CAVERN DIVE

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CAVERN DIVE
PHOTO DESIGN BY CESAR VELASCO
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HOW THE CAVERNS WERE FORMED?

• How caves are formed. Most caves are formed in
  limestone or in a related rock, such as marble or
  dolomite. Such caves, called solution caves, form
  as underground water slowly dissolves the rock.
  This process takes thousands of years. It begins
  when surface water trickles down through tiny
  cracks in the rock to a zone that is saturated
  with water. The topmost level of this saturated
  zone is called the water table. Water flowing
  above and below the water table dissolves some of
  the rock, forming passages, chambers, and pits.
• Limestone and similar rock are only slightly
  soluble in water. But the water that trickles
  down from the surface contains carbon dioxide,
  which has been absorbed from the air and soil
  above the rock. The carbon dioxide forms a mild
  acid in the water, and this acid helps dissolve
  the rock.
• Eventually, the water table may drop below the
  level of the cave. Or, the cave may be raised
  above the water table by a gradual uplifting of
  the ground. Most of the water then drains out,
  and air fills the cave. A surface stream may
  enter the cave and flow through it. The stream
  continues to dissolve the rock, enlarging the
  cave. Connections from the cave to the surface
  may develop in several ways. For example, the
  rock above part of the cave may collapse, forming
  a vertical entrance called a sinkhole. A
  horizontal entrance may develop on a hillside or
  a valley slope, especially at a point where a
  spring or stream flows from the cave.

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SPELEOTHEMS

• Other types of caves include lava tubes and sea
  caves. Lava tubes form from molten lava. As lava
  flows down a slope, its outer surface cools and
  hardens, but the lava beneath remains molten. The
  molten lava continues to flow and eventually
  drains out, forming a cave. Lava caves lie near
  the surface of the earth and commonly have many
  openings in their thin roof. Sea caves form along
  rocky shores as the surf wears away weak areas of
  the rock. Inland, flowing water can carry rock
  away from weak areas of rock such as granite,
  forming caves.

• Many other kinds of speleothems also form in
  caves. Drapery consists of thin sheets of rock
  that hang from the ceiling. Flowstone develops
  where a thin film of water flows over the walls
  and floor of a cave, depositing sheets of
  minerals. Gypsum flowers are delicate spiral
  crystals that sprout from porous rock. Helictites
  are strangely twisted cylinders that grow from
  the walls, ceiling, or floor of a cave, or from
  other formations.
• Life in caves. Wall paintings, stone tools, and
  skeletal remains found in caves show that people
  lived there thousands of years ago. Today, many
  kinds of animals, including a small number of
  human beings, use caves as permanent shelters.

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STALACTITE STALAGMITE

• See CAVE DWELLERS.
• Animals that live in caves include birds,
  crickets, lizards, raccoons, rats, salamanders,
  and spiders. Large numbers of bats roost in caves
  during the day and fly out at night to hunt for
  insects. The guano (manure) of bats provides food
  for the countless beetles, millipedes, flatworms,
  and other creatures that live in caves.
• Various species of animals known as troglobites
  live in the dark innermost part of most caves,
  where there is no light, wind, or change in
  temperature and humidity. Such animals include
  certain beetles, fish, salamanders, and spiders.
  Most troglobites are blind and have a thin,
  colorless skin or shell. They rely on highly
  developed senses of smell and touch to make up
  for their lack of
• Speleothems. After most of the water has drained
  from a cave, water may continue to seep in
  through cracks in the rock. This water often
  contains dissolved minerals. As it enters the
  cave, some of the minerals crystallize and are
  deposited as speleothems. Although speleothems
  are commonly white, they may be of many colors,
  depending on the minerals that form them.
• The best-known kinds of speleothems are
  stalactites and stalagmites. Stalactites are
  iciclelike formations that hang from the ceiling
  of a cave. Stalagmites are pillars that rise from
  the floor. A stalactite and a stalagmite may join
  and form a column. See STALACTITE STALAGMITE

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Green plants, such as ferns and mosses, may grow
in the outer parts of caves, which receive some
sunlight. Only fungi and other organisms that do
not require light can live in the dark inner
areas. Caving, also called spelunking, is an
exciting but somewhat risky hobby. Individuals
who wish to explore caves should always do so in
groups headed by experienced leaders. Cavers
use some of the techniques and equipment of
mountain climbing. For example, they use sturdy
ropes to climb up and down steep underground
cliffs. In addition, cavers wear hardhats and
rugged, heavy clothing for protection against
jagged rocks and low temperatures. Cavers should
always carry at least three sources of light--a
headlamp attached to the hardhat plus two
flashlights. Experienced cavers want a cave to
be in the same condition after they explore it as
it was before they entered it. Therefore, they
neither damage nor remove anything they may find
in the cave. Speleothems are fragile and, if
broken, cannot be restored. In addition, many
cave animals are extremely rare and can be easily
harmed. Contributor Louise D. Hose, Ph.D.,
Environmental Studies Program Director,
Westminster College.

• Many other kinds of speleothems also form in
  caves. Drapery consists of thin sheets of rock
  that hang from the ceiling. Flowstone develops
  where a thin film of water flows over the walls
  and floor of a cave, depositing sheets of
  minerals. Gypsum flowers are delicate spiral
  crystals that sprout from porous rock. Helictites
  are strangely twisted cylinders that grow from
  the walls, ceiling, or floor of a cave, or from
  other formations.
• Life in caves. Wall paintings, stone tools, and
  skeletal remains found in caves show that people
  lived there thousands of years ago. Today, many
  kinds of animals, including a small number of
  human beings, use caves as permanent shelters.
  See CAVE DWELLERS.
• Animals that live in caves include birds,
  crickets, lizards, raccoons, rats, salamanders,
  and spiders. Large numbers of bats roost in caves
  during the day and fly out at night to hunt for
  insects. The guano (manure) of bats provides food
  for the countless beetles, millipedes, flatworms,
  and other creatures that live in caves.
• Various species of animals known as troglobites
  live in the dark innermost part of most caves,
  where there is no light, wind, or change in
  temperature and humidity. Such animals include
  certain beetles, fish, salamanders, and spiders.
  Most troglobites are blind and have a thin,
  colorless skin or shell. They rely on highly
  developed senses of smell and touch to make up
  for their lack of

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STALACTITE AND STALAGMITE
Taylor, Michael R. Cave Passages Roaming the
Underground Wilderness. Scribner, 1996.
---- end of article
---- Stalactite, pronounced stuh LAK tyt or
STAL uhk tyt, is a beautiful stone formation
found in some limestone caves. Stalactites hang
from the walls or roofs of the caves. Most look
like large icicles, but some resemble draperies
or straws with a hole through their center.
Most stalactites form when ground water rich in
carbon dioxide dissolves the mineral calcite
(calcium carbonate) from limestone directly above
the cave. As the water drips into the cave, it
loses carbon dioxide to the cave atmosphere and
leaves behind minute quantities of calcite. The
calcite accumulates very slowly, forming
stalactites. In many cases, this process occurs
over thousands of years. Formations that build
up from the floor of a cave are called
stalagmites (see STALAGMITE). In the United
States, excellent examples of stalactites and
stalagmites exist in Carlsbad Caverns in New
Mexico, Luray Caverns in Virginia, Mammoth Cave
in Kentucky, Cumberland Caverns in Tennessee, and
Blanchard Springs Caverns in Arkansas. See also
CALCITE CAVE. Contributor Nicholas C.
Crawford, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Center
for Cave and Karst Studies, Western Kentucky
University. ---- end of
article ----
Stalagmite, pronounced stuh LAG myt or STAL
uhg myt, is a stone formation that rises up from
the floors of caves, especially in limestone
caverns. Stalagmites form when water, dripping on
the floor from the walls and roofs of the cave,
carries with it deposits of calcium carbonate, or
calcite. As the water enters the cave's
atmosphere, it loses carbon dioxide and produces
calcite. The calcite builds up into colorful
stone formations that look like icicles upside
down. Similar formations, which hang from the
roof of the cave, are called stalactites (see
STALACTITE). Sometimes stalagmites and
stalactites join to form columns or stone
curtains against the walls of the cave. See
also CALCITE CAVE. Contributor Nicholas C.
Crawford, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Center
for Cave and Karst Studies, Western Kentucky
University.
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Mayans and cenotes

• Cenotes come from the word DZONOT wich means in
  mayan lenguage- hole of fresh water -they were
  sacred to the Maya.
• The mayan used the cenotes for water - both
  for drinking and irrigation - and in religious
  ceremonies. Some of their cities were built
  around cenotes or wells dug down to the ground
  water. Divers have explored many cenotes and
  have found offerings the ancient Maya made to the
  gods. Among them copper and gold necklaces,
  pottery, jade beads, and skeletons of both sexes
  and all ages.
• Cenotes are beleived to have been of great
  significance to the Mayan people.  Recognized
  by the Maya as the link between the earth and the
  netherworlds (XIBALBA) and  often the only
  source of freshwater in the riverless Yucatan
  Penninsula,

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• Cenotes  were considered sacred and important
  ceremonial centers were often constructed 
  nearby. Surrounded by dense jungle, cenotes are
  oases of cool clear fresh water, perfect  for
  cooling off in the heat of the day. Cenotes are
  the entrace to magical caverns and cave passages
  below the earth.
• SACRIFICE
• Sacrifice  was a ritual in honor to their
  gods. There were many different ways to
  sacrifice
• Auto-sacrifice an act in wich they used to
  bleed by cutting their tongue, ears and penis
  with an obsidian rock (volcanic glass) or
  stingrray spine.
• Human sacrifice was executed by taking the
  victims heart, cutting off the head and after
  tied up with a rock to trough the rests of the
  body in to the bottom of a cenote

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Chac mool

• There are very common sculptures in Chichenitza.
  They represents the messanger of gods. They hold
  on their stomach a pot where used to deposit
  gifts