Crystal Cavern Explained

Crystal Cavern(s), also known throughout the years as Alabama Caverns and McClu(n)ney Cave, is a small cavern containing crystal formations located in Clay, Alabama, USA.

History

The cavern was discovered in 1840[1] by a Thomas McCluney.[2] It was mined for saltpeter during the Civil War (1861 to 1865).[3]

The cavern was a tourist attraction for Clay.[4] It opened and closed in 1927 as Alabama Caverns,[2] but had reopened and been renamed to "Crystal Caverns" by 1941, when the WPA Guide to Alabama recorded that it was electrically lit, that its admission price was 25 cents, and that it had "beautiful formations" including what appeared to be "metallic draperies".[1] In 1946, however, biologist Edward McCrady described it as "the poorest commercialized cave [he'd] ever seen". In the early 1960s, the facilities were upgraded.[2] The Congressional Record of 1966 recorded it as having camping facilities that included showers and restrooms, and described it as a "fairyland". It closed as a tourist attraction in the late 1960s, and is now privately owned.[4]

During the Cold War, the cavern was designated as a fallout shelter[5] for up to 1045 people.[6]

Geology

The cavern is part of the Chickamauga Limestone, lies approximately 100feet above the Copper Ridge Dolomite, and formed along a strike joint when the Appalachian Mountains folded at the end of the Paleozoic.[7] It was reported in 1933 as extending as a narrow passage for 800 feet, with several right angle turns, and having a maximum height of either "about 80 feet"[7] or "67 feet". Cave formations included "onyx crusts and rosettes", stalactites and stalagmites, and "a petrified waterfall".[8] Two named formations were the "Capitol Dome", part of a wall resembling the United States Capitol dome, and the "Family Loft", a high recess containing two large columns along with smaller stalagmites.[9] Siliceous dolomite extruded from the walls and at one point formed a bridge. This was formed by a solution channel (a void in the limestone which allows passage of water) above and below the dolomite bed.[10]

The cavern contained a spring in a pit which, in 1933, was about 20 feet above the water table,[7] and fed by a "slight drip during wet seasons". In 1946, McCrady reported the pool to be less than a foot deep, and clear.[11]

Fauna

The cavern has been the sole reported location of the pseudoscorpion Aphrastochthonius pecki, described in 1968,[12] and one of two local locations reported for Peck's cave snail (Glyphyalinia pecki), which was described in 1966.[13] The McCluney cave cricket (Euhadenoecus insolitus), a regional species, was described in 1978 from a pair of specimens collected at the cavern by Peck in 1965.[14] [15] A white salamander was seen in the cave's pool by Walter B. Jones, however McCrady found the pool devoid of life, and believed the salamander to have accessed the cave via one of its many cracks.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Project. Federal Writers'. The WPA Guide to Alabama: The Camellia State. 1941. Trinity University Press. 9781595342010. 2013. 2 January 2018. en.
  2. Web site: You can own this cave in Alabama. 2 January 2018. 29 March 2016. Kelly. Kazek. al.com.
  3. US Steel Corp. No.8 Blast Furnace Permit: Environmental Impact Statement. 1978. 1. 164. en. 2 January 2018.
  4. Web site: Tidmore. Tina. Let me Introduce you to the City of Clay. Clay-Pinson Chamber of Commerce. 2 January 2018. 14 August 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150814023032/http://clayareachamber.com/about_clay.shtml. dead.
  5. Web site: First Post Office and Nature Tourism. City of Clay AL. 2 January 2018. en.
  6. An Evaluation of the Shelter Potential in Mines, Caves and Tunnels Appendices I, II, III. Robert A.. Krupka. June 11, 1965. 2 January 2018.
  7. The Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science. 4. 32. The Geology of Alabama Caverns. Ayrs. Emma A.. 1933. 2 January 2018. "Detailed measurements of strike and dip along outcrops and exposures within the cave called Alabama Caverns, near Clay, Alabama, coupled with an accurate plane-table survey within the cave showed conclusively that this cavern developed along a strike joint, i.e., parallel to the outcropping edge of the Chickamauga dolomitic limestone in which it is located. The cavern is about one-half mile long and very sinuous. Its greatest height within is about 80 feet. Undoubtedly the groundwater solution producing it occurred along a strike joint. The latter was produced when the Appalachian Mountains were folded at the close of the Paleozoic era. There is some evidence to show that at least a part of the solution occurred below the ground-water table, but most of it probably occurred above this level by vadose water after folding. The ground-water level is now about 20 feet below the lowest traveled portion of the cavern.".
  8. Book: Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress. 1966. U.S. Government Printing Office. 21170. 2 January 2018. en.
  9. Ground Water in the Paleozoic Rocks of Northern Alabama. 1933. 16, Part 2. 67–8. 17. The Alabama Caverns. 2 January 2018. "The Alabama Caverns, formerly known as McClunney Cave, are situated on the south end of Meridian Mountain, in sec. 13, T. 15 S., R. 1 W., Jefferson County, near the village of Clay, about 18 miles northeast of Birmingham. Dr. R. S. Poor, of Birmingham Southern College, has kindly furnished the writer with notes and a cross section of this cave, from which Figure 36 and the following description are taken. The cave is in the Chickamauga limestone, about 100 feet above the Copper Ridge dolomite. It has the form of a high and narrow passage trending N. 55° E., parallel with the strike of the beds, for a total distance of 800 feet from the entrance. Although the main trend of the cave is parallel with the strike, at a number of places it turns at right angles and follows the dip (22° NW.) for short distances. In addition to two sets of fractures paralleling the dip and the strike of the rocks, there is a marked joint system striking almost due north, which the cave follows in four short stretches. The cave shows a number of depositional features. Stalactites, stalagmites, and onyx crusts and rosettes are present. "Capitol Dome" is a stalagmitic deposit upon one wall which has the form of the dome of the Capitol at Washington, and the "Family Loft" is a recess near the ceiling which contains two large columns and several small stalagmites. The maximum vertical height of the cave, measured between the bottom of the pit in which the "spring" is located and the dome above, is 67 feet. Although the spring has a slight drip during wet seasons, it lies above the main regional water table throughout the year.". Johnston. William Drumm.
  10. Book: Stringfield, V.T.. Geological Survey Professional Paper. 517. Artesian Water in Tertiary Limestone in the Southeastern States . Geophysical Field Investigations, 1964–67 . https://books.google.com/books?id=cEZSAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA133. 133. 1966. United States Printing Office. 2 January 2017.
  11. Matthews. Larry. Cave trips from Edward McCrady's journals. 59. The Journal of Spelean History. 23. 3. July–September 1989. 2 January 2018. 2 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180102191442/http://caves.org/section/asha/issues/075.pdf. dead.
  12. Web site: pecki Field Guide and Catalogues. museum.wa.gov.au. 2 January 2018. 20 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190420195832/http://museum.wa.gov.au/catalogues-beta/pseudoscorpions/chthoniidae/pecki. dead.
  13. Glyphyalinia pecki Hubricht 1966. Bulletin - Alabama Museum of Natural History. 1975. University of Alabama. en. 2 January 2018.
  14. Web site: Species Euhadenoecus insolitus - McCluney Cave Cricket - BugGuide.Net. bugguide.net. 2 January 2018.
  15. Hubbell. Theodore H.. Norton. Russell M.. The Systematics and Biology of the Cave-Crickets of the North American Tribe Hadenoecini (Orthoptera Saltatoria:Ensifera: Rhaphidophoridae: Dolichopodinae). Miscellaneous Publications. Museum of Zoology. University of Michigan. August 1, 1978. 156. 45–47. 2 January 2018.

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