Despite its name, the Mammoth Cave has nothing common with mammoths. The word mammoth has two meanings. One of them is “huge”. So, it is about the large size of the cave, specifically the dimensions of some passages and halls.
The cave was made by karst processes in a thick layer of limestone under sandstone. Sandstone is waterproof, so it resists water and prevents the destruction of the cave. Because of that, the cave does not have any stalactites and stalagmites - mineral formations growing from top to bottom and vice versa. Nevertheless, the sandstone cracked in some places, and there are a lot of mineral growths.
Scientists have discovered that the cave was formed more than 10 million years ago. It was explored by the Indians and actively used by them. When the grottoes were examining, archeologists found several mummies of the Indians. Americans discovered the cave in 1797 when pioneers found an unusual entrance in the mountains. In 1798, it was bought by Valentine Simon mining potassium nitrate in the cave. Over time, the cave was sold one more time, but the business was not profitable. The production was stopped. Around the same time, an Indian mummy was discovered.
The cave is part of the national park and is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the longest cave in the world located on five tiers. Its length is 627,644 meters. The passages of the Mammoth Cave are so large that they made an entire system of underground rivers. Some of them are 60 meters wide and 10 meters deep.