Conduit Origin and Paleohydrology of Haynes Cave, Monroe County, West Virginia

We investigated the paleohydrology of Haynes Cave, which is on a limestone upland in the Appalachian Plateau. The cave is dry, with miniscule present catchment. We employed GIS terrane analysis, cave surveying and modeling, cave sediment stratigraphy, and hydraulic analysis (scallops and pebble imbrications).

The cave was mapped using compass and tape methods, and a three-dimensional scene was created. The overlying land is at 677 m, with numerous sinkholes but no streams. The valley of Second Creek is to the north, and has steeply incised to 570 m. The cave entrance is at 670 m. The main branch of the cave has two stacked and intertwining levels. These passages trend north-south and end in a gravel choke to the south. A small, sinuous lower level (the basement) runs 400 m northeast, and 15 m below, the middle section of the main branch. It ends in a mud fill. Height above present base level shows the cave may be very old. Bedrock scallop and pebble imbrications indicate that drainage in the main level was northwards (towards the present entrance). Drainage in the basement was northeast, and was fed by vadose water from the main branch. Sediments within the cave are thalweg and slackwater facies, and contacts between beds are sharp. There are multiple episodes of sedimentation and incision. The cave is an abandoned conduit that fed a spring on the south wall of Second Creek. Discharge occurred through the main passage and also through a short, ascending passage near the entrance. The recharge area is uncertain, but might have been an upstream reach of the Creek, or via large sinkholes that are developed on an unnamed major fracture trace. Given the extreme height above base level, this cave may be one of the most ancient in the region.