cave entrance
Grotto's front door
The opening where a cave meets the outside world—the threshold between daylight and subterranean darkness.
Cave entrances vary dramatically, from gaping mouths in cliffsides to narrow fissures barely wide enough to squeeze through.
In ecology, the entrance zone supports unique communities of plants and animals adapted to transitional light and temperature.
We paused at the cave entrance to let our eyes adjust.
- mouthOral opening
- openingGap or start
- grottoSmall scenic cavern
- thresholdPoint of beginning
- darknessTotal absence of light
stalactite · bat · bear den · shadow · rock · limestone · hollow · passage · tunnel · underground · yawning · gaping · exploration · spelunking · torch · damp · dripping water · cool air
- underground accessmanhole, mine shaft, sewer grate, cellar door, basement stairs
- cave researchphoto documentation, clinometer, compass use, laser scanning, 3D modeling
- cavesgrotto, grottos, grottoes, stalactites, stalagmites
- caves for childrenstalactites, stalagmites, bats, darkness, echoes
- UnderworldHades, Tartarus, netherworld, Sheol, Styx
- cave stuffstalactites, stalagmites, bats, torches, darkness
cave entrancedead end
Passage without outlet
blocked passage · cave-in · sealed chamber · cul-de-sac · rockfall
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