The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1916-01-04
HOW OLD IS MAMMOTH CAVE?
Scientists Say 1t Has Been Only Mil
lion Years in Forming.


Mammoth Cave of Kentucky On the
other hand, there may be quite num-
Der who know very little about how
this and other similar caves were
formed, how old the Mammoth Cave
probably is, what service it performed
for the young government Of the Unit
ed States during the war of 1872 and
Garious other interesting features con-
nected with the greatest Of all known
caverns of the world, brought out in
an article in the September number Of
the bulletin of the Pan-American
Union, Washington, D. C.
From time immemorial" quote
from the bulletins article-"caves
have been objects of interest to man
kind. Around them have clustered
legend and superstition, in them men
have found habitations for the living,
refugees for the pursued, secret temples
for the practice of their religious rites,
and mausoleums for their dead. In an
cient days they were the abodes Of
sybils and numphs of Roman myth
ology; in Greece they became the
temples for the worship of Zeus, Pan,
Dionysius and Pluto, as we'll as the
homes of the oracles of Delphi, Cor
NTH and Mount Citheron; in Persia
they were connected with the worship
of Mitnras, and in more modern times
popular fancy in Europe people the
mystery -enshrouded caves with elves,
fairies and evil spirits galore"
But, after all, caves are but the re-
suits Of perfectly natural forces work
ing beneath the surface Of the earth
just as they do on it's face, and for
the sake of convenience may be deTid-
ed into three classes: Cd Those form
ed by the action of currents, theforce
of waves, and the grinding of shingle
against a cliff on a rock seacoast,
which forces gradually hollow out
caves in the weaker places, of which
those found near Bar Harbor, Maine,
may serve as examples; (2) those
found in volcanic regions, formed by
the subterranean flow of lava, or by
The expansion of steam and gases such
as those in the klamath Lake region
in Oregon, which are so large that they
often served as effectual hiding places
, for the Indians in the early days OF
the conquest of the West; and (3)
those which have been cut out of cal
careous rocks by the chemical action
of carbonic acid in rain water, COM
bined with the mechanical friction Of
sand and stones set in forcible motion
by the streams of water which have
flown through them for ages. These
last are the most numerous and most
important in size, and it is to this
class that Mammoth Cave belongs.
AS most people know, the cave is
in Edmonson county, Kentucky, about
85 miles southwest of Louisville, and
not far from Green river, into which
the caves subterranean waters empty.
This section of Kentucky, where may
be found limestone beds frequently
reaching a thickness of 500 feet, IS
noted for its rocky grottees, sink holes
and caverns, The rocks in the vicinity
of Mammoth Cave give evidence ofbut
little disturbance by the dynamic
forces of past ages. 1t is such areas
of limestone deposits with compare
lively level strata and located some
what above a drainage level with
small crevices or joints, that fufnisn
the conditions for the formation OF ua-
derground passageways and chambers
by the chemical and mechanical agency
of underground waters.
From a geological viewpoint, Nam
moth Cave is of comparatively recent
origin. It's formation having begun
something less than 100000 years
ago in the Pliocene age. The cave ac-
ton began after Green river had cut
its channel down into the limestone
stratum which underlies this section.
The rain water, with its carbonic acid
content, speeded through the overly
ing earth and passing into and through
the crevices and joints Of the stone
at that time above the level of the
river, began the work of solution anG
erosion. These underground waters
gathered along the planes Of least re-
sistance, and as the crevices grew in
size more and more of the surface
water was drained into them, and as
Green river cut it's bed deeper into the
limestone underlay the cave waters
kent mace with the process until what