Cathedral Cave,Wellington Caves,New South Wales,Australia. A multiphase,non‐fluvial cave

Cathedral Cave is an outstanding example of a class of multiphase caves with largely non‐fluvial origins. It contains large cavities such as cathedrals and cupolas, characteristic of excavation by convection currents in rising waters. Smaller‐scale features such as rising half‐tubes, pseudonotches, curved juts, projecting corners, blades and bridges indicate intersection and exhumation of older cavities during the formation of younger ones. It is possible to recognize at least ten significant phases of speleogenesis by morphostratigraphy, in addition to the four generations of cave‐filling palaeokarst deposits intersected by the cave. The cave we see today results from the progressive integration of a number of previously disconnected or poorly connected solution cavities. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.