EXAMINING THE PRESENT DAY HYDROLOGICAL CONNECTION BETWEEN HORN HOLLOW AND CAVE BRANCH, AND HOW IT HAS EVOLVED OVER TIME

This study will focus on the Cave Branch- Horn Hollow drainage basin located in Carter Caves State park, Carter Caves, Kentucky. The project will explore the present day hydrological connection between Horn Hollow and Cave Branch, how it has evolved over time, and the role of the caves in this process. Examination of groundwater flow, and chemical composition, through this karst aquifer will yield important information that can be used to study the formation of paleoflow routes that are now abandoned cave conduits. Additional studies will be done here to determine if the sediments found in the upper-level conduits, can be correlated to the down-cutting of Tygart's Creek, and thus to the Pleistocene-Pliocene incision of the Ohio River.