Cave Patterns are Fractal and Show Design in Nature
by Owen Borville
Septemer 14, 2021
Science, Nature
Caves or underground caverns showcase a variety of repeated patterns or fractals in nature along the length of the cave and its branches, along with mineral deposits like stalactities and stalagmites.
These caves are formed by the erosion and chemical reactions that remove large sections of material of the cave system by dissolving and transport this material through the subsurface waters.
Cave patterns can include subsurface cavities extending horizontally or vertically, also branchings pattern, angular patterns, braided patterns, spongelike patterns (with many cavities), large cavities, and pits or vertical shafts.
These subsurface cavities can also have many mineral deposits that form long, vertical columns hanging from the ceiling of a cave cavity or standing vertically upward from the ground of the cavity.
Groundwater erosion is caused by dissolution of limestone rock by acidic water. Dissolution is the process of chemical weathering of bedrock in which the combination of water and acid slowly removes mineral compounds from solid bedrock and carries them away in liquid solution. Sinkholes are depressions in the surface commonly found in karst or limestone environments. Sinkholes often form where limestone or some other soluble rock is partially dissolved by groundwater, causing the ground surface to collapse and form a depression or bowl shape, which can be small or hundreds of meters in diameter (also called dolines).
Karst topography is a distinctive landscape that can develop where the underlying bedrock, often limestone or marble, is partially dissolved by acidic water. A cave is a natural opening in the ground extending beyond the zone of light and large enough to permit the entry of man. Caves can form by the dissolving of limestone rock by acidic groundwater. Solution valleys (karst valleys) are the remains of former surface stream valleys whose streams were diverted underground as karst developed and may develop a series of sinkholes in the valley floor. Sinkholes formed in karst environments are called dolines. Stalactites are mineral deposits (a type of speleothem) which hang downward from the roof or wall of a cave. Stalagmites are mineral deposits (a type of speleothem) which project upward from a cave floor.
by Owen Borville
Septemer 14, 2021
Science, Nature
Caves or underground caverns showcase a variety of repeated patterns or fractals in nature along the length of the cave and its branches, along with mineral deposits like stalactities and stalagmites.
These caves are formed by the erosion and chemical reactions that remove large sections of material of the cave system by dissolving and transport this material through the subsurface waters.
Cave patterns can include subsurface cavities extending horizontally or vertically, also branchings pattern, angular patterns, braided patterns, spongelike patterns (with many cavities), large cavities, and pits or vertical shafts.
These subsurface cavities can also have many mineral deposits that form long, vertical columns hanging from the ceiling of a cave cavity or standing vertically upward from the ground of the cavity.
Groundwater erosion is caused by dissolution of limestone rock by acidic water. Dissolution is the process of chemical weathering of bedrock in which the combination of water and acid slowly removes mineral compounds from solid bedrock and carries them away in liquid solution. Sinkholes are depressions in the surface commonly found in karst or limestone environments. Sinkholes often form where limestone or some other soluble rock is partially dissolved by groundwater, causing the ground surface to collapse and form a depression or bowl shape, which can be small or hundreds of meters in diameter (also called dolines).
Karst topography is a distinctive landscape that can develop where the underlying bedrock, often limestone or marble, is partially dissolved by acidic water. A cave is a natural opening in the ground extending beyond the zone of light and large enough to permit the entry of man. Caves can form by the dissolving of limestone rock by acidic groundwater. Solution valleys (karst valleys) are the remains of former surface stream valleys whose streams were diverted underground as karst developed and may develop a series of sinkholes in the valley floor. Sinkholes formed in karst environments are called dolines. Stalactites are mineral deposits (a type of speleothem) which hang downward from the roof or wall of a cave. Stalagmites are mineral deposits (a type of speleothem) which project upward from a cave floor.
