What Is A Cavern?
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A cavern is a specific type of cave, particularly one that's large and contains formations called speleothems (stalactites, stalagmites, and other decorative mineral deposits). All caverns are caves, but not all caves are caverns. A small narrow underground passage would be called a cave but not a cavern. Caverns typically formed through dissolution of limestone.
The terms 'cave' and 'cavern' are often used interchangeably in everyday speech, but geologists make a distinction between them. A cavern is a specific type of cave with particular characteristics that set it apart from caves in general. Understanding the difference reveals how geologists classify underground voids and why some famous tourist destinations use 'cavern' in their names.
What makes a cavern different from a cave?
A cave is any natural underground void large enough for a person to enter; the term applies broadly to many types of underground spaces. A cavern is a specific type of cave with two distinguishing features: it's typically large (with substantial rooms or chambers) and it contains speleothems, the mineral formations like stalactites, stalagmites, columns, flowstones, and draperies that decorate solution caves. Caverns are exclusively solution caves; lava tubes and sea caves don't qualify as caverns regardless of size. A small dry hole in rock is a cave but not a cavern.
How do caverns form?
Caverns form through the same dissolution process as other solution caves, but the formation continues long enough to produce both large rooms and the decorative speleothems that define caverns. After the initial cave passages form underwater through limestone dissolution, the water table eventually drops and the passages drain. Dripping water from above (now percolating through limestone above the cave) deposits dissolved calcium carbonate as it drips, evaporates, or releases carbon dioxide. Over additional thousands of years, this slow deposition builds the stalactites, stalagmites, and other formations that distinguish caverns from other caves.
What features do caverns contain?
Caverns typically contain a variety of speleothems formed by mineral deposition. Stalactites hang from ceilings. Stalagmites grow from floors. When the two meet, they form columns or pillars. Flowstone forms in sheets where water flows down walls. Draperies form like curtains where water flows down sloped surfaces. Soda straws are thin hollow stalactites. Helictites curve in unusual directions defying gravity. Pearls form in small pools. Each speleothem type forms under specific conditions. Caverns also contain large rooms, sometimes called galleries, that can be hundreds of feet high and equally wide.
What are famous caverns?
Many famous caverns attract visitors worldwide. Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico contains the Big Room, one of the largest cave chambers in North America at 4,000 feet long. Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is the world's longest known cave system at over 426 miles of mapped passages. Luray Caverns in Virginia features the Stalacpipe Organ, played by tapping stalactites. Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico contains rare crystalline gypsum formations. Carlsbad's Lechuguilla and other show caverns have visitor tours making them famous. Worldwide, Vietnam's Son Doong is one of the largest cave passages by volume.
A cavern is a specific type of cave: large, formed by limestone dissolution, and containing speleothems like stalactites and stalagmites. All caverns are caves, but not all caves are caverns; small caves and non-solution caves (like lava tubes) don't qualify as caverns. Famous caverns include Carlsbad in New Mexico, Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, and Luray Caverns in Virginia.
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