CAVE TYPE, DISTRIBUTION AND DENSITY AS INDICATORS OF KARSTIFICATION ON THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU OF TENNESSEE

The state of Tennessee has 11,756 documented caves (as of 2023) that are distributed over 11 sub-physiographic provinces and occurring in rocks of Cambrian, Devonian, Silurian, Mississippian and Pennsylvanian ages. These data are maintained by the Tennessee Cave Survey (TCS) which has accumulated a significant amount of metadata associated with caves. The caves vary greatly in length, depth, and geological units within which they formed. This study analyzed available data on geographic location, geological distribution, density of caves and their local hydrogeology which has provided insight into cave development and karstification in Tennessee. For this phase of the study, analysis focused on the Cumberland Plateau proper and its eastern and western escarpments which cover a 16-state area and contain 61% of the known caves of Tennessee. The Cumberland Plateau proper is capped with resistant sandstones, interbedded with shale and coal of Pennsylvanian age. Cave development on the plateau proper is sparse at 2% of the total (7171) which is to be expected based on the lithology. The lower slopes of the eastern and western sides of the plateau make up the Cumberland Escarpments and are underlain by Mississippian-age limestones. The western escarpment contains the majority of caves at 71% whereas the eastern escarpment contains 27%. Analysis of existing cave maps (also archived by the TCS) provided insights about local hydrogeological conditions that resulted in the dissolution of a variety of cave types whose morphology and distribution reveal the processes that formed them.