the.com/caves
the planet's original architecture, carved by water that's more patient than any monk
means Caves are natural hollow spaces in the ground or in rock, large enough to enter, usually formed underground or in hillsides and cliffs.
from From Latin 'cava,' meaning a hollow, the feminine of 'cavus,' 'hollow' or 'empty' — the same root that gives us 'cavity,' 'excavate,' and 'cavern.' It traveled into English through Old French 'cave.' The word itself is hollowed out at the center, fittingly: it has always named an absence, the shape carved by what isn't there.
- deepest known
- Veryovkina drops over 2,200 meters underground
- blind tenants
- cave fish evolved away eyes entirely
- old art
- some cave paintings predate farming by 30,000 years
- slow build
- a stalactite grows roughly an inch per century
- hidden weather
- large caves form their own clouds and wind
mammoth cave — kentucky, usa - longest cave system on earth at 420+ km of surveyed passages
son doong cave — vietnam - largest cave by volume, discovered 1991, contains its own river and jungle
carlsbad caverns — new mexico, usa - 119 chambers with chambers over 200m long, home to 16 bat species
lascaux cave — france - contains 17,000-year-old paleolithic paintings of horses, bison, and hand stencils