Editing Malham Cove (section)

==Geology==
[[File:Malham Cove Waterfall 03 resize.jpg|thumb|280px|The waterfall at Malham Cove on 6 December 2015. Its height of {{convert|80|m|abbr=on}}, for a few hours, made it the highest "single drop waterfall" above ground in England.<!-- it has only been this for a few hours in its entire history?? -->]]
The cove was formed by a large Ice Age river that fell at this point as a [[List of waterfalls by type#Cataract|cataract]]. The water drop was {{convert|80|m|abbr=on}} high and more than {{convert|300|m|abbr=on}} wide. The  water flowing over the waterfall created the curved shape of the cove because the lip was more heavily eroded than the sides.

A stream named [[Malham Beck]] originates on [[Malham Moor]] and emerges from a cave at the bottom of the cove. This is a different stream from the stream that flows out of [[Malham Tarn]] {{convert|1.5|mi|abbr=on}} north of the cove. This latter stream goes underground at 'Water Sinks' about {{convert|1|mi|abbr=on}} before the top of the cove and does not emerge until Aire Head, south of Malham.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.yorkshire-dales.com/malham/water-sinks.html|title=Watersinks by Friends of Yorkshire Dales|accessdate=10 October 2021}}</ref> The two streams were once thought to be one and the same, but experiments with dyes have shown that they are two separate waterways that go underground at different places. Their routes cross, without their waters mixing, behind the limestone cliff, re-emerging a few miles apart; indicating that there is a complex cave system behind the limestone cliff. [[Cave diver]]s, entering the system through the cave at the base of the cove, have so far explored about {{convert|1|mi|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cavedivinggroup.org.uk/images/Photos/JNC/Malham/index.htm|title=Malham Cove by John Cordingley|accessdate=17 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120093624/http://www.cavedivinggroup.org.uk/images/Photos/JNC/Malham/index.htm|archive-date=20 November 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Speleothem|Stalagmite deposits]] inside the rising, dated to at least 27 ka, imply that the cave was dry during the [[Devensian]] ice age, and so must have been formed before then.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Waltham |first1=Tony |editor1-last=Waltham |editor1-first=Waltham |editor2-last=Lowe |editor2-first=David |title=Caves and Karst of the Yorkshire Dales, Volume 1 |date=2013 |publisher=British Cave Research Association |location=Buxton |isbn=978-0-900265-46-4 |page=91 |chapter=Karst Geomorphology}}</ref>
The cave systems usually carry away any water before it reaches the fall; however, Malham Cove temporarily became a waterfall for what is believed to be the first time since 1824 on 6 December 2015, after heavy rainfall from [[Storm Desmond]].<ref name="post">{{cite web|last1=Brown|first1=Jonathan|title=Video: Storm Desmond causes Malham Cove to become stunning waterfall for first time in centuries|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/general-news/video-storm-desmond-causes-malham-cove-to-become-stunning-waterfall-for-first-time-in-centuries-1-7609734|work=Yorkshire Post|publisher=Johnson Press|accessdate=6 December 2015|ref=Waterfall6122015}}</ref><ref name=BBC>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-35024253|title=Malham Cove: Storm Desmond brings 'highest' waterfall back to life|work=BBC News|accessdate=7 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Murphy|first1=Phil|editor1-last=Waltham |editor1-first=Waltham |editor2-last=Lowe |editor2-first=David |title=Caves and Karst of the Yorkshire Dales, Volume 2 |date=2017 |publisher=British Cave Research Association |location=Buxton |isbn=978-0-900265-48-8 |page=443|chapter=Caves and Karst of Malham and Settle}}</ref>