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〕 | lat_d = 31 | lat_m = 50 | lat_s = 15 | lat_NS = N | long_d = 110 | long_m = 20 | long_s = 50 | long_EW = W | biome = Chihuahuan Desert & Madrean Sky Islands | area_unit = acre | area_imperial = | established = 1988 | management_body = Arizona State Parks | map = USA Arizona location map.svg | map_caption = Location of Kartchner Caverns State Park in Arizona | map_locator = Arizona svg }} Kartchner Caverns State Park is a state park of Arizona, United States, featuring a show cave with of passages.〔 The park is located south of the town of Benson and west of the north-flowing San Pedro River. Long hidden from view, the caverns were discovered in 1974 by local cavers, assisted by a state biologist who helped in its preservation. The park encompasses most of a down-dropped block of Palaeozoic rocks on the east flank of the Whetstone Mountains . The caverns are carved out of limestone and filled with spectacular speleothems which have been growing for 50,000 years or longer, and are still growing. Careful and technical cave state park development and maintenance are designed to preserve the natural cave system.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Kartchner Caverns State Park: Science )〕 == History == The caverns were discovered in 1974, when cavers Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts found a narrow crack in the bottom of a sinkhole, and followed the source of warm, moist air toward what ended up being more than of pristine cave passages with the help of Erick Campbell - a local state biologist.〔 Hoping to protect the cave from vandalism, they kept the location a secret for fourteen years, deciding that the best way to preserve the cavern — which was near a freeway — was to develop it as a tour cave. After gaining the cooperation of the Kartchner family and working with them for ten years, together they decided that the best way to achieve the goal of protection through development as a tour cave was to approach Arizona State Parks. In 1985, The Nature Conservancy acquired an option to purchase the land. The discovery of the cave was finally made public in 1988 when the landowners sold the area to the state for development as a park and show cavern. Prior to its grand opening in 1999, the state spent $28 million on a high-tech system of air-lock doors, misting machines and other equipment designed to preserve the cave. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kartchner Caverns State Park」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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