How do caves and caverns form in limestone?

What will be an ideal response?


Most caves and caverns (caverns are simply large caves) are products of groundwater erosion. Rainwater chemically reacts with the carbon dioxide in air to become carbonic acid. The presence of carbonic acid acidifies rainwater. When rainwater moves down through the ground, it can react with rocks and become even more acidified. Limestone readily dissolves under the action of acidified rainwater and ground water. Usually, caves form in the saturated zone beneath the water table. Over time, huge chunks of limestone go into solution. When the water table drops, holes in subsurface rock remain-caves.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

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Which one of the following statements about landforms is correct?

A) Alluvial fans typically rim desert valleys. B) Playas form on high cuestas in arid areas. C) Inselbergs are composed of coarse sands and gravels. D) Inselbergs are found in low, circular depressions.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

During an earthquake, buildings built on hard rock are damaged more than buildings built on soft sediment.

Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Weather is a combination of

a. temperature and precipitation b. atmospheric conditions over years c. wind speed and precipitation over decades d. temperature, humidity, wind speed, cloud cover and other factors over hours or days e. temperature, humidity, wind speed, cloud cover and other factors over at least decades

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

A student notes that a rock contains mica and plagioclase feldspar and concludes that the rock is an intermediate rock. What piece of further information could best determine if the student's conclusion was the correct one?

A) the grain size of the crystals B) the color of the rock C) the amphibole content of the rock D) the silicate content of the rock

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences