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George Dasher wrote:My understanding is that the dissolution or calcium precipitation can occur anywhere in the vadose or phreatic zone, not just at or below the water table. Both can occur at the same time, and on different sides of the passage (depending on the CO2 concentrations). In addition, the dissolution and calcium precipitation can move upstream and downstream in the passage depending on the amount of groundwater flowing into the cave.
Some caves are vadose, some caves are phreatic, and some caves are both.
And some have nothing to do with water, but that is a different story.
hewhocaves wrote:agreed. but to 'dumb it down' to a five minute explanation, you have to cut corners somewhere, so i just go with the most comon places.
Teresa wrote:Rain falling down and going through the dirt picks up bubbles of carbon dioxide turning it into weak soda pop. Just as soda pop rots your teeth, this weakly acid rain rots limestone and dolomite, forming carbonate caves and karst.
hewhocaves wrote:Of course you could just tell them that it's all Doozers.
"Mokey, why do Doozers do what Doozers do?"
"Cause they do."
john
Teresa wrote:Hydro_joe
We also neglected ceiling collapse, water abrasion of loosened particles and biological acidfication, hydraulic gradient, and evaporation. Plus a whole other bunch of variables...
Of course we did--because the question was: Keep it Simple, Make it Fun! (But tell no lies.)
hydrology_joe wrote:Teresa wrote:Hydro_joe
We also neglected ceiling collapse, water abrasion of loosened particles and biological acidfication, hydraulic gradient, and evaporation. Plus a whole other bunch of variables...
Of course we did--because the question was: Keep it Simple, Make it Fun! (But tell no lies.)
In this case, the simple answer described previously in this thread is actually more applicable to the formation of epikarst, not cave passage formation. That is exactly why I provided the KISS description of mixing water corrosion.
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