Physical and Environmental Characteristics based Classification of the Caves of the Andaman Islands

摘要

The objective of the study was to classify the caves in theAndaman Islands, on the basis of their existence, rock layertype, cavesize, caveopenings (number, size, and shape) andthe presence of light zones inside. All the 314 caves visitedon 27 Islands were of limestone, dominated by Archipelagoand Flysch group of rock layers. More than 60% caves are ofsmall size, located in inland forests, below the ground,which lead to downward length from the opening. Around86% caves had a single opening. We found the cave sizevaried with the rock layer type, vegetation type and anumber of openings. Multiple regression models withdifferentvariables showed the type of rock layeras the mostinfluencing factordeciding thecavesize in the Islands. Thisexploratorywork, asa baseline study, isa furtheraddition tothe knowledge on the scarcely studied hypogene caves intheAndaman Islands.