I was out walking the dog this morning and came across these two 'caves'. They are natural and big enough to get completely inside. They are formed in the Penant Sandstone of the South Wales Valleys. But can they be classified as caves?
The caves' setting.
'Rift Cave' entrance
Inside 'Rift Cave'. The rift is about 0.7m wide and goes back about 4m. It's about 3m high at the entrance but with the floor rising rapidly, is crawl at the back. A through trip would be possible but some loose rock would have to be moved. The upper entrance is a flat out crawl under a huge slab of bedrock but I didn't take a photo of it.
Detail of the main roof of fallen rocks. The roof isn't solid but I remember reading about caves in a granite canyon in the US, where fallen boulders and earth formed the roof.
Entrance to other 'cave'.
Close-up of entrance.
Chamber inside cave. It's about 3m wide, about 2m front to back and about 1m high. At the back is an open rift which is letting in the daylight. Again a through trip would be possible but tight, you would exit off to the left. The whole thing is a void in solid bedrock.
The right-hand side of the chamber.
So the question is, are these things caves?
The caves' setting.
'Rift Cave' entrance
Inside 'Rift Cave'. The rift is about 0.7m wide and goes back about 4m. It's about 3m high at the entrance but with the floor rising rapidly, is crawl at the back. A through trip would be possible but some loose rock would have to be moved. The upper entrance is a flat out crawl under a huge slab of bedrock but I didn't take a photo of it.
Detail of the main roof of fallen rocks. The roof isn't solid but I remember reading about caves in a granite canyon in the US, where fallen boulders and earth formed the roof.
Entrance to other 'cave'.
Close-up of entrance.
Chamber inside cave. It's about 3m wide, about 2m front to back and about 1m high. At the back is an open rift which is letting in the daylight. Again a through trip would be possible but tight, you would exit off to the left. The whole thing is a void in solid bedrock.
The right-hand side of the chamber.
So the question is, are these things caves?