Big Bone Cave
Big Bone Cave formed in Mississippian Montegeale limestone originally on the western escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau. The cave formed prior to 5.7 ±1.09 Ma based in cosmogenic radionuclide dating of pebbles washed into the Muster Ground room. Long passages formed during a long period of water table stability when the climate was warmer and sea levels were higher reducing erosion throughout the Mississippi drainage. At the time, the Cumberland River flowed across the Highland Rim before the formation of the Nashville Basin. Global cooling 3.2-3.1 Ma triggered a 75–100-metre (246–328 ft) sea-level drop which increased erosion (incision) up the Mississippi River and led to the Cumberland River cutting into the Highland Rim and its headwaters, the Collins River, cutting into the Cumberland Plateau. The lower water table would have drained the water filling the caverns. Further erosion isolated Bone Cave Mountain from the Cumberland Plateau.
Notes
- ^ Miller, Larry L. (2001). Tennessee Place-names. Indiana University Press. p. 26. ISBN 0-253-21478-5.
- ^ "National Natural Landmarks - National Natural Landmarks (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
Year designated: 1973
- ^ "Big Bone Cave Class II N atural-Scientific State Natural Area". Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
- ^ Gulden, Bob (November 28, 2016). "USA LONGEST CAVES". NSS Geo2 Long & Deep Caves. Archived from the original on April 21, 2006. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Anthony, Darlene M.; Granger, Darryl E. (August 2004). "A Late Tertiary origin for multilevel caves along the western escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee and Kentucky, established by cosmogenic
Al
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" (PDF). Journal of Cave and Karst Studies. 66 (2): 46–55. ISSN 1090-6924. Retrieved May 29, 2017. - ^ Shackleton, N.J.; Backman, J.; Zimmerman, H.; Kent, D.V.; Hall, M.A.; Roberts, David G.; Schnitker, D.; Baldauf, J.G.; Desprairies, A.; Homrighausen, R.; Huddlestun, P.; Keene, J.B.; Kaltenback, A.J.; Krumsiek, K.A.O.; Morton, A.C.; Murray, J.W.; Westberg-Smith, J. (February 16, 1984). "Oxygen isotope calibration of the onset of ice-rafting and history of glaciation in the North Atlantic region". Nature. 307 (5952): 620–623. Bibcode:1984Natur.307..620S. doi:10.1038/307620a0. S2CID 4344673.
Further reading
- Smyre, John L. and Zawislak, Ronald L., Big Bone and the Caves of Bone Cave Mountain, (2007) Rocky River Press, Rock Island Tennessee, ISBN 978-0-9779471-0-2, ISBN 0-9779471-0-6.
- Matthews, Larry E. Big Bone Cave, (2006) National Speleological Society, ISBN 1-879961-24-5.
- Barr, Thomas C., Jr., Caves Of Tennessee, (1961) Bulletin 64 of the Tennessee Division of Geology, See pages 451-460.