Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 4.3
Some important karst features typical of the Mammoth Cave area. The area commonly
referred to as the sinkhole plain is in the foreground and the tree-line represents that start of the
Dripping Spring Escarpment. Illustration by Collie Rulo, courtesy of the Kentucky Geological
Survey
of cavernous rocks in the United States (Palmer,
1981
). The karst in Kentucky
forms in a continuing process, taking millions of years to develop. As water from
precipitation and surface streams moves underground, the limestone bedrock is
slowly dissolved away by naturally occurring weak acids. This process results in
the beautiful landscape we see today in the Mammoth Cave area (Fig.
4.3
).
The types of trees and other plants at any place in the park depend heavily on
the slope, aspect, and geology, which in turn strongly influence the type of soil that
develops. Aspect, or the direction a slope faces, controls how much sunlight a site
receives and how much water is lost to evaporation. Geology also has major effects
on moisture loss because in areas underlain with limestone, the water will drain
down through the rock. This is why on one limestone site we will find prickly pear
cactus (
Opuntia
spp.), and at another we will find maidenhair ferns (
Adiantum
spp.).
It is also why some plant communities in the park are fire adapted, and others are
not (Olson and Noble
2005
).
The physical attributes of karst geomorphic processes above and below the sur-
face requires detailed spatial analysis to understand the scope of the environmental
and natural resource issues. Because of the sensitive karst landscape in Mammoth
Cave National Park, there are many concerns that require attention. The geology and
karst geomorphology of Mammoth Cave also has a profound impact on vegetation
and wildlife habitat classification. Different rock types, slope angles, and aspects
