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Salt Ingestion Caves, Charles A. Lundquist, William W. Varnedoe Jr.
Salt Ingestion Caves, Charles A. Lundquist, William W. Varnedoe Jr.
International Journal of Speleology
Large vertebrate herbivores, when they find a salt-bearing layer of rock, say in a cliff face, can produce sizable voids where, over generations, they have removed and consumed salty rock. The cavities formed by this natural animal process constitute a unique class of caves that can be called salt ingestion caves. Several examples of such caves are described in various publications. An example in Mississippi U.S.A., Rock House Cave, was visited by the authors in 2000. It seems to have been formed by deer or bison. Perhaps the most spectacular example is Kitum Cave in Kenya. This cave has been …