The Mammoth Cave system, Kentucky, USA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21701/bolgeomin.127.1.009Keywords:
cave, International Biosphere Reserve, Mammoth Cave National Park, World Heritage Site, KentuckyAbstract
Mammoth Cave is the main attraction of Mammoth Cave National Park. For several decades it has been the longest known cave in the world and currently contains 652 km in 2016 of surveyed passages. It is located in the heart of an extensive karst plateau, in which the stratal dip averages only one degree. The cave is part of a drainage basin of more than 200 km². The cave has been known to local inhabitants for several millennia and contains a rich trove of archaeological and historical artifacts. It contains many speleo biota including several rare and endangered species and has been designated a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO). Its many passage levels and sediments contain a record of the fluvial history of most of southeastern North America.
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