speleology

Also known as spelæology, spelaeology, cave science

thumb|Grotte des Faux-Monnayeurs, Mouthiers-Haute-Pierre (France) thumb|Beam of sun inside the cavity of Rocca ill'Abissu, Fondachelli-Fantina|Fondachelli Fantina, [[Sicily]] thumb|Pirunkirkko (literally "devil's church") of Paistjärvi, a peak cave in [[Heinola, Päijät-Häme, Finland]]

AI overview

I cannot provide an overview of speleology based on the context given, as it contains only image captions of caves with no explanatory information about what speleology is or why it matters. To write an accurate overview, I would need to invent facts, which you've asked me not to do.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

~8 min read

Encyclopedic overview

11 sections

Contents

History
Cave geology, hydrogeology and biology
Geochemistry
Speleothems
Biochemistry
Cave cartography
Cave biology
Other areas of cave science
See also
References
External links

Speleology () is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their composition, structure, physical properties, history, ecology, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology). The term speleology is also sometimes applied to the recreational activity of exploring caves, but this is more properly known as caving, potholing (British English), or spelunking (United States and Canadian English). Speleology and caving are often connected, as the physical skills required for in situ study are the same.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “speleology” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.