Mammoth Cave National Park

As rainwater falls, it absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide. Once in the rainwater, the carbon dioxide reacts with water to form an acid known as carbonic acid, H2C03, which, as we discuss in this chapter, makes rainwater naturally acidic. As the rainwater passes through the ground, the carbonic acid reacts with various basic minerals, such as limestone, to form products that are water soluble and thus carried away by the underground flow of water. This washing-away action over the course of millions of years creates caves.The world s most extensive cave system is in western Kentucky in Mammoth Cave National Park, where more than 300 miles of networked caves have been mapped. 

Check these official and unofficial sites for Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Mammoth Cave National Park for details on how these underground landmarks formed Ample travel information is included. 

Bretz, J H., 1942. Vadose and phreatic features of limestone caverns, J. Geol. 50 675-811 Brucker, R.W. and Bums, D.P., 1964, The Flint Ridge Cave System, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, Cave Research Foundation, Washington, DC, Folio, 3pp text plus 31 maps. 

Most analytical techniques require the state of chemical equilibrium. At equilibrium, the rate of a forward process or reaction and that of the reverse process are equal. The photo at left shows the beautiful natural formation called "Frozen Niagra in Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. As water seeps over the limestone surface of the cave, calcium carbonate dissolves in the water according to the chemical equilibrium... 

Appreciation is expressed to M.T. Osolnik, R.H. Postley, and the superintendent and staff of Mammoth Cave National Park for their assistance in the Mammoth Cave study, which was funded by the Office of Water Resources Research (now the Office of Water Research and Technology), U.S. Department of the Interior and to J. Tierney, park naturalist, and the staff of Carter Caves State Resort Park for their cooperation in the study of Cascade and X caves. 

Fig. 62.1 Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. EnroUees brushing and roUing top surface of road leading to residence and utility areas, April 11, 1938. (Courtesy of the Mammoth Cave National Park Museum Collection. Used with permission.)...

Acknowledgment Thank you to Vickie Carson at the Mammoth Cave National Park for sourcing the CCC photographs used in this chapter, and to Geoff Ceimpbell and the folks at Innocent Bystanders and HotAir.com for their assistance with Figure 62.4. Big thanks to Sue Roberts for discussing with me some of the ideas in this chapter (errors and omissions are mine). 

Western Kentucky University Library. (2010). Project Civilian conservation corps at mammoth cave national park. Bowling Green, KY. Retrieved from http //www.wku.edu/Library/nps/ccc/ about.html... 

Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. Enrollees brushing and rolling top surface of road leading... 

As was the case in other national Parks, and in communities across the U.S., the CCC transformed not only enrollees lives, but the lives and landscapes of millions of Americans. Whether or not visitors to Mammoth Cave today are aware, as they walk the trails and camp in the cabins, the very existence of these resources owes much to the labor of the CCC recruits (Fig. 62.3). The CCC, therefore, lives on in the material landscapes of this southwest corner of Kentucky, as well as in the collective imaginations of the recruits, their families, and broader communities. 

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