When we say “Mammoth Cave”, we involuntarily imagine the fossilized remains of the giants of the ice age, which were discovered by the discoverers in the underground halls. In fact, the English word Mammoth means "huge." Therefore, the cave has nothing to do with mammoths. Nevertheless, her visit is extremely exciting. This is an amazing underground world, consisting of giant halls, long walkways, branched galleries. Here rivers flow, waterfalls rustle, there are lakes. In the Mammoth Cave there are special representatives of the fauna - eyeless shrimps, blind fish. This underground labyrinth is still not fully explored. At the moment, we can talk about five hundred eighty-seven kilometers in length. And this shocking figure brings Mamontov cave to the undisputed leaders of the longest underground galleries. But every year cavers discover new passages and halls! Read about the wonders of this underworld in this article.
Where is the Mammoth Cave
Based on the huge length of the underground galleries, we can say that they stretch under the entire Flint Ridge ridge (Flint Ridge) on the western spurs of the Appalachian Mountains. Mammoth Cave has several exits to the surface of the earth. Moreover, it was previously believed that Kristalnaya, Salty, Unknown are separate underground systems. However, speleological studies conducted in the middle of the last century, established that they are all connected with Mammoth. And in 1972, an expedition of scientists revealed a passage into the huge system of underground galleries Fisher Ridge. The main, official entrance is located near the town of Brownsville (Kentucky, USA). Eighty kilometers away is the city of Bowling Green, with which the cave is connected by motorways 31E, 31W and I-65. The nearest airports are Indianapolis and Nashville.
Value
Since scientists established the connection between the underground galleries under the Fisher and Flint ridges, the Mammoth Cave has become the longest in the world. On this basis, UNESCO in 1981 included it in its List of Natural World Heritage Sites (numbered 150). If we connect the caves, which occupy the second and third places in terms of length in the world, then even Mamontov would be one hundred and sixty kilometers longer. Officially, this amazing creation of nature is called the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System. This can be translated as the “Giant Cave System under the Flint Range.” But not only because of the size tourists visit this place. Mammoth Cave (photos demonstrate this) has something to surprise its visitors. Here was found the mummified body of an Indian who died two thousand years ago during the extraction of gypsum. Due to the special microclimate and the absence of bacteria in the air, clothes and tissues of the corpse are perfectly preserved. We have already mentioned the mysterious eyeless inhabitants of the underground rivers Echo and Styx. Scientists cannot yet attribute these creatures to any known species of fish. A national park was created around the Mammoth Cave to preserve the unspoiled nature and population of bats.
How the cave system was formed
Earlier on the site of modern Kentucky, a shallow and warm sea splashed. Millions of mollusks lived and died in this water area, and their shells sank to the bottom, crumbled, and pressed under the weight of others. Thus a powerful layer of limestone was formed. Then the sea began to recede, applying a wide and waterproof layer of sandstone Big Clift. About ten million years ago, the process of karsting of limestone began. The sandstone acted like a lid: it did not allow rainwater to erode the chalk from above. The washing out of limestone took place in the bowels of the earth by the waters of an ancient underground river. Therefore, the Mammoth Cave is also interesting because it has few typical for grotto formations - stalactites and stalagmites. Only in some places did rainwater drill out to the surface of the earth, and also, seeping through the sandstone, created the Halls "Frozen Niagara" and others.
Discovery of the cave
Both the main entrance and other openings, which were previously considered to be openings in separate grottoes, have long been familiar to local Indians. This is evidenced by individual burials and bodies of the dead, as well as bunches of burnt reeds, which primitive researchers used as torches. The mummy of a gypsum producer, crushed by a five-ton block, was found five kilometers from the entrance. But among Europeans the Mammoth Cave became known only in 1797, and even then thanks to the occasion. Two hunters, chasing a wounded grizzly, saw a huge entrance into the bowels of the earth.
Saltpeter extraction site and local attraction
Enterprising colonists immediately found application for their find. The first owner, V. Simon, produced potassium nitrate here and got rich, since then there was a war with England. In peacetime, when the demand for the constituent component of gunpowder fell, the cave turned into a local landmark. Just then, the mummy of an Indian was discovered. To lure the few visitors to the cave, its owner, F. Gorin, in 1838 appointed his slave, Stephen Bishop, as a guide. It is to this person that we owe the first map of the underground labyrinth. Bishop managed to cross the "Endless Pit" and find out that the Mamontov cave, which was then considered to be 16 kilometers long, was much longer - 40 km. This guide-slave came up with a lot of names for the halls and galleries that are now used by modern guides.
Tuberculosis sanatorium, national park
J. Kogan bought the cave and in addition to Bishop from the previous owner and decided to establish a sanatorium for the consumptive in the bowels of the earth. Not many patients came, but gradually the popularity of the Mammoth Cave as a tourist attraction went beyond the state. In the 30s of the last century, local residents through litigation achieved the alienation of the land around the entrance of the descendants of Kogan. In 1941, the Mammoth Cave National Park - "Mammoth Cave - National Park".
Excursions
About 500 thousand tourists visit the cave annually. The Directorate of the National Park offers visitors several types of excursions, different in duration, cost, length of the route and its complexity. Prices start at four dollars (one hour Discovery Tour). The six-hour trip (12 USD) is especially popular. Tourists are led along Cleveland Avenue, whose walls glisten with plaster. Then travelers have a bite to eat in the Snowman's Canteen. The route passes through the narrow and deep Bun Avenue gorge and ends in the Frozen Niagara Hall. Lighting throughout the tour is electric. But you can find out what Mamontov’s cave looked like when it was explored by pioneers. For this, there are several "wild" tours (46 USD). Visitors are given helmets, torches, and they set off through the labyrinths of underground halls and galleries, where sometimes you have to climb dust.