Abstract

• The research area is located at the vicinity of the Hpa-an Township, Kayin State, Myanmar. In Hpa-an area, there are so many historical limestone caves with beautiful speleothem, such as Ba-yint-nyi cave, Ya-thae-pyan cave, Kawtgon cave, Sadan cave, Waè-byan cave, Hlaing-kawt-pya cave, Kawt-ka-thaung cave, Badom cave, Linno cave and Thayar-shwe cave. Among them, Ba-yint-nyi cave, Ya-thae-pyan cave, Kawtgon cave, Sadan cave and Linno cave are distinct and famous for tourism. These limestones caves are composed of micritic limestone, dolomitic limestone and brecciated limestone of the Moulmein Limestone Formation (Permian in age). According to morphology of speleothems by Hill and Forti (1997), at least 17 kinds of speleothems can be classified as the cave deposits of Ba-yint-nyi cave, Ya-thae-pyan cave, Kawtgon cave, Sadan cave and Linno cave in this study. All of the speleothems formations are mainly controlled by the five hydrological mechanisms such as dripping, flowing, seeping, pooled water and splashing water. Thermogene travertines form from carbon dioxide sources which receive most of their carrier CO2 from thermally-driven processes in this area because of the sub-tropical climate condition. The preservations of these beautiful limestone caves are important for geotourism as geoheritage sites. Moreover, these caves act natural ornaments for our country.