Geographic understanding of Limestone caves karst Level 2
Waitomo Education
LIMESTONE, CAVES and KARST.
Demonstrate geographic understanding of a large natural environment
Geography 91240 (2.1) Level 2. (Ext 4 credits)
This programme starts with an interactive Waitomo limestone, caves and Karst detailed whiteboard
talk, followed by a hands-on introduction within the Waitomo Glowworm Cave or Ruakuri Cave.
Learn about the geological processes and interacting elements forming our limestone landscape with an
experiential journey into and over a Cave System.
Through experience students will see and understand how those features are forming from limestone
and other sedimentary rock processes.
The forming of Waitomo limestone 28-22 mya under sea. Uplift of compacted pure limestone. Faulting
and fracturing of limestone. Effects of water flow and the dissolving action on limestone. Sinkholes
(Doline), and Tomo creation, Cave passage forming. Cave passages filling in through breakdown or Cave
calcite crystal forming. (Speleothems)
Length: 45 minutes to 1 hour interactive talk.
30- 45 minutes Waitomo Caves Discovery Centre.
45 - 11/2 hour Guided Cave trip.
45 minute Bush and Karst walk.
Cost $13 to $21 per student.
Understanding a Large Natural environment
Key words/ ideas
Patterns and Interactions
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[email protected]
07 87 87 642
Geographic understanding of Limestone caves karst Level 2
Landforms
Natural features of the
Karst landscape. (5 key
Features: Exposed
Rocks, Disappearing
water, Sink holes, Caves,
Decorations/Formations)
Soils
Eroding away.
Dissolving Rock
(Carbonic Acid
Sculpture).
Climate
The processes of
weathering and erosion
produce recognisable
landforms
Burial with mud and
sandstones
Waterways contribute
to both rapid and
gradual geological
changes that shape the
land.
Other NZ Karst areas
Waitomo's geological
history
Under sea shelf
Waitomo bay
Limestone forming
Waitomo Education
The Catchment Over
and underground
Burial from Volcanism
Vegetation
Changing karst
landscape model
Changing Landscapes:
Cave and crystal
formation
The Shaping of our
land.
Crystal formations and
model crystal
development
Uplift. Tectonics and
Faulting
Fracture of limestone
Sedimentary (ROCK
CYCLE)- New beginnings.
Re- form and transform
Early Fluvial processes .
Mudstone channelling.
Gravity Rules
Cave formation
processes
Perceptions over time:
Farmer, QE2 trust, DOC, Cave Owner, Cave Management, Cave Guide. Caver.
[email protected]
google+
[email protected]
07 87 87 642