Abstract
Dissolutional cave development in the New England and eastern New York area is primarily in Cambro-Ordovician marbles that extend in a north-south band along the western boundary of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont, and similarly in the eastern-most portion of New York. Some Precambrian marbles, and some Ordovician carbonates are also found in this area. Maine has karst areas, but they are remote, low-lying, and poorly understood. Cave development appears to have been mostly post-glacial, with a few relict (pre-glacial) large caves (e.g. Aeolus Bat Cave, Morris Cave), and several large caves that are likely combination caves that while active in the current deranged hydrology, have passages inherited from pre-glacial times (e.g. Vermonster, Carthusian and Merlins caves). Joint activation by isostatic rebound following ice withdrawal, coupled with large glacial lake discharges, are argued to be the prime initiator of cave development. The caves that result are commonly shallow, and vulnerable to removal by the next glaciation, indicating a cyclic nature to cave development and destruction, avoided only by the larger, deeper or fortuitously placed cave systems. A general lack of glacial sediments in smaller caves is a good indicator that many caves are post-glacial, though some examples exist of pre-glacial caves containing sediment (e.g. Weybridge Cave). Cave science has been sparse and sporadic in this region, but a recent wave of papers, coupled with new discoveries of major caves, indicates that this region will be a greater participant in speleology in the future.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aylsworth JM, Lawrence DE, Guetin K (2000) Did two massive earthquakes in the Holocene induce wide spread landsliding and near-surface deformation in part of the Ottawa Valley, Canada? Geology 28:903–906
Cooper MP, Mylroie JE (2014) Post-glacial speleogenesis: verification of a hypothetical model, and the origins of maze caves in glaciated terrains. Cave and Karst Sci 41(2):84–95
Davis WH, Hitchcock HB (1965) Biology and migration of the bat myotis lucifugus in New England. J Mammology 46:269–313
Dunham J (2013a) On the stability of big marble stream caves. Northeastern Cave 44(3):94–97
Dunham J (2013b) Surveying merlins cave. Northeastern Caver 44(1):6–9
Dunham J (2014a) Summing up the Vermonster. Northeastern Caver 45:42–53
Dunham J (2014b) Vermont’s newest big cave. Northeastern Caver 45:71–77
Evans J, Quick P, Sloane B (1979) An introduction to caves of the Northeast. National Speleological Society, Huntsville
Faulkner T (2009) Speleogenesis in New England marble caves. In: Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Speleological Congress, Kerrville, vol 2, pp 855–862
Hendrickson E (2002) Caves of Maine. In: Nardacci MI (ed) A guide to the geology and caves of the Acadian Coast. National Speleological Society, Huntsville, pp 8–21
Higham S (2013) Northeast long caves, northeast deep caves. Northeastern Caver 44(2):44–45
Lauritzen S-E, Skoglund RØ (2013) Glacier ice-contact speleogenesis in marble stripe karst. In: Schroder JF (ed) Treatise on geomorphology, vol 6. pp 363–396
Moore J (2007) Early cave compilations of Rhode Island. Northeastern Caver 38(1):14–16
Nardacci M (ed) (1991) Guide to the caves and karst of the northeast. National Speleological Society, Huntsville
Nardacci M (2002) A guide to the geology and caves of the Acadian Coast. National Speleological Society 2002 Convention Guidebook. Prints Charming, Boothbay Maine, p 91
Pease B (2012) Brian Pease photos. Northeastern Caver 43(3):94–95
Perry CW (1946) New England’s buried treasure. Stephen Daye, Brattleboro
Perzan Z, Munroe JS, Amidon WH (2014) Investigation of last interglacial sediment in Weybridge Cave, Vermont, USA. In: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, vol 46(6). p 349
Porter C (2009) New England. In: Palmer AN, Palmer MV (eds) Caves and karst of the USA. National Speleological Society, Huntsville, pp 24–26
Quick PG (1994) Vermont caves: a geologic and historical guide. Paleoflow Press, Ypsilanti
Quick PG (2010) Vermont caves: a geological and historical guide. National Speleological Society, Huntsville
Quick PG (2012) Vermont caves: a geologic and historical guide. Paleoflow Press, Jaffrey
Rayburn JA, Cronin TM, Franzi DA, Knuepfer PLK, Willard DA (2011) Timing and duration of North American glacial lake discharges and the Younger Dryas climate reversal. Quaternary Res 75:541–551
Swezey CS, Garrity CP (2011) Geographical and geological data from caves and mines infected with white-nose syndrome (WNS) before September 2009 in the eastern United States. J Cave Karst Stud 73(3):125–157
Weremeichik JM, Mylroie JE (2014) Glacial Lake Schoharie: an investigative study of glaciolacustrine lithofacies in caves, Helderberg Plateau, Central New York. J Cave Karst Stud 76(2):127–138
Wright S (2003) Glacial geology of the Burlington and Colchester 7.5 minute quadrangles, northern Vermont. Vermont Geological Survey, pp 1–12
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cooper, M.P., Mylroie, J.E. (2015). Caves and Karst of New England and Eastern New York. In: Glaciation and Speleogenesis. Cave and Karst Systems of the World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16534-9_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16534-9_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16533-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16534-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)