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In karst regions, well developed and extensive cave systems will exist depending on the host rock. Although some caves are completely dry, most caverns provide the channels for subsurface drainage. The large open volumes provide surge capacity for flooding conditions, and can even delay for some time high water levels downstream. The cave entrances can vary between vertical and horizontal. Speleothems, or chemically precipitated depositional forms, are common in the caves of carbonate rocks. Two of these features include stalagmites (growing upward) and stalactites (growing downward).
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