r/caving • u/BingusBoi69420 • 10d ago

Is this Karst landscape?

Post image

I'm looking for caves in my home state, which is in a Karst Belt. I've found this formation, but I'm not sure what the likelihood of a system underneath it is. The rocks are vertical

9 Upvotes

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u/gaurddog 10d ago

There's a lot of karst landscape with no caves underneath.

That could definitely be considered a karst formation but more useful would be knowing where you sit in regards to sandstone/limestone in your geology and where in the Karst belt you are (for instance Southern Indiana is riddled with caves while northern is pretty devoid)

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u/BingusBoi69420 10d ago

I usually don't like giving out my location online, but I'm about 45 minutes south of Grand Caverns in VA along 81. So there's definitely tons of caves in my area. Also this area in the picture is an old river bed, the river is right behind me so I figure there may be something around

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u/ozarkmartin 9d ago

Use the USGS Living Atlas and sleuth through historic topos in your area of interest. Note the elevations you commonly find the known caves. Next you can use the USGS National Map and turn on the 3DEP Elevation - Multi-Directional Hillshade. Again, look at known caves. Get an idea for what they look like and use it to virtually scout prospective caves.

Don't trespass. Most caves on public land are closed by law or regulation to protect bats (white-nose syndrome). Don't go alone. Leave no trace.

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u/ThumYorky MSS - CRF 10d ago

Those are sedimentary bedding planes that were originally deposited horizontally but have been tilted up

OR

They were formed when vertical cracks (joints) were filled with a material that weathers slower than the surrounding bedrock. After the bedrock is exposed and then erodes you’re left with the more resistant material.

This is under the assumption that what we are looking at is truly sedimentary.

Either way, this isn’t specifically a karst formation. It may be a part of a broader karst landscape but this exact formation is likely not related to the action of groundwater dissolving sedimentary rock.

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u/CleverDuck i like vertical 10d ago

That's some nice upliftiness