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Crystal Grottoes
Crystal Grottoes is the only show cave in the U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ... U.S. state, state of Maryland. It is located on Maryland Route 34 between Boonsboro, Maryland, Boonsboro and Antietam National Battlefield. History Crystal Grottoes was discovered in 1920 in the course of quarrying operations by a road construction crew trying to obtain gravel. A drill bit (for placing explosives) disappeared into a hole, and the crew realized they had found a cave. Blasting produced the entrance which is still used, and in 1922 the cave was opened to the public. A mapping operation in 1968 revealed about a half mile of passages, but only about one third of the cave is accessed during the tour, which takes about 30–35 minutes. Geology Crystal Grottoes is an exa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twin Ribbons
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two embryos, or ''dizygotic'' ('non-identical' or 'fraternal'), meaning that each twin develops from a separate egg and each egg is fertilized by its own sperm cell. Since identical twins develop from one zygote, they will share the same sex, while fraternal twins may or may not. In rare cases twins can have the same mother and different fathers (heteropaternal superfecundation). In contrast, a fetus that develops alone in the womb (the much more common case, in humans) is called a ''singleton'', and the general term for one offspring of a multiple birth is a ''multiple''. Unrelated look-alikes whose resemblance parallels that of twins are referred to as doppelgängers. Statistics The human twin birth rate in the United States rose 76% fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crystal Grottoes Building MD1
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macroscopic single crystals are usually identifiable by their geometrical shape, consisting of flat face (geometry), faces with specific, characteristic orientations. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography. The process of crystal formation via mechanisms of crystal growth is called crystallization or solidification. The word ''crystal'' derives from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning both "ice" and "Quartz#Varieties (according to color), rock crystal", from (), "icy cold, frost". Examples of large crystals include snowflakes, diamonds, and table salt. Most inorganic solids are not crystals but polycrystals, i.e. many microscopic crystals fused together into a single solid. Polycrystals include most m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protected Areas Of Washington County, Maryland
Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although the mechanisms for providing protection vary widely, the basic meaning of the term remains the same. This is illustrated by an explanation found in a manual on electrical wiring: Some kind of protection is a characteristic of all life, as living things have evolved at least some protective mechanisms to counter damaging environmental phenomena, such as ultraviolet light. Biological membranes such as bark on trees and skin on animals offer protection from various threats, with skin playing a key role in protecting organisms against pathogens and excessive water loss. Additional structures like scales and hair offer further protection from the elements and from predators, with some animals having features such as spines or camouflage s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landforms Of Washington County, Maryland
A landform is a natural or anthropogenic land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography. Landforms include hills, mountains, canyons, and valleys, as well as shoreline features such as bays, peninsulas, and seas, including submerged features such as mid-ocean ridges, volcanoes, and the great ocean basins. Physical characteristics Landforms are categorized by characteristic physical attributes such as elevation, slope, orientation, stratification, rock exposure and soil type. Gross physical features or landforms include intuitive elements such as berms, mounds, hills, ridges, cliffs, valleys, rivers, peninsulas, volcanoes, and numerous other structural and size-scaled (e.g. ponds vs. lakes, hills vs. mountains) elements including various kinds of inland and oceanic waterbodies and sub-surface features. Mountains, hills, plateau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caves Of Maryland
This is a List of caves of Maryland. Maryland has numerous caves, with the greatest concentration in its western counties: Washington, Allegany, and Garrett. Research on the topic There are a number of sources about the topic area, including a reference book titled ''Caves of Maryland'' which was first released by the Maryland Geological Survey (MGS) in 1950. But information about Maryland caves was first gathered into a series of reports by Martin Muma in the mid-1940s, working under the MGS. After the release of these articles in 1946, a more comprehensive study was begun by William Davies, whose years of fieldwork led to the compilation of the premiere edition of ''Caves of Maryland'' in 1950. Following the release of the first edition of ''Caves of Maryland'' in 1950, several other attempts by various parties and interested groups have been made at expanding available information concerning Maryland's subterrain. In the late 1960s the MGS sponsored another statewide surv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Travertine
Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot spring or in a limestone cave. In the latter, it can form stalactites, stalagmites, and other speleothems. It is frequently used in Italy and elsewhere as a building material. Similar (but softer and extremely porous) deposits formed from ambient-temperature water are known as tufa. Definition Travertine is a sedimentary rock formed by the chemical precipitation of calcium carbonate minerals from fresh water, typically in springs, rivers, and lakes; that is, from surface and ground waters. In the broadest sense, travertine includes deposits in both hot and cold springs, including the porous, spongy rock known as tufa, and also the cave features known as speleot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flowstone
Flowstones are sheetlike deposits of calcite or other carbonate minerals, formed where water flows down the walls or along the floors of a cave. They are typically found in "solution caves", in limestone, where they are the most common speleothem. However, they may form in any type of cave where water enters that has picked up dissolved minerals. Flowstones are formed via the degassing of vadose percolation waters. Flowstone may also form on manmade structures as a result of calcium hydroxide being leached from concrete, lime or mortar. These secondary deposits created outside the cave environment, which mimic the shapes and forms of speleothems, are classified as " calthemites" and are associated with concrete degradation.Smith, G.K., (2016). “Calcite Straw Stalactites Growing From Concrete Structures”, Cave and Karst Science, Vol.43, No.1, P.4-10, (April 2016), British Cave Research Association, ISSN 1356-191X. Formation Flowing films of water that move along floors or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stalactite
A stalactite (, ; from the Greek 'stalaktos' ('dripping') via ''stalassein'' ('to drip') is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension, or is capable of being melted, may form a stalactite. Stalactites may be composed of lava, minerals, mud, peat, pitch, sand, sinter, and amberat (crystallized urine of pack rats). A stalactite is not necessarily a speleothem, though speleothems are the most common form of stalactite because of the abundance of limestone caves. The corresponding formation on the floor of the cave is known as a stalagmite. Mnemonics have been developed for which word refers to which type of formation; one is that ''stalactite'' has a C for "ceiling", and ''stalagmite'' has a G for "ground". Another example is that ''stalactites'' "hang on ''T''ight" and ''stalagmites'' "''M''ight grow up" � ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speleothem
A speleothem (; ) is a geological formation by mineral deposits that accumulate over time in natural caves. Speleothems most commonly form in calcareous caves due to carbonate dissolution reactions. They can take a variety of forms, depending on their depositional history and environment. Their chemical composition, gradual growth, and preservation in caves make them useful paleoclimatic proxies. Chemical and physical characteristics More than 300 variations of cave mineral deposits have been identified. The vast majority of speleothems are calcareous, composed of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) minerals ( calcite or aragonite). Less commonly, speleothems are made of calcium sulfate (gypsum or mirabilite) or opal. Speleothems of pure calcium carbonate or calcium sulfate are translucent and colorless. The presence of iron oxide or copper provides a reddish brown color. The presence of manganese oxide can create darker colors such as black or dark brown. Speleothems can also be br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tomstown Dolomite
The Tomstown Dolomite or Tomstown Formation is a geologic formation in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. It preserves fossils dating to the Cambrian Period. In Maryland it is described as "Interbedded light gray to yellowish-gray, thin- to thick-bedded dolomite and limestone; some shale layers; gradational contact with Antietam; thickness 200 to 1,000 feet." See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Maryland * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Pennsylvania * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Virginia * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in West Virginia This article contains a list of fossil-bearing stratigraphic units in the state of West Virginia, U.S. Sites See also * Paleontology in West Virginia References * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fossiliferous stratigraphic units in West Virginia West V ... References * Geologic formations of Maryland Cambrian geology of Pennsylvania Geologic formations of Virginia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Show Cave
A show cave—also called tourist cave, public cave, and, in the United States, commercial cave—is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits. Definition A show cave is a cave that has been made accessible to the public for guided visits, where a cave is defined as a natural occurring void beneath the surface of the earth, per the International Show Caves Association. A show cave may be managed by a government or commercial organization and made accessible to the general public, usually for an entrance fee. Unlike wild caves, they may possess regular opening hours, guided group tours, constructed trails and stairs, color artificial illumination and other lighting, musical/video/laser shows and concerts, elevators, small trains, and boats if they contain underground water features. Some caves (mainly in Asia) open to the public have temples, monasteries and religious statues or monuments. Some caves are visited by millions of tourists annually ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syncline
In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an anticline is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimposed smaller folds. Synclines are typically a downward fold (synform), termed a synformal syncline (i.e. a trough), but synclines that point upwards can be found when strata have been overturned and folded (an antiformal syncline). Characteristics On a geologic map, synclines are recognized as a sequence of rock layers, with the youngest at the fold's center or ''hinge'' and with a reverse sequence of the same rock layers on the opposite side of the hinge. If the fold pattern is circular or elongate, the structure is a basin. Folds typically form during crustal deformation as the result of compression that accompanies orogenic mountain building. Notable examples * Powder River Basin, Wyoming, US * Sideling Hill roadcut along Interstat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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