reader© 2005 Learning Page, Inc.Written by Terry Miller Shannon

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Mysterious

Caves

www.readinga-z.com

Written by Terry Miller Shannon

Photo Credits:Cover, pages 3, 4, 5,13 (right), 21, 22: Carlsbad Caverns public domain; back cover,title, pages 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 (left), 24: © ArtToday; pages 16, 19: U.S. ForestService; page 15:© Royalty-Free CORBIS; page 8 (top): © Stuart Westmorland/CORBIS;page 17: © Pierre Vauthey/CORBIS SYGMA; pages 6, 14 (middle): photos courtesy ofSteve Wagar; page 8 (bottom): photo courtesy of Scott and Brenda Reardon

CorrelationLEVEL V

Fountas & Pinnell RReading Recovery 25

DRA 40

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Table of Contents

What Are Caves? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Where and How Caves Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Underground Caves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Underwater Caves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Aboveground Caves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Inside Caves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Cave Inhabitants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Exploring Caves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Famous Caves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Explore More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

What Are Caves?

A cave is any natural hollow space. Usuallywhen people talk about caves, or caverns, theymean there’s a hole big enough for someone touse as a doorway into the cave. Usually, too,there’s an area in the hollow that sunlight neverreaches. Most caves are thousands or millions ofyears old.

Caves are found underwater, underground,and aboveground. A cave can be tiny, or it can beenormous, extending for many miles. Caves arefound in every state in the United States, and inmany other countries.

Above: Inside Temple of the Sun in Carlsbad Caverns. Inset: A caver crawls through a tight space.

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Where and How Caves Form

Caves form in three places: underground,underwater, and aboveground. The way cavesform differs according to the type of cave. Natureuses basic tools such as wind and water to shapethe earth. All caves form slowly over a very longperiod of time.

People are fascinated with caves. Caves can bemagnificently gorgeous, filled with amazingformations and unusual animals. Adventurouspeople are lured by the challenge and excitementof seeing places no one may have seen before.Some people even live in caves. Explorers havefound clues that show people used caves ashomes as long as 30,000 years ago.

In this book, you will learn about the differenttypes of caves and how they form, whatformations can be found in a cave, what creatureslive within caves, and where some famous cavesare found.

Cavers climb walls in Carlsbad Caverns.

Carlsbad Caverns’ main entrance

Do You Know?Caves are ancient, but the land around them is

even older. For example, Carlsbad Caverns is lessthan 10 million years old, while the area of NewMexico surrounding it is 250 million years old!

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In areas where a volcano has erupted, lava(liquid rock) flows like a stream of hot, thickliquid. The top of the stream cools and hardens to form a roof of rock, while the lava beneathcontinues to flow. After the eruption is over, thelava below the rock roof drains away leaving atube-shaped cave underneath. These are called

lava tube caves. Lavatube caves sometimesform a maze oftunnels with branchesheading off in manydirections.

Underground Caves

Long ago, shallow seas once covered parts ofthe Earth that are now land. Billions of tinyorganisms with shells lived in these seas. As theorganisms died and sank to the bottom, theirshells piled up on the sea floor. Over many yearsthe shells formed layers of rock called limestone.Forces deep below the seas pushed the limestonelayers upward, eventually above the seas. Thenrainwater seeped into the limestone and mixedwith chemicals from decaying plants to form aweak acid. The acid seeped into cracks in thelimestone. The acid dissolved, or ate away, thelimestone, enlarging the cracks until a hollow wasformed—a limestone cave. How long does it takefor the acid to eat away enough limestone tomake a cave? It can take well over a million years.

Lava tube caves such this one in Hawaii are the largest in the world.

Inside a limestone cave

Lava tubes can be foundaround Mt. St. Helens inWashington state.

The mostcommon ice cavesform in mountainglaciers as theglaciers slowlycreep down themountainside.Warmer water onthe glacier’s surface

that has been heated by the sun seeps throughcracks in the glacier. The warmer water melts icedeep in the glacier and causes caves to form.

Sea caves form wherever ocean waves crashagainst cliffs. In the United States, sea caves are plentiful in the Pacific Coast states ofWashington, Oregon, and California, and also theNa Pali coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

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Underwater Caves

When the Ice Age ended around 40,000 yearsago, the sheets of ice covering most of NorthAmerica and Europe melted causing the waterlevel of the oceans to rise, flooding caves beneathhundreds of feet ofwater. Some underwater caves didn’t start aboveground, and havealways been filled withwater. They formedwhen the weight of thelayers of limestonecreated cracks thatbecame filled withwater. Over time thewater slowly woreaway more of the rock,forming caves.

Aboveground Caves

Water and wind move through cracks in rocksaboveground. Ever so slowly, the wind andwater, which carry tiny grains of sand, grindaway rock and form erosional caves. Erosionalcaves are found in most kinds of rock, but formbest in softer rock.

Underwater cave

Ice cave

Sea cave

Cave explorers find amazing andbeautiful formations inside caves.These formations hang from theceiling, rise from the floor, anddecorate the walls. They are formedwhen water drips through the cracksof the rocks above the cave.

Many people are familiar withstalactites and stalagmites. Theseform when limestone dissolves inwater that drips from the cave ceilingto the floor. As the water evaporates,the dissolved limestone builds up, bit by bit, creating stalactites on theceiling and stalagmites on the floor.

A stalactite, which lookssomething like a rock icicle, growsonly about 2 millimeters (about 0.08inches) a year. Stalagmites, whichlook like upside down icicles, grow atthe same speed as stalactites and areoften more than 15 meters (50 feet)high and 10 meters (33 feet) wide attheir base. They can have rounded,flat, or bowl-shaped tops. Sometimesa stalactite and a stalagmite will jointo form a column.

Inside Caves

Since limestone caves are the most commontype of caves, we’ll take a closer look inside them.Limestone caves are divided into three mainparts: entrances, twilight zones, and dark zones.

Entrances may be large or small. They can bea doorway into a mountain, a hole in theground, or a crack in a boulder. Trees andshrubs hide entrances to some caves.

The twilight zone describes any part of thecave into which somesunlight seeps. If you’reinside a cave and can seewithout a flashlight or alantern, you’re in thetwilight zone. This zoneis usually cool and damp;and you can find animalsand bugs living there.

The third cave area is known as the dark zone. As you might guess from the name, there is no light in the dark zone. No plants growthere, but some animals and mold have adaptedto living in the dark. It is very damp and cool.Water drips constantly through the cracks fromthe ground above.

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column

Twilight zones can be big or small

A soda straw isanother type of formationfound in limestone caves.Like the straw you use todrink a soda, thesestructures are long andhollow.

A twisty, twirly typeof cave formation iscalled a helictite.

A rare formation iscalled a cave pearl. Apearl may start as a grainof sand that is covered,layer by layer withlimestone as the waterthat contains the mineraldries around the grain ofsand. They can be lessthan an inch in size ormore than several inchesin diameter.

It takes a very longtime to build a formation,drop by drop—manythousands of years.

Other cave formations arecreated when water evaporatesand leaves behind minerals.When water drops slide downthe walls, each leaves a bit oflimestone behind as the waterevaporates. This limestoneforms thin sheets that hangfrom cave ceilings. These arecalled draperies and can becomemore than 3 meters (10 feet)long. Some draperies are so thinthey let light pass through.Draperies are sometimesdifferent colors becauseminerals from the ground abovemay add color to water seepinginto the cave below.

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Helpful HintIf you think of the c as

standing for ceiling, it willhelp you remember thatstalactites hang from the topof the cave. If you think of the g asstanding for ground, it will helpyou remember that stalagmitespoint up from the floor of the cave.

stalactite

stalagmite

Soda straws

Helictites

Cave pearls

Many scientists divide the animals livinginside caves into three groups: the ones whonever leave the cave, the ones who live part-timein the cave, and animals who visit caves. Thethousands of types of animals who never leavecaves can’t survive outside them. These animalshave adapted to survive in the dark. Theyinclude some kinds of millipedes, cave spiders,

crickets, beetles,spiders,centipedes,crawfish,salamanders, andfish. They maybe blind and maynot have eyes.They are oftencolorless.

Animals that live both inside and outsidecaves can survive in either place. Examples ofthese include some beetles, land crayfish,millipedes, centipedes, and some salamanders.

Other animals visit caves for shelter, to rest, or to hunt for food, but spend most of their timeoutside the cave. This group includes bats, bears,foxes, pack rats, snakes, raccoons, moths,groundhogs, vultures, and crickets.

Cave Inhabitants

Creatures, small and large, have made theirhomes in caves for millions of years. At one time,humans found the enclosed space of a cave was a good place to live. Today, some people still callcaves home. In Andalucia, Spain, hundreds ofpeople live in caves, while in northern Chinathere are millions of human cave dwellers. Othercountries where people live in caves includeTurkey, North Africa, and France.

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Blind crawfish haveno need for sight inside dark caves.

Natural caves and cliffs in New Mexico became homes toAncient Puebloans.

A cave is exciting and exotic, and it candefinitely be dangerous. So if you plan to visit a cave, take a guided tour to avoid getting hurt. The guide can explain the many wonders to befound inside a cave, and safely get you in andout. They can keep you from damaging the cave.

A cave has taken millions of years to form andis full of delicate formations. A visitor can damageit without thinking. Thoughtless cave guests havebroken off stalactite tips as souvenirs, destroyingin a second something that may have taken 40,000years to form.

People have also thrown coins in undergroundpools, polluting them, or left trash in caves. Caveslie so close to natural water reservoirs that whenwe pollute caves, we can also pollute drinkingwater. When you visit a cave, you should leave acave exactly as you found it.

Experienced cave explorers equip themselveswith helmets, flashlights, warm clothing, andknee pads. They may descend into the cave on arope. As the spelunkers go deeper, their eyes mustadjust to the darkness. They may have to wrigglethrough a tiny tunnel. In the cave, they hear waterdrip-drip-dripping, but no other sound. The onlylight is the glow of their flashlights.

Exploring Caves

People who explore caves are calledspelunkers. Why do spelunkers go into caves?Some do it for adventure and the physicalchallenge of climbing down ropes, crawlingthrough tiny tunnels, and exploring deeperregions of the Earth. Other spelunkers likediscovering places possibly seen by no one elseon Earth. Scientists enter caves to learn moreabout the Earth.

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Do You Know?In 1940, four boys accidentally discovered one

of the most famous art caves, France’s LascauxCave. They squeezed into a small hole, entering alarge cavern with beautiful paintings of deer andbulls. Luckily, the boys were not hurt, but entering acave without an experienced cave explorer orguide is a dangerous idea. Later, one of the boysbecame the cave’s main guide.

Famous Caves

There are caves throughout the world knownfor one or more outstanding features. One of themost renowned caves is the Chauvet Cave inFrance. It was discovered in 1994, and containsmore than 300 of the world’s oldest paintings—approximately 30,000 years old. The paintingsinclude horses, lions, bears, and rhinoceroses.

Mexico’s Cheve Cave is famous for being oneof the deepest cave systems in the world. Thedeepest tunnels may be more than 2,000 meters(6,500 feet) below the surface. The world’s largestknown natural cave chamber is Sarawak Chamberin Asia’s Sarawak, Borneo. The world’s largestknown cave passage, Deer Cave, is also located inthe network of caves in Sarawak, Borneo.

2019

Do You Know?Caves are too deep

to be affected by seasons.Cave temperatures tendto be between 24degrees C (75ºF) and 1 degrees C (30ºF).

Helmet, light, backup light, gloves, and boots are necessaryequipment for cavers.

MammothCave

CarlsbadCaverns Lascaux Cave and

Chauvet Cavein France

Deer Caveand Sarawak

Chamberin Borneo

CheveCave

N

Conclusion

The world of caves is fascinating. Where elseon Earth can you find unexplored land, discoverotherworldly formations, and see artwork fromthousands and thousands of years ago? As longas we treat them respectfully, we can continue toexperience the wonder of caves indefinitely.

The United States claims some famous caves,too. Mammoth Cave in Kentucky contains morethan 300 miles (482.08 km) of known passageways,making it the largest known cave system in theworld. Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico is anational monument with more than 80 knowncaves in the system. Carlsbad’s magnificent BigRoom is the seventh largest known cave in theworld. It measures 1,800 feet (548.64 meters) long,as much as 1,100 feet (335.28 m) wide, and 255 feet(77.72 m) deep.

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Carlsbad Caverns’ Big Room

Carlsbad Caverns’ Witches Finger, a stalagmite

Index

art caves, 17, 20

Carlsbad Caverns, 4-6, 21, 22

cave explorers (spelunkers),12, 17-19

cave formations, 5-10, 12-14

cave inhabitants, 15-16

cave parts, 11

cave pearl, 14

caves,homes for animals, 11, 16homes for humans, 5, 15how they form, 6-10where they form, 6-10types, 7-10

Chauvet Cave, 20

Cheve Cave, 20

column, 12

dark zone, 11

Glossary

cave pearl cave formation formed when layers oflimestone build up around a grain of sand (p. 14)

column cave formation formed when the gapbetween a stalactite and stalagmite closes(p. 12)

draperies cave formations shaped into thin sheetsand hanging from cave ceilings (p. 13)

erosional formed by wind and water, slowly caves wearing away rock (p. 9)

helictite cave structures that are twisted, spiraling,or curly (p. 14)

ice caves formed mostly in glaciers (p. 10)

lava tube formed from a lava river when the surfacecaves cools and hardens, leaving a tube beneath

when the lava flow stops (p. 8)

limestone formed as water eats through rock, leaving caves hollows (p. 7)

sea caves formed by ocean waves wearing awayrocks (p. 10)

soda straw long, hollow tubes that form in limestonecaves (p. 14)

spelunkers people who explore caves (p. 17)

stalactite cave formation hanging from the ceilinglike a rock icicle (p. 13)

stalagmite cave formation on a cave floor, similar toan upside down rock icicle (p. 13)

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Explore More

On the Internet, use www.google.com tofind out more about topics presented in thisbook. Use terms from the text, or trysearching for some glossary or index words.

Some searches to try: spelunking, famous caves,stalagmites, or stalactites.

draperies, 13

erosional caves, 9

famous caves, 17, 20, 21

helictite(s), 14

ice caves, 10

lava tube caves, 8

limestone caves, 7, 9, 11-14

Mammoth Cave, 20, 21

Mt. St. Helens, 8

Sarawak Chamber, 20

sea caves, 10

soda straw, 14

stalactites, 12-13

stalagmites, 12-13, 22

twilight zone, 11

underwater caves, 9

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