![]() ![]() "We're losing things we're not even aware that we're losing," he said. He said not all caves carry water, but for those that do, tampering with caves could divert groundwater to a different area, leading to erosion or a sinkhole somewhere else.Ĭaves also are a feature of karst terrain, a type of topography marked by sinkholes, springs, and a type of stream that gurgles into the ground in spots and resurfaces in other areas, Criss said. In rural areas, many towns have well water or get their water from sources that are spring fed, he said. Some animals, like raccoons and bears also use caves, they said.įurthermore, "caves are nothing more than underground pipes that serve for the movement of groundwater," Forir said. Louis County said caves are homes to creatures including bats, salamanders, the Ozark cave crayfish and others. If caves are destroyed, that can reduce populations of those creatures. He, too, believes more can be done to protect lesser-known caves.Īnimals that live in caves are often small and fragile, he said. Louis County, tried to clear up any discrepancies in historical reports, and entered pre-existing reports into the Missouri Speleological Survey electronic database.įorir said the work the group had done was important to update and add to knowledge about the caves. Speleology is the exploration and study of caves. Louis County, was recently published in the journal Missouri Speleology. While their findings primarily document many of the caves, and are directed toward a scientific audience, they found that more than 10 percent have been altered or obliterated by suburban expansion in the county over time. Louis County, an area separate from the city of St. Osburn and graduate students Jennifer Lippmann and Everett Criss, Robert Criss' son, studied many of the 127 reported caves in St. The well-known caves have protections in place and are not in jeopardy.īut Criss, Washington University geologist G.R. Just Tuesday, he said they found a fossil of a 3-foot-long armadillo that lived an estimated 500,000 years ago. Missouri has an international reputation among scientists, caving enthusiasts and tourists.Ĭonsider that Missouri is home to Mark Twain Cave in Hannibal, believed to have provided the inspiration for the cave in the books "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn " it has Meramec Caverns in Stanton, once used as a hideout for Jesse James, and it also features Bridal Cave outside of Camdenton, where more than 2,000 couples have tied the knot.įorir is the executive director at Riverbluff Cave on the outskirts of Springfield, an Ice Age cave that is slowly yielding fossil treasures preserved since it was sealed off at least 55,000 years ago. Many times, "We look at caves as a way to entertain us, and not as a resource that we should protect," said Matt Forir, naturalist for Springfield-Greene County. While many of Missouri's best-known caves are protected, there doesn't seem to be any established protocol for protecting hundreds of other caves from development, he said, a sentiment echoed elsewhere in the state. "As we develop, I just wish we'd give a little more thought to what we're doing to the natural world." "A lot of caves have been filled in, or entrances blocked, or bulldozed over," said Earth and Planetary Sciences Professor Robert Criss. Louis warned Wednesday that Missouri, often called the Cave State, is losing too many of its caves to development. LOUIS -Save the caves? A Washington University professor in St. ![]()
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