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Image showing the six most common speleothems with labels. Enlarge to view labels. A stalactite (UK: / ˈ s t æ l ə k ˌ t aɪ t /, US: / s t ə ˈ l æ k t aɪ t /; from Ancient Greek σταλακτός (stalaktós) 'dripping', from σταλάσσειν (stalássein) 'to drip') [1] is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as ...
They are also known as tubular stalactites. Soda straws grow in places where water leaches slowly through cracks in rock, such as on the roofs of caves . Soda straws in caves rarely grow more than a few millimetres per year and may average one tenth of a millimetre per year. [ 1 ]
Calthemite straw stalactite growing from the concrete ceiling of an undercover car-park Calthemite straw stalactites, the rightmost example demonstrating bending due to the direction of air currents during its formation. Calthemite is a secondary deposit, derived from concrete, lime, mortar or other calcareous material outside the cave environment.
Stalactites are pointed pendants hanging from the cave ceiling, from which they grow Soda straws are very thin but long stalactites with an elongated cylindrical shape rather than the usual more conical shape of stalactites; Helictites are stalactites that have a central canal with twig-like or spiral projections that appear to defy gravity
Image showing the six most common speleothems The "Witch’s Finger" in the Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. A stalagmite (UK: / ˈ s t æ l ə ɡ ˌ m aɪ t /, US: / s t ə ˈ l æ ɡ m aɪ t /; from Greek σταλαγμίτης (stalagmítēs); from Ancient Greek σταλαγμίας (stalagmías) 'dropping, trickling' and -ίτης (-ítēs) 'one connected to, a member of') [1] is a type of ...
These calcium carbonate deposits mimic the forms and shapes of speleothems, created in caves. e.g. stalagmites, stalactites, flowstone etc. It is most likely that calthemite flowstone is precipitated from leachate solution as calcite, "in preference to the other, less stable polymorphs, aragonite and vaterite." [8]
Helictites are, perhaps, the most delicate of cave formations. They are usually made of needle-form calcite and aragonite. Helictite forms have been described in several types: ribbon helictites, saws, rods, butterflies, "hands", curly-fries, and "clumps of worms". They typically have radial symmetry. They can be easily crushed or broken by the ...
Cave labeled with the six most common types of speleothems: flowstone, columns, drapery, stalagmites, stalactites and straws. A speleothem is a geological formation by mineral deposits that accumulate over time in natural caves. [4] Speleothems most commonly form in calcareous caves due to carbonate dissolution reactions. They can take a ...