| termlinks to Wikipedia | description |
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| Aragonite | Rare crystalline form of calcium carbonate |
| Aven | Blind shaft rising above |
| Boulder Choke | Collapsed rock from floor to roof which may make further progress difficult or dangerous |
| Calcite | Common crystalline form of calcium carbonate |
| Calcium Carbonate | CaCO3 Limestone |
| Carbide | Calcium Carbide Ca2C Produces acetylene when in contact with water |
| Carbonic acid | H2CO3, an acid typical of ground water systems, responsible for dissolving most caves |
| Column | A speleothem joining floor to ceiling, formed when a stalactite and stalagmite grow and join, or when either grow to meet bedrock |
| Doline | Closed depression |
| Dolomite | Calcium carbonate and magnesium in the ration 70 to 30 |
| Dripstone | Calcite deposits caused by precipitation |
| Flowstone | Calcite deposits on the walls |
| Exposure | Subjective measure of the risk related to an action
also Cooling of the body to below normal temperatures |
| Gallery | Cave chamber that is rather large and nearly horizontal |
| Gour pools | Dams of calcite formed on wet slopes, vary in size from 1mm to 5m or more |
| Gypsum | Hydrated calcium sulphate (CaS)42H20 |
| Helictites | Cave formations that defy gravity |
| Karst | A limestone area, Carso, in Triest, where limestone landscapes were first described, now a general name for them |
| Limestone | Sedimentary rock made of calcium carbonate: CaCO3 commonly formed from the shells of marine organisms |
| Marble | Limestone metamorphosed by heat and pressure |
| Phreatic | Cave passage formed when full of water |
| Resurgence | Water exiting from a full passage |
| Rimstone | A deposit formed by precipitation from water flowing over the rim of a pool. See Gour pool |
| Speleothem | Cave formations: secondary mineral deposits formed in caves, caused by the dissolution of minerals (such as calcite) and their subsequent deposition in crystalline form in growing layers in a variety of shapes |
| Sump | Water entering a full passage |
| Speleology | The study of caves |
| SRT | Single Rope Technique |
| Sinkhole | a natural depression in a land surface indicating a subterranean passage, generally occurring in limestone regions and formed by solution |
| Stalactite | Hanging calcite formation |
| Stalagmite | Standing calcite formation |
| Straw | Hollow tube stalactite |
| Tomo | Sinkhole (māori) |
| Vadose | Cave passage formed when water has air space above it |
