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Speleology (from Ancient Greek σπήλαιον (spḗlaion) 'cave' and -λογία 'study of') is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their composition, structure, physical properties, history, ecology, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology).
A troglobite (or, formally, troglobiont) is an animal species, or population of a species, strictly bound to underground habitats, such as caves.These are separate from species that mainly live in above-ground habitats but are also able to live underground (eutroglophiles), and species that are only cave visitors (subtroglophiles and trogloxenes). [1]
Caves that are close to the surface, such as lava tubes, often have tree roots hanging from the cave roof, which provide nutrients for sap-feeding insects. [1] [2] Other important food sources in underground habitats are animals being decomposed and bat guano, [3] [4] [5] that creates large invertebrate communities in such caves. [6] [7]
In steep-sided gorges, talus caves may form as a combination of slope failure and downcutting by a stream or river, where smaller rocks and soil is washed away under large boulders, leaving a cave behind. [3] In Scandinavia and other recently glaciated areas, many talus caves are the result of neotectonic activity due to post-glacial rebound.
Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's surface. [1] Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock shelters). Caves which extend further underground than the opening is wide are called endogene caves ...
Cave-dwelling species are accustomed to a near-constant climate of temperature and humidity, and any disturbance can be disruptive to the species' life cycles. Though cave wildlife may not always be immediately visible, it is typically nonetheless present in most caves. Bats are one such fragile species of cave-dwelling animal.
Rocks formations and the Dedo de Deus (God's Finger) peak in the background, Serra dos Órgãos National Park, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil Raouché or Pigeons' Rock in Beirut, Lebanon Druid Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, US View of Meteora, Greece Rock formations in Ongamira Valley, Sierras de Córdoba, Argentina Belogradchik Rocks, Balkan Mountains, Bulgaria "Jaws", an erosional fin ...
Speleogenesis is the origin and development of caves, the primary process that determines essential features of the hydrogeology of karst and guides its evolution. It often deals with the development of caves through limestone, caused by the presence of water with carbon dioxide dissolved within it, producing carbonic acid which permits the dissociation of the calcium carbonate in the limestone.