How Caves Form: Main Processes

There's a chill in the air and a shudder in our bones...it's Spooky Month! Come along with us on a treacherous journey full of mischief, mayhem, and many marvelously mysterious guests! Steady yourself, for who knows what frights lurk around the corner...

In our first Spooky Month episode we dare to venture into the cold, dark world of caves. Joining us on our search for hidden knowledge deep within the earth is the estimably terrifying Brennan Lee Mulligan! 

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[This, That, or the Other: Deep Trouble]

Optymistychna Cave in Ukraine

Plura Cave in Norway

Veryovkina Cave in Georgia (the country)

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36097300

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/veryovkina-cave-deepest

https://mineralseducationcoalition.org/minerals-database/gypsum/

https://saltworkconsultants.com/downloads/31.%20Dissolution%202-%20Caves.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262182704_Fractal_dimensions_of_cave_for_exemplary_gypsum_cave-mazes_of_Western_Ukraine

https://bora.uib.no/bora-xmlui/handle/1956/10413?locale-attribute=en https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-97292-3_9 https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2499&context=ijs

[The Gauntlet]

Madagascar cave graveyard

Armenia wine cave

Bosnia & Herzegovina cave barely moving animal

Devil’s Hole cave in Nevada

Cheese storage caves in the U.S.

Mexico cave with giant formations

[Ask the Science Couch]

Science of cave climate in cheese/wine production 

https://www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/wine/underground-wine-caves-good/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214289419306088#

https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/missouri-cheese-caves-history

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/us-stockpile-cheese-missouri-caves/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213329116300260

Patreon bonus: “Subsurface access points” or caves in non-Earth places like the Moon and Mars

https://www.usgs.gov/centers/astrogeology-science-center/news/caves-across-solar-system

https://www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/what-we-do/applications/subsurface-access/

https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/lunar-pits-could-shelter-astronauts-reveal-details-of-how-man-in-the-moon-formed/  

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-024-02302-y.epdf 

[Butt One More Thing]

Indigenous Caribbean cave art from 1200-1400s, carved from moonmilk or painted using guano compounds

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440317301413?via%3Dihub

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-05389-8

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