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Maxwelton Sink Cave is listed on the West Virginia Significant
Cave List for length, depth, hydrology, geology, and esthetics. The
cave had two entrances, the main Cove Creek Entrance that was
first used to gain access to the cave and the Airport Entrance.
Maxwelton Sink Cave is one of the longest of a series of so
called "contact cave systems" located in the historic "Great
Savannah" of Greenbrier County. These contact cave
systems are known for extensive passage development in the contact
zone between the overlying Mississippian Greenbrier Limestone
and the underlying MacCrady Shale. To date, over 10 miles
of passage has been surveyed in Maxwelton Sink Cave. Maxwelton
Sink Cave lies between two other major contact cave systems: Benedict's
Cave to the southwest, and McClung's Cave to the northwest. All
these systems are interrelated, and connection potential exists
for all of these systems. A total of 5 major contact cave
systems are developed adjacent to each other in this area. A
total of 77 miles have been mapped so far in all of these systems.
Major stream passages in Maxwelton Sink Cave were formed near
the limestone/shale contact, and are cutting down into the underlying
red shales of the MacCrady Formation, yielding interesting passage
morphology. In addition, numerous faults and folds have
been documented, and the cave shows interesting passage modifications
where these features are encountered.
Hydrologically, Maxwelton Sink Cave has several in feeder streams
that travel from the surface down-dip to the master trunk stream. This
stream has been dye traced to an eventual resurgence at Davis
Spring, approximately 15 miles to the south on the Greenbrier
River. Maxwelton Sink Cave serves as a major in feeder
to the 65 square mile Davis Spring drainage basin.
Certain areas of the cave do contain abundant formations
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