The Dangers of Cave Pollution

(“10 Wonderous Water Caves”, 2021, “Water Pollution Cave Truck Garbage”)
Contents

Abstract 3

The dangers of Cave Pollution and the negative impacts on the environment 3

Different Types of Cave Pollution 3

Endangered Water Supply 4

Endangered Wildlife 4

How Humans Can Help Control the Pollution Levels in Caves 5

Proper Disposal 5

Taking Safety Measures 5

How Taking Safety Measures and Proper Disposal Can Resolve Pollution in Caves 6

Keeping Caves Clean 6

Benefits of Minimizing Oil Drilling 7

Conclusion 7

References 8

Figures

Title Page Figures 1

Figure 1 4

Figure 2 5

Figure 3 6
Abstract

A cave is a hollow horizontal opening in the ground which contains water. Caves are formed by
mixing certain types of rock such as limestone, gypsum, or dolomite with rainwater. Basically, a
rock that can dissolve in water will do the trick. When rainwater encounters such rocks, the rocks
begin to dissolve because of the acidic properties of the rainwater and after time, openings in the
ground will form leading to the creation of caves (“How Do Caves Form?”, 2010).

Caves are an important aspect of the environment given the fact that they are a source of
hydroelectricity, drinking water for humans and are a home to certain wildlife such as cave fish
including cave crayfish, cave shrimp, cave salamanders and certain types of insects.
Additionally, caves often contain prehistoric animal bones as well as artifacts of prehistoric man
so they serve as an excellent place for research and advancing the understanding of life
thousands of years ago (“Importance of Caves”). Over the last couple of decades however, caves
have become more and more polluted because of human waste, whether it’s from sewage spills,
old factories, or washing waste down sinkholes (“Threat Down Below: Polluted Caves Endanger
Water Supplies, Wildlife”, 2009).

The Dangers of Cave Pollution and the Negative Impact on the Environment

Different Types of Cave Pollution

The main source of cave pollution is human trash. Human waste can enter caves in a multitude of
ways; cave explorers who bring food and other items and don’t dispose of it correctly, sewage,
sinkholes, and old abandoned factories. Human waste has such a great impact that even caves
that seemed to be untouched from human-driven pollution have been found to have microbial
communities in the pools of water (“Human-driven Polluting Affecting world’s Cave Systems”).
Additionally, trash left in caves can produce noxious chemicals that change the pH of the many
bodies of water. Copious amounts of caves in Missouri were found to have corroded batteries.
Corroded batteries do not just have a negative impact if they are left in the cave, if the batteries
are left above the cave, their chemicals will soak into the soil and will still have a negative
impact on cave life, including contaminating the water (“Battery Recycling is Important…
2021”).

Another way human waste can enter caves is through sinkholes. Sinkholes are usually natural
depressions on land that are shaped like bowls, but human intervention can speed up the time in
which sinkholes form. A sinkhole can be seen in figure one which is a picture of a sinkhole that
endup up going into a cave. Types of human intervention include expanding urbanization,
improper disposal of hazardous material to the environment and a shortage of repositories for
toxic waste (“Living With Sinkholes”).

Lastly, factories contribute to cave pollution by chemical spills. If a chemical spill seeps
underground into a cave it can have a horrendous impact on the aquatic life in the cave. If a toxic
chemical harms a single organism, it can have a domino effect on multiple organisms. For
example, if one species gets harmed than the whole food chain can be destroyed.

Figure 1: Sinkhole Into a Cave (“The Geology and Archaeology of Sinkholes”, 2019)

Endangered Water Supplies

When thinking about cave pollution one does not typically think of endangered water supplies.
Nearly one-third of the drinking water supplies in the United States come from underground
streams and spring originating inside caves or passing through them (“Threat Down Below:
Polluted Caves Endanger Water Supplies, Wildlife”, 2009).

Endangered Wildlife

As mentioned above caves can be homes to endangered species such as cave fish, cave shrimp,
tooth cave spider, liphistius trapdoor spider, and the gray bat. Pollution might cause these
animals to become extinct. Although the pollution is more dangerous to endangered species,
pollution can affect any wildlife in the cave. There are about 50,000 caves in the United States
which support a total of around 1,100 animals. Most of the animals in the caves are there for a
reason. One example is the Troglobite. Troglobites are blind animals that spend their whole lives
inside caves. These animals developed special senses overtime that allow them survive in the
darkness of caves. Some of the world’s most interesting animals also live in caves such as the
Olm which is a dragon-live amphibian, the cave pseudoscorpion which looks like a hybrid of a
spider and scorpion and the Kauai Cave Wolf Spider which can be seen in figure is one of the
rarest creatures in the world . This spider is so rare in fact that researches have never documented
more than 30 spiders at a time. (“10 Creatures That Thrive in Caves”, 2020). Overall, cave
pollution is very dangerous to animals that thrive in caves, especially endangered species.
 Figure 2: Kauai Wolf Cave Spider (“10 Creatures That Thrive in Caves”, 2020).

How Humans Can Help Control the Pollution Level in Caves

Proper Disposal

The first way humans can help control the pollution level in caves is by just picking up after
themselves while they are both in and outside the cave. Thousands of pounds of trash are found
year to year in caves, and this can be easily prevented by people cleaning up after themselves.
Additionally, using light fuel in caves should be kept at a minimum. Trash can easily be cleaned
up in caves by putting the trash in backpacks or some other storage device brought into caves.
Backpacks are very useful while exploring caves because it is important to keep your hands
empty except or maybe a flashlight in case you were to fall. Other than keeping your hands free
backpacks can be used for storage of not just items brought into the cave but trash found while
exploring. Overall, any man-made material brought into caves that does not get taken out has the
ability to negatively modify the environment of the cave.

Taking Safety Measures

Second, more cautious, and safe measures can be taken to ensure that chemical and oil spills
happen less frequently. The first way to prevent oil or chemical spills is proper storage. During
transport, containers can shift or fall over in the truck, so it is imperative that container is made
from the proper materials. In addition to oil spills, oil drilling has put rare caves in New Mexico
at risk. “A National Geographic investigation has found that Permian Basin energy exploration
could taint residential aquifers with pollutants – as well has Carlsbad Caverns and other cave
systems.” Because of the oil drilling, hydrocarbons were detected in the Rattlesnake Springs
water supply, which is located right by the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Figure 3 shows an
area with a populous amount of oil drills which can be bad for the cave systems. Plants will then
consume the contaminated water from the hydrocarbons which has a domino effect from there
because of the food chain (“Oil drilling on sensitive New Mexico public lands puts drinking
water, rare caves at risk”, 2021).

Figure 3: Oil Drilling (“Oil drilling on sensitive New Mexico public lands puts drinking water,
rare caves at risk”, 2021).

How Taking Safety Measures and Proper Disposal Can Resolve Pollution in
Caves

Keeping Caves Clean

Humans who dispose their trash properly while exploring caves will keep the climate of the
caves properly maintained. Because of the food chain even the smallest piece of trash can have a
domino effect if harmful chemicals are released into the cave. Disposing of trash properly will
also help preserve what the cave looks like on the inside which helps researchers who are
gathering samples or who are taking pictures of the cave walls to gain more understanding of
pre-historic man.

Benefits of Minimizing Oil Drilling

Minimizing oil drilling will benefit caves because there will be an abundantly less amount of
pollutants that may find its way inside the cave. Oil Drilling could be said to be more harmful
than human waste to caves because of the hydrocarbons found in the oil. As described above,
hydrocarbons are especially harmful to plant life which causes it to be harmful to animals and
humans as well, not just cave life.

Conclusion

In conclusion cave pollution is a real problem that not a lot of people know about but with a little
help the amount of pollution can go down overtime. The main problem that causes cave pollution
is careless human waste which is a simple fix. Humans just must dispose properly of the items
that they bring in the cave and have to be careful of the items that they do bring in the cave.
Second, oil drilling can be a bigger problem because of the harmful chemicals but minimizing
the amount of oil drilling will help the number of pollutants in the cave water to go down
significantly. “For many people, a cave is simply a natural underground chamber which has been
formed over hundreds of thousands of years,” but caves can be wonderful natural sights to go
exploring in but humans must remember in order to keep exploring caves they have to do a great
job of maintaining the proper environment for the cave to thrive in (Lisa 53).
References

Caves in Missouri Importance of Caves - DNR. dnr.mo.gov/education/documents/caves-in-

missouri.pdf.

Crane, Ralph J., and Lisa Fletcher. Cave. Reaktion Books, 2016.

Hirst, K. Kris. “Why Cenotes Are Crucial Maya Sources for Water and Ritual.” ThoughtCo,
www.thoughtco.com/cenotes-sinkholes-to-the-maya-underworld-169385.

Ians. “Human-Driven Pollution Affecting World's Cave Systems  .” National Herald, 9 May
2020, www.nationalheraldindia.com/international/human-driven-pollution-affecting-
worlds-cave-systems.

Leary, Catie. “10 Wondrous Water Caves.” Treehugger, www.treehugger.com/wondrous-water-

caves-4869284.

Mustain, Andrea. “How Do Caves Form?” LiveScience, Purch, 7 Oct. 2010,

www.livescience.com/29735-how-do-caves-form-.html.

Nelson, Bryan. “10 Creatures That Thrive in Caves.” Treehugger,

www.treehugger.com/creatures-that-thrive-in-caves-4869259.

Oldham, Jennifer. “Oil Drilling on Sensitive New Mexico Public Lands Puts Drinking Water,
Rare Caves at Risk.” Environment, National Geographic, 4 May 2021,
www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/oil-drilling-sensitive-new-mexico-
public-lands-puts-drinking-water-rare-caves-at-risk.

“Water Pollution Cave Truck Garbage - Re-Mat.” Re, 16 Nov. 2017, re-mat.org/the-
environmental-damage-caused-by-landfills-is-growing/water-pollution-cave-truck-
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