Mammoth Cave's geological formation and World Heritage significance

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The Mammoth Cave World Heritage Site

Discovery and current status

Layers deposited in the area

Mammoth Caves as an ancient shallow sea

Special status

Conclusion and reasons for seeing the location

The Mammoth Cave World Heritage Site is located in Edmonson County in Kentucky, the U.S. And is one of the most impressive cave systems in the world. The area has been experiencing a geological process for hundreds a millions of years and this process continues to this day. The cave is one of the most treasured national parks in the world and numerous institutions have gotten actively involved in preserving it. Through observing layers of rock that have been deposited in the area and when analyzing limestone in particular, one can get a much more complex understanding of the geological events that occurred there through time.

Layers deposited in the area

Rocks present in the area are believed to have originated in the Mississippian Period, an era that goes back approximately 325 million years ago. This location was then covered by a series of seas and layers of clay had built up over the years to form its current appearance. "The limestone was formed from mineral matter in the sea water and from the shells and other parts of animals and plants that lived there." (Hagan, p. 7) Neighboring lands have also contributed to the materials present in the area, as it carries numerous sediments that turned into sandstone through time.

Mammoth Caves as an ancient shallow sea

Water was very shallow in seas covering the present-day Kentucky area and this made it possible for a wide range of tiny organisms to thrive there. Their death has caused billions of shells to accumulate on the sea floor and to contribute to the structure. Alongside of limestone and shale, the buildup led to more than seven hundred feet being deposited there. When considering the materials deposited in the region through time, it would be safe to say that the cave system provides viewers with the opportunity to observe important steps in the planet's evolutionary history (Hagan, p. 7).

Special status

The cave is unique from a speleological point-of-view because of the fact that it contains almost every type of cave formation ever discovered. "Today, this huge and complex network of cave passages provides a clear, complete and accessible record of the world's geomorphic and climatic changes." (Mammoth Cave National Park) Even the area outside of the cave provides impressive views, as the landscape and the karst system present there further contribute to emphasizing nature's impressive constructions.

Conclusion and reasons for seeing the location

The Mammooth Cave system is especially impressive because of its touristic attributes. The location contains a great deal of caves that large enough for people to go through them and this makes exploring an intriguing concept. Speleothems can be found in a series of passages around the cave and this provides viewers with a wonderful display as they advance through its galleries -- the cave system can largely be considered to be similar to many contemporary museums, with mother nature being the artist in this case.

Works cited:

Hagan, W.W. GEOLOGY OF THE MAMMOTH

CAVE NATIONAL PARK AREA. In UK Kentucky Geological Survey. Retrieved May 11, 2014. From http://kgs.uky.edu/kgsweb/olops/pub/kgs/XSP7reduce.pdf

"Mammoth Cave National Park." In UNESCO. Retrieved May 11, 2014. From http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/150