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Carlsbad Caverns National Park

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       Carlsbad Caverns National Park
   IUCN Category II ( National Park)
   Carlsbad Caverns National Park
   Location:       New Mexico, USA
   Nearest city:   Carlsbad, NM
   Coordinates:    32°10′31″N, 104°26′38″W
   Area:           46,766.45 acres
                     (46,427.26 federal)
                   189.26 km²
   Established:    May 14, 1930
   Visitation:     419,599 (in 2004)
   Governing body: National Park Service

   Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a United States National Park located
   in the Guadalupe Mountains of the southeastern corner of New Mexico (
   Eddy County). It was established to preserve Carlsbad Cavern and
   numerous other caves within a Permian-age fossil reef. The park
   contains 83 separate caves, including Lechuguilla Cave, the nation's
   deepest and third longest limestone cave—1,604 feet (489 m). Carlsbad
   Cavern, with one of the world's largest underground chambers and
   countless formations, is highly accessible, with both self-guided and a
   variety of ranger-guided tours offered year round. Visitors can hike
   into the interior rooms on their own via the natural entrance, or take
   an elevator (the exit for everyone) directly down into the centre of
   the public cave area.

   Carlsbad was first designated a National Monument on 25 October 1923.
   Congress upgraded the monument to a national park on 14 May 1930.
   Carlsbad Caverns was also designated a World Heritage Site on 6
   December 1995. Approximately two thirds of the park has also been set
   aside as a wilderness area, helping to ensure no future changes will be
   made to the habitat.

   The park is open year-round except Christmas Day, but the majority of
   park visitors come during the months of June, July and August, and
   weekends and holidays. The month with the least visitors is January,
   and peak visitation typically occurs on the weekends following Memorial
   Day and the 4th of July. The park entrance is located on US Highway
   62/180 approximately 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Carlsbad, New
   Mexico.

Geology

   The story of the creation of Carlsbad Cavern begins 250 million years
   ago with the creation of a 400 mile (600 km) long reef in an inland sea
   that covered this region(Noah's World-wide flood). This horseshoe
   shaped reef formed from the remains of sponges, algae and seashells and
   from calcite that precipitated directly from the water. Cracks
   developed in the reef as it grew seaward. Eventually the sea evaporated
   and the reef was buried under deposits of salts and gypsum.
   The forces of water decorated the cave in an almost endless array of
   spectacular limestone formations like this column and array of
   stalactites.
   Enlarge
   The forces of water decorated the cave in an almost endless array of
   spectacular limestone formations like this column and array of
   stalactites.
   May be seen in 3D with glasses USGS 3D image.
   Enlarge
   May be seen in 3D with glasses USGS 3D image.

   Then, a few million years ago, uplift and erosion of the area began to
   uncover the buried rock reef. Rainwater, made slightly acidic from the
   air and soil, seeped down into the cracks in the reef, slowly
   dissolving the limestone and beginning the process that would form
   large underground chambers. At the same time, hydrogen sulfide gas was
   migrating upward from vast oil and gas deposits beneath the ancient
   reef. This gas dissolved in the percolating ground water to form
   sulfuric acid. The added power of this corrosive substance explains the
   size of the passageways. The exposed reef became part of the Guadalupe
   Mountains and the underground chambers became the wonder of Carlsbad
   Cavern.
   The Witch's Finger in Carlsbad Caverns
   Enlarge
   The Witch's Finger in Carlsbad Caverns

   The decoration of Carlsbad Cavern with stalactites, stalagmites and an
   incredible variety of other formations began more than 500,000 years
   ago after much of the cavern had been carved out. It happened slowly,
   drop by drop, at a time when a wetter, cooler climate prevailed. The
   creation of each formation depended on water that dripped or seeped
   down into the limestone bedrock and into the cave. As a raindrop fell
   to the ground and percolated downward, it absorbed carbon dioxide gas
   from the air and soil, and a weak acid was formed. As it continued to
   move downward the drop dissolved a little limestone, absorbing a bit of
   the basic ingredient needed to build most cave formations -- the
   mineral calcite.

   Once the drop finally emerged in the cave, the carbon dioxide escaped
   into the cave air. No longer able to hold the dissolved calcite, the
   drop deposited its tiny mineral load as a crystal of calcite. Billions
   and billions of drops later, thousands of cave formations had taken
   shape. Where water dripped slowly from the ceiling, soda straws and
   larger stalactites appeared. Water falling on the floor created
   stalagmites. Sometimes a stalactite and stalagmite joined, forming a
   column.

   Draperies were hung where water ran down a slanted ceiling. Water
   flowing over the surface of a wall or floor deposited layers of calcite
   called flowstone. Cave pearls, lily pads and rimstone dams appeared
   where pools of water or streams occurred in the cave. Like oyster
   pearls, cave pearls were made as layer upon layer of calcite built up
   around a grain of sand or other tiny object. Lily pad-shapes formed on
   the surface of pools, while dams formed where water flowed slowly on
   the floor. Another type of cave formation that decorated cave walls and
   even other formations are popcorn-shapes, which may have formed when
   water evaporated and left behind calcite deposits.

   Some of the more unusual formations to occur in Carlsbad Cavern are
   helictites, which grow seemingly without regard to gravity, their
   twisting shapes governed by crystal shapes, impurities and the force of
   water under pressure. Other rare formations are those composed not of
   calcite, but of aragonite, a mineral chemically identical to calcite
   but with a different crystal structure. These formations tend to be
   small, delicate and needle-like.

          For detail on the area's geology, see Delaware Basin

Bats

   The natural entrance to Carlsbad Cavern lies just beyond the bat
   amphitheater.
   Enlarge
   The natural entrance to Carlsbad Cavern lies just beyond the bat
   amphitheater.
   Carlsbad Cavern amphitheater
   Enlarge
   Carlsbad Cavern amphitheater

   Carlsbad Cavern is a sanctuary for about one million Mexican
   Free-tailed Bats. During the day the bats crowd together on the ceiling
   of Bat Cave, a passageway near the natural entrance of Carlsbad Cavern.
   In their darkened home they are seen only by scientific researchers. At
   nightfall, however, the bats leave the cave in gigantic swarms.
   Silhouetted against the night sky like a dark, swift-moving cloud, the
   bats make their most dramatic display.

   The Bat Cave serves as a warm weather home, as a daytime refuge, and
   perhaps most importantly, as a maternity roost, for Mexican Freetail
   Bats. The bats migrate from Mexico to Carlsbad Cavern each year to give
   birth and raise their young. Under cover of darkness, away from
   predators or disturbances, the young are born in June.

   As many as six other types of bats roost in the Cavern.

   The spectacular night flight of the Mexican Freetail begins with a few
   bats fluttering out of the natural entrance of Carlsbad Cavern. Then,
   in a matter of minutes, a thick whirlwind of bats spirals out of the
   cave up into the darkening night sky. The exodus can last 20 minutes or
   as long as 2.5 hours. Once out of the cave the undulating mass of
   thousands of bats flies, in serpentine fashion, towards the southeast
   to feed in the Pecos and Black River valleys. Once there, they begin
   gorging themselves on moths and other night-flying insects. Using
   echolocation, each bat may catch and eat several stomachfuls of insects
   in a single night. With the coming of dawn, the bats begin flying back
   to the cave individually or in small groups. They re-enter the cave in
   a fashion almost as remarkable as their departure. Each bat positions
   itself high above the cave entrance. It then folds its wings close to
   its body, and plummets like a hailstone into the blackness of Carlsbad
   Cavern, making a strange buzzing sound as it does. One by one, the bats
   return to the safety of the Bat Cave, where they sleep until reemerging
   in the dusk of the next day.

History

   Several hundred years ago prehistoric Native Americans may have
   ventured into the Cavern seeking shelter. Their cave drawings still
   remain near the entrance. Much later, in the 19th century, U.S.
   settlers discovered the cavern, drawn to it by the spectacle of
   hundreds of thousands of bats rising up out of the natural entrance in
   the evening. Shortly thereafter, a local businessman named Abijah Long
   filed a claim to mine the huge deposits of bat guano in the cave and
   sell it as fertilizer. One of Long's associates, a cowboy named Jim
   White, became fascinated by the cave and spent hour after hour
   exploring it. White was eager to show the many natural wonders of this
   extraordinary place to others, but few persons believed his improbable
   tales of a huge underground wilderness full of unusual cave formations.
   It took photographs to convince skeptics that Carlsbad Caverns was
   everything it was said to be and more.

   White explored many of the rooms and gave them their names, including
   the Big Room, New Mexico Room, King's Palace, Queen's Chamber, Papoose
   Room, and Green Lake Room. He also named many of the cave's more
   prominent formations, such as the Totem Pole, Witch's Finger, Giant
   Dome, Bottomless Pit, Fairyland, Iceberg Rock, Temple of the Sun, and
   Rock of Ages.

   Black and white pictures taken by Ray V. Davis, who accompanied White
   on a cave trip, were displayed in the town of Carlsbad in 1915. They
   created a sensation. People suddenly clamored to see the marvelous cave
   for themselves. White took them on tours that began with an
   unceremonious 170 foot descent in a bucket once used to haul bat guano
   from the cave.

   Word of the cave spread, finally reaching Washington, D.C. Again, there
   were nonbelievers, but in 1923 the U.S. Department of the Interior sent
   General Land Office mineral inspector Robert Holley to investigate and
   see whether Carlsbad Cavern was truly an outstanding natural scenic
   wonder. Originally a skeptic, Holly, after five weeks of exploration
   with his expedition, wrote in his final report:

                "...I am wholly conscious of the feebleness of my efforts
                to convey in the deep conflicting emotions, the feeling of
                fear and awe, and the desire for an inspired understanding
                of the Divine Creator's work which presents to the human
                eye such a complex aggregate of natural wonders...."

   Later that year on October 25, 1923 Carlsbad Cavern was proclaimed a
   national monument. White, who was to continue his cave explorations for
   most of his lifetime, became its first chief park guide in 1925. Five
   years later Carlsbad Caverns National Park was created to protect the
   cave. Through illustrated articles published in magazines such as
   National Geographic—in 1924 and 1925 (based on the expedition of
   geologist Rock Lee)—and by word of mouth, Carlsbad Cavern became one of
   the world's most celebrated caves. Since its establishment, the park
   has been expanded and today includes 189 km² (46,766 acres) and more
   than 80 other smaller caves.

   Carlsbad, the town, and, thus, Carlsbad Caverns National Park,
   supposedly take their name from Jake Schauer, Czech Republic ( Carlsbad
   —literally, Charles' Baths, in German).

Rooms

     * Balloon Ballroom - located in the ceiling above the main entrance
       corridor, this small room was first accessed by tying a rope to a
       bunch of balloons and floating them up into the passage.
     * Bell Cord Room - named for a long, narrow stalactite coming through
       a hole in the ceiling, resembling the rope coming through a church
       steeple to ring the bell. This room is located at the end of the
       Left Hand Tunnel.
     * Bifrost Room - discovered in 1982, it is located in the ceiling
       above Lake of the Clouds. Its name refers to a Norse myth about a
       world in the sky that was accessed from Earth by a rainbow. The
       room was given this name because of its location above the Lake of
       the Clouds and its colorful oxide-stained formations.
     * Big Room or The Hall of the Giants - the largest chamber in
       Carlsbad Caverns, its floor space equals roughly 14 football
       fields.
     * Green Lake Room - the uppermost of the "Scenic Rooms", it is named
       for a deep, malachite-colored pool in the corner of the room. In
       the 1940s, when the military was testing the feasibility of
       Carlsbad Cavern as an emergency fallout shelter, the Green Lake was
       used to look for ripples caused by a nuclear bomb test many miles
       away. None appeared.
     * Guadalupe Room - discovered by a park ranger in 1966, this is the
       second largest room in Carlsbad Caverns. It is known for its dense
       collection of "soda straw" stalactites.
     * Hall of the White Giant - a large chamber containing a large, white
       stalagmite. Rangers regularly lead special tours to this location.
     * King's Palace - the first of four chambers in a wing known as the
       "scenic rooms", it is named for a large castle-like formation in
       the centre of the room.
     * Lake of the Clouds - the lowest known point in the cave. It is
       located in a side passage off the Left Hand Tunnel. It is named for
       its large lake containing globular, cloud-like rock formations.
     * Left Hand Tunnel - a long, straight passage marked by deep fissures
       in the floor. These fissures are not known to lead anywhere. The
       Left Hand Tunnel leads to the Lake of the Clouds and the Bell Cord
       Room.
     * Mystery Room - a small room located in Lower Cave.
     * New Mexico Room - located adjacent to the Queen's Chamber and
       accessed by means of a short slope.
     * Papoose Room - located between the King's Palace and Queen's
       Chamber.
     * Queen's Chamber - widely regarded as the most beautiful and scenic
       area of the cave. Jim White's lantern went out in this chamber
       while exploring and was in the dark for over a half hour.
     * Spirit World - Located in the ceiling of the Big Room, this area is
       filled with white stalagmites that resembled angels to the room's
       discoverers.
     * Talcum Passage - a room located in Lower Cave where the floor is
       coated with gypsum dust.
     * The Rookery - one of the larger rooms in Lower Cave.

Recent exploration

   Carlsbad Cavern attracts many men and women who are eager to shed light
   on some of its mysteries. Teams of cavers well versed in safe
   exploration techniques continue to discover new portions of the cave.
   Their finds in recent years include the Guadalupe Room, Carlsbad
   Cavern's second largest room, in 1966; the exceptionally colorful and
   much decorated Bifrost Room, in 1982; the Chocolate High, one of the
   most recent discoveries, in 1993.

   In 1985 a very distinctive method of exploration was invented. In a
   dome area 250' above the Big Room floor not far from the Bottomless Pit
   a stalagmite leaned out. Using a balsa wood loop with helium-filled
   balloons attached, the explorers--after several tries over several
   years--floated a light weight cord that snagged the target stalagmite.
   Once the light weight cord was in position up, over, and back to the
   ground, a climbing rope was pulled into position, and the explorers
   ascended into what they named The Spirit World.

   Lechuguilla Cave, another cave in the park discovered in 1986, is the
   focus of much current cave exploration at the park. It has been mapped
   to a depth of 489 m, making it the deepest limestone cave in the U.S.
   It is not accessible to the general public, and its exact location is
   kept secret in an attempt to preserve the cave in its most undisturbed
   state.

   The Bottomless Pit was originally said to have no bottom. Stones were
   tossed into it, but no sound of the stones striking the bottom were
   heard. Later exploration revealed that the bottom was about 300 yards
   deep and covered with soft dirt. The stones made no sound when they
   struck the bottom because they were lodged in the soft dirt.

   Scientific discoveries by speleologists, or cave scientists, are
   expanding our knowledge of Carlsbad Cavern in other ways. Research is
   answering some of the questions about the complex creation of Carlsbad
   Cavern, about the unfamiliar world of bats and other members of the
   cave community, and about the effects of man's activities on the cave.
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