What is a cave? A cave is a hollow underground place large enough for a human to enter. The formation and development of caves is known as speleogenesis and can occur over millions of years. Caves are formed by various geological processes and can vary in size. These may involve a combination of chemical processes, water erosion, tectonic forces, microorganisms, pressure and atmospheric influences. Isotopic dating techniques can be applied to cave sediments, in order to determine the time scale at which geological events may have occurred that helped form and shape current caves. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayHow exactly do caves form? Caves are formed by the dissolution of limestone. Rainwater absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and, as it filters through the soil, turns into a weak acid. This slowly dissolves the limestone along joints, bedding planes and fractures, some of which widen enough to form caves. In some cases, there are objects called stalactites and stalagmites. Stalactites are attached to the ceiling and stalagmites are on the floor. A stalactite is a tapered structure that hangs like an icicle from the roof of a cave, formed from calcium salts deposited by dripping water. A stalagmite is a mound or tapered column rising from the floor of a cave, formed from calcium salts deposited by dripping water and often joined to a stalactite. The estimated maximum depth of a cave cannot be more than 3,000 meters or 9,800 feet due to the pressure of the overlying rocks. For karst caves, the maximum depth is determined based on the lower limit of the karst formation processes, coinciding with the base of the soluble carbonate rocks. Most caves are formed in limestone by dissolution. Caves are also classified in various other ways, including active and relict. Active caves will have water flowing through them while relict caves will not, although water may be retained within them. Active cave types include inflow caves, outflow caves, and through caves. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay While caves are found all over the world only a small portion of them have been explored. Documented cave systems have been skewed towards countries where caving was popular, such as France, Italy, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. As the world's expanses of soluble bedrock are studied, the distribution of documented caves is likely to change. For example, China contains about half of the world's exposed limestone, but has very few documented caves. Works CitedHill, CA (2016). A Beginner's Guide to Cave Diving: A step-by-step guide for all recreational divers. Independently published.Palmer, A. N. (2015). Cave geology. Dayton, Ohio: Cave Books.Palmer, A. N., & Palmer, M. V. (2015). Speleology: The study of caves. Dayton, Ohio: Cave Books. Schwartz, B. F., & Schwartz, H. R. (2018). Born to be wild: the caves and karst of Texas. University of Texas Press. White, W. B. (2016). Karst hydrology: concepts from the mammoth cave area. CRC Press. Culver, D. C., & Pipan, T. (2019). The biology of caves and other underground environments. Oxford University Press.National Speleological Society. (2017). Cave exploration: basic and advanced techniques. National Speleological Society.Casteret, N. (2018). Ten years underground. Books of.