UNDERGROUND KEYS TO PALEOCLIMATE: SEDIMENTARY FACIES WITHIN BOY SCOUT SPRINGS CAVE

Sediment deposits in caves can offer important information in relation to speleogenesis, paleoclimate, and landscape evolution. Boy Scout Springs Cave, located in Bella Vista, Arkansas, formed within the Boone limestone and contains thick sediment deposits of varying morphology, composition, and grain size. Preliminary data suggests that the cave was filled with sediment and then eroded repeatedly over time, possibly recording climate-driven changes in erosion rates, discharge, base level, or sediment supply to the cave. We characterize the sediment deposits throughout Boy Scout Springs Cave by analyzing grain size distributions, composition, sorting and roundness of the sediment, the thickness of each sediment layer, and the broader context of each deposit location. Characterized sediment deposits suggest varying hydrologic conditions with most deposits being a series of repeating interbedded layers of well sorted and stratified channel facies and poorly sorted thalweg facies. Additionally, select samples thought to have a higher carbon content were chosen for carbon-dating to establish a geologic time frame. The series of events captured by these sediment layers in the cave tell a story of changing depositional and erosional conditions within Boy Scout Springs Cave.