Mammoth Cave National Park. Geologic Resources Inventory Report.

摘要

As a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve, Mammoth Cave National Park preserves part of a complex and spectacular karst ecosystem in southcentral Kentucky. The park lies at the edge of the Chester Upland, where resistant sandstones and other rocks support steep ridges separated by limestone-floored valleys. The ridges overlook the Pennyroyal Plateau, a karst sinkhole plain. The site was used by humans for thousands of years as a place of refuge and source of natural resources, has been visited by tourists since 1816, and became a national park in 1941. Mammoth Cave National Park protects and preserves some of the finest examples of karst landforms in the world. Mammoth Cave System (consisting of the interconnected Mammoth Cave, Flint Ridge, and Roppel Cave systems) is the longest cave in the world; more than 628 km (390 mi) have been explored to date, and the recorded length of the cave increases with each year of exploration. Myriad geologic factors combined to create the setting for the formation of this extensive cave. Over 10 million years ago, groundwater percolating through the soil and cracks within the resistant rocks above reached the relatively pure underlying limestone, dissolving increasingly wider conduits to form cave passages, vertical shafts, and multiple overlapping layers of caves. Other karst features within the park include sinking streams, springs, karst windows, and sinkholes. Given the predominance of karst features and processes at Mammoth Cave National Park, many resource management concerns pertain to karst issues.