94 CAVE EXAMINATION IN HANTS CO., N. S. — PREST. 



lyxL. In some places the gypsum is honeycombed with caves 

 belovp' the tide-level. Springs sometimes burst out in estuaries 

 and tidal-flats as at Shubenacadie. 



If we place the gypseous origin of the rock in question in 

 the Triassic age, a time of great seismic disturbance, we have 

 the whole of the long period since that time for the various 

 phases of cave formation and destruction. There has been 

 elevation, excavation, denudation (aerial and sub-aerial), and 

 finally subsidence. A former covering of gypsum has been 

 removed from a large tract of country, and former caves 

 obliterated, now traceable only by narrow valleys or preciptuous 

 gulches. Existing caves are located by strings of sink-holes, 

 which latter are growing larger and more numerous as years 

 go by. The gradual subsidence of the province has placed many 

 of these caves beyond reach, and, according to the best 

 evidence, this subsidence is still going on, unless it has very 

 recently reached its lowest point. It may be mentioned that 

 the three caves I have described, are located in formations of 

 carboniferous limestone (the Windsor series). 



