A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. Caves form naturally by the weathering of rock and they often extend deep underground. The word "cave" can also refer to much smaller openings such as sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos.
Speleology is the science of exploration and study of all aspects of caves and the environment that surrounds the caves. Exploring a cave for recreation or science may be called caving, potholing, or, in Canada and the United States, spelunking (see caving).
Read more about Cave: Types and Formation, Physical Patterns, Geographic Distribution, Records and Superlatives, Ecology, Archaeological and Cultural Importance, Gallery
Famous quotes containing the word cave:
“Nothing is uglier than the sinner, nothing so leprous or fetid; the scar of his crimes is still raw, and he stinks like the cave of Hell.”
—Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (c. 348–405)
“If the sea were ink
For the words of my Lord,
the sea would be spent before the Words of my Lord are spent.”
—Qur’An. The Cave 18:109, ed. Arthur J. Arberry (1955)
“The whole cut impressed me as if it were a cave with its stalactites laid open to the light.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)