Our Caves and Subterranean Habitats Come explore the subterranean wonders of California. The diversity of the state's underground habitats is unsurpassed. We have sea caves, mud caves, lava tubes, talus caves, and wind caves, as well as the typical caves in limestone and marble. Click on this menu for a spectacular photo-tour of these realms.       As you will see, the formation and occurrence of caves depends upon the interaction of rock types and climate within the context of the landscape. Where these factors combine favorably caves of a given type occur. Speleologists recognize many cave types and have proposed various schemes of categorizing them. For this web site we use a scheme of realms emphasizing how the caves were formed rather than rock type. © 1999 Oakland Museum of California |  Credits