Pitlamp
Well-known member
The normal model of cave development in horizontally bedded limestones is that many horizontal passages are guided by bedding planes and many vertical shafts are formed in joints or faults. (Experts in speleogenesis please bear with this oversimplification - yes I'm fully aware of Deej's inception horizon hypothesis etc. but for the purposes of my question, the above is OK.)
So how do sloping ramps form? The best examples I can think of are in Sleets Gill Cave but there are others (the Treasury area in Peak Cavern for example). I'd prefer not to let on why I'm interested in anyone's answers just yet, as I don't want to influence those answers beforehand. (It's to do with another impressive ramp elsewhere which very few cavers have seen and which we're trying to understand the development of.) I'd really appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.
So how do sloping ramps form? The best examples I can think of are in Sleets Gill Cave but there are others (the Treasury area in Peak Cavern for example). I'd prefer not to let on why I'm interested in anyone's answers just yet, as I don't want to influence those answers beforehand. (It's to do with another impressive ramp elsewhere which very few cavers have seen and which we're trying to understand the development of.) I'd really appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.