Robert O. Vernon

“ It then becomes possible to deposit rock in the pores and caves rather than to increase their size by solution. As you go through the caves you will notice that the walls are wet and that water is oozing out of the pores of the rock.
This water has just passed through limestone and has dissolved parts of the rock. The reader undoubtedly knows that water will dissolve a substance in large quantities and more rapidly if it is hot, and that it can hold more gases to make stronger acids if it is under pressure. ”

“ Where individual drops collect on the cave ceilings, a thin deposit may be formed on the ceiling after which the remaining water may drop to the cave floor where more calcite is deposited. Continuous dripping results in paired deposits extending down from the ceiling and up from the floor. The deposit on the floor is commonly thicker and more columnar, whereas that on the ceiling is thin and tapering much like an icicle. ”

“ Then there is a second cause by which these caves are made dry. Everyone has heard that ice caps the North and South poles of the earth, but few people realize that, if all this ice melted, the level of the sea as it is known today would be higher by about 110 feet. If all polar ice melted, the Chipola River at Florida Caverns, would become a salt bay, Marianna a seaport town, and a bay beach would be located near the park area. ”

“ At it moves downward and then into the saturated rock through pores and open spaces it acts as a slow solvent to increase the size of the openings and to connect them to form a continuous system of channels through which streams filling the cavities may run.
As large caverns are formed, solution cavities of irregular shape are gradually cut out and enlarged. Some of these may be expanded to a point near the surface where surface deposits (largely sand in Florida) will collapse into the cavern and a sink is formed. ”

“ The deposit formed as a small ridge that then acted as the course of subsequent water which added additional deposits. The dark bands contain some impurity to give a color to the ordinarily white calcite.
Land Movements in Florida
If these caves, we see in the Florida Caverns Park area, were formed under water, how is it possible to walk through them today? This is an obvious question which requires an answer. If rocks formed under marine waters are exposed on the land surface today it is obvious that the land has been raised out of the sea, or the sea has lowered. ”

“ Inside, there is a brook which gushes from the living rock.”
This form is the result of the irregular etching of the limestone by ground water at the time the caves were formed, combined with the later development of stalagmites and a pavement of calcite “drip-stone” upon the irregular surface. Dust and small debris have been incorporated in the crystals of calcite which form the stalagmites. Visitors like to make a game of finding formations in the cave that resemble animals and other things. ”

“ Airline Service—The city is served by National Airlines, with three flights daily, with direct service to Mobile, New Orleans, and Jacksonville, and good connections to all major cities. Also available is charter service through local flying agencies. ”