Tor Caves: a new class of non-limestone cave, examples from the north of England (UBSS Proceedings v.28(2))

Abstract: Some caves are described from the upland tors of northern England. The passages are joint aligned between the stacked blocks which form the tors. There is no relative offset between the passage walls and evidence of dissolutional processes are absent. The passages are generally square or rectangular in cross section and do not reduce in size away from the entrance. The name tor caves is proposed for these features and an origin due to differential weathering of the rock mass, weathering being concentrated along the joint network is suggested. The recognition of tor caves expands the geographical range where speleological, archaeological and paleoclimate studies routinely undertaken in karst caves into periglaciated terrains where karst caves may be lacking.