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Tag Archives: Missouri Speleological Survey

Tonight’s the Night! Go Caving Inside the Capitol Nov. 2

Cave exhibit at the Missouri State Museum

Onondaga Cave

Onondaga Cave at Onondaga Cave State Park (near Leesburg, Mo.) boasts owering stalagmites, dripping stalactites, and active flowstones which help make the cave a National Natural Landmark.  DNR Photo by Jim Vandike.

Don’t miss your opportunity to explore and learn about different cave features and life within a cave Friday, Nov. 2 where the Missouri State Museum in the State Capitol will be transformed into an underground grotto.  Sponsored by Missouri State Parks, this special program will be held from 6 to 9 p.m.  Cave tours are free and everyone is welcome!

Find out how caves have been used through time by Missouri’s people, from American Indians to outlaws. There will be other cave-related hands-on activities and information as well for this special program about Missouri caves.  Evening entry to the museum will be through the carriage entrance on the south side of the building underneath the grand staircase.

Learn more about tonight’s event! 

The Missouri State Museum, which is part of the Missouri state park system, is located on the first floor of the Missouri State Capitol.   Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.  Read more about Missouri caves.  Check out our magazine article about karst, caves and springs in Missouri.

 

 

 

 

Posted on Nov 02, 2012

Mark Twain Cave is a type of cave found nowhere else in Missouri

Maze Caves are found in only few places in the U.S.

Mark Twain CaveMaze caves like Mark Twain are the most unique karst features in the state.  Maze caves were created when water was sandwiched between layers of shale and was only able to move along fractures in the limestone, dissolving out a network of passages in a regular pattern.  They exhibit tall straight canyons among their many features.  Caves in Missouri can be divided into two patterns: maze and branch work. Whichever pattern a cave becomes mainly depends upon the movement of water through the subsurface. Most caves in Missouri are branch work caves that form when water moves through a single conduit and branches into tributaries, much like a surface stream.  Read more in the latest issue of our Missouri Resources Magazine.  Also, see our Geologic Column publication.  –Joe

Posted on Apr 10, 2012

Five Facts about Missouri Caves – Speleothems

Speleothem – from the Greek words spelaion (cave) and thema (deposit)

    1. Cave formations are created from mineral deposits left by groundwater and are known as speleothems.
    2. Speleothems take various forms depending whether the water drips, condenses, seeps, flows or ponds. 
    3. Some examples of speoleothems include: stalactites, stalagmites and flowstone.
    4. The Missouri Caves Resources Act prohibits removal of speleothems from caves to be kept as souvenirs.

Missouri, long known as the “Cave State,” has more than 5,600 known caves and Missouri State Parks showcases four of the best for public tours. The four are Onondaga Cave and Cathedral Cave at Onondaga Cave State Park, Fisher Cave at Meramec State Park and Ozark Caverns at Lake of the Ozarks State Park.  These caves are open through October. Learn more about Missouri caves. –Joe

Posted on Sep 27, 2011

Calling all Cavers

Mark your calendar for Saturday, July 9, 2011

A Dedication Ceremony and Open House for the Lloyd and Ethel Hoff Underground Nature Preserve (aka Berome Moore Cave), Perryville, Mo., will be held Saturday, July 9, 2011 at 12 noon.

The cave will be open for limited entry on July 9 for trips to base camp and/or to the adjacent Cat Track Passage.

Check out these related sites:

–Joe

Posted on Jul 06, 2011