Colossal Cavern
Encyclopedia
Colossal Cavern is a cave in Kentucky
, USA, the main entrance of which is at the foot of a steep hill beyond Eaton Valley, and 14 miles from Mammoth Cave
. It is connected with what has long been known as the Bed Quilt Cave. Several entrances found by local explorers were rough and difficult. They were closed when the property was bought in 1896 by the Louisville & Nashville railway and a new approach made. From the surface to the floor is 240 ft. under Chester Sandstone and in the St Louis Limestone.
Fossil
corals fix the geological age of the rock. The temperature is uniformly 54 F, and the atmosphere is optically and chemically pure. Lovely incrustations alternate with queer and grotesque figures. There are exquisite gypsum
rosettes and intricately involved helictite
s.
Bedquilt, not Colossal, was also the inspiration and setting for the first truly interactive computer game. Co-written by Will Crowther
, a caver who spent many hours helping to survey the cave and appropriately called "Colossal Cave", the computer game became the inspiration for the classic game Adventure
.
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, USA, the main entrance of which is at the foot of a steep hill beyond Eaton Valley, and 14 miles from Mammoth Cave
Mammoth Cave National Park
Mammoth Cave National Park is a U.S. National Park in central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world. The official name of the system is the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System for the ridge under which the cave has formed. The park was established...
. It is connected with what has long been known as the Bed Quilt Cave. Several entrances found by local explorers were rough and difficult. They were closed when the property was bought in 1896 by the Louisville & Nashville railway and a new approach made. From the surface to the floor is 240 ft. under Chester Sandstone and in the St Louis Limestone.
Fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
corals fix the geological age of the rock. The temperature is uniformly 54 F, and the atmosphere is optically and chemically pure. Lovely incrustations alternate with queer and grotesque figures. There are exquisite gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
rosettes and intricately involved helictite
Helictite
A helictite is a speleothem found in limestone caves that changes its axis from the vertical at one or more stages during its growth. They have a curving or angular form that looks as if they were grown in zero gravity...
s.
Bedquilt, not Colossal, was also the inspiration and setting for the first truly interactive computer game. Co-written by Will Crowther
William Crowther
William Crowther is a computer programmer and caver. He is best known as the co-creator of Colossal Cave Adventure, a seminal computer game that influenced the first decade of game design and created a new game genre, text adventures.-Biography:During the early 1970s Crowther worked at defense...
, a caver who spent many hours helping to survey the cave and appropriately called "Colossal Cave", the computer game became the inspiration for the classic game Adventure
Colossal Cave Adventure
Colossal Cave Adventure gave its name to the computer adventure game genre . It was originally designed by Will Crowther, a programmer and caving enthusiast who based the layout on part of the Mammoth Cave system in Kentucky...
.