AN INQUIRY INTO THE EVOLUTION AND SEDIMENTS OF CAVES ALONG THE SCIOTO RIVER

Cave passages and the sediments contained in them often preserve large scale climate changes. The major rivers and tributaries in the Columbus area served as outlets for glacial melt waters. The down cutting of these rivers led to the formation of a phreatic to vadose transition in numerous local caves.

There were two components to the research: Collection of sediment samples and searches of the surrounding area for clues to explain the caves’ evolution. Samples were collected in two major ways. The first, involved extracting surface sediment from caves with a rock hammer. The second employed a manual corer to extract deeper layers of sediment whenever possible. After collection, images of the samples were recorded to scale using a light station and camera.

Many aspects of the caves were discovered, including that the parallel sets of caves on the banks were likely bisected by the river / stream. The sediment from the caves is a fine, clay-based mixture with some larger grains intermixed. Unfortunately, this composition is incompatible with the planned sieve analyses. Further research will explore the changes in spring locations along the Scioto River over time and analyze pollen and carbon data from new sediment samples.