Boar Hole cave can be found in Greenbrier, West Virginia. There are three entrances, The Portal, Radio, and the Cowen entrance which is under management by the West Virginia Cave Conservancy (WVCC) [1]. This solution cave acts as a connector to roughly 12 miles of passages.

Geology

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The rock that forms Boar Hole was deposited in the middle Mississippian and is composed of mainly rocks of the Greenbrier Group [2]. Boar Hole itself contains about two miles of passages [1]. These passages are referred to as boreholes or hallways due to their wide and even nature. Boreholes form from constant, steady water movement through the cave, eventually widening to the current width and height [1][3].

Throughout the cave there are numerous speleothems such as stalactites and stalagmites. These feature form from calcite precipitation out of acidic water entering the system[3]. There are also flood deposits throughout the cave which dates to numerous flood events in the region[1]. A stream is also present in the cave during seasons of heavier rainfall[[1][2].

Conservation

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Boar Hole cave is under preservation by the WVCC[4]. This is due to the amount of critical climatological data, stored in speleothems and flood deposits, and speleological data that it contains[1][4]. Speleothems, such as though found in Boar Hole, can be used to recover climate data from the past. Due to its status as a protected cave, its location and maps are not released to the public or non-associated speleologists[1].

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Boarhole – West Virginia Cave Conservancy". wvcc.net. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
  2. ^ a b Dasher, George (2018), White, William B. (ed.), "The Exploration History of the Greenbrier Valley Caves", Caves and Karst of the Greenbrier Valley in West Virginia, Cave and Karst Systems of the World, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 63–95, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-65801-8_5, ISBN 978-3-319-65801-8, retrieved 2024-12-12
  3. ^ a b Baker. "Cave Geology in Depth - Great Basin National Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
  4. ^ a b "Preserves – West Virginia Cave Conservancy". wvcc.net. Retrieved 2024-12-12.