Cody Caves - Description

Description

The story of Cody Caves began 600 million years ago when the limestone in which the caves later formed was laid down at the bottom of an ancient sea. Then, around 170 million years ago, the limestone beds were thrust upwards. This exposed the rock to the elements, water and carbonic acid, which eventually formed Cody Caves. Approximately 875 yards (800 m) of the Cody Caves passageways are explorable. The caves have several types of calcite formations, such as stalagmites, stalactites, soda straws and flowstone. The boxwork is considered to be among the best in the world, protruding up to 20.3 cm, whereas 2.5 to 5 cm is average. These ancient formations have been growing at an average rate of one cubic centimetre per hundred years.

The Ainsworth Hot Springs originate in the Cody Caves area and are considered to be the best commercial hot springs in British Columbia. The temperatures vary from 40–42 °C (104–108 °F) in the cave to 35–38 °C (95–100 °F) in the pool.

Read more about this topic:  Cody Caves

Famous quotes containing the word description:

    “Do not require a description of the countries towards which you sail. The description does not describe them to you, and to- morrow you arrive there, and know them by inhabiting them.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
    —Horace Walpole (1717–1797)