Straw Stalactites
This is a picture of a
straw stalactite. It is
Christopher Francis Drake Long
Draw a picture to show what he was wearing when
he discovered White Scar Caves in 1923.
hollow and water nrns
slowly through it. As the
drips dry, they leave be-
hind a ring of white
stone called calcite and
make the tube longer.
Drop of
Water
Measure
this
straw.
How long is it?
Some Problems to Think About
Guess how long it was
when you were born?
r'
0cm
1cm
5cm
10 cm
@
n
T
T
T
Why are stalactites usually longer and thinner than
stalagmites, most of which are short and thick?
What did you see living in the cave? Why did it live
where you saw it? How did it get there?
Some of the passages you walked through were
natural, others were man-made. How could you tell?
How do you think Christopher Long felt on the day
he found the caves?
White Scar Caves Ltd.-though educational instinrrtions are welcome !o reproduce this worksheet for use in connection with study visits.
Geology & White Scar
Use the clues to solve this puzzle:
L.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Dark rock, easily split into slabs.
Organic remains turned to stone.
Stalactites, for example.
A large cave e.g. Battlefield
Exposed limestone outcrop.
In geolory, layers of rock.
Slate or shale, for example.
In White Scar, the Bagshaw
Very cold periods of time.
If your answers are right, the letters in the grey squares name a kind of rock.
Cave Life
Several kinds of living things inhabit the caves. Write the names of three ofthem.
For each, give reasons why you think they were living where you noticed them.
Try to explain how each kind of organism might have arrived in the caves.
With the help of reference books, make careful drawings of each type of organism.
@
White Scar Caves Ltd.-though educational institutions are welcome
tro
reproduce this worksheet for use in connection with study visits,
Straw Stalactites
These delicate features, also
known ascave straws, are socalled
because they are hollow. Water
flows through the centre of each
straw and, as drips evaporate from
the end, deposits calcite around
the rim gradually lengtheningthe
tube. The local growth rate is quite
fast, roughly 40cm per 1-000 years.
These strange formations are often far from being simple, vertical
tubes. The diagram opposite
shows just three of the variations
which can occur. The processes
involved are not very clear.
How do you think each of these
variants might have been formed?
Why are stalactites often found along straight lines?
Why are some calcite formations coloured?
Water, water everywhere...
Features of White Scar
The mean rate of flow of water through the system is
0.09 m3 sec'l, some of which supplies local needs. In an
average day, how many litre bottles could be sold?
Hidden below are the names of seventeen of the
features of the caves. They are all in straight lines but
may be written in any direction. Good hunting!
B
B
P
P
U
L
P
T
R
What have you assumed in reaching your answer?
o
c
K
B A M M T
E o R T
T o
A M M T H E G R o T T o E
P G G H M P S P P M M V D
P L S H H H P I M M A E A
L o o H H P
tl M
T A E
o N H H A R I G T Y H S
N G G A R A
E T T H E M
T S G G R A T T T H E F A
S G G R R A A U N N X o X
R A A G R A V V N N c X D
L L T T R E E V N N H H
R L S L A A N V E E E o D
K E E L L A A A R U M L I
Y K R S S S K A
K K
Y S S K K
S K K Y Y H K F
S S N R o H T F
N N N S
L V E
B N N T S
V V
B A T T L E F
@
I
N J
I
U T
U D D
rA
I
S
rA
I
\
D G H T
L] E E c
M S F H
o H E S
c E F
H A D I
D D L' N
D D G G
D L Y E
L
L R
L A U U E E L L Y S
L A t A L L
R o G
K A A A A L L R T G
o N vl c R c T T T
R T o R R E N T N N
E R T R R V N N T N
E L D c A V E R N T
oc
c R
D D
S c
F F
A
D
H A
D V
D c
U
c
B L
G E
S c
G S
G c
E E
N L
N c
White Scar Caves Ltd.-though educational institutions are welcome to reproduce this worksheet for use in cormection with study visits.
Cave Chemistry
Complete the paragraph opposite
to explain how the White Scar
formations were created. The
words needed are given below:
acidic, bicarbonate, capacity, calcium, carbon, carbonate, calcite,
crystalline, dioxide, fissures,
green, grey, insoluble, iron, vegetation
Limestone is almost
entering the cave through
water contains
and especially from decaying
limestone as calcium
in the cave, some ofthe carbon
ln pure w ater, but the rain water
is
. This
dioxide gathered from the atmosphere
in the soil. It dissolves
When this solution meets the air
diffuses out reducingthe
of the water to carry
The excess isprecipitated as
bicarbonate.
,a
form
of calcium
Calcite is white. What are the causes of each of the black, green, grey, red and yellow tints found in the caves?
The Deposition of the Limestone
The 200m thick band of Great
How long did
it take for the Great
Scar Limestone to accumulate?
Scar Limestone in which the caves
have been formed was created
during the Carboniferous Period.
The skeletal remains of marine
animals accumulated as mud on
the floor ofa shallow tropical sea.
Under the pressure of later
sediments including the Coal
What have you assumed in making the above calculations?
Measures, the ooze recrystallised
as limestone. The rate of deposi-
tion in today's shallow tropical
seas, e.g. the Bahamas Banks in
the Western Atlantic, is around
1cm in 400 years.
Running a Show Cave
White Scar offers a particularly interesting opportunity for the general public to visit a cave and gain some
understanding of the ways in which caves are formed. In any such undertaking, the safety of the public must be
assured.Fromtimetotime,specificconcernsmayberaised.WritingfromtheviewpointoftheCave SafetyOfficer
prepare three statements to allay any worries about eaeh of the following. Use the space below for making notes.
Flooding
@
,Power Failure
Rockfalls
White Scar Caves Ltd.-though educational institutiors are welcome to reproduce this worksheet for use in cormection with study visits.