Earth

What are caves?

Most rocks have pores and cavities within them. Generally, however, these are not large enough for a person to explore. Caves are cavities or hollow spaces inside a rocky mass that are large enough for a person to explore (Foto1). There are many types of caves formed through different processes : some are small, and it is difficult for man to penetrate into; others, on the contrary, stretch underground for tens or hundreds of kilometres, reaching depths of over 2,000 m. Formation processes control lenght, development and shape of a cave, and also the difficulties that will arise when exploring them. Most of the longest and deepest caves do not consist in an isolated cavity, but they form a system, which at times may be very complex, made of rooms, sinkholes, shafts, meanders, canyons, interconnecting galleries, which are arranged to form a system or karst complex. Large quantities of underground water move through karst systems, caves may therefore be classified in different sub-areas, i.e. occupied by air and completely dry or scoured by streams, they may be flooded at times, or permanently invaded by fresh and salt water.