LITHOLOGIC INFLUENCE ON THE FORMATION OF DOGWOOD CAVE IN WESTERN KENTUCKY, USA

The goal of this project was to determine if lithology controlled the formation of Dogwood Cave, located in Hart County, Kentucky. Fifteen rock samples were analyzed using petrographic thin sections from rock samples taken throughout the cave, including inside the active waterfall passage. In addition, two stratigraphic sections were measured in the main passage of Dogwood Cave, and a geologic cross section with passage morphology was created. Petrographic analyses showed several facies of limestone below a green shale, shaly limestone, and sandstone cap. The presence of the shale in the stratigraphy of Dogwood Cave acts as a perched aquifer. A waterfall pit developed in areas where this shale bed is breached, and Dogwood Cave’s morphology likely represents a migration and undercutting of one or more pits. This is supported by “slump” blocks and surface etching in several locations in Dogwood Cave where the intact stratigraphy can be observed as aggressive, allogenic waters created pits that undercut cave walls.