Harrison's Cave is a tourist attraction in the country of

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, first mentioned in 1795. Tourists can access the subterranean environment on a tramway.

History

The caves were first mentioned in historical documents in 1795, and were rediscovered in the early 1970s by Jack Peeples. They were developed by the government as part of a tram tour, and opened to the public in 1981.

Description

Harrison's Cave is in the central uplands of Barbados. It is situated at above sea level. The three characteristics of the central uplands are

gullies A gully is a landform created by running water, mass movement, or both, which erodes soil to a sharp angle, typically on a hillside or in river floodplains or terraces. Gullies resemble large ditches or small valleys, but are metres to t ...

sinkholes A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

and

caverns Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock sh ...

. It is also an entrance for another place of interest: Welchman Hall Gully which is closed. The caves are naturally formed by water

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

through the

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

rock. The

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

-rich water that runs through the caves have formed the unusual

stalactite A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension (chemistry ...

s and

stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; ; ) is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically composed of calcium carbonate, but may consist ...

s formations. Travel through the caves is by

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

, at certain points during the tour visitors are allowed to alight from the tram and get close up to the formations. One main area of the caves is a huge cavern, termed "''The Great Hall''", measuring over in height. After the great Hall the tram stops at "''The Village''". At ''The Village,'' some of the formations have joined to form columns after thousands of years. Other areas the tram stops along the tour is "The Chapel," "The Rotunda," and "The Altar." Visitors travel through the Boyce Tunnel via tram to all depths of the cave.

References

External links

Review of Harrisons Cave

Official website

Review of Harrison's Cave
Saint Thomas, Barbados Natural history of Barbados Show caves Limestone caves Caves of Barbados Tourist attractions in Barbados {{Barbados-geo-stub