Comprehension Check 3.9

chemical weathering

Are solution caves formed mostly by chemical weathering or by physical weathering?

Green plants require sunlight in order to produce food by the process of photosynthesis. Once you arrive at the point where there is insufficient sunlight, green plants cannot live.

Some caves have an abundance of green plants growing at or near the entrance. However, once you pass a certain point as you are entering a cave, green plants disappear. Why?

trogloxenes

animals that visit caves regularly but have to return to the surface to find food

cave

any hollow space in the earth's crust that has formed naturally and is large enough for a person to enter

calcium carbonate

the basic mineral that makes up limestone

limestone

the kind of rock in which solution caves usually form

speleology

the study of caves