Geologic controls on cave development in Burnsville Cove, Bath and Highland Counties, Virginia

Swezey, Christopher S.; Haynes, John T.; Lucas, Philip C.; Lambert, Richard A.

doi:10.1130/2017.0047(04)

Cited by 2 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…For example, both Withero's Cave (Bath County, Virginia) and Paxton's Cave (Alleghany County, Virginia) have network maze passages and are located in Silurian-Devonian limestone on or near the axes of anticlines (Stephenson, 1945;Baroody, 1966Baroody, -1967. Likewise, Helictite Cave and Owl Cave (both in Highland County, Virginia) also have network maze passages, and are located in Silurian-Devonian limestone on or near the axes of anticlines (Swezey et al, 2017;Brent et al, 2019). Furthermore, both Helictite Cave and Owl Cave have the following geomorphological characteristics, which are similar to those of Hamilton Cave (Swezey et al, 2017;Brent et al, 2019):…”

Section: The Origin Of Maze Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Likewise, Helictite Cave and Owl Cave (both in Highland County, Virginia) also have network maze passages, and are located in Silurian-Devonian limestone on or near the axes of anticlines (Swezey et al, 2017;Brent et al, 2019). Furthermore, both Helictite Cave and Owl Cave have the following geomorphological characteristics, which are similar to those of Hamilton Cave (Swezey et al, 2017;Brent et al, 2019):…”

Section: The Origin Of Maze Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, nearby caves that are located along the axes of synclines tend to have a major trunk channel that follows the syn-cline axis, but they lack well-developed network maze patterns. Examples from Bath County (Virginia) include Sand Canyon in Butler Cave and the Burns Streamway in the greater Chestnut Ridge Cave System (White, 2015;Swezey et al, 2017). Thus, the location of the greatest amount of flexure (anticline or syncline axis) is not the sole criterion necessary for the development of network maze caves.…”

Section: The Origin Of Maze Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, in areas of dipping strata, most cave passages that form under vadose conditions are relatively short and they descend abruptly along dip (unless prominent fractures impose other trends). Excellent examples include Breathing Cave and Butler Cave in Bath County, Virginia (Deike, 1960;Swezey et al, 2017). In contrast, under phreatic conditions (either at shallow depths beneath the water table or under deeper phreatic conditions), the water does not have a free surface in contact with air,…”

Section: The Development Of Caves In Relation To the Position Of The mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the water table drops and phreatic passages are abandoned, then the water will have a free surface in contact with air (vadose conditions), and the water may cut a canyon in the cave floor to form a keyhole cross section. Within a given cave, some passages have profiles that are clearly controlled by joints, whereas other passages have profiles that are clearly controlled by bedding planes (e.g., Butler Cave;Swezey et al, 2017). "Joint-controlled passages" usually have greater height to width ratios than "bedding-plane controlled passages."…”

Section: Chronology Of Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geology of the Trout Rock caves (Hamilton Cave, Trout Cave, New Trout Cave) in Pendleton County, West Virginia (USA), and implications regarding the origin of maze caves

Swezey¹,

Brent²

2020

Geology Field Trips in and Around the U.S. Capital

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The Trout Rock caves (Hamilton Cave, Trout Cave, New Trout Cave) are located in a hill named Cave Knob that overlooks the South Branch of the Potomac River in Pendleton County, West Virginia, USA. The geologic structure of this hill is a northeast-trending anticline, and the caves are located at different elevations, primarily along the contact between the Devonian New Creek Limestone (Helderberg Group) and the overlying Devonian Corriganville Limestone (Helderberg Group). The entrance to New Trout Cave (Stop 1) is located on the east flank of Cave Knob anticline at an elevation of 585 m (1919 ft) above sea level, or 39 m (128 ft) above the modern river. Much of the cave consists of passages that extend to the northeast along strike, and many of these passages have developed along joints that trend ~N40E or ~N40W. Sediments in New Trout Cave include mud and sand (some of which was mined for nitrate during the American Civil War), as well as large boulders in the front part of the cave. Gypsum crusts are present in a maze section of the cave ~213-305 m (799-1001 ft) from the cave entrance. Excavations in New Trout Cave have produced vertebrate fossils of Rancholabrean age, ca. 300-10 thousand years ago (ka). The entrance to Trout Cave (Stop 2) is located on the east flank of Cave Knob anticline ~100 m (328 ft) northwest of the New Trout Cave entrance at an elevation of 622 m (2040 ft) above sea level, or 76 m (249 ft) above the modern river. Much of the cave consists of passages that extend to the northeast along strike, although a small area of network maze passages is present in the western portion of Trout Cave that is closest to Hamilton Cave. Many of the passages of Trout Cave have developed along joints that trend N50E, N40E, or N40W. Sediments in Trout Cave include mud (also mined for nitrate during the American Civil War), as well as large boulders in the front part of the cave. Excavations in the upper levels of Trout Cave have produced vertebrate fossils of Rancholabrean age (ca. 300-10 ka), whereas excavations in the lower levels of the cave have produced vertebrate fossils of Irvingtonian age, ca. 1.81 million years ago (Ma)-300 ka.

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Section: The Origin Of Maze Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Origin Of Maze Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Origin Of Maze Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Development Of Caves In Relation To the Position Of The mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Chronology Of Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Geology of the Trout Rock caves (Hamilton Cave, Trout Cave, New Trout Cave) in Pendleton County, West Virginia (USA), and implications regarding the origin of maze caves

Swezey¹,

Brent²

2020

Geology Field Trips in and Around the U.S. Capital

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Total organic carbon concentrations in clastic cave sediments from Butler Cave, Virginia, USA: implications for contaminant fate and transport

et al. 2023

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Clastic cave deposits are representative of sediments throughout the karst aquifer and thus are an abundant and accessible resource through which to study the chemistry of karst aquifer. Clastic cave sediments are attributed to depositional facies based on cave location, sorting, and particle size. These facies settings may in uence different chemical parameters of the sediments, like concentrations of total organic carbon (TOC).The TOC concentrations in clastic cave sediments have not been well constrained nor has the role of clastic sediments in contaminant fate and transport through karst systems been well described. In this study, particle size, TOC, and total nitrogen were measured in sediments representing different facies in Butler Cave, Virginia, USA. TOC concentrations ranged from 0.08-0.87 weight percent and C:N molar ratio ranged from 3-15, indicating a possible terrestrial source of organic carbon in these sediments. The diamicton facies was sandier and but had similar TOC concentrations compared to the channel facies. TOC concentrations measured in Butler Cave were within the same range as those observed in above water, eogenetic clastic cave sediments from two caves in Puerto Rico. Estimated retardation factors calculated based on the TOC concentrations in the Butler Cave sediments indicate the range of TOC in this cave could be responsible for 39-987% increase in retardation of selected contaminants. This study highlights the importance of measuring the ranges of TOC in clastic cave sediments across different facies and their role in contaminant fate and transport.

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Geologic controls on cave development in Burnsville Cove, Bath and Highland Counties, Virginia

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Geology of the Trout Rock caves (Hamilton Cave, Trout Cave, New Trout Cave) in Pendleton County, West Virginia (USA), and implications regarding the origin of maze caves

Geology of the Trout Rock caves (Hamilton Cave, Trout Cave, New Trout Cave) in Pendleton County, West Virginia (USA), and implications regarding the origin of maze caves

Total organic carbon concentrations in clastic cave sediments from Butler Cave, Virginia, USA: implications for contaminant fate and transport

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