Cave Quiz 4: Chapter 6 Flashcards
Define cenote
steep-walled natural well reaching the water table and continuing below it
Define concavities
corresponding niches to convexities
Define diagenesis
a complex set of transformation through which sediments go, from compaction, through dewatering to cementation
Define xibalba
the Mayan “underworld”
What are the two basic types of waters that reach karstic rocks?
precipitation water and the fluvial water
Define convexities
a vertical succession of ledges
Extremely valuable information is yielded by continuous measurements of the discharge or flow rates (___) and chemical composition (___) of waters emerging through karst springs.
hydrograph; chemograph
Name five areas of science covered in the study of caves
subterranean geomorphology, geology, geochemistry, hydrology, hydrogeology
What is the only measurement of the karsting processes generally accepted?
the karst denudation rate
How are karst aquifers viewed today?
As a transport and storage device
Within what amount of time after the Flood did the Ice Age set in?
About 500 years
Why do karstologists never recommend any significant mining activities below the karst water table?
Water has a way of finding its way through karst aquifers, draining away from the artificial water reservoir.
Discuss why karstlands are the most sensitive types of environmnets
What happens on the surface has a significant effect on what happens under the ground because infiltration from surface water can be extremely fast.
Dead animals and man-made items left behind in caves are often covered with what?
calcite
List the steps within the Three stages of cave formation
Stage 1:
a. insoluble rocks
b. soluble rocks
c. hyperactive hydrothermal solutions generated during the Flood
d. Large karst cavities excavated immediately after diagenesis
Stage 2:
e. global ectonic uplift
f. global sheet flow
g. massive rain
h. new, detrital sediments
Stage 3:
i. karstic sediments
