Caves and Karst of New England and Eastern New York

Abstract

Dissolutional cave development in the New England and eastern New York area is primarily in Cambro-Ordovician marbles that extend in a north-south band along the western boundary of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont, and similarly in the eastern-most portion of New York. Some Precambrian marbles, and some Ordovician carbonates are also found in this area. Maine has karst areas, but they are remote, low-lying, and poorly understood. Cave development appears to have been mostly post-glacial, with a few relict (pre-glacial) large caves (e.g. Aeolus Bat Cave, Morris Cave), and several large caves that are likely combination caves that while active in the current deranged hydrology, have passages inherited from pre-glacial times (e.g. Vermonster, Carthusian and Merlins caves). Joint activation by isostatic rebound following ice withdrawal, coupled with large glacial lake discharges, are argued to be the prime initiator of cave development. The caves that result are commonly shallow, and vulnerable to removal by the next glaciation, indicating a cyclic nature to cave development and destruction, avoided only by the larger, deeper or fortuitously placed cave systems. A general lack of glacial sediments in smaller caves is a good indicator that many caves are post-glacial, though some examples exist of pre-glacial caves containing sediment (e.g. Weybridge Cave). Cave science has been sparse and sporadic in this region, but a recent wave of papers, coupled with new discoveries of major caves, indicates that this region will be a greater participant in speleology in the future.