Caves

Daily Web Guide

| Syllabus | Schedule | Email Kerry Magruder |

Assignments

Chernicoff, Groundwater, Caves and Karst, ch. 15.

Reminders

The Mars Show is presented every Friday night at 8 p.m. If you can't make this regular evening time then let me know whether you could make it Monday April 13 from 10:00 to 10:45 a.m.

Reading Focus Questions

Read the entire chapter. Study the illustrations. Focus your attention on the following questions. Be prepared to answer any of these questions should they occur on a quiz or on the final exam. For multiple choice questions select the single best answer. (Parenthetical notes are my remarks of related facts not found in the textbook.)

Groundwater

  1. True or False? Clay formations may be porous without being permeable.
  2. True or False? Well-water drawn today may have fallen as rain thousands of years ago.
  3. True or False? Lakes, swamps, and year-round streams are found where the water table intersects the Earth's surface.
  4. True or False? The Ogallala formation is a localized "confined aquifer."
  5. True or False? Municipal water supply systems, with tall water towers, simulate artesian conditions.
  6. True or False? A thermal spring is one whose water is at least 10 degrees within the boiling point.
  7. All of the following are possible results of groundwater depletion EXCEPT:
    1. a confined aquifer becomes unconfined
    2. lowered water table
    3. cone of depression around wells
    4. land subsidence
    5. saltwater intrusion

     

Caves

  1.  
  2. Molecular formulas and equations:
    1. Water + carbon dioxide forms carbonic acid
      • H2O + CO2 = H2CO3 (H+ + HCO3-)
    2. Carbonic acid + calcium carbonate forms calcium bicarbonate (dissolved)
      • H2CO3 + CaCO3 = Ca(HCO3)2
    3. "Hard" water + soap forms CaCO3 deposits
    4. Soft water substitutes Na+ for Ca++ ions
    5. True or False? The carbon dioxide comes from decomposition of organic materials.

     

  3. Scientists who study caves are _____; nonscientists who like to search for and explore caves are known as ________.
    1. stalaktos; spelunkers
    2. speleothems; speleologists
    3. spelunkers; speleologists
    4. speleologists; spelunkers

     

  4. True or False? Deposits of travertine on cave surfaces and buildings are called speleothems.

     

  5. The name applied to calcium carbonate when it forms cave deposits is:
    1. limestone
    2. gypsum
    3. travertine
    4. halite

     

  6. Put the following in chronological order:
    1. Growth of speleothems
    2. Underwater dissolution of limestone around cracks or joint fissures
    3. Open air erosion by subterranean streams

     

  7. True or False? Stalactites grow upward from the cave floor.
  8. True or False? Soda straws form from large, pre-existing stalactites.
  9. True or False? Stalagmites grow directly beneath stalactites.
  10. True or False? Helictites may grow in any direction, and even reverse their direction.
  11. True or False? The growth record of stalactites can be observed by the concentric layers of travertine.
  12. True or False? Caves found in polar and hot desert regions indicate a past period of greater precipitation and more temperate climate.

     

Karst Topography

  1.  
  2. The below-surface expressions of karst are:
    1. sinkholes
    2. cockpits
    3. caves
    4. terra rosa

     

  3. A mature sinkhole that is wide at the surface and progressively narrower below ground is called a:
    1. funnel sinkhole
    2. collapse sinkhole
    3. solution sinkhole
    4. sinkhole lake

     

  4. True or False? A sinkhole deep enough to intersect the local water table may form a lake.
  5. True or False? Solution sinkholes are created by dissolution and collapse of the roofs of caves.
  6. True or False? Karst regions have few meandering rivers and few floods.

     

  7. Some disappearing streams eventually return to the surface as:
    1. blind valleys
    2. cenotes
    3. natural springs
    4. sinkhole lakes

     

  8. True or False? Evaporite deposits make the best areas for karst topography because evaporites dissolve easily in water.
  9. True or False? Karst areas are extremely vulnerable to contamination by waste materials.