Friars Hole Cave System

Friars Hole Cave System
Map showing the location of Friars Hole Cave System
Map showing the location of Friars Hole Cave System
Friars Hole Cave System
Location in West Virginia
Map showing the location of Friars Hole Cave System
Map showing the location of Friars Hole Cave System
Friars Hole Cave System
Friars Hole Cave System (the United States)
LocationWest Virginia
Coordinates38°04′02″N 80°19′47″W / 38.067203°N 80.329775°W / 38.067203; -80.329775 (Friars Hole Cave)
Depth186.8 m (613 ft)
Length82.5 km (51.3 mi)[1]
Discovery1950
GeologyLimestone
Entrances8

Friars Hole Cave System is a cave in West Virginia's Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties.[2] First surveyed in the 1960s,[3] it is one of the longest in the United States and the world.

Various sources put its total length at 63 km,[4] 73.4 km,[2] 72 km,[5] to 77.4 km long.[6] The West Virginia Encyclopedia says that 44 miles of the cave have been surveyed, making it the longest cave in the state, the 7th-longest cave in the United States, and the 35th-longest cave in the world.[7] In 2017, William B. White called it is the 31st-longest cave in the world.[8]

The cave has ten entrances, five of which are closed:[9] Friars Hole, Rubber Chicken, Crookshank Pit, Toothpick, Snedegars caves entrances (Snedegars Staircase, Snedegars Saltpeter, Snedegars Stream, Snedegars North), and Canadian Hole, Radio Pit.[7][10][4]

The cave formed in the Mississippian Greenbrier Group. The oldest passage to the cave is said to 4.1 million years old.[11] The cave was formed by streams sinking down into the ground.[12] The minor structures in the cave were influenced by thrust faults.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gulden, Bob (2022-11-15). "USA Longest Caves". Archived from the original on April 21, 2006. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b Medville, Douglas M.; Worthington, Stephen R.H. (2018), White, William B. (ed.), "The Friars Hole System", Caves and Karst of the Greenbrier Valley in West Virginia, Cave and Karst Systems of the World, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 135–152, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-65801-8_8, ISBN 978-3-319-65801-8, retrieved 2021-09-25
  3. ^ White, William B. (2017-11-20). Caves and Karst of the Greenbrier Valley in West Virginia. Springer. p. 152. ISBN 978-3-319-65801-8.
  4. ^ a b Harmon, Russell S.; Wicks, Carol M.; Ford, Derek C.; White, William Blaine (2006-01-01). Perspectives on Karst Geomorphology, Hydrology, and Geochemistry: A Tribute Volume to Derek C. Ford and William B. White. Geological Society of America. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-8137-2404-1.
  5. ^ Gunn, John (2004). Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science. Taylor & Francis. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-57958-399-6.
  6. ^ Bob Gulden (July 4, 2023). "Worlds longest caves". Geo2 Committee on Long and Deep Caves. National Speleological Society (NSS). Archived from the original on May 15, 2006. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
  7. ^ a b Jones, William (28 February 2011). "Friars Hole Cave". The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  8. ^ White, William B. (2017-11-20). Caves and Karst of the Greenbrier Valley in West Virginia. Springer. p. 6. ISBN 978-3-319-65801-8.
  9. ^ "Closed Cave List - National Speleological Society". National Speleological Society. 2021-07-25.
  10. ^ White, William B.; Culver, David C.; Pipan, Tanja (2019-05-10). Encyclopedia of Caves. Academic Press. pp. 334–337. ISBN 978-0-12-814125-0.
  11. ^ White, William B.; Culver, David C.; Pipan, Tanja (2019-05-10). Encyclopedia of Caves. Academic Press. pp. 446–449. ISBN 978-0-12-814125-0.
  12. ^ Gunn, John (2004). Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science. Taylor & Francis. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-57958-399-6.
  13. ^ White, William B.; Culver, David C.; Pipan, Tanja (2019-05-10). Encyclopedia of Caves. Academic Press. p. 444. ISBN 978-0-12-814125-0.