Big Clift Sandstone is a formation ( stratigraphic unit ) in the states of Indiana [1] and Kentucky [2] . This is the sandstone of the end of the Carboniferous period (pensions). In the Mammoth Cave National Park, it lies on the Girkin Formation [3] , on the St. Genevieve limestone and St. Louis limestone , providing coverage for the entire cave system. The existence of Big Clift and similar sandstones in the Mammoth Cave is the reason for the huge size of the cave and the passages into it, since the water that flows there provides subsequent dissolution. But when erosion begins its destructive effect, the cave decreases in size.
Big Clift Sandstone is also common in the south and in the center of Kentucky, as an example is the sixty-meter rock Pilot Rock on the border of Todd County.
Notes
- ↑ Big Clifty Formation . Igs.indiana.edu . Date of treatment June 30, 2018.
- ↑ Geolex - Golconda publications . Ngmdb.usgs.gov . Date of treatment June 30, 2018.
- ↑ Palmer, AN, 1981, Geologic Guide to Mammoth Cave National Park: Teaneck, NJ, Zephyrus Press, 210 p.
Links
- Sandstone (inaccessible link)