| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (24 min. 7 sec.) ; 144156679 bytes |
| Summary |
Caves are dark mysterious places. They are strange underground landscapes filled with beautiful, oddly shaped crystal formations. When we see stalactites and stalagmites, scientists see dissolution chemistry and sedimentary geology. Join Dr Rob as he goes underground and SCOPES out all the science behind caves.CAVES 101Nature can work pretty slowly and your average cave is several million years in the making. Alison Fenton is a Cave Guide at Jenolan Caves and she tells the long tale of how caves are created, in just a few minutes!MENTAL BREAKDOWN: CALCIUM CARBONATECave formations are made from it, it's a fairly abundant mineral in the earth's crust and it's produced by many living things, it's calcium carbonate! Dr. Rob breaks it down.CAVE FORMATIONSSo, cave formations are made from calcium carbonate, but how were these magnificent cave decorations created? Grant Commins is the Operations Manager at Jenolan Caves and he unlocks the mystery behind speleotherms.KIDS EXPERIMENT: GROWING A STALACTITEThink you need thousands of years to grow a stalactite? Think again! Talia is a Junior Scientist with the Double Helix Club and she demonstrates how to make a cave formation in under a week!CAVE LIFEWhile we can admire a cave's geology, we can't forget to mention the life of caves; plants, bats, some fairly strange insects and believe it or not, worms! And they can glow! David Christinson, an Environmental Scientist, talks about these creatures and the spectacular shows they create.ADVENTURE CAVINGAbseiling into a cave? Squeezing through spaces in the rock? It might sound scary to some, but Dr. Rob takes up the challenge and is shown the adventurous side of caving by his guides, Dan Cove and Alison Fenton.CAVE CLIMATEJenolan Caves are a natural wonder and conserving them is very important. Dan Cove is a speleologist at the caves and he explains what he does to monitor and minimise human impact on this natural beauty. This episode has been millions of years in the making so don't forget to cave in next time as Dr. Rob once again proves that the ordinary really does become extraordinary under the SCOPE! |
| Event |
Broadcast 2011-12-10 at 09:00:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: G |
| Subject |
Adventure and adventurers.
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Biospeleology.
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Calcium carbonate.
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Cave climates.
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Caves.
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Stalactites and stalagmites.
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Australia.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Bell, Robert, host
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