Caves, Virginia's Land Down Under
By Susan Jewell
 Caver Scott Jones descends 100 feet down into Clover Hollow Cave in southwestern Virginia. Photo by Cheryl Jones. |
According to the Virginia Cave Board (part of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation), Virginia has more than 4,000 known caves. Virginia's cave region is known as karst topography. Karst refers to landscapes that are underlain by limestone bedrock, where the slightly acidic water from rainfall dissolves the rock and forms caves, sinkholes, sinking streams and springs. The water that flows through the porous rock supplies the wells and springs from which many communities obtain their drinking water.
In Virginia, karst topography occurs in the counties along the entire western boundary of the state and Loudoun County. Along this karst region are all the "show" caves-caves that are open to the public commercially. Two show caves in northern Virginia are Crystal Caverns at Hupp's Hill in Strasburg and Skyline Caverns in Front Royal, both around an hour's drive from Fairfax. Luray Caverns in Luray, one of the most famous show caves in the country, is about a two-hour drive from Fairfax. Most caves are on private property and are closed to the public.
Caves are formed over thousands of years. The process will continue as long as there is water present to dissolve the rock. Sinkholes occur by the same process, only these can develop faster and are visible from above ground. Calcium carbonate formations, such as stalactites (which hang from the cave ceiling), stalagmites (which build up from the cave floor) and columns (where the stalactites and stalagmites meet) are found in many caves.
Other animals, such as bats, seek shelter in caves when they are not out foraging for food. Bats use caves for daytime resting and for winter hibernation. They are valuable for controlling insects, such as mosquitoes. The Virginia big-eared bat, our state bat, hibernates in caves. Thus, this federally endangered species depends on caves to survive.
Like all habitat types, caves serve a purpose in the balance of nature. They store water. Much of the drinking water in the United States travels underground, through caves, springs and wells, before reaching our glasses. Any pollutant that is dumped onto the ground can leach downward and enter our water supply. This includes sewage, pesticides applied to crops and lawns and leaking fuel tanks. Our actions above ground can affect our drinking water.
Also like habitat above the ground, caves need our protection, too. The Virginia Cave Protection Act was passed in 1979, making it illegal to write or mark on cave walls, break or remove mineral formations, disturb or collect cave organisms (including bats), remove or disturb prehistoric artifacts or bones and dispose of trash.
Cheryl Jones, operations vice president of the National Speleological Society, says, "We want the public to know about the value of caves and karst and the threats to these by development, vandalism, pollution and pesticides," for example. She says that it is important to protect and conserve them on both private and public lands.
Like anything that is out of sight, we tend not to think about caves, and certainly not about them being an important component of our environment. For more information on caves, you can go to the National Speleological Society's Web site at www.caves.org.
Susan Jewell is a wildlife biologist and freelance writer who covers environmental issues in Northern Virginia.
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