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.
| Friars Hole Cave System | |
|---|---|
  Friars Hole Cave System Location in West Virginia  Friars Hole Cave System Friars Hole Cave System (the United States) | |
| Location | West Virginia |
| Coordinates | 38°04′02″N 80°19′47″W / 38.067203°N 80.329775°W |
| Depth | 186.8 m (613 ft) |
| Length | 82.5 km (51.3 mi)[1] |
| Discovery | 1950 |
| Geology | Limestone |
| Entrances | 8 |
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
editReferences
edit- ^ Gulden, Bob (2022-11-15). "USA Longest Caves". Archived from the original on April 21, 2006. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ 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
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Gunn, John (2004). Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science. Taylor & Francis. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-57958-399-6.
- ^ 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.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b Jones, William (28 February 2011). "Friars Hole Cave". The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Closed Cave List - National Speleological Society". National Speleological Society. 2021-07-25.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Gunn, John (2004). Encyclopedia of Caves and Karst Science. Taylor & Francis. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-57958-399-6.
- ^ White, William B.; Culver, David C.; Pipan, Tanja (2019-05-10). Encyclopedia of Caves. Academic Press. p. 444. ISBN 978-0-12-814125-0.
External links
edit- Under A Rock Photography (2017-04-19). "Friars Hole Cave System". Retrieved 2021-10-18.
- "Projects - West Virginia Association for Cave Studies". Retrieved 18 October 2021.